Susan Marie Weber Eyes Palm Desert District 1 Seat

PALM DESERT —Susan Marie Weber, elected to the City Council n 2012, and re-elected in 2016, is seeking the District 1 seat in the Nov. 3 election.

Her only challenger for the four-year term is Karina Quintanilla, Lorraine Salas and Quintanilla sued the city in June 2019 arguing Palm Desert was not in compliance with California’s Voting Rights Act with its at-large system

District 1 is the smaller of the city’s two voting districts. It contains about 20% of the population and is commonly referred to as the Civic Center Core District.

Uken Report reached out to all candidates with a series of questions. Following are the unedited responses from Susan Marie Weber.

Uken Report (UR): Occupation:

Susan Marie Weber: I have had my accounting business since 1980.  I focus on education and  setting up systems and procedures for the client and the staff to operate the accounting portion of the business in an efficient, logical manner.

For the last eight years, my other occupation has been as a member of the Palm Desert City Council, serving as mayor in 2015 and 2019.  With that is the opportunity to serve as liaison to a variety of Committees and Commissions and other Coachella Valley organizations.

UR:  Why are you seeking re-election?

Susan Marie Weber: To continue with public service.  Clearly it is an honor to be able to represent our community.  I like to make it as easy as possible for people to become familiar with ‘how things work’ in local government.  As a council member, my goal is to draw people into THEIR government.

UR:  What qualities/strengths do you have that you opponents do not?

Susan Marie Weber: I focus on education, which is my passion.  Whenever there are issues in the City, I support the methods we use of bringing the community together with information and education.   I have had (until Co-Vid) established office hours – so that anyone could meet with a council person without a formal appointment.  Always available for discussions with our community.  Having been in business for so many years, I can relate to the concerns of our local businesses.

UR: If re-elected, what are your goals?

Susan Marie Weber: Of course the obvious one is to do everything possible to help our businesses be successful.  We have visitors from all over the world, and their “contribution” to our City, via sales tax and the hotel tax, is what gives our City the funds to make a great community.

Another goal, shared by the entire community – to have increased access to education which will result in careers.  We are working with Cal State University SB,  to make it Cal State Palm Desert.  We want our young people remain in the City after their education.  The new iHub, working with Cal State will help create that career path.

UR: Single biggest accomplishment during your tenure and why.

Susan Marie Weber: As one of five on our Council, I don’t think of myself as having a single accomplishment.  For every issue, we examine evidence and presentations, discuss in public, and vote as we see best.  One activity I did last year, was our Coffee with the Mayor. Along with me, several department heads would do presentations, including our Fire Chief and Lt. Martello (Riverside Co. Sheriff).  My purpose was to encourage the public to get to know our City – to see the face of the person they might be calling for assistance.  And, to remind them, as a council person, I am there to be of service.