La Quinta Mayor Denies Sean Webb Her Endorsement

La Quinta City Councilor Kathleen Fitzpatrick and Former City Councilor Robert Radi Also Withhold Their Support

LA QUINTA — When it comes to endorsements, Mayor Linda Evans is one of the most highly sought after politicians in the Coachella Valley. Her endorsement can easily translate into votes at the ballot box and increase candidate visibility and credibility.

Against that backdrop, Evans, who is seeking reelection in November, is withholding her endorsement of Sean Webb, 48, one of four candidates seeking a four-year term on the Desert Recreation District Board of Directors, from District 4 .

Desert Recreation District (DRD) is the largest park and recreation district in California, covering 1,887 square miles and serving more than 432,000 residents across the greater Coachella Valley. The DRD’s adopted FY 2025‑26 budget totals about $34.6 million in total fund balances, with $33.0 million in revenue and $17.1 million in expenses

This is Webb’s first attempt at running for the Board of Directors.  He currently serves as a Commissioner on the La Quinta Art and Community Services Commission

Evans, first elected Mayor in 2014, told Uken Report that “many people” have asked why she will not endorse Webb, executive director of the Read with Me Program, for the DRD District 4 board position due to issues of integrity.

“The answer is simple: Sean serves as a Commissioner on the La Quinta Art and Community Services Commission and recent due diligence revealed significant integrity concerns.,” Evans said. “Specifically, Sean has operated a property service business in La Quinta without a required business license since 2020. Furthermore, this led to discovery that he repeatedly failed to disclose this business, other income, and his spouse’s income on his mandatory Form 700 (Statement of Financial Interest) filings across multiple public roles for years.

“It was only after these issues were uncovered and he filed to run for the DRD board that he moved to pay six years of back business license fees and amend his past financial disclosures.”

Public officials must set the example and earn the voters’ trust, Evans said.

“Repeatedly failing to adhere to mandatory disclosure and licensing requirements is unacceptable,” Evans said. “While I respect those who have chosen to endorse him, I cannot join the majority of the council in endorsing a candidate under these circumstances. The Form 700 documents are available for community review.”

Webb told Uken Report Tuesday evening that he submitted the corrected paperwork “immediately upon learning of the inadvertent administrative oversight.”

(Parenthetically, Webb told Uken Report he traveled to Riverside to file the corrected paperwork on Friday, Oct. 2. The date stamp on the document is Aug 5, 2026 . Does that make sense to you?  Elizabeth Florer, public information officer for the Registrar’s office, said. “This is the only form we have which was received on Aug 5, 2026.”)

“There is an election underway, and voters should distinguish between legitimate questions about a candidate’s disclosures and an effort by political opponents to manufacture controversy from matters that were identified, disclosed and corrected” Webb said in a statement.

“I am running for the Desert Recreation District because I feel like I can contribute to the meaningful work Desert Recreation provides to the communities it serves and I’ll continue to talk about the issues of fiscal responsibility, Safe parks and recreation for every family,” Webb concluded.

An official seven count complaint has also been filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission. It was filed on Sept. 28 at 4:15 p.m., so the steam has been building toward Webb for a while. It was only a matter of time before the lid blew off. The complainant was anonymous. The complaint, which you can read here, alleges that Webb:

• Failed to disclose statements of economic interest.
• Omitted his spouse’s income on government forms. Webb’s spouse is employed by the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert and has been for a number of years – employment that is commonly known in the community.
• Submitted government forms omitting his business. In the Form 700 statements covering the period in which Webb has been a filer, the business and its income do not appear. The concern is not the amount — the Act requires disclosure of the source, not a specific figure — but that a reportable income source appears to be absent from every
  statement.
• Potential additional non-disclosure – residence used as a business location.
• Summary. Across these statements, an active business Webb owns and serves as agent for — confirmed by two independent public records, the Secretary of State
  registration and the city business license — does not appear, nor does any income from it.
• Candidate statement not produced on request. As a candidate for the Desert Recreation District (an elective office designated in a conflict-of-interest code), r. Webb was required to file a candidate Form 700 with the Riverside County Registrar of Voters by the close of the nomination period. A request directed at obtaining that candidate statement was made at the County Registrar level on more than one occasion; no candidate Form 700 was produced in response — only annual statements of the kind described above. This indicates either that no candidate statement was filed — itself a violation — or that the filing officer has no such statement on file. The Commission’s investigative authority can determine which.

Fitzpatrick said she usually remains neutral in Valley races, But, when I heard that La Quinta has a commissioner running for a public office that hasn’t taken his reporting responsibility seriously, I felt it was incumbent upon me to comment.

“I’m very disappointed to learn that Mr. Webb, who is an educator and a commissioner, has failed to take the requirements to report income seriously,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “And that he has operated two businesses in La Quinta for a number of years before he recently secured business licenses. The same rules apply to each (and) all of us. I would not be comfortable having someone who has ignored the rules representing our residents in La Quinta.”

Former City Councilor Robert Radi reviewed all of the forms Evans did.

These two additional forms reinforce the perception that a candidate for public office has settled into a pattern of “incomplete disclosure. The pattern, not any single filing, makes this a matter of public interest,” Radi said.

While it is reasonable to infer that a pattern exists, the next question matters for public office, Radi said. What holds such a pattern in place, and is it relevant to holding public office?

“Leadership behavior offers a useful lens through the two classic errors of judgment. An Error of Omission is failing to do something that should have been done. An Error of Commission is actively doing something but doing it incorrectly. Both are germane to executive leadership and public office. Here, both appear. Interests were left off the form, and a form was completed and certified, yet completed incompletely. The effect is the same. The public loses the visibility the form is meant to provide, as illustrated in my previous comments.”

No date has been set as to when the FPPC might act on the Webb complaint.