INDIO, Calif. — A Riverside County criminal grand jury indicted the longtime mayor of Coachella on nine counts, including one felony charge of violating conflict of interest rules related to government contracts and four felony counts of perjury.
Steven Hernandez, 42, who has served on the Coachella City Council for nearly two decades, pleaded not guilty Thursday morning at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
Hernandez was a rising politician in Riverside County and Coachella, an agricultural city of 42,500 people about 130 miles southeast of Los Angeles. If convicted as charged, Hernandez would be barred from holding public office for life and face more than seven years in state prison, according to Riverside County Dist. Atty. Mike Hestrin.
Hernandez was raised in Coachella by his grandparents, who were migrant farmworkers. He was first elected to the council in 2006, becoming an integral part of a powerful group of Latino politicians in the valley east of Palm Springs.
Under his leadership, the city made major infrastructure investments in its downtown, including an expanded library, a new senior center and a new fire station. It improved its parks and its walkability. Money poured into campaign coffers during local elections, a phenomenon that Hernandez attributed in 2020 to “an indication of people’s ability to mobilize their political machines.”
But some of Hernandez’s votes from the dais apparently caught the attention of the Riverside County District Attorney’s office.
The conflict-of-interest charges relate to his vote to approve a contract between the city of Coachella and the Coachella Valley Assn. of Governments’ Housing First program, which serves chronically homeless people, as well as his votes and advocacy related to downtown Coachella development projects, according to a statement from Hestrin.
An Assn. of Governments spokesperson said the organization has fully cooperated with the district attorney’s office and grand jury and “there has never been an implication from investigators that the investigation had anything to do with actions by elected officials serving in their CVAG capacity.”
The perjury charges relate to claims made by Hernandez on his Statement of Economic Interests public disclosure forms, also known as the Form 700, the district attorney said.
Hernandez will remain mayor of Coachella “until otherwise notified,” according to city spokesperson Risseth Lora.
Along with serving on the city council, Hernandez works as the chief of staff for Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. He was placed on “indefinite administrative leave” from the county, Perez said in a statement Wednesday, adding: “Although we are still waiting on more details, it’s our understanding that the charges are unrelated to his role in our office.”
Hernandez surrendered to Riverside County Sheriff officials at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on Tuesday and posted $112,500 bail. He appeared before Riverside County Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan on Thursday morning. Wearing a navy suit, he clasped his hands behind his back as his attorney entered the plea.
He donned sunglasses as he left the courtroom.
This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic divide.
