Garner seeks re-election with focus on affordable housing, infrastructure, youth programs
Palm Springs native Grace Garner, the City Council’s most senior member, launched her campaign Sunday at Demuth Park and has already secured multiple endorsements.
Palm Springs District 1 City Councilmember Grace Garner formerly kicked off her re-election campaign Sunday at Demuth Park, pledging to continue her work on affordable housing, youth programming and community infrastructure improvements while addressing pedestrian and traffic safety concerns.
Garner has served on the council since December 2019 and is currently its most senior member. She was mayor in 2023 during Tropical Storm Hilary and received recognition for her leadership during the disaster.
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“I am incredibly grateful and humbled and honored that people have been showing up and supporting me,” Garner said at Sunday’s event. “I’m really excited about making sure that we’re continuing the great progress that we already started here in Palm Springs.”
No other candidates have entered the race for the District 1 seat ahead of the November election. Two other council seats are also on the ballot this year: District 2, held by Jeffrey Bernstein, and District 3, held by Ron deHarte. Bernstein launched his re-election campaign last October, while deHarte has not yet held a formal kickoff but did file a statement of intention to run with the City Clerk’s office last year.
Garner pointed to ongoing projects the entire council is working on — including the convention center, library, airport and Fire Station 1 — as priorities requiring experienced leadership. Housing is also a crucial issue needing experience, she said, pointing to the hundreds of affordable housing units built in District 1 and more that are in the pipeline.
“It’s just really wanting to make sure that we have that longevity and experience on the council to see these projects through, but then also to continue to work on neighborhood needs, which are the focal point of every campaign that I’ve run,” Garner said when asked what’s motivating her to seek a third term. “Whatever you need as a resident, I want to be there for you and help you, even if it’s a very small issue.”
Garner identified pedestrian and traffic safety as a renewed focus area, saying she has been working with the police chief on the issue. The city is discussing traffic calming measures including road diets on some of the longer, wider streets in her district. She also mentioned working with SunLine Transit to place safety education materials in bus shelters for pedestrians using public transportation.
For District 1 specifically, she emphasized community infrastructure improvements through the parks master plan, particularly for residents with children. She highlighted the Tramview Heights specific plan as instrumental for the northern part of the district.
“That is really is going to be instrumental in making sure that we get a diversified housing stock in the land that is available, and that we’re also getting some retail, like that grocery store that everybody has been wanting,” Garner said. “Our downtown specific plan worked amazingly well. It was the catalyst to all of this huge tourism boom that we have here, and I think that we need to put that effort into other areas of town.”
Garner is a second-generation Palm Springs resident and the first Latina woman elected to the city council. She previously served on the Palm Springs Planning Commission and the city council-appointed California Voting Rights Act Working Group.
Garner serves as a senior legislative analyst for Supervisor Perez, working on constituent and policy issues related to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, children’s services, and county legislative policy. In that role, she serves as liaison to the cities of Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, the community of Idyllwild and the Bermuda Dunes Community Council.
She also serves on the boards of Desert Regional Medical Center and the California State University San Bernardino Philanthropy Board.
“Grace’s big picture ideas for the future of Palm Springs and her focused efforts to assist individual residents make her a compassionate and fierce leader for Palm Springs,” said Palm Springs Mayor Naomi Soto — who spoke at the kickoff event — in a news release issued last week. “Her pragmatic and compassionate leadership is exactly what our city needs in the coming years of growth and challenge.”
Among others, Garner has received endorsements from the Palm Springs Police Association, Palm Springs Firefighters Association, and former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.
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