MEET RON
Palm Springs City Councilmember
Ron deHarte is a community organizer, longtime public servant, and a recognized human rights champion who served two terms as Chair of the City of Palm Springs Human Rights Commission. Ron is also a small business owner. He's not a special interest politician. He's a local resident who cares about Palm Springs and believes we can have safe streets, sound economic development, a robust tourism economy, and accessible housing while being a leader in sustainability. He is dedicated to ensuring vibrant and walkable neighborhoods and open spaces accessible to all, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, native language, culture, abilities, and disabilities.
Extensive local leadership experience
Active in the Palm Springs community for over a decade, Ron’s service and civic engagement have led him to his commitment to serve on the Palm Springs City Council. His work to support this city includes being an active member of:
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the City of Palm Springs Police Chief’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee, and
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the City of Palm Springs Business Transition & Re-entry Task Force.
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Main Street Palm Springs, the local Downtown and Uptown Palm Springs Business Association giving him a comprehensive understanding of the interests and contributions of the downtown and uptown business community.
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the City of Palm Springs 2020 Census Outreach Committee, and
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the Community Development Block Grant Citizens Advisory Committee.
Qualified to serve and take on today’s challenges
Through the years, Ron has supported and/or produced some of the City’s most significant events, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and generating millions of dollars in revenue. This includes the Greater Palm Springs Pride Parade and Festival, the City of Palm Springs, Cesar Chavez Day, the Veterans Day Parade, the Festival of Lights, Cathedral City LGBT Days, and the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast. His ability to organize, direct, and manage these events in a safe and caring environment uniquely qualifies him to take on the essential civic duty as Councilmember of District 3.
Ron has been preparing for the position of Councilmember for over a decade by attending countless city council meetings in person to learn of the issues facing the city and observe the local governance process. Before and through the COVID-19 outbreak, Ron has continued to follow city council actions via the city’s live council meeting broadcast on YouTube.
Not one to sit idle, Ron is co-chair of the Community Leadership Council and serves as a director on several community-based initiatives, including Safe Schools Desert Cities, The LGBTQ Archives of the Desert, Greater Palm Springs Pride, and the United States Association of Prides.
As a councilmember, Ron serves on the following committees:
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Coachella Valley Association of Governments Energy & Environmental Resources
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Coachella Valley Conservation Commission
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Main Street / Uptown Business Association
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Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (Alternate)
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Coachella Valley Association of Governments Public Safety (Alternate)
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Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy Board (Alternate)
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Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau (Alternate)
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Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce (Alternate)
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Board & Commission Interviews (Alternate)
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Sunline Transit Agency (Alternate)
He is a proud Latino from a working-class family with a family of his own
Regarding his personal background, Ron is a proud Mexican-American, the youngest in a family of seven. He is a first-generation college student who grew up in a modest community in Glendale, AZ. He is a proud graphic design trade school and community college graduate who continued his formal education in Los Angeles while developing industry-recognized public relations events and marketing programs. He is a graduate of California State University Northridge.
Ron’s family history is documented in the Arizona Chicano/a Research Collection at the Arizona State University, Archives & Special Collections. Dating back to 1863, the family history in document and photographic form helps document the presence of Hispanic people in Arizona. It is a permanent part of the Arizona State University collection titled the Teodoro and Mariana Rodriguez Ocampo Collection.
Ron and his husband of twenty-six years, Keith Gran, have two sons, are uncles to Seamus, a eight-year-old lab, and a kitten named Clyde. They live in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs.
