Palm Springs Voters Will Decide District 2 Council Race After All

Palm Springs City Council voted 3 to 1 Thursday morning to move forward with the November election for the District 2 council seat, turning down the chance to skip the race and appoint the seat's only candidate outright.

Jeffrey Bernstein, the current District 2 councilmember, was the sole candidate to file for the seat before the August 7th deadline, which gave the council the choice to appoint him directly or let the election proceed as planned. Bernstein abstained from Thursday's vote.

The meeting lasted about 30 minutes. Councilmembers Ron deHarte and Grace Garner, along with Mayor Pro Tem David Ready, voted to hold the election. Mayor Naomi Soto cast the lone dissenting vote, saying she preferred appointing Bernstein directly rather than putting the seat up for a vote.

With the election moving forward, the city will open a write-in candidate window from September 7th through October 20th for anyone else who wants to challenge Bernstein for the seat on the November 3rd ballot.