Jim Ferguson
Councilmember
City of Palm Desert
Jim obtained his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences Degree in Speech Communications at the University of Arizona and is a graduate of the Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Jim obtained his legal education at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law where he graduated with distinction and earned the Order of the Coif for high attainment in the study of law.
Jim began his professional career as Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. Upon the Goldwater’s retirement, Jim was named by the Governor of Arizona to serve as Director of International Trade. Later, Jim was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as a Policy Advisor to the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Jim has been practicing law in the desert since 1993 when he was admitted to the California State Bar. He is the founder of Ferguson Law Firm located in Palm Desert, California. In 2001, Jim was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
In 1997 Jim was elected to the Palm Desert City Council. Previously, he served as a member and then Chairman of the Palm Desert Planning Commission. Jim was selected by his colleagues to serve as Mayor of the City of Palm Desert in 2001 and 2006. In 2002 and 2005, Jim served as Chairman of the Cove Communities Services Commission representing the Cities of Palm Desert, Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage. Jim was re-elected to the Palm Desert City Council in 2002 and 2006 and is currently serving in his third term.
Jim is also Chairman of the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy and is the immediate past Chairman of the Coachella Economic Partnership (2007-2008), an economic development organization representing the business interests of nine cities, four Native American tribes and the County of Riverside within the Coachella valley.
Jim has an avid interest in energy issues which was fomented during California’s experiment with power deregulation and the negative effect it had on California’s desert region. He has actively studied numerous alternative energy generation systems including wind, solar, hydrogen fuel cell and organic gasification. Jim was instrumental in the passage of AB 2770 in 2002 which allowed the transformation of municipal solid waste into a fuel stock for turbine electricity generation.
In Palm Desert, Jim pushed for that City’s historic ‘Estonia Protocol” -- a systematic effort to reduce peak and overall energy consumption city-wide by 30 percent in five years. Jim is also a passionate proponent of AB 811, Palm Desert’s “Energy Independence Act” which allows homeowners to finance energy efficiency improvements to their residences statewide through low interest municipal loans secured by their property. In most cases, the cost of the efficiency improvements is more than paid for by the reduction in energy bills. The Palm Desert Energy Independence Program was approved by the Council on August 28, 2008, the first City or County in the State to adopt this landmark initiative.