Desert Magazine: Tell us a little bit about your background and where you grew up, your education, how you got into government.
Mayor Hernandez: I was born and raised in Coachella. I was raised by my grandparents who were migrant farm workers. They were Braceros (seasonal workers) from Sinaloa, Mexico. My grandpa got to the Eastern Coachella Valley in about 1947. My dad split. I have two older brothers. My mother has been in and out of different institutions. She suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar, and it's pretty well advanced. I was raised by my grandparents who always instilled in us service.We were raised Christian in the Apostolic church. We were always volunteering, either cleaning up the place, in the church kitchen, just being part of the social fabric of the church. I went to Valley View, Cahuilla, Desert Academy, Coachella Valley High School, and then went off to UCR (University of California, Riverside. [I] got degrees in English and political science, and then came back and ran for government. [I earned] my master's at USC in public administration with an emphasis in governance. At about 20 years old, I started interning at the Riverside County Board of Supervisors for supervisor Mary Ashley. Now I'm Chief of Staff to Supervisor Perez. I've been at the county now for about 22 years, but I was elected in Coachella (city council) when I was 23.
Desert Magazine: In Coachella, is mayor an elected position, as well as city council?
Mayor Hernandez: Yes. Eduardo Garcia was the first elected mayor. He was mayor for eight years, and then I've been mayor now for 10 years.
Desert Magazine: That's kind of unusual, isn't it? A two-year term?
Mayor Hernandez: It is, but when they established a directly elected mayor, they gave the residents an option, either two or four year terms, and residents picked two. Now, the good thing is that it keeps you on your toes from being able to get things done. You're always constantly working with your colleagues because you have to be able to get things done. I've concentrated on three things over the course of the last 18 years, and it's been infrastructure, economic development, and public safety. I really feel that when you look at local government and what we're structured to do, that's kind of like the bread and butter. Nowadays we're trying to make local government do a lot of other things that frankly, when you look at the structure of the organization, municipal codes, we're not sure that we have control over say, wars or social issues. We can symbolically represent it and lend support to it, but in terms of what you're allowed by statute to do, it's a lot more complicated.
Desert Magazine: Would a good example of that perhaps be like the homeless issue, where it's really not within the municipal purview, although I think in a lot of cities, residents look to the municipal government to try to handle it?
Mayor Hernandez: If you would've asked me that question 14 years ago, I would've agreed with you and said, ‘Yeah, homelessness is a county issue and it's a state issue.’ But then you had a really interesting case law that occurred [in] Orange County, where the city and the county were sued because of the ongoing homeless population. The court basically said, ‘Hey, cities, you need to get involved in this issue.
You have to show that you are doing something to address it.’ If you look at the desert, a lot of cities are stepping up to build affordable housing. There is a link to having homes people can afford and not having them. Sometimes we have these huge spatial mismatches where the jobs are in one place and the homes are in another. And cities now are really involving themselves in trying to address that…because the state is saying, "Hey, if you don't get your RHNA (Regional Housing Need Numbers) or if you don't meet your affordable housing goals, we're going to give you less grant money." I actually think it's a good idea that the state is being a little punitive that way. Certainly meeting people's basic needs is something that we need to involve ourselves more on the local government side.
Desert Magazine: How have you addressed affordable housing in Coachella?
Mayor Hernandez: We're very proud of our work there. We've built about five projects, brought in over 400 new units of housing. We put together this funding pie to build these affordable housing units. Alot of the affordable housing units require a subsidy in order to have lower rates. We've been able to get that subsidy. At the same time, we've established first time home buyer programs where we're working with residents to get into a home. And then we also work with CVAG to put together financial assistance programs so that we can keep people housed. If somebody loses their job, we have different dollars available so that they can apply and keep their apartment or keep their home and get them through that financial crisis and the emergency. We're always constantly talking to our state representatives to make sure that those housing dollars are flowing and that they're coming local.
Desert Magazine: Has agriculture remained vitally important to your community?
Mayor Hernandez: The agriculture industry represents about…1.3, 1.4 billion dollars in economic output. We grow 122 different commodities here year-round. We do winter varieties and obviously summer varieties of different fruits and vegetables. Agriculture is part of our community. It's part of the cultural identity of our workers. We're still heavily ag…[but] If you look at the city, it's about 33% grown out. We're 53 square miles. And so a lot of that area out there is big Ag. We have a lot of big growers that are in Coachella, and a lot of our workers work in that industry, but they also work in the hospitality industry. They also have a lot of small businesses where they're either in construction or part of the workers that are needed here to support folks that are either full-time or part-time in hospitals or in golf courses or in housekeeping. That primarily is our workforce. I like to call people, our folks, the worker bees of the Coachella Valley.
Desert Magazine: You mentioned that Coachella is 33% built out. What are your projections... When I've talked to other mayors about how far their cities are built out, in the last 10 or 15 years since the housing crisis, there's just been ever expansion. The cities are growing to their limits. Do you project Coachella building out even more and more over the next decade?
Mayor Hernandez: Yeah. We have the room infrastructure for it. We have the infrastructure for the water, sewer. We're working on electricity with IID and other partners. You look at just how the East Valley is moving. You look at obviously this weekend being Coachella, you look at the racetrack and what's going out there and thermal and the HITS equestrian park. Just naturally, our areas are going to grow. They're growing. Right now. We got some very good housing coming in with Holt and D.R Horton that are building out the track maps. We expect to grow. It's not going to happen as fast as people predicted it. When you look at, there's an organization called SCAG, Southern California Association of Governments, they were basically saying, "Hey, Southern California is just going to continue to boom, and California's going to continue to boom."
And you look at that plan, it's obviously changed because people are leaving California because of the fact that housing has gotten expensive, jobs, et cetera. But if you look at areas that are still growing, Riverside Counties is still the second-fastest growing county in California. We haven't declined. We're still growing. And from an affordability standpoint, I really think that when you look at how we're investing in our parks and our libraries and our infrastructure in the quality of life, it is a very desirable community to raise a family. It's not a community to come and retire. It's a community where your civic life is exciting, your medium age is very young. Our medium age is about 28 years old.
Desert Magazine: Oh, really? Wow.
Mayor Hernandez: We're a young population.
Desert Magazine: Yeah. Yeah. Wow, that's interesting. You mentioned that the impact of Coachella, I've always been kind of curious, how impactful are those Coachella and Stagecoach to your community? Not just the economic impact, but the social impact. How has that affected you over the years as it's grown?
Mayor Hernandez: There's two ways of looking at it. We're an international brand now. Coachella now is international. And so from an economic development standpoint and really highlighting the community and the city, it's done a lot in terms of branding and the city. For example, I'm not sure if you know, but the festival is actually in India.
Desert Magazine: Yes, I do know.
Mayor Hernandez: It's not in Coachella. But from our standpoint, nobody knows that. And so we go out and we talk about what Coachella is doing and how it's created this international brand and it's really helped us. Now, from a resident standpoint, they're benefiting because they're doing Airbnbs, they're renting out their places and homes, and they're getting a monthly income that would probably help them with a vacation or fixing up their house or alleviating some of the cost of just living. They would have other folks that look at it from a standpoint of, "Hey, they're taking our identity."
And I'm like, "No, it's a public domain. It's no different than L.A., it's no different than Dallas, New York." And for us, it's like, how do we capitalize and continue to capitalize on this international brand? The city is... We're going through a lot of that growing space and really thinking about how to capitalize on it. One of the things we've done is we've worked with the festival, we've brought in different pieces of art, whether it be Etherea or The Bear, we're working on a third piece that'll be coming into the city. And then I've also done this really cool thing where we've given the keys to the city to one of the artists. That artist shows up into town and it's a free event, and they do a little performance for them.
Desert Magazine: Oh, that's cool.
Mayor Hernandez: And so the residents don't feel... They can feel a little bit of connection and feel like they're part of it. That's how we've been working. Now, at the same time, we've structured a couple of programs with the nonprofit where some of our local kids work on art installations inside the festival and then we help facilitate a larger conversation with the school district, where a lot of the kids at Coachella Valley Unified, depending on their grades, and there's criteria for them, they actually get to go to a show. And seniors. Yeah, the community is benefiting. It's a cool experience.
Desert Magazine: That's great. That's great. What do people not know about Coachella that you wish they did? In other parts of the Valley that they think the east part of the valley is just big ag and nothing else? What do you think people should know about Coachella?
Mayor Hernandez: Coachella is culture, Coachella's family, Coachella's young. Coachella's a dynamic and it's a great place to raise a family. You really, really have good quality amenities. It's a safe place. I think a lot of people also think about Coachella in the '90s, and it literally was 15, 16,000 people. Now, Coachella is over 50,000 people. I believe it's a safe place and it's a great little place. Great food, good entertainment, good events that we do, from our Run With Los Muertos to our Dieciseis de Septiembre, to Tacos, Tequila and Chavelas, to Mobius. Just a great place to come and enjoy culture. If you're looking for culture that's different, Coachella's that town.
Desert Magazine: Yeah. What is your favorite event of the year in Coachella?
Mayor Hernandez: For me, and it's going to sound really weird, I like our Arbor Day festival, or our Arbor Day event, because we will literally take land that is lacking, whether trees or maybe is just plain dirt, and we will work with the community, 100 people-plus come out, and we will transform the space. We will plant 100 trees and over 100 plants, and we will gravel it, put in irrigation. It's so neat to see that the space that was barren and dusty becomes alive, and then now all of a sudden they become these focal points where people walk and recreate.
Desert Magazine: Wow, that's cool.
Mayor Hernandez: And it happens like that. It happens fast.
Desert Magazine: What day of the year is Arbor Day?
Mayor Hernandez: It just happened a week ago. We did some huge work at one of our local parks where we went in there and really just spruced it up. Last year we were at the 53 Corridor, where we did an amazing job of just transforming that place. That area now just looks gorgeous and everybody's walking now in the community. And it was a big community effort. And I think that brings a lot of pride of ownership. It brings a lot of pride of community. And then where we've been putting in different murals and things of that sort, and creating a cool little park node in our town. And so I like that, just because we're able to reclaim spaces or create new spaces. I am really someone that enjoys seeing the fruits of our labor happen with the community.
Desert Magazine: That's awesome.
Mayor Hernandez: And we've done it in a few different parks. There was another little park too, it was called... It's called Shady Lane Park. We established the first fruit garden in our city, and it's just lush and doing really, really well. We've put some art in there. There's just three little projects that we've done and they look great.
Desert Magazine: Is the fruit garden... Is the fruit in the garden available to all residents? They can just go in and pick a orange?
Mayor Hernandez: You can pick an orange, you can pick a fig.
Desert Magazine: That's awesome.
Mayor Hernandez: You can go in there and get a peach, little plum.
Desert Magazine: That's rad. That's great.
Mayor Hernandez: It's really pretty. We even have granadas, which are... They're purple and... I know them as granadas, but they're purple and then they're kind of... They can get you stained. Your hands will get stained. Pomegranates.
Desert Magazine: Pomegranates, yeah.
Mayor Hernandez: Pomegranates, they're really cool.
Desert Magazine: That's awesome. On the other hand, what are some of the challenges that you continue to face leading your city?
Mayor Hernandez: Resources. When you work with a population that's low socioeconomic and you look at how businesses do their demographic studies, sometimes the demographic studies of Coachella doesn't make sense business-wise. And so we're not going to get the stories that other communities have, and that causes a ripple effect, because we're not generating sales tax enough, et cetera. But our residents, they want to see the same amenities that other communities have.
Desert Magazine: Of course.
Mayor Hernandez: And so for us, it's always been about really, how do we go after other people's monies? Being conscious that we can only tax our residents so much. And so it's always about making sure that we're getting an equitable share of resources and making sure that either the county, the state or the Fed know that there's need. And now we've been able to do very, very well in getting other people's monies because of the way we're thinking. I think we're a learning organization. I think we really understand our network of people and a network of other leaders that we can lean on how to get these resources. But sometimes it can be challenging, particularly early on.
I would say that now we're really a good-oiled machine and we're going after good grants that are having catalytic impacts in our community. But it was very challenging originally because it was like, how do you organize your government in a way where you can become a Lordean organization? But also by that, you're anticipating what's coming down the line, you're influencing these policies at the state, at the county, at the Fed, and then you're applying and you have to deliver. The worst thing a government can do is get a grant and then not deliver. We've established a great organization where we are delivering.
Now, the other thing, and this is very important to know, I think the East Valley, we're at a disadvantage because of... And people will say, "Well, Indio's campus or other campuses are not far from you." And I say that... And I'm talking about higher education. When you look at where the population of students are, they're in Coachella, they're in Thermal, they're in Mecca, they're in the unincorporated community East Valley. And there's different challenges, whether it be getting a babysitter or getting transportation or having work. And so my thing has always been how do we make learning accessible to where people are at and not have a college student get access on a SunLine bus, and it takes you an hour-and-a-half to get to the Palm Desert campus.
And so I really believe that the biggest equalizer is a good education to anybody. And so I think from that standpoint, we need to make sure, I think as a region, as a community, that we're training the workforce for the jobs that we all need them for. And I'd like them to be in high road jobs. I'd like them to be working in magazines or working in government or working in good paying jobs that they have an access to retirement, to healthcare, to make a medium wage. And right now, I feel that we can do a better job when it comes to educating kids in the East Valley.
Desert Magazine: Do you think that... Are you saying then that maybe a long-term goal for the East Valley is to have a COD campus?
Mayor Hernandez: There was a long-term goal where they were establishing a campus in Mecca. They put 12 trailers, and now they closed. And so it's recommitting to those goals. We're part of the bonds, we pay the taxes. And unfortunately, I think the way we've looked at things is let's go to these different communities where the campuses are and how those communities have worked out to different politics and those leaders have established themselves. But if you really look at it, hey, where are all the kids?
Desert Magazine: Yeah, they're in the east.
Mayor Hernandez: They're in the east. And so that to me is the... That's what I have to talk about, the spatial mismatch. And when you really look at, and nobody's really had this conversation. I've tried to have it, and nobody really wants to hear it because it's more about what are the industry's needs here in the Coachella Valley hospitality and others? But when you really study how communities have addressed inequality, education has always met them where that inequality is at. And if you look at urban decay or social decay, it's when you have the amenities way over there and the poverty way over here where nobody wants to see it. That to me, it's a good conversation for the Coachella that we have.
Desert Magazine: Yeah, I always thought it was strange, and you don't need to comment on it because I know it'd be a delicate subject, but it was odd to me all these years talking about a new COD campus in Palm Springs, which is essentially a retirement community. It's a vibrant community, but it's not... I've got a family. That's not a place I take my family, but it seems odd that all this millions of dollars spent to have the satellite campus up there on that end of the valley and not the other end of the valley. I don't know. You don't need to comment on it if you don't want to.
Mayor Hernandez: I'm right there.
Desert Magazine: Yeah. Okay. To me, one of the fascinating parts of Coachella history, of course, is Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Does his legacy still live on and resonate with the community?
Mayor Hernandez: When you start thinking about the cultural ethos of the town, and when you start to think about the identity of the town, the one thing that I admire, and it still just rings, is the grit. The people that come out of the East, they're people that have grit. It's the Cesar Chavez attitude. Yes, we can. [foreign language 00:32:43]. And why does that exist? Because we're still at the intersection of the agriculture community, where you have folks that are migrant farm workers, folks that recently arrived that are family members and people in town, and the lived experience of [inaudible 00:33:01] that still live today.
And so you look at access to clean water, access to housing, access to medical care, making sure that people are able to live well and achieve the American dream. Sometimes it's lacking. And so what that does, it creates this very interesting space where it is life and death. It is poverty. It is lack of access to different amenities or education or healthcare or transportation or even clean water. And so that informs a lot of the practices of... And a lot of the attitudes of folks in the community. But the good thing is that we've been able to channel it in a good way where it's like, we can sit here and we can explain every problem. And it's important to identify them, I'm not going to downplay that or not say that that's not important to be an advocate to downplay it.
But the other side of it is that we can also put a plan together and start moving on it, and really starting to address these shortcomings means. And so Cesar and Dolores and that movement, in terms of how people have organized and just that message of, yes, we can see [foreign language 00:34:49], that's still alive and well in Coachella. It's part of the cultural identity. It's the things that define us and makes it... We're scrappers out there. We know how to... If push comes to shove, we know how to have a tortilla with beans, and that's what we're going to eat. But we're going to be happy. We're going to love life. We're going to love life and we're going to make the most out of what we have. And that's the interesting thing about that identity because it is fighting for rights and organizing for rights, but then it's also loving and enjoying the life we have, and it's an interesting dynamic of who we are as a community.
Mayor Hernandez: You know an interesting little tidbit; Coachella, we're one of the original towns of the Coachella Valley. It was Palm Springs, Coachella, Indio, or Indio-Coachella. Or it was Indio, Coachella and then Palm Springs. Anyways, it's one of the three, I forget the order. But we're railroad towns. And so if you look at the four railroad towns that exist, and Palm Springs, by the way, was a railroad town at one point, but they got rid of the rail line. It used to go into town. And so if you look at Coachella, we still have our grid. We still have our grid. Indio still has a grid. Thermal still has a grid, Mecca still has the grid. And we all played a role on the railroad. In terms of how Mecca... Mecca was the place where the water truck was at. They would fill the locomotive, they'd come into Thermal and they'd get agriculture... Coachella's nickname was Woodspur at one point.
Desert Magazine: Oh, I remember that, right.
Mayor Hernandez: It literally was the spur where the wood was at. And that's how our towns got established. Indio was a place where commuter rail went. It's kind of neat to see that history or understand that history. If you haven't read our book, Coachella's History, I'll see if I can get you a copy.
Desert Magazine: Well, actually, that was the silver lining to our missed interview before because I started going around the website and I found the book online because it's on your website. And so I read the book on Friday.
Mayor Hernandez: It's a cool little book.
