A motorcyclist is dead following a collision with a vehicle at Dinah Shore Drive in the wash in Cathedral City about 6:30 p.m., according to Cathedral City City Manager Charles McClendon.
The motorcyclist appeared to be in the 30s, according to information from McClendon. It was not immediately clear if the driver was male or female.
Alcohol does not appear to be a factor.
Former Cathedral City City Councilman Paul S. Marchand was the driver of the car the motorcyclist struck, according to McClendon.
“Motorcyclist most at fault due to speed , and no DUI,” McClendon said. “Cyclist found 155 feet from area of impact.”
No further details were immediately available.
Paul S. Marchand
Marchand, a Cathedral City attorney, was elected to the City Council in 2002 and served until 2010.
Before election to the City Council, Marchand a consistent advocate for an inclusive community that respects all of its members. He has been a longtime community activist in Cathedral City, serving as President of the Palm Springs/Desert Communities Chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays).
In addition to serving Cathedral City’s residents as a Councilmember, he has served as chair of the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy Board. He has also represented Cathedral City on the Board of Trustees of the Coachella Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District and represented the City on the Human and Community Resources Committee of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG). He also served as CVAG’s representative to the Energy & Environment Committee of the Southern California Association of Governments.
Among Marchand’s legislative achievements on the City Council were Downtown Energy Savings Initiative, by which the City is realizing nearly $200,000 a year in direct and indirect savings on its energy costs, as well as using the clean, “green,” abundant and environmentally-friendly light of the sun to generate electricity for City Hall, as well as Cathedral City’s “Matricula Consular” ordinance, which affords the city’s public safety agencies an additional investigative and Homeland Security tool by permitting limited use of the Mexican consular identification card for identification.
In the fall of 2005, Paul brought forward memorial resolutions honoring the late Simon Wiesenthal and the late Rosa Parks. Their unanimous adoption by Council put Cathedral City on record as the only Coachella Valley city to honor these great exemplars of the human spirit.
