Rick Hutcheson for Palm Springs City Council

In 1999, Rick Hutcheson arrived in Palm Springs and soon realized that this community would be home for the rest of his life. At first, friends were puzzled that someone in the midst of an impressive career in government and business would move to the desert. Rick had worked as a senior staff member in the Carter White House, and in business development for companies such as Time Warner and J.D. Power Clubs. He also served on boards of the New York Gay Film Festival and GLAAD New York. But after years in Washington, DC, New York City and San Francisco, Rick was ready for a change: a smaller city, a quieter way of life, but still a place in which he could continue to make a contribution.

Rick Hutcheson Eight years later and it's all worked out very well, for Rick and for Palm Springs. Currently, he serves on the City of Palm Springs Planning Commission, which oversees development and zoning matters, as well as on the Police Advisory Board, the board of his neighborhood organization and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Previously, he served on the Board of the Desert Business Association and Citizens Advisory Panel for Community Development Block Grants. He and his partner Rob Kincaid co-founded Greater Palm Springs Realty, a local real estate sales brokerage, and manage Vacation Palm Springs Real Estate, Inc., which markets luxury vacation rentals for many local private homeowners. This past January, he announced his candidacy for Palm Springs City Council. The Bottom Line spoke with Rick about life in the desert, his vision and the upcoming campaign.

THE BOTTOMLINE:What was it about Palm Springs that made you come here to stay?

RICH HUTCHESON: My partner Rob and I met in Palm Springs while here on vacation more than eight years ago. So it became special for us—Palm Springs was "our" place. Like many other people, Rob and I started with a vacation home. Before we knew it, we were spending nearly every weekend in Palm Springs, commuting back to San Francisco early Monday mornings, and returning here for long weekends. Eventually, we realized that while we were working elsewhere, we were really living in Palm Springs. At that point, we decided to be here full-time—and it's one of the best decisions we've ever made.

THE BOTTOMLINE:You've identified your experience and a balanced approach as qualifications for City Council. Specifically, what should this mean to Palm Springs citizens?
RICK HUTCHESON:I believe that having meaningful and in-depth experience in government and business—especially at several levels—brings an important element of perspective and maturity to persons interested in public service. You learn how to get things done by listening and bringing people together. It's not just the substance, it's important to understand how to treat others with respect and civility—even when you disagree—because tomorrow you'll need to work together on other issues.

I first learned how government works in the West Wing of the White House. My job was to serve as gatekeeper for all policy proposals that Cabinet or senior staff wanted the President to see in the Oval Office. More recently, serving on the Palm Springs Planning Commission has been a wonderful way to become familiar with the details of how our city government works. I've studied and voted on many of the important issues that face Palm Springs today.
I've been a business development executive for most of my career, focused on new businesses opportunities for Time Warner and other companies, negotiating at senior levels with companies like Ford and GE. Here in Palm Springs, working with my partner, I've gained additional experience as a small businessman dealing with real estate and tourism, the two largest contributors to our city's budget. So I bring relevant Palm Springs experience after learning about government and business development in the "big leagues," so to speak.

My record shows that I've taken a balanced approach by supporting projects that grow our tax base, as well as defending our historic neighborhoods and natural resources—all the unique things that brought many of us to Palm Springs in the first place. I'm very proud to have support for my candidacy from fellow Planning Commissioners with very diverse viewpoints and backgrounds, people who have lived here all their lives as well as more recent arrivals. I think they've observed me to be someone who works hard, listens to all sides, and then votes on the merits rather than leaning on pre-conceived notions. That's what I mean by balance.

THE BOTTOMLINE:You describe your style of leadership as "leadership that listens." Can you expand on that?

RICK HUTCHESON:First and foremost, City Council members are employees of the citizens of Palm Springs. I think the best solutions emerge when people closely concerned by an issue get a chance to participate. On the Planning Commission, we learn so much from listening to public testimony of individuals directly affected by a particular project. If you study an issue and listen to all sides, often you can find common ground and eventually identify common objectives that are workable for our city.

So many people now living in Palm Springs have had extraordinary careers and can contribute a great deal of knowledge and experience. I'd like to see public hearings devoted to our most urgent concerns, such as making our neighborhoods and homes safer from crime, identifying steps each of us can take to better protect our homes, making downtown more prosperous, addressing stores still vacant in the heart of downtown. We need to shine the light of public discussion on these issues. I think we'll all come to a better understanding of the complexities, and help build a consensus on what we can do together.

THE BOTTOMLINE:Do you think gay candidates face any particular challenges or prejudices in Palm Springs?

RICK HUTCHESON:In Palm Springs at least, I'd like to think we've moved beyond discounting someone's talents because they are gay or lesbian. In fact, I think most citizens appreciate how much our gay neighbors have contributed. Here, we can decide about candidates based on qualifications, not demographic characteristics, which is the way it should be everywhere. I recently attended a Victory Fund conference, and it's amazing to see openly gay candidates running and winning in Alabama, Iowa, Texas and in almost every state. We can be ourselves and still participate. We're making progress!

THE BOTTOMLINE:What should the City Council's priorities be after the election?

RICK HUTCHESON:Listening to citizens and meeting with many groups have pointed me toward three priority areas: First, we must be good stewards of our heritage. To me, Palm Springs is all about having a walkable downtown, being able to see the mountains, respecting our amazing architecture and unique neighborhoods. We've got to preserve that 'easy to get around' quality of life we have. As we revitalize downtown, we have to focus on parking and traffic issues, to prevent our town from becoming congested like the East Valley. While building for the future, we cannot lose our easy, livable, village pace of life.

A second quality of life issue is public safety. We live in one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States. There is great concern about burglaries and break-ins and we must find realistic ways to increase police visibility in our neighborhoods.

In fact, this is one of my principal motivations in running for Council, but before I started talking about it, I learned about the issues by attending the Citizen's Police Academy for several months. As a city, I think we need to have a candid conversation about where we are today, and involve our neighborhood organizations and the expertise we have both inside and outside of our Police Department to develop positive solutions.

Third, everything Council does must focus on building a more prosperous future for Palm Springs. To grow our tax base, there's still more we need to do to be a business-friendly city. Prosperity means downtown as a thriving destination not only for tourists, but also with stores for those of us who live here year round. It means protecting our real estate values, growing our piece of the tourism pie. And it means attracting new employers.

As someone who spent his career in business development, I'd like to put my experience to work attracting to Palm Springs businesses focused on renewable energy. Palm Desert has adopted strict conservation goals. Other cities in the valley are moving toward what are known as California Green Building standards. Where is Palm Springs? With our abundant sunshine and wind, Palm Springs should be the shining example for other communities.

THE BOTTOMLINE:Development is always a hot button issue. Isn't major development not only desirable, in that it increases property values, but also inevitable?

RICK HUTCHESON:In a nutshell, we've got to build prosperity for our town but keep it livable. Our government should aim to do a better job delivering on the basics, enhancing public safety, a cleaner downtown. When our friends and family visit, they should say, "Wow, this is a special place!" They should find Palm Springs to be even better than they imagined before arriving.

Accomplishing this means we must find businesses willing to invest in creating or upgrading the facilities that today's retailers require. It means growing the tax base so that our government delivers the level of services we expect. Our leaders need to carefully balance development with defending our way of life here. I don't think anyone wants to see sprawl and mega-suburbs in Palm Springs. On the Planning Commission, I've been a strong defender of our historic zoning codes dealing with height and setbacks that have defined that special Palm Springs uniqueness. I do believe we can find the right balance and continue to feel so fortunate that we make Palm Springs our home.

Recent Media Articles