Palm Springs City Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein could secure another term on the council without his name appearing on the November ballot.
That’s one possible outcome after the city announced that the council would hold a special meeting on Thursday, Aug. 19, to discuss how to proceed given that Bernstein was the only candidate who qualified for the ballot. The meeting will start at 9 a.m. at city hall.
An agenda published for the meeting states that the council will decide whether to appoint Bernstein to the seat or go ahead with putting the race on the November ballot, with Bernstein the only listed candidate.
Under California law, candidates for the city council seats up for election this fall had from July 13 to Aug. 7 to pull papers and collect
the number of valid signatures from district voters needed to make the ballot. The deadline came and went with Bernstein being the only candidate to submit the required number of valid signatures. In such cases, California law allows city the council to vote on appointing Bernstein itself.
Could other candidates still run?
If the council does vote to move forward with a District 2 election, residents could file to run as write-in candidates, meaning their name would not appear on the ballot but could be written in by voters and counted. In that case, candidates will be able to file forms and collect signatures to be certified by the city as a write-in candidate from Sept. 7 through Oct. 20.
Tad Iwan, who described himself in campaign material as a director of project management for clinical oncology trials, initially pulled papers to run against Bernstein. But he was unable to secure enough signatures to qualify his name for the ballot.
Bernstein, a businessman who owns the downtown shop Destination PSP, won his first term in 2022.
Who else is running for city council in Palm Springs?
Bernstein’s District 2 seat is one of three council seats that are scheduled to be up for election this November, with the others having two candidates running. Donald J. Soja, the former chair of the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission, is running against incumbent Grace Garner for the District 1 seat while Charles A. Brown is running against incumbent Ron deHarte in District 3. The Districts 4 and 5 seats currently held by Mayor Naomi Soto and former city manager David Ready will be up for election in November 2028.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Unopposed Palm Springs councilman may get second term with no election
