6 Qualify for Rancho Mirage Ballot

Six candidates have qualified to have their names on the ballot in the April 10 Rancho Mirage City Council election. Three of them are incumbents.

The six, according to City Clerk Kristie Ramos, are:

G. Dana Hobart, licensed California attorney, incumbent
Iris Smotrich, incumbent
Charles Townsend Vinci, 76, mayor of Rancho Mirage, incumbent
Michael Harrington, 59, family law attorney
Robert “Bob” Mueller, 70, president of a business consulting company
Katherine “Kate” Spates, 50, public relations consultant

Eight residents pulled papers but Michael Andrew Monroe and Brandon Joseph Ross did not file Nomination papers by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.

There are three, four-year terms up for grabs in the city election. Terms begin April 2018 and end April 2022. The top three vote-getters will be seated on the five-member council. The other members are Richard Kite and Ted Weill.

The election is an all-mail ballot and will cost an estimated $30,000, which is based on the number of registered voters.

Hobart, first elected in 2002, is the longest serving of the three incumbents facing re-election.

Townsend was elected to the Rancho Mirage City Council in 2014. Smotrich was first appointed by the Rancho Mirage City Council on July 7, 2011. In 2012, she ran unopposed and was reappointed by the City Council to serve for a two-year term. In 2014, she ran for office and won.

The mayor is appointed every year on a rotational basis by the City Council; if re-elected, Hobart is poised to become the next mayor.

As of Dec. 12, the City of Rancho Mirage has 9,886 registered voters, according to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters. The last day to register to vote or transfer registration for the April 10, 2018 election is March 26, 2018.

In order to be eligible to vote in the state of California, you must be: