Meet the candidates: Indian Wells

Indian Wells Voters have new and familiar faces on the ballot for city council. 

There are three seats up for grabs this year. 

Five candidates are vying for the two open seats for a full four-year term. 

• Dana Reed 
•  Ivan Moad 
•  Bruce Whitman
• Toper Taylor
• Douglas Hanson

Two candidates are running for one open seat for a two year term. 

• Ty Peabody
•  Ted Mertens 

News Channel 3 spoke to these candidates ahead of the election. 

On term limits: 

• Bruce Whitman: “Two of the candidates in this race were the major proponents and advocates of that term limit and now they're running based on a loophole. And I feel that it's time for the voters to enforce our term limit law. Bring a new leadership, a new generation of people with energy and with the ability to effectuate the change that is coming. We can't stay stagnant in Indian Wells because change is coming. And we need new energy and new people to manage that change.”
• Dana Reed: ““We're in great shape, we've got nothing to worry about. Certainly with the new council, whoever's on it is going to continue the same path that we're on now and everything is going to be fine.”
• Ivan Moad: “I believe we need new blood at City Hall. I think we need new ideas and a new vigor…I'm pledging to every resident that I'm going to follow the municipal code or the City of Indian Wells.  I pledge not to go over my eight years of service at city council.” 
• Toper Taylor: “We don't live in these organizational structures that are set in stone-things change. Coachella Valley is one of the fastest growing regions of California. What may have applied 20 years ago may not apply today.  I think there's a lot of exciting, innovative ideas that we can bring to Indian Wells.”
• Douglas Hanson: “When I was on the council before, we passed a term limit ordinance that came up and that ordinance provided that a resident could run for two terms for a  four year term. They would then have to sit out two years and could run for an additional two term period of four years each. I thought that was a good ordinance. It gave other people an opportunity to come in during that two year hiatus. However, in the spring of 2020, some would say in order to prevent me from running, they created this lifetime term limit. They did it in a manner that attempted to preclude me and other former council members from ever running again. I took the issue to court, I didn't think I was right.”
• Ty Peabody: “If they want term limits, they should just go ahead and do another ballot measure. Basically, keep it the way it is, but you can't go retroactive no matter what you do, that's the law. And you can't violate the law, even though some would like to.”
• Ted Mertens:“ I just feel that term limits are appropriate. The people in the city have spoken. I believe in them, I would not be in this position, had somebody else that was qualified, chosen to run.” 

On The Indian Wells Golf Course: 

• Bruce Whitman: “Indian Wells has an opportunity to put someone on council who has tremendous experience and knowledge about the city. I've been involved with Indian Wells for the past seven years through city council through my service for four years on the Golf Resort committee. I can offer fresh ideas and new blood for the council to solve some of the problems that are facing Indian Wells…There are issues at the golf resort that need to be resolved.”
• Dana Reed: “We're not going to make changes, and if we do, they'll be incremental and very, very slow, because things are good here in the city, and we want to keep it that way,” Reed said.
• Ivan Moad: “It's my position that we need to change the management. The residents have not been served with great food, great service and great events, and it should be a place of pride and a gathering place for the residents. And it really isn't. I  think they've lost tthe residents and they're not willing to go there, because it just hasn't been managed properly.”
• Toper Taylor: “Most of the people use the restaurant, come off the golf course and go up and use it-it's a really terrific restaurant.  I think it's one of the better ones in the Coachella Valley. So how do we get the word out? How do we get people to know that and as far as golf is concerned…Palm Springs Life just named us  two of the best public golf courses in the Coachella Valley.”
• Douglas Hanson:“ It needs some work. The contractor with the company that is actually managing the Golf Resort needs some work. We may even go out to bid for a new contractor to see what's out there. The original construction of the golf resort was done in such a way that increased the cost tremendously. That's an issue going forward.”
• Ty Peabody: “ There needs to be a much tighter control of the financial reports and the financial statements. There is no oversight as far as I'm concerned. Now, some people would dispute that but I've been doing it for a long time. I've been writing a monthly report on the financials, and there needs to be a lot more oversight. The question of whether we keep Troon-that’s for another day. I do believe there should be an RFP but that doesn't necessarily mean you get rid of Troon. It  gives you an opportunity to see what other companies can offer related to the resort. We also have to determine how we can increase more revenue. “ 
• Ted Mertens:“We definitely need to improve the revenue generation at the golf resort. But I think personally that we have to do it with a golf centric theme. In other words, I don't want to see a zipline or a carousel or something like that there. I don't want it to become the Indian Wells amusement park. It's a golf course. It's a world class golf facility.  I think that we can do some things that are golf centric, that will raise revenue, understanding that we want to raise the revenue without putting any more tax burden on our residents.” 

Tune in to News Channel 3 at 6 p.m. for more on the candidates.