Desert Magazine: Let’s start with your background and how you became a Rancho Mirage resident.
Steve Downs: I'm originally from Buffalo, New York, but my family moved to Burbank when I was quite young, and that's where I grew up. High school at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, College at Cal State Northridge. I spent about 30 years in the equipment leasing industry. I retired more than 20 years ago, and my wife and I moved to Rancho Mirage. My wife, Geri and I were married in Rancho Mirage 30 years ago at the original Ritz Carleton.
Desert: What prompted you to get involved in government in Rancho Mirage?
Downs: My wife and I live in a golf course community. In June of 2015, an LLC bought and closed our golf course. I spoke at a number of community meetings trying to deal with the issue, and I soon found myself as president of the HOA Board. We ended up in a lawsuit, which we eventually settled. But during that process, it was important for me to get to know people in the planning department and at City Hall so that I could have a better understanding as to how we might eventually deal with the golf course problem. Shortly after the lawsuit was settled (in 2019) an opening came up on the planning commission. Charlie Townsend nominated me and the council approved the nomination. I guess the council must have appreciated some of the work that I did on planning, because when Dana Hobart retired in November of 2021, the council unanimously appointed me to serve the balance of his term. Last November I was elected to a full four-year term.
Desert: Explain how city government works in Rancho Mirage.
Downs: Like all of the other eight cities in the Coachella Valley, we do have a city manager who manages the day-to-day business affairs of the city. The city manager, city attorney, and city clerk all work at the pleasure of the city council. (Members of the) council are elected to four year terms. And every two years we have an election. In one cycle two of the five members of council are elected and in the next cycle, three of the five council members are elected. Each of the council members rotates into the mayor's office. I (took) over the office of mayor on November 16th.
Desert: What kinds of things are planned for Rancho Mirage’s 50th anniversary?
Downs: There (was) a Festival of the Arts the weekend of November 4th and 5th. There (was) a celebration of our veterans on the evening of November 9th at our amphitheater in Rancho Mirage. Another event that's coming up is the Annual Rancho Mirage Writer's Festival. That'll be at the end of January. We'll be releasing a special 50th anniversary commemorative book that will also ship to all residents. If you drive through the city of Rancho Mirage, you can't help but notice all of the banners that are flying from our light poles around the city. You'd have to be asleep around town not to know that it's the 50th anniversary.
Desert: Rancho Mirage is one of the smallest cities in the Valley, correct?
Downs: It's relatively narrow between Da Valle and Monterey. I think it's maybe only about twenty-five square miles or so, somewhere in that range, so a relatively small city with a population, probably between 17 and 18,000 today. At full build out, we're likely to still be a small city of 25,000 or fewer, and that's probably some years in the future.
Desert: Is it incumbent upon Rancho Mirage to portion out a certain amount of affordable housing?
Downs: The city understands the importance of providing affordable housing opportunities. So much so, that we were one of the first Coachella Valley cities to have their housing element certified by HCD. The Housing and Community Development (HCD) Agency in the state of California requires every city to update their housing element of the city's general plan. And HCD goes through a process of assigning a target for affordable housing units that should be built in a city. Over the current eight-year cycle, it's roughly about 1,750 affordable housing units. Now, it doesn't mean that the city actually has to build 1,750 units because cities don't do that. What we must do is put in place the kinds of policies, practices, and programs that encourage developers and builders to apply to build. What we must also do is identify specific parcels around the city that will be zoned for affordable housing, and they must be sprinkled in various areas around the city. You can't put them all in one area. We identified parcels on which about 2,300 affordable housing units can be built. And the reason we did that is so that we have some flexibility. We've all already issued an RFQ led by our Housing Authority for a minimum of 200 multi-family affordable housing units that we hope will be built as part of our housing element implementation. We do have to find a way to make sure that we provide housing for everyone on the economic scale so that everyone has an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of living in Rancho Mirage. And also so that our bigger employers like Eisenhower and our resort hotels have access to an employee base that's a little closer to home.
Desert: How would you describe the increasing consciousness of the Planning Commission and the council toward some of the architecturally significant properties in your city?
Downs: The approach and the commitment to preservation has increased over the years. It’s certainly true that we are, I believe, a little more concerned about preservation today. I think it's about three months or so ago that the Historical Preservation Commission recommended the Hoagy Carmichael House for historical preservation site in our city, and we (approved it). The Historical Preservation Commission also recommended that we note the Pink Elephant sign as a historical resource and we did so. And as you know, Preservation Mirage is in the process of raising funds to remodel that sign.
One other thing that I think is important is the Children's Discovery Museum. We committed considerable funds to help the Children's Discovery Museum get reopened. The museum is scheduled to reopen on March 25, 2024. So that's another example of commitment to making sure that we remember the roots of our city and preserving a benefit for the entire valley.
Desert: What are you most proud of in the way the city functions?
Downs: We are a very small city, but we have a tradition of good governance, good management, and a solid fiscal position. I'm committed, and I know that my council colleagues are committed, to maintaining that sense of strong management and strong fiscal condition for years and years to come. Last year, there was a turf rebate program that we started, and it ran through early this year. The Turf Rebate program was designed to provide rebates to our business community as well as our residences to change out water soaking up turf to artificial turf or drought tolerant landscaping and we ended up converting about 1.7 million square feet of live turf to desert scape. That'll save about 100 million gallons of water annually.
Desert: What are some of the overlooked gems in Rancho Mirage?
Downs: Our library and our observatory. For a city our size, there just is no library like ours. It's so remarkable. With year round programming, it's just incredible. Another great, great thing to look for in our city is the amphitheater. The quality of entertainment that we provide free to the public is just incredible. And then how many cities of 17,000 people would you be aware of that operate their own observatory for the benefit of the public? (Last October) there was an event at the community park celebrating the (eclipse). The observatory brought telescopes and provided more than 4,000 special eclipse viewing glasses out to the park and invited the community to come to take a look at the skies. It was pretty cool.
