Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina Eyes Mayoral Post

Editor’s Note: Uken Report posed a series of identical questions to each of the four mayoral candidates. Everyone but Denise Delgado responded. Q&As with Frank Figeruoa, Jesus “Kino” Gonzalez have already published. Following are unedited responses from Jesus ‘Kino’ Gonzalez.

Uken Report (UR): Why are you a better candidate than your opponent(s)?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: Coachella has been described as a hardscrabble town, as Cindy Uken once called it, and I agree. That is a reflection of the corrupt, negligent, and incompetent leaders who have authored Coachella’s story for too long, and it says nothing about our hard-working, Latino-majority community. Shakespeare wrote that we are all actors on the stage of life. Some actors in Coachella were granted the right to author a story, and they wrote a slapstick comedy for the educated citizens watching from afar and a tragedy for the citizens living inside it.

I am a different leader, a different author. I have pushed for clean government since I announced my three pillars, and the council has acted on issues I’ve pressed. That pressure comes from research I’ve done on the public record, including the FPPC complaint now under further review. I have the education, the modern skill set, and the valor to author a new story for Coachella. I am here to author the Coachella Renaissance.

UR: What is your vision for the city?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: My vision is for Coachella to act like an entrepreneur. A city that invests in what it needs, owns what it depends on, and reinvests what it earns. That starts with energy independence and a publicly owned electric utility, built to serve residents at cost. It includes investing in local talent, like a youth soccer program that develops Coachella’s own players and returns a share of their success to the city. Public utilities like these generate revenue, and that revenue funds the next one, improving life for Coachella residents and the Coachella Valley at large.

To run that kind of city, we work in public. The council sets goals in sprints, every goal and status sits on a public sprint board, and a live budget dashboard shows the operating budget, surplus or deficit, and every item planned, denied, or modified. The city publishes contracts and records to its website by default, so residents rarely need a records request to see how their government works. An enlightened Coachella, that is the Coachella Renaissance.

UR: How much do you plan to spend on your campaign? Keep in mind your spending and contributions are public record.

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: I’m self-funding for now. I formed a committee because I would like to raise more than $2,000 from supporters, and I will report every dollar I raise. I would like to raise no more $10,000. I believe campaign funds should be limited to around $7,500 to $10,000, which is enough to run a real campaign without letting money decide who wins. But I can continue to self-fund if I need to.

UR: The Data Center issue has been a major contentious issue this past year. When did you first realize that the Coachella Valley Technology Campus was primarily being developed for Data Centers? Did you understand at the time the negative effects? Has your position changed on this subject? If so, why?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: I realized the campus was primarily for data centers in early May 2026, the week before the City’s May 11 community town hall on the municipal utility and the proposed data center. The utility agreement passed on February 11 on the consent calendar with no discussion, so like most residents, I found out after the vote.

I didn’t understand the full cost at first. My first question was how a 20-year utility deal passed with no public discussion. Then I read it. The City agreed to carry wildfire insurance at its own cost and to rebuild the developer’s utility infrastructure at its own expense if a wildfire destroyed it. The City’s share of revenue was left to an exhibit the public never saw. The mayor who voted yes was facing felony conflict-of-interest and perjury charges at the time, on other city matters. Six weeks later he pleaded guilty to one felony conflict-of-interest count.

What I found as I kept reading was a pattern of money and votes. Stronghold gave the mayor who voted yes $4,900. That mayor was also the county supervisor’s chief of staff, and the supervisor’s 2022 committee gave him and the council member who made the motion $4,900 each. Stronghold Engineering CEO Beverly Bailey gave the supervisor $5,000 ten days after the company’s first land purchase, and he later wrote a letter supporting the project on official letterhead, then withdrew it after it became public. None of this requires taking my word for it. It’s in the filings, and the complaint I filed against the supervisor survived intake and is still open with the FPPC.

My position has only gotten firmer. By May 27 I was calling for a permanent ban, and I have since asked the council to take it to the voters so three votes can’t undo it.

UR: The Data Center issue has been a major contentious issue this past year. When did you first realize that the Coachella Valley Technology Campus was primarily being developed for Data Centers? Did you understand at the time the negative effects? Has your position changed on this subject? If so, why?

UR: Who or what prompted you to run?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: Nobody talked me into running. I had set myself a rule: if someone else told me I should, I would take it as a sign, because I didn’t want anyone to think I was doing this for clout. I applied for a planning commission seat and stepped back because I worried about being limited in what I could say. I also never applied for the council seat. I cried over that one, because it felt like giving up my chance to fight for my city, but I decided I could fight better as an outsider. What kept me at the podium was the data center. I was angry that council members who are paid to do this work hadn’t done the research I was doing on my own time, and that their decision put my home and my neighbors’ homes at risk. Then, at a council meeting, a senior citizen sitting behind me called out, ‘Hey mijo, you should run for Mayor!’ It took me some time to process that, but she is the one who prompted me.

UR: Is it time for a new city attorney?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: Yes! On May 13 I told the council on the record that I didn’t believe they or Best Best & Krieger were fulfilling their fiduciary duties, and I asked for an independent review of every contract approved on February 11. On June 4 I said plainly that I wanted BBK out of my city. Six days later the council voted 5-0 to start looking for a new city attorney. The people paid to protect residents should have raised these questions before the vote, not after.

UR: Have you met with the City Manager yet? Why or why not? Did he provide any words of wisdom or advice? Care to share?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: Yes, I have met with City Manager Gustavo Romo several times. I had been dissatisfied with how the previous City Manager, William Pattison, vetted Stronghold before recommending the utility agreement, and I asked the council to hire an outside manager with no ties to anyone involved in it. So when Mr. Romo arrived, I wanted to understand what drew him to Coachella. In a nutshell, I like Mr. Romo, and I am excited to work with him moving forward. His advice was to trademark my hyper-scale affordable homes concept and my idea for contracting with local business owners on city work, and to bring it together in a thesis. He also encouraged me to share the work at builders associations and conferences. My MBA doesn’t require a thesis, because my real-world business is my thesis, but he has repeatedly encouraged me to write one. His decades of experience would make it stronger, so I asked if he would co-author it… and we are still talking about it.

UR: What have you learned about running for public office that you did not know before?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: I learned the City requires candidates to file a sign-location map and a statement that property owners consented, and that signs aren’t allowed on public property. On September 29 the Deputy City Clerk told me in writing that no candidate has filed one. I have no signs posted anywhere in the city. When I put up my own, I’ll file the map and the owner consents first, and I’m asking the City to hold every campaign to the same rule.

UR: Residents have said that in the past they have not been heard. What will you do, if anything, to correct that?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: In my MBA program at Oneday, the most important module is customer discovery. When you listen to your customers, find their real needs, and build solutions around them, you reach product-market fit. I intend to do exactly that with Coachella’s residents. The council will research the facts, propose solutions, and post every goal on a public sprint board where residents can comment. Before anything comes to a vote, we’ll hold a community session to hear what people think. Then we revise and repeat until the solution works for Coachella residents.

UR: What is the best quality about your opponent(s)?

Francisco ‘Frankie’ Molina: I’d rather let the record speak for each of them, but I will say this: I commend each of my opponents for stepping up to lead. Anyone can stand on the sidelines and scream with conviction that they know the answers to every problem. We’re the ones who went out, sold our vision, earned our nominations, and are out here doing the campaigning.