The Coachella City Council agreed to appoint local real estate broker Juan Martinez as its fifth member, filling a vacancy first created by the resignation of former Mayor Steven Hernandez following his guilty plea to a felony conflict-of-interest charge.
The appointment came at the end of a special meeting Friday afternoon, June 5, just a day after the council voted to cancel its development contract with the company it had hired months ago to build a massive data center amid overwhelming public opposition.
During the meeting the day prior, the council also instituted a 45-day moratorium on data center development, and it may soon vote on a permanent ban on construction of data centers in the city. The question of whether they would support such a ban was among those posed to the applicants during Friday’s meeting. (Each person, including Martinez, said they would in response.)
The vacancy on the council emerged after Hernandez, the city’s longtime mayor, resigned from office after pleading guilty to a felony conflict of interest charge relating to misconduct as mayor. About a month later, Councilmember Frank Figueroa was appointed to the mayoral position, and the council held several recent meetings with just four members.
The city had also been without a permanent city manager for a period after Gabriel Martin was fired from the role by the council last year with no reason given. Last week the council hired Gustavo Romo, most recently the deputy city manager in Beaumont.
Speaking to the council, Martinez, who was among nine applicants interviewed by the council Friday, pointed to his work as a regional director for the California Association of Realtors and as a government affairs director for a local real estate board, where he’s established relationships with local lawmakers and officials.
“Latinos that have real estate offices here in Coachella and India have no representation (on some Realtor boards), so I had a conversation with myself and I said, ‘If I want to see the change, I have to be the change,’” Martinez said.
Martinez said one of the biggest issues facing the council is building public trust, adding he would try to engage in meaningful dialogue with residents.
“Coachella has tremendous potential, but we need more investment and more jobs that allow local families to succeed without having to leave the city,” Martinez wrote in his application for the seat. “Most importantly I believe the way we can address these issues is the city’s leadership has stayed connected to the people.” Residents deserve transparency, honesty, lenders (sic) who are willing to listen before deciding.”
After the interviews, the council thanked all of the applicants and encouraged them to remain engaged with issues at city hall. Councilmember Yadira Perez introduced the motion to appoint Martinez, and it was advanced by Councilmember Stephanie Virgen.
Figueroa made an alternative proposal, recommending Martin Pallares Perez for the seat, but no other members seconded his motion. The council then agreed by a 4-0 vote to appoint Martinez, with Figueroa saying his vote “is to ensure that we have continuity in the city and because I don’t want to have disruption on our dais.”
Martinez was then sworn in immediately by Coachella’s city clerk. With the appointment, Martinez’s term will last until November, and he told the council that he plans to seek election to a full four-year term in the upcoming general election.
Tom Coulter covers local government and politics for The Desert Sun. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella City Council appoints real estate broker as new member
Reporting by Tom Coulter, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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By Tom Coulter, Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
