Meet the candidates vying for open seats on the Desert Healthcare District board Nov. 5

Four seats on the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation Board of Directors are up for grabs this November. Two incumbents are vying for reelection, while two current directors have chosen to step down, opening up their respective races to a new group of candidates.

Zone 1 Director Les Zendle, who has served on the board for two four-year terms, announced in June he would not seek reelection later this year. Director Carmina Zavala, who was elected in 2020 and represents Zone 3, will also not seek reelection, according to the candidate list on the Riverside County Registrar of Voters' website. She did not provide a statement for not seeking reelection, according to the district.

The Desert Healthcare District is a local government agency with a goal of helping Coachella Valley residents receive health care resources, housing, food and other services. There are seven district zones, each represented by an elected director.

Here are the candidates looking to earn a spot on the board.

Zone 1

Three candidates are vying for the Zone 1 seat, which includes most of Palm Springs, a small portion of Cathedral City, almost all of Rancho Mirage and a small part of Palm Desert.

Greg Rodriguez

Shortly after Zendle stated he would be stepping down from the board, Greg Rodriguez, deputy director of Government Affairs and Community Engagement for Riverside County's Housing and Workforce Solutions Department, announced his candidacy .

Rodriguez has lived in Palm Springs since 2006 and has been involved in public service through a number of organizations and positions, including as a board member of the Desert AIDS Project (now DAP Health) and as the first vice chair of the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission. He is currently the chair of the Riverside University Health Systems Community Health Center Board of Directors.

He has also worked on local, state and national campaigns. In 2013, Rodriguez became the district director for Congressman Raul Ruiz. He then campaigned for the California State Assembly District 42 seat, but was unsuccessful. However, he became the senior policy advisor for Riverside County District 4 Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, specializing in health care, housing and homelessness. In 2022, Rodriguez started working for Riverside County's Housing and Workforce Solutions Department.

Dr. Robert Piecuch

Rancho Mirage resident Dr. Robert Piecuch is another candidate in the race. He has lived in the desert full-time since 2011.

Piecuch earned his medical license in California in 1978 after earning his degree from the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Currently, he is a newborn intensivist working at Loma Linda University Medical Center, as well as the medical director for the perinatal palliative care program at the medical center.

Previously, he spent six years as the medical director of the intensive care nursery at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. Piecuch has also worked as an attending neonatologist at University of California San Francisco's Division of Neonatology, assistant clinical professor of OB/GYN at University of California Riverside and clinical professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, among others.

He currently serves on the board of directors for the Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Rick Lykins

Finally, Rick Lykins, a longtime Rancho Mirage resident, has also entered his name into the race.

For the last 25 years, Lykins has managed commercial construction projects, including hotels, medical facilities and school projects, in the Coachella Valley. He has worked with the General Services Administration, public agencies and private businesses, and has also served on a corporate board of directors for more than 20 years.

Zone 3

Zone 3 includes parts of Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert and Bermuda Dunes. Two candidates are vying to represent the area.

Claudia Galvez

Claudia Galvez is one of two candidates running for the seat. She has lived in La Quinta for more than 30 years.

She currently serves as the chief officer of government and community relations at Innercare, a federally qualify health center with clinics in Imperial and Riverside counties, where she advises on health policies, leads efforts to build strong community support and maintains relationships with government officials and legislators.

Galvez has spent more than two decades working in the health care and public policy fields. Previously, she worked as a field representative for former State Sen. Denise Ducheny, and as a consultant for the California Senate Select Committee on California-Mexico Affairs. In these positions, she coordinated meetings between state legislators and leaders from California and Mexico, focusing on economic development and quality of life in border communities.

The La Quinta resident has also served on several boards, including Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, Regional Access Project Foundation, Health Center Partners and Lideres Campesinas.

Dr. Daniel Logsdon

Additionally, Palm Desert resident Dr. Daniel Logsdon is eyeing the seat.

Logsdon is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Eisenhower Health who completed his medical training at Louisiana State Medical School in New Orleans, where he gained critical experience in the years post-Hurricane Katrina. He then attended University of Southern California and completed his specialization in 2014, and later moved to the Coachella Valley. He also served as a medical advisor for digital health companies.

Before embarking on his medical career, Logsdon earned an engineering degree from Purdue University and worked in the oil industry. He and his wife are involved with George Washington Charter School in Palm Desert.

Zone 5

Arthur Shorr

Incumbent Arthur Shorr is seeking another term as the Zone 5 director, which oversees parts of Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes and Indio.

The Palm Desert resident was appointed to the board in 2019 when then-Director Jennifer Wortham resigned due to a career move out of the Coachella Valley. He completed Wortham's term through 2020, and then was reelected to the board that year. He currently serves as board treasurer.

Shorr is the president and founder of Shorr HealthCare Consulting, a management consulting firm specializing in providing operational consulting, business and strategic planning services to health care providers. He has been active professionally in the health care field for more than 40 years.

Carlos E. Garcia

Additionally, Carlos E. Garcia has his eyes on the Zone 5 seat.

Garcia is a market researcher, with a focus on the Hispanic space, who has lived in Palm Desert for five years and Palm Springs before then. He also works with the Insights Association on its IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) Council to guide research projects.

He is involved in a number of local organizations and committees, including serving as vice chair of the Palm Desert City Finance Committee, board chair of the Artists Council in Palm Desert and treasurer of the Democrats of the Desert. He is also on the Pomona College Board of Trustees.

Garcia previously ran for Palm Desert City Council's District 2 seat in 2022, but was unsuccessful. He also was an organizer of Drive4Five, a group of citizens who pushed for five voting districts in Palm Desert.

Zone 7

Leticia De Lara

Incumbent Leticia De Lara is the only candidate running for the Zone 7 seat, which represents Coachella, Thermal, Mecca, Oasis and other communities around the Salton Sea. Unless a petition is filed with the Riverside County Registrar of Voters to include the unopposed race on the ballot, the registrar will request the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to appoint De Lara to serve another four-year term, according to the district.

She was the first person to represent Zone 7 on the board. Voters approved extending district boundaries east of Cook Street in November 2018, which led to the addition of two board seats for a total of seven. De Lara was appointed to serve on the board until 2020, and then was reelected that year. She previously served as the board president.

Outside of her involvement with the board, De Lara is the chief executive officer of the Regional Access Project Foundation, which provides funding, oversight, technical assistance and guidance to nonprofit, community-based organizations or other collaborative groups.

Prior to joining RAP, she spent five years as the district director for Riverside County District 4 Supervisor John J. Benoit and 11 years as chief of staff to his predecessor, Supervisor Roy Wilson. During her time with the Fourth District Supervisor’s office, De Lara specialized in the areas of social service, mental health, public health, affordable housing and homelessness. She has also served as vice-chairwoman of the Continuum of Care Board of Governance, and as board director with Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, Lift to Rise and Riverside County First 5 Commission.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Meet the candidates vying for open seats on the Desert Healthcare District board Nov. 5