(This story was updated with new information.)
With Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez expected to be arraigned Thursday on felony charges, details of what he’s accused of remained unclear Wednesday, with his court case still sealed from the public.
While he remained mayor as of Wednesday, he was placed on indefinite administrative leave in his day job as chief of staff for Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez.
“The allegations against Steven Hernandez are serious, and he has been placed on indefinite administrative leave from the County of Riverside,” Perez said in a prepared statement released Wednesday. “Although we are still waiting on more details, it’s our understanding that the charges are unrelated to his role in our office.”
Hernandez was booked into jail on Tuesday, Oct. 28, on suspicion of five counts of conflict of interest, one of them a felony, and five felony counts of perjury. Online jail records say he was arrested at the Robert Presley Detention Center by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, suggesting he may have surrendered himself.
Hernandez, who was released the same day on $112,500 bail, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday or Wednesday. It was not clear whether he had an attorney.
The DA’s office declined to release more information, though it said it will eventually. Typically, when a case is sealed prior to an arrest, it is unsealed after a defendant is arraigned, meaning more details could emerge Thursday.
Hernandez has been a fixture in East Coachella Valley politics, serving in various roles for about two decades. In addition to being mayor for more than a decade and a city council member for eight years before that, he served as Perez’s chief of staff. Through his elected city position, Hernandez also has long been involved in regional government, including being an executive committee member for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.
No members of the Coachella City Council have responded to inquiries about the impact of the Hernandez’s arrest on city administration. A spokesperson for the City of Coachella said he has not communicated any intention to resign.
It’s likely Hernandez will remain in office for some time unless he voluntarily resigns. Under state law, an elected city official is removed from office in only a few ways, including voter recall or if they’re convicted of a felony or of “any offense involving a violation of his or her official duties.”
Coachella residents saddened by arrest
A staffer at Coachella City Hall on Thursday said Hernandez was not there and that he and other council members don’t have offices there. In the lobby of the civic center building, photos of the five city council members, including Hernandez, remained displayed.
Many people walking downtown had heard about Hernandez’s arrest, but few would comment on it on the record. Several said they didn’t know enough to have an opinion on it, though others said they were surprised and sad to hear of the arrest.
One resident, Esteban Gonzales, said he briefly rented a home owned by Hernandez on Avenue 52 about three years ago. Gonzales said he only had a handful of interactions with Hernandez and did not know him well but had found him to be a good man.
Still, Gonzales said he hadn’t been surprised to hear of a public official being arrested and added: “There’s too much money. It goes to show you that everybody can get busted.”
It’s not yet clear whether the allegations against Hernandez involve any money changing hands.
Other residents would not give their names, with one saying he hopes the city of Coachella as a whole doesn’t have its reputation damaged by the charges against Hernandez.
Another man said he went to Coachella Valley High School at the same time as Hernandez and always thought he was honest and a person of good character. The man added that he thought Hernandez had been an effective and productive mayor who had done good things for the city.
Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella mayor to be arraigned Thursday, put on leave from county job
Reporting by Christopher Damien and Paul Albani-Burgio, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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