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Palm Desert City Council, District 5

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City of Palm Desert

Palm Desert City Council, District 5

This person would hold your district's seat on Palm Desert's five-member City Council. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Palm Desert is a Coachella Valley city. The term is four years. Palm Desert has no separately elected Mayor. The council picks one of its own members as Mayor each year. This cycle, District 4 candidate Evan Trubee is the sitting Mayor. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. This is the final round of the city's move to single-member districts. Districts 1, 2, and 3 elected their members in November 2024. This November's Districts 4 and 5 races complete the change.

This is an open seat for Palm Desert's District 5 City Council. John Greenwood and Ralph Perry are competing for it on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Councilmember Jan Harnik, who has served 16 years, is not running again. She does not live in either district up this cycle. Whoever gets the most votes wins, since there is no primary or runoff.

This person would hold your district's seat on Palm Desert's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Coachella Valley city. The term is four years. Palm Desert has no separately elected Mayor -- the council selects one of its own members Mayor each year; day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. This is the final round of the city's phase-in from an all at-large council to five single-member districts: Districts 1, 2, and 3 elected their representatives in November 2024, and this November's Districts 4 and 5 races complete the transition.

Neither District 5 candidate currently holds elected office, though both serve on city resident committees: Greenwood on the Planning Commission, Perry on the Library Advisory Committee. (The Desert Sun additionally describes Perry as serving on the Parks and Recreation Committee and as a library-committee alternate; the city's own committee roster does not fully bear that out -- see the sourcing note below.) The two campaigns are financed very differently: Greenwood's is conventionally well-funded, while Perry's own sworn state filing declares they expect to raise and spend less than $2,000 for all of 2026.

John Greenwood

John Greenwood is a local architect and a principal at Prest Vuksic Greenwood Architects. They serve on the city's Planning Commission, Seat 1, through June 2027.

Ralph Perry

Ralph Perry serves on the city's Library Advisory Committee, Seat 5, through June 2028. The Desert Sun also says they serve on the Parks and Recreation Committee. But the city's own roster does not list them there.

Your pick

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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