Meet the candidates for the Palm Desert city council election for the very first two district race

A historic election for Palm Desert with now a district one and district two.

In district one, incumbent Susan Marie Weber and Karina Quintanilla are running for the seat.

Susan Marie Weber has been on city council since 2012. She served as mayor for two terms and hopes to focus on transparency of city government and continue the communities vision of the city in serving district one. One of her main goals, she said is, "To finish up San Pablo so we have a link from Civic Center all the way down to El Paseo. We are kind of defining the corner of 111 and San Pablo as being our downtown." She mentioned this is part of the goal to make El Paseo more inviting and more walkable. Weber mentioned much of the cities taxes come from sales and hotels. She added, "We want to make it more welcoming and inviting so people come to stay with us."

Weber also talked about the cost of housing for residents in Palm Desert. She said, "It is our goal to work with developers to figure out ways to bring in more housing so more people who are working here will have a place to live in palm desert." She wanted voters to know that she is a public servant and here to serve the community. Weber emphasized, "One of the things I offer, and probably every council member currently serving offer, is we are extremely accessible."

Karina Quintanilla is an educator. She has been a resident of Palm Desert for eighteen years. If elected to the Palm Desert city council in district one, she would be the first Latina on council. She stood at Civic Center Park near the amphitheater and said, "This means a lot to me historically because even before becoming a Palm Desert resident, I remember being here for demonstrations for prop 187."

Quintanilla said that being involved at a local level has so much more of an impact to peoples everyday lives. She said, "I can represent my district and to be able to do that for some of my neighbors in their first language is critical to me." She added, "And not worrying about being misunderstood by language or culture, to me that means a lot."

Quintanilla agreed with breaking up Palm Desert into two districts. She wans people in the area to have representation so neighbors have a say in what they are comfortable with happening in their community and a say in what they don't want happening in their community.

Both district one candidates agree on brining more affordable housing to the city. Quintanilla said in reference, "Whether it’s making sure that older Americans can live with independence and dignity as much as possible or it’s our forthcoming students and faculty, they need affordable places to live."

District two has four candidates and two seats to fill. The candidates include, incumbent Kathleen Kelly, incumbent Gina Nistande, Steven Moyer, and Evan Trubee.

Kathleen Kelly is finishing her first term on the council with thirty years experience in conflict resolution, including public policy disputes. Kelly said, 'The primary thing that I hope to accomplish is to unify our community around the safe practices to defeat this pandemic." Kelly believes this is a huge crisis we are facing with COVID-19. She emphasized doing what is in the best interest of businesses and public health. She said, "Businesses cannot successfully re-open unless people feel safe."

Gina Nistande, is the current rotating mayor for the city. She has been living in Palm Desert since 1966 and has been on city council since 2016. She said she had to step up quickly as mayor in a leadership role during the pandemic. With the pandemic, she said, "The city started right away with a $2 million economic program to help our small businesses. We gave $1 million in direct loans that are forgivable. We gave another million to hotels, stay two nights get one night free." She said the city also donated to the food bank and provided food delivery to seniors so they wouldn't have to leave their homes. She mentioned continuing this effort during the pandemic, "We are looking at putting more money into this, what we call it Unite Palm Desert, to continue to help our businesses. And we are even looking to form a restaurant association so our restaurants can all work together to continue to stay open and do it safely."

Nistande said there are projects in the works that she hopes to remain on council for to see them come to fruition. Hoping to finish Envision San Pablo and continue working with the Cal State university. She said, "We are working hard to make Cal State one day a stand alone campus and the key is to grow the student body. And I believe the key to get there is to expand degree programs."

Nistande said, I love our city, I love our community, and I enjoy giving back."

Steven Moyer has been endorsed by Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz. He practiced law for forty year and is now a law professor in Indio. He is calling for more responsiveness from city council with the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy. He said, "You can’t have the businesses reopening and staying open if residents aren’t healthy and doing what they’re supposed to do to stay healthy...like wearing masks." Moyer criticized the current Palm Desert mayor, Gina Nistande, for what he called, "irresponsible statements" about masks. He added, "Which we know from the science is the best defense against the virus."

Moyer also wants to extend the ban on short term rentals. In reference, he said, "Renting houses and what they call house parties which are basically just super-spreader events that are putting everyone at the city and anyone else that comes in contact with these people at risk."

Another goal he has is to bring a 4-year university to the area. He said, "It’ll create an educated work force. It will also provide more students in the city who will increase our tax base."

Evan Trubee has lived in Palm Desert for 27 years running his Big Wheel Tours business since 1998. He also mentioned tackling the short term rentals. He mentioned, "There’s some residents that got left out and they need the same kind of protections as the rest of the city." He said he has been going to city council meetings regularly for two to three years. Trubee added, "You have to make those little decisions that seem sort of tedious or boring. You know, you’re talking about sometimes at these city council meetings about something, I don't know like street sweeping schedules, or you’re talking about dog parks, or things that don’t necessarily make the radar of the news but each of those decisions make up the quality of life."

When it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, he said he thinks the city has been doing an overall good job. He mentioned everything in hindsight is always 20/20. He said, "I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen someone inside a store without a mask." When it comes to the city and coronavirus, he said, "Tourism has to get back on their feet, we rely so heavily on that right now." He mentioned continuing to encourage TOT rebates for hotels. In reference to his overall goal, he said, "Overall, just ensuring the quality of like and making sure we remain a great place to live and raise a family."