Stephen Giboney Challenges Scott Matas in DHS

Stephen Giboney is One of Two People Challenging Scott Mataa for Mayor

DESERT HOT SPRINGS — Stephen Giboney is one of two people challenging incumbent Mayor Scott Matas for a two-year term. The other is Russell Betts.

All candidates were given identical questionnaires. Following are Giboney’s unedited responses.

UR: Age and occupation

Stephen Giboney: 52 Self Employed Entrepreneur.

UR: Who or what motivated you to run for the City Council/Mayor?

Stephen Giboney: The city of Desert Hot Springs has had the same tribe of people running it for a very very long time.  They are entrenched and unwilling to allow anyone with a differing opinion a chance to serve on the council.  I am running for office to attempt to break through their barrier they’ve created against those not in their tribe.  Desert Hot Springs is filled with wonderful residents that are pointing out things that need to be fixed in the city and their voices are not being heard by our current city staff and public servants on the council.   Only after there is a tragedy does the city council respond.  They use the crisis to grow the government off the backs of the tragedies.

UR: How long have you lived in DHS full time?

Stephen Giboney: I have lived in Desert Hot Springs for almost 10 years.  I love this city and feel it deserves better representation.

UR: What is your No. 1 priority for the city?

Stephen Giboney: I will open up the city government so that the public can see into the workings of the city and what agenda items affect them.  There will be a drastically larger percentage of transparency if I get elected.  Because I believe the public makes much better decisions for their city if they are given all of the information to digest.  Our country is a form of “self rule” and that’s how it should be in our city as well.

UR: What makes you a better candidate than your opponents?

Stephen Giboney: The city is run by big business and those businesses have a strong hold on our city staff and city council.  I can not be bought or paid for in any way.  Our current Mayor has been on the council for 17 years and he has almost no contact with the public on any regular basis.  He’s just basically Missing in action.  Councilman Betts has a net worth of over a million dollars and I believe he is financially out of touch when it comes to our city’s common residents.  We are after all a low income community.  I on the other had am a hard working blue collar guy that likes to help people solve problems.  But unfortunately all of the other governmental organizations want the same people that are currently serving to keep on serving.  This allows for all the business deals that are done before we even hear about them to move forward as planned.  The current council are, for lack of a better term, puppets.  They will do as they are told and they get the perks for doing so.  Again I get down to business and take care of the people first.

UR: Do you see yourself as a team player or an individual who will fight for your opinion?

Stephen Giboney: I know when I have a legitimate edge when it comes to working with groups.  And I know when I don’t.  I know how to fight for what I want but at the same time see when I need to pull back and come back around another day.  I believe I am fair and I am also a great listener.  I can tell when I’m being lied to and when I’m not.  I don’t ever let emotions get the best of me and I know how to be civil.

UR: How do you deal with conflict?

Stephen Giboney: With a calm cool head.  Nothing gets better while there is a conflict going on if cool heads do not prevail.  I am reasonable, I am a problem solver, and I know when a fight is not worth taking on.  Give us an example.  If I found myself in the midst of a conflict on the council that did not involve me I would sit it out and assess the situation.  If I was involved in it I would apply the typical behaviors of the others involved and apply their typical paths they usually take during conflict before they even get to exercise them.  People are predictable.  They are selfish, they are motivated by their own interests and they at times have egos. Those things are very predictable after patterns of the same behavior appear over and over.  I have dealt with people who enjoy conflict and I have dealt with people who don’t know the conflict they cause.  It’s all part of human behavior.  Humans are only unpredictable until you realize they really are predictable.

UR: Does DHS need to change the way it’s been doing business?

Stephen Giboney: Yes, it needs to step up and bring in the businesses that people are asking for.  More family oriented businesses.  (People have been asking for this for years and years and years.)  Change its image? Yes DHS still has a bad image, such as the blight along Palm that is not a great image for our city.  If so, in what way?  There is no sense of community because our city council does not pull everyone together to feel like a community.  The council are so into governing that they lost sight of the ability to be humble enough to put other people’s wants on the table.  The council only passes what they have to or what they are told to pass by the city staff.  The larger regional governments, the state, and the federal government have a long list of things that DHS has to get done.  This leaves almost no time to fulfill any of the needs of the people asking for a transformation of DHS to a more family oriented city.

UR: In what areas does the city need to grow?

Stephen Giboney: The city needs to grow its community.  As I wrote above, the city is very divided along many lines.  There is no central leader for the city to rely on.  Russ Betts answers some social media inquiries when he has time.  The Mayor is virtually MIA.  He just doesn’t exist in the city in any way other than election time and city council meetings.  The city needs a friendly leader that can bring the groups of citizens together.  After that the city would flourish.  Too many people are in the dark or they are being lied to by the city council.  I will be the person to unify the citizens through action that is needed to address the concerns we all see on social media every day.  Homeless defecating in shopping centers.  Homeless doing drugs in front of store fronts.  Speeding on Palm day and night.  Trash being dumped on curbs.  On and on.  The majority of these things would disappear if the community felt like they had a say in the future of the city.  The current city council blocks off citizen involvement other than asking them to report the issue.  The city can only do so much and there are not enough hours in the day for them to respond.  The citizens need to self govern their own city.  They can work together to create solutions to problems if they know that the city will not help them when they need them.  There are peaceful strategies that can be employed to solve everyday issues in Desert Hot Springs if the people know all the facts.  If they know what works and what doesn’t.  Again our city staff and city council keep the public in the dark on most everything associated with the government so the people are virtually walking around blind to healthy and peaceful solutions to their most common city issues.  I would bring those solutions to the city so that the people can move forward with living in what it’s supposed to feel like living in a city of 30,000+ people.