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Indian election 2024: Who is running?

By Hudson Brooklyn
Indian election 2024: Who is running?

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Two seats on the Indio City Council are up for election this fall, but only one of them has multiple candidates vying for it. In the race for the 5th District, Indio Police Department employee Ben Guitron is trying to unseat longtime council member Lupe Ramos Amith.

In District 1, another long-time incumbent, Glenn Miller, is running unopposed.

But the city council elections are not the only ones that citizens will find on their ballots this fall.

Megan Scarborough-Eckel, currently an employee of the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, is running against longtime city clerk Cynthia Hernandez. Meanwhile, current deputy city manager and finance director Rob Rockwell is seeking election to the treasurer position, which he was appointed to last year.

Here's a closer look at the races.

Indio City Council, District 5

Ramos Amith, who has served on the council since 2004, has said she is seeking one final term that would allow her to complete many of the projects and initiatives she has been involved in during her many years on the council. But to get that chance, she would first have to get more votes than Ben Guitron, who is retiring soon after a decades-long career in the police force, where he has served as spokesman, among other things.

Ramos Amith said her goals for the next term include overseeing the completion of the final projects of the city's 2000 master plan, making progress on efforts to build new interchanges for all of the city's Interstate 10 access points (so far only one has been completed at Jefferson) and developing the city's largely vacant shopping center into a mixed-use space.

Guitron, meanwhile, said his goals include fostering an economy that benefits everyone, expanding funding to improve safety and quality of life in the city and ensuring the city grows in a “smart” and “sustainable” way. Guitron has also touted his involvement in many local organizations over the years and says he will focus on building strong relationships both inside and outside the city.

A third candidate, Christian Rodriguez Ceja, has suspended his campaign because he believes it is “a concerted attempt to increase campaign costs this year.”

“In an unprecedented move, one candidate raised over $70,000 in the second quarter alone,” he wrote in a statement. “This significant financial disparity has made it extremely difficult for grassroots campaigns like ours to remain competitive.”

Campaign documents on the city's website indicate he was referring to Guitron, who reported about $71,000 in campaign contributions. During the same period, Ramos Amith reported donations totaling about $22,650, while Rodriguez Ceja reported just over $3,000 in donations.

Rodriguez Ceja said he will continue to advocate and work to ensure that citizens' opinions are taken into account in decision-making.

Indio City Council, District 1

Glenn Miller, who is running unopposed, has served on the city council since 2008. In May, he told The Desert Sun newspaper that he wanted to ensure that the many new city facilities under construction, including the new city hall and library, were completed.

He said he also wants to continue making progress on the city's two biggest problems: homelessness and a lack of electricity needed to meet the city's needs and future growth. Miller is a veteran of local Republican politics and currently represents the Coachella Valley in the office of Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert.

Town Clerk of Indio

Indio's elected city clerk has assumed a “high-level oversight role” after the city council passed an ordinance in June that transferred the day-to-day work of a clerk to city staff.

According to the ordinance, the technical tasks related to the conduct of elections, record keeping and other duties must be handled by salaried city employees under the supervision of the city manager, who is usually the head of the municipal administrative service, Sabdi Sanchez.

The elected city clerk, meanwhile, conducts a high-level review of these functions, including “ensuring that policies and procedures are properly implemented and that the city operates in a transparent and accountable manner.” The ordinance states that the intent of this approach is to “ensure that the city benefits from both expert administration and responsible governance.”

Cynthia Hernandez, a native of Indian descent, has been elected city clerk since 2004 and is seeking re-election. However, she is competing for the office with another Native American, Megan Scarborough-Eckel.

Hernandez said she is proud of her 30 years of professional experience as a deputy or elected city clerk in several Coachella Valley cities and that during her tenure, Indio accomplished many things that made the city what it is today, including building new housing developments and roads. The city's website states that Hernandez is a certified city clerk and a member of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

Scarborough-Eckel said her qualifications include serving as a clerk in the mosquito and vector district, a political science degree from UCLA and currently serving her second term on the city's Community Services Commission, which makes recommendations to the City Council on community services and programs. She said her grandparents and father were both public servants and she wants to be a positive addition to the city's group of elected officials. She said she is biracial but didn't always see herself in her city growing up and now wants to be a role model for people in Indio with similar backgrounds.

Indian Treasurer

As with the role of the City Clerk, the elected Treasurer was made responsible for overseeing the day-to-day handling of the City's accounting and financial systems and records by the ordinance passed by Council in June. This daily work must be done by City staff, particularly the City Manager and Finance Director.

The only candidate for the position, Rob Rockwell, is the city's current finance director and deputy city manager. He has served as Indio's treasurer since 2023, when he was appointed to fill the remainder of previous treasurer Bavina Ramirez's term. The June ordinance says nothing about whether a city employee can fill the position.

Rockwell was hired as Indio's finance director in 2010 and previously served in various finance roles for Riverside County for 12 years.

Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at [email protected].

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