City Clerk American Flag Image

Transition to District Elections

Final Map

On April 5, 2022, the City Council adopted Ordinance 754 approving Map 1.1 as the final district map and establishing a by-district election process commencing with the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election. Members of the City Council shall be elected by districts 1, 2, 3, and 4, with one (1) mayor elected at-large.

Members of the City Council from Council Districts 1 and 3 shall be elected on a by-district basis beginning with the November 8, 2022, General Municipal Election and every four years thereafter.

Members of the City Council from Council Districts 2 and 4 shall be elected on a by-district basis beginning with the General Municipal Election in November 2024 and every four years thereafter. One (1) mayor shall be elected at-large in November 2024.

Only registered voters residing in the Council District may vote for candidates running for City Council in that District.

Lookup your voting district using our Interactive Mapping Tool.

This page was last updated in May 2022. The information below is provided for historical reference.

Overview

The Desert Hot Springs Municipal Code provides that members of the City Council are currently elected by at-large elections, as each member is elected by the registered voters of the entire city.

On November 1, 2021, the City received a letter asserting that the City's at-large election system may violate the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) and threatening litigation if the City does not voluntarily transition to a district-based election system for electing its City Council.

On December 8, 2021, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2021-071 declaring its intent to transition from at-large to by-district elections.

The City will be holding public hearings and public workshops to receive public input on where district lines should be drawn. Those public workshops and public input hearings are outlined below.

Provide Input

Attend a Public Workshop:

The City will host public workshops on the following dates/times. You can attend in-person at City Hall located at 11999 Palm Drive or virtually via the Zoom platform.

  • Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 6:00 P.M.
  • Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 12:00 P.M.
  • Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 6:00 P.M.

Attend a Public Hearing:

The following hearings will be held as a part of regular City Council meetings.

Submit a Public Comment Form or Send an Email:

 

Draft Maps

Draft Map No. 1

Draft Map 1

FINAL Map 1.1

Draft Map 1.1 Thumb

Draft Map No. 2

Draft Map No. 2

N/A

Draft Map No. 3

Draft Map No. 3

Draft Map No. 3.1

Draft Map 3.1

District Boundaries Criteria:

In accordance with the Fair Maps Act, district boundaries were drawn using the following criteria in the listed order of priority:

1) Comply with the federal requirements of equal population and the Voting Rights Act
2) Geographically contiguous
3) Undivided neighborhoods and “communities of interest” (socio-economic geographic areas that should be kept together)
4) Easily identifiable boundaries
5) Compact (do not bypass one group of people to get to a more distant group of people)
6) Shall not favor or discriminate against a political party

Frequently Asked Questions

Under a District-based election system, the City would be divided into equally populated election districts.  A candidate must reside within an election district and is elected only by voters residing within that same election district.


Bajo un sistema electoral basado en el dist rito, el mun1c1p10 se divi dirfa en distritos electora tes igualmente poblados. Un candidate debe residir dentro de un distrito electoral y es elegido solamente per los votantes que residen dentro de ese mismo distri to electoral.

Currently, the City Council consists of four Council Members and a Mayor who are all elected at-large. This means any eligible voter who lives in the City can run for office, and every voter may vote for all four of the City Council Member seats and also vote for Mayor, regardless of where they live in the City. Once elected, the four City Council Members and the Mayor each serve four-year terms of office with a limit of two terms for Mayor.


Actualme nte, el Ayuntamiento esta formado per cuatro concej ales y un alcalde que son elegidos de forma general. Esto signi fica que cualquier vota nte elegible que vive en el munici pio puede postularse pa ra el cargo, y cada vot ante puede votar per los cuatro escanos del Ayunta miento y tambien vot ar per el alcalde, independientemente de donde vivan en la ci udad. Una vez elegidos, los cuatro conceja les y el alcalde cumplen un t ermino de cuatro anos de mandate con un If mite de dos mandat es para el alcalde.

District formation determines which neighborhoods and communities are grouped together into a district for purposes of electing a council member.

The Mayor and City Council will seek input in selecting the district map for our City Council. You have an opportunity to share with the Mayor and City Council how you think district boundaries should be drawn to best represent your community.

You can contact the City Clerk’s Office at 760-329-6411 or cityclerk@cityofdhs.org to find out more about how the process works.


La form aci6n de distritos electora tes determina que vecind arios y comunidades se agrupan en un distrito para prop6sitos de elegir a un miembro del ayuntamiento.

El Alcalde y el Concejo Municipal pedi ran su opi nion al seleccionar el mapa del distrito para nuestro Municipio. Ust ed tiene la oportunidad de compartir con el Alcalde y el Concejo Municipal c6mo pi ensa que los lfmites del distrito deben ser para represent ar mej or a su comunidad.

Puede comunica rse con Carmezi Russell, Secretario Municipal por t elefono al 760-329-6411 ext. 117 o por correo electronico a cityclerk@cityofdhs.org para obtener mas informaci6n sobre c6mo fun ciona el proceso.

To the extent practicable, district lines will be adopted using the following criteria:

(1) Geographically contiguous districts,

(2) The geographic integrity of local neighborhoods or communities shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division,

(3) Geographic integrity of a city shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division,

(4) Easily identifiable boundaries that follow natural or artificial barriers (rivers, streets, highways, rail lines, etc.), and

(5) Lines shall be drawn to encourage geographic compactness.

In addition, boundaries shall not be drawn for purposes of favoring or discriminating against a political party.


En la medida en que sea posib le, los If mites distritales se definiran de acuerdo con los siguientes criterios:

(1) contiguidad geografica,

(2) respeto de la integridad geografica de los vecindarios o las comunidades locales a fin de minimizar su division,

(3) respeto de la integridad geografica de las ci udades a fin de minimizar su division,

(4) If mites facilmente identificables que sigan las barreras natu ra les o artificiales (rfos, calles, autopistas, lfneas ferroviarias, etc.), y

(5) definicion de If mites de modo que se prom ueva la compactibilidad geografica. Ademas, nose definiran If mites con el fin de favorecer ni discriminar a ningun partido polftico.

The Mayor and City Council will reach out to local media to publicize the District formation process. Also, we will make a good faith effort to notify community groups of various kinds about the District formation process. Our public input hearings will be provided in applicable languages (e.g., Spanish) if residents submit a request in advance. The Mayor and City Council will notify the public about District formation public input hearings, post maps online before adoption, and create a dedicated web page for all relevant information about the District formation process.


El ayuntamiento municipal se comunicara con los med ios locales para difundir el proceso de reestructuracion de distritos. Ademas, haremos un esfuerzo por not ificar a diferentes grupos de la comunidad acerca de este proceso. Nuestros talleres se ofreceran en los idiomas solicitados (p. ej., espa nol, mandarf n) siempre y cuando los residentes presenten una solicitud con 72 horas de anticipacion. El ayuntamiento municipal notificara al publico acerca de los talleres de reestructuracion de distritos, publicara los mapas en lf nea antes de implementar los If mites nuevos y creara una pagina web exclusivamente para comunicar toda la informacion pertinente sobre el proceso de reestructuracion de distritos.

The City will be holding public workshops and hearings to receive public input on where district lines should be drawn. Please see workshop and hearing dates listed on this page.


El concejo municipal llevara a cabo juntas y talleres pu blicos para escuchar la opinion de la comunidad acerca de los limites de los distritos.

Close window