Lamb Poised to Challenge Kaplan in District 1

CATHEDRAL CITY – Rita Lamb is positioning herself to take on Shelley Kaplan in the upcoming special District 1 election here.

Lamb confirmed to Uken Report that she pulled the necessary paperwork to become a full-fledged candidate in the August contest. She is a retired former school Principal of the Year in the Desert Sands Unified School District. She has also been co-hosting Coachella Thriving on KCOD.

Coachella thriving is dedicated to senior living in the Coachella Valley.

Only Kaplan and Lamb have publicly indicated they will make a bid for the seat that was left vacant when Mayor Gregory S. Pettis died earlier this year.

Lamb was one of 14 people who sought the appointment when the City Council first considered filling the vacancy by appointment.

When the majority of the City Council eventually agreed to hold a special election, Councilmember Ernesto Gutierrez sought to appoint Lamb.

“Why waste money on a special election when we had a total of six well-qualified individuals to choose from?” Gutierrez told Uken Report at the time. “My choice was Rita Lamb for the following reasons. Rita Lamb makes an incredible candidate to fill the vacancy.  She is an asset to our city. She lives in District #1. She is extremely qualified.  She can fill the lack of gender diversity in our Council. She is willing to serve, and she has been a longtime resident.  Plus, she has many other attributes.”

Mayor Mark Carnevale told Uken Report that he will not endorse or support anyone in the upcoming election. Mayor Pro Tem John Aguilar he will not be endorsing anyone either.

Neither Councilmember Gutierrez nor Raymond Gregory could immediately be reached for comment Monday morning.

Billing herself as a “New Voice for Cathedral City,” Lamb will host a Meet the Candidate event on Wednesday, May 15 at 68500 Cathedral Canyon Drive from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The vote-by-mail-only election is set for Aug. 27 for residents in District 1 only.

The person elected in the special election will finish Pettis’ term, which will be about 15 months by the time the special election is held in August.