Carnevale Poised to Seek Second Term

Now that the California Primary is in the history books, candidates for local municipal elections will begin to emerge rapidly, although a handful have already announced. One of the first post-Primary candidates to surface is Mark Carnevale in Cathedral City.

Carnevale was elected to the City Council in November 2014. He ran on the principles of being a careful listener to his constituents, improving police and fire services, and increasing economic development opportunities on the north side, in downtown, as well as targeted areas throughout Cathedral City.

He is the second person to announce his candidacy for the five-member City Council. Carnevale will make his formal announcement on June 12 at his eatery, Nicolino’s Italian Restaurant. He is running to represent District 3.

District 3 includes the neighborhoods of Rio Vista, Verano, Rio Del Sol, Tapestry, Aldea, and Montage. It also includes the Desert Sands Mobile Home Park and Caliente Sands Mobile Home Park.

Raymond Gregory, 53, who retired last year from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department after more than 27 years, is seeking election in District 5. He announced his candidacy earlier this year.

District 5 is comprised of the Panorama and La Pasada neighborhoods, as well as the southern and western portions of Rio Vista and the Park David Senior Housing complex, and is one of the districts open in the November 2018 election. Together, these neighborhoods make up approximately 20 percent of the city’s population.

There are three seats up for election this year. They are currently held by Mayor Stan Henry, Carnevale and Shelley Kaplan. The two remaining seats now held by Greg Pettis and John Aguilar will be up for grabs in 2020

Henry chose not to seek a city councilmember position in District 3.  Councilmember Shelley Kaplan lives in District 1.  His term ends in 2018.  District 1 will not have an election until 2020, so he must wait two years before deciding whether to seek re-election.

In the newly drawn districts in Cathedral City, Henry and Carnevale both live in District 3. Both councilmembers’ terms end in 2018. If both councilmembers had decided to run for re-election, they would have had to run against each other.

Each of the five districts has about 11,000 residents.

District 4 and 5 have no current councilmembers living in these districts and both districts are up for election in 2018. The voters in those districts will elect a new councilmember.

No one has yet announced for District 4, which includes the Dream Homes, Outpost and Desert Princess Country Club.

Currently, Mayor Pro Tem Greg Pettis lives in District 1. He serves as an “at large” member of the council until 2020. Likewise, Councilmember John Aguilar lives in District 2 and also holds an at-large” seat until 2020 as both councilmembers were elected to four-year terms in the November 2016 election.