Meet the candidates in the race for mayor for the city of Coachella

There are two candidates in the race for mayor for the city of Coachella.

The first, is the current mayor, Steven Hernandez. Hernandez expressed wanting to aim for three things: Infrastructure, public safety, and economic development. He was born and raised in Coachella and has been mayor for six years. He got his university degree from USC in english and political science with a masters in public administration. Hernandez said, “I am committed to bringing back our own police department here in the city of Coachella.”

Hernandez expressed there was a time where Coachella had shuttered storefronts. He said now, “When it comes to economic development. Our business development is thriving. More businesses are moving into Coachella.” He added, “Downtown is looking great. We have housing development coming, new bridges that we’ve completed, new streets that we’ve implemented and who can forget about the parks that we have constructed as well as renovated.”

In regards to safety, Hernandez said he is committed to bringing back their own police department to the city of Coachella. He also noted, “I remember years where we had 3, 4 ,5 murders in a row and last year we had none.” He added that he is very proud of his record on public safety, "Very glad to say we have taken Coachella's crime rate down significantly.”

When he spoke about the coronavirus pandemic, Hernandez said there needs to be a focus on the internet divide that parents and students are facing while working and learning from home. Hernandez expressed that they have had leadership since day one of the pandemic to address many issues. He said they created a program for mental health assistance, “so that our students and parents, anybody who needs mental health assistance, we can give them that program.” He added, in addition, “We’ve offered rental assistance and mortgage assistance. We’re the only city in the valley that has done that.”

Hernandez emphasized, “Everywhere you look throughout the city of Coachella, you’ve seen changes, you’ve seen changes in our libraries, you’ve seen changes in our infrastructure, you’ve seen changes in our parks, you’ve seen changes when it comes to the city of Coachella in general. Those things don’t happen just because.” He said they happen with the right and capable leadership.

The other running candidate is Lesly Figueroa who also grew up in Coachella. She said she is a community organizer and policy advocate. She said she also has an urban planning background and expressed working with residents out in the community of Oasis, Thermal, and Coachella. Figueroa said, “You just have to be able to work with community members and really look at the resources that exist right now and be creative.” She expressed bringing a young and fresh outlook during changing times. She said, “There’s an opportunity for change. Folks have been resonating with our campaign, our message to try to democratize our local government and all it’s sectors within the city.” She added, “The median age is 29 years old, which means half of the population is under 29. Which means we have a young city with a lot of young voters, young families.”

Figueroa expressed the amount of land available in the city. “We have a lot of young people who are coming back who even want to participate in trades in Coachella,” Figueroa said in regards to renewable energy opportunities, housing, and public policy. She added, “We have a lot of good talent that can’t stay in Coachella because they can’t afford to live here or they can’t find a place to live.”

Figueroa said she wants to tackle the system in a more bottom top approach. She said, “Often people don’t get involved because they have this distrust and a dissolution of being let down by their local government and i want to make sure that we are not letting people down and we are always following through.”

Figueroa, like Hernandez, suggested to revisit the sheriff's contract with the city. She said, “As we go in these different neighborhoods, people perceive safety very differently and they all have their different ideas of how we could solve that issue.”

Figueroa said she wants to make sure people are aware of what's going on in the city by bringing more transparency and accountability to the local government.

The candidate with the most votes will win in the election.