Dana Reed, who will seek third term on Indian Wells council, talks term limits

Indian Wells Councilmember Dana Reed, who is currently serving as the city’s mayor, has announced his plan to seek election to a third term in November.

A longtime resident of Indian Wells, Reed was first elected to the council in 2014 and reelected in 2018. He is serving his second four-year term, and second term as mayor – a position rotated annually among council members.

“I am passionate about serving Indian Wells to maintain our quality of life while growing our economy,” Reed said in a press release announcing his plans.

“My commitment to our city remains the same – to preserve our quality of life, maintain fiscal responsibility while working to grow our economy, keep our city safe, and push for more openness and transparency at City Hall,” Reed said.

The city is coming through the pandemic with an anticipated budget surplus near $3.8 million for 2021-22 – nearly four times more than the projected $1 million when the current operating budget of $60.1 million was passed In June, Reed said.

Much of that boost in revenue is due to the return of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, which was played In October and returned this week for its traditional March run, bringing some of the world's best tennis players and Grand Slam champions to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The tournament runs through March 20.

“Our hotels are full,” Reed told The Desert Sun on Wednesday.

In March 2020, Indian Wells voters approved Measure J, which limits representatives elected after November 2020 to two four-year terms. Measure J amended an initiative passed by voters in 2010 that limited council members to serving two consecutive four-year terms; however, after at least two years away from office, they could run again.

Measure J was written to be retroactive, keeping all former council members from running again once they had served eight years.

However, former Councilmember Doug Hanson successfully challenged that in court to get his name on the November 2020 ballot, with a judge ruling that term limits cannot be applied retroactively.

Reed signed the citizen-driven petition to get Measure I on the ballot and said he supports term limits.

Reed, however, said, he has heard that at least three former council members are planning to run in November.

“I’m not going to be the only one to voluntarily not run,” Reed said.

If everyone agreed to not run, Reed said he would join that pact.

“I definitely support the concept of term limits. But, I’m not going to be the only one to sit out the election,” he said.

If term limits becomes an election issue, voters will have to decide how important it is when selecting candidates to support, Reed said.

Richard Balocco is the only other current council member up for reelection in November and he has not indicated whether he will run for a third term. The filing period for candidates starts in July.

Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherryBarkas

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Dana Reed says he will seek third term on Indian Wells City Council