Rick Hutcheson for Palm Springs City Council

Former President Urges Palm Springs Man to Seek Local Office

Written by Cindy Uken Tuesday, 14 November 2006

A Palm Springs businessman who worked in Jimmy Carter's White House is poised to make a bid next year for one of two seats that will be open on the Palm Springs City Council.

It is a race that is expected to cost any serious candidate upward of $150,000, based on what some City Council candidates spent in the November 2005 election.

Rick Hutcheson, 54, said Tuesday he plans to make a formal announcement in early January about his intentions. Though he's being coy, consider a Hutcheson candidacy a done deal. He has an undeniable political pedigree that would serve him well in public office — and he knows it.

Former President Jimmy Carter has encouraged him to run. There's not a chance Hutcheson would say "No" to a president. Count on it.

From 1977 to 1981, Hutcheson was housed in the West Wing of the White House during the Carter Administration as one of Carter's senior advisers. His job was to screen policy proposals and determine which of them would be routed to cabinet members and presidential advisers for recommendations Hutcheson would summarize then determine if they should be forwarded to the president.

Hutcheson was also part of a 50-member international team of observers who traveled to Nicaragua earlier this month to monitor the fairness of democratic-style elections in which citizens of Nicaragua voted to return former leftist President Daniel Ortega to power.

Hutcheson has, to his credit, a rich history of public service. He cut his political eye teeth serving on a citizen committee that advised the City Council on how to spend

Community Development Block Grant money. He is a member of the Police Advisory Board and is treasurer of the Old Las Palmas Neighborhood Organization. Hutcheson also has served as a representative from Old Las Palmas to the office of Neighborhood Development. He also served two years on the board of directors for the Desert Business Association. Hutcheson also was appointed to the city Planning Commission in July 2005, often considered a precursor to getting elected to the City Council.

He's no stranger to local political campaigns. Hutcheson was the strategist for Steve Pougnet's successful City Council bid in 2003, a move Pougnet now calls "a coup."

Pougnet has never publicly endorsed any candidate since being elected to the City Council and he's not making an exception this time. However, he came mighty close on Tuesday when we talked. Pougnet said he attended Hutcheson's organizational meeting on Sunday and was "very impressed" with what he heard. Pougnet said he also likes Hutcheson's positions on his campaign issues, which will include downtown revitalization and crime and safety.

"I think he would make an excellent councilman," Pougnet said. "He has a real sense of leadership. Palm Springs just kind of sits back sometimes when we should be taking a leadership role in things."

The two seats on the City Council that will be open next year are now held by Pougnet and Mike McCulloch. Hotel owner John Williams, who ran and lost last year, has formally announced his candidacy and filed a candidate intention statement. Williams owns INNdulge Palm Springs, a clothing-optional hotel in the Warm Sands area. Other names have been bandied about but at this point none of their candidacies are as clearly defined as those of Hutcheson and Williams.

Working to Hutcheson's advantage is the "unequivocal" support from Mayor Pro Tem Ginny Foat, the top vote-getter in the 2005 City Council election. She says Hutcheson has a good grasp of city and business issues and has done an "outstanding job" on the Planning Commission.

"Given his background, he's not going to be naïve about politics or how government runs," Foat said. "This city needs people who have experience outside this city."

Hutcheson co-owns several real-estate businesses, including Greater Palm Springs Realty, Vacation Palm Springs Real Estate, and Palm Springs Investment Properties.

New columns are posted each Monday, Wednesday and Friday and as issues warrant.

Recent Media Articles