Palm Springs City Council to Decide Whether to Skip the District 2 Election

Palm Springs City Council will decide Thursday whether to cancel the November election for the District 2 council seat and simply appoint the only person who ran for it.

According to a staff report filed by Palm Springs City Manager Scott Stiles, the current District 2 incumbent, Jeffrey Bernstein, was the sole candidate to file nomination papers before the August 7th deadline. Under state law, that gives the council two options: appoint Bernstein directly and cancel the November 3rd election, or direct the city clerk to hold the election anyway.

If the council opts to appoint him, Bernstein would receive a "Certificate of Appointment In Lieu of Election" and be sworn in, with his term officially starting after November 3rd. If the council instead chooses to move forward with the election, the city would open a write-in candidate window from September 7th through October 20th.

This isn't the first time Palm Springs has faced this exact situation. Back in 2020, the council ran into the same scenario in District 5, when Lisa Middleton was the only candidate to file for that seat. Middleton abstained from the vote since it was her own race, and the rest of the council voted 4 to 0 to hold the election anyway rather than appoint her outright. In 2024, District 5 went uncontested again, though that time the city couldn't cancel the election because a citywide ballot measure was also up for a vote that year.

Palm Springs isn't alone in dealing with this right now, either. According to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, both Temecula and Calimesa are facing the same issue. Temecula is also holding a special meeting Thursday morning to consider canceling races for two City Council seats, and Calimesa already canceled its own two uncontested council races at a meeting on August 17th.

City staff projects that canceling the District 2 election would save Palm Springs an estimated $22,000 in election costs.

The special meeting starts at 9 a.m. Thursday at Palm Springs City Hall.