The incumbent faces 2 challengers for the Cathedral City Council

(This story will be updated as votes are tabulated.)

Cathedral City voters are choosing from four candidates for two city council seats.

Mayor Rita Lamb is running for another four-year term representing District 1 and is being challenged by retired businessman Michael Hayes and businessman Mark Scharaga.

Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Ross’s term representing District 2 also expires at the end of the year, but she is running for re-election unopposed.

Who’s winning? Live Coachella Valley Election Results

Sector 1

Hayes, a 20-year resident of Cathedral City, is a retired business owner and travel agency veteran. His goals for the council include connecting with community members through methods such as town hall meetings and improving leadership in the city’s police department.

Lamb, a 24-year resident of Cathedral City, is a retired school principal. She was elected in 2019 to fill the seat of Mayor Gregory Pettis after he died and was re-elected in 2020. Lamb previously served as a public arts commissioner and a senior member of the downtown council. If she were to seek another term on the council, she said her goals would include continuing emergency preparedness events, improving streets and expanding parks and community events.

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Scharaga, owner and CEO of technology company Sora Partners, bought his home in the city two years ago. If elected, he wants to improve the city’s emergency preparedness and economic development. He also said he wants to hold more events at Cathedral City Community Amphitheater Park, programs for seniors and youth and make sure the police department has the resources it needs.

Sector 2

Voters elected Ross to the council in 2020 and she has lived in Cathedral City for 10 years. She previously served as director of the Oregon American Civil Liberties Union.

She has served on the city’s public art commission and cannabis and homelessness task forces. Some of her goals for her second term include improving lower-income neighborhoods with signage, chartering a spay and neuter bus to come into town through her work on the Coachella Valley Animal Campus Commission, and putting up signs “Welcome to Cathedral City” at the city gates.

Ani Gasparyan covers the western Coachella Valley towns of Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City. Contact her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on the Palm Springs Desert Sun: Election results: Who won the seat in the Cathedral City Council?