Yucca Valley chooses new mayor, presents “State of the Town”

The Yucca Room was decked out with festive holiday decorations, a full Town Council and a lot of carrot cake to celebrate Mayor Jeff Drozd’s birthday as well as his last night serving as Mayor of the Town of Yucca Valley.

First up – a State of the Town address and video presentation video from Mayor Drozd who dedicated it to the town employees and staff who he says “keeps the town running.”

State of the Town

The video presentation highlighted achievements that have taken place in the last year… here’s a quick rundown by the numbers.

Public Safety continues to be a priority for the town. Deputy Alex Strumbo has been appointed as the new School Resource Officer for the 2025-2026 school year along with a second Sheriff’s service specialist who will handle non-emergency investigations and admin duties. There are also 17 active Citizens on Patrol who donate approximately 35 hours a month assisting law enforcement – adding up to about 4,000 volunteer hours a year.

Public Works has been busy this year with the opening of Founders Plaza which will be the site of Wednesday night’s tree lighting ceremony. The aquatics center, the reopening of Machris Park, a refurbished Senior Center and 152 miles of road improvements are also on their list of achievements for the year.

Youth sports programs like basketball, soccer and volleyball had 755 participants this year, and the Yucca Valley Youth Commission is the largest its ever been with 40 active members.

The town has also issued 894 new building permits in 2025, and the presentation also highlighted the protections put in place for senior mobile home parks, the town’s public art program, and the full schedule of events that Parks and Rec put on throughout the year.

Council picks Merl Abel as new Mayor

After the presentation, the outgoing Mayor took a moment to reflect on his time in Yucca Valley, which began when he moved here in 1976. Jeff Drozd is also a teacher at Copper Mountain College, which showed when he quizzed the room on some 1976 trivia.

The number one song that year?

It was “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee.

Minimum wage rose from $2.10 to $2.30 an hour, the number one TV show was Happy Days, and it was either councilmember Rick Denison or Jim Schooler who successfully guessed the top movie that year.

“Who said Rocky? Well, you’re going to be the next mayor then!” the Mayor joked.

Choosing the next Yucca Valley Mayor doesn’t exactly work that way, but the process isn’t that far off from how it actually happens. The Town Council cycles through each councilmember on a schedule. Mayor Pro Tem Merl Abel was nominated as the new mayor and unanimously passed, with councilmember Jim Schooler stepping up to be next in line as the new Mayor Pro Tem.

Mayor Drozd concluded his comments by acknowledging his wife Kerry as well as some of the perils of the public position. He said “it can be hard when you have a lot of criticism and when it bleeds over from me to her. It gets hard, so thank you Kerry.”

Drozd also reflected on what he characterized as a “tough year, but a great year,” saying “I’ve loved everything I’ve learned. There have been some protests and stuff, but I’ve learned by them. So I really appreciate everybody that came out. I appreciate all of you.

“Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your mayor. How many council members are so accessible? We are more accessible than I think I ever imagined any council could be. So thank you council members for being so accessible to the community.

“And from my heart, I say, thank you. And please love Yucca Valley… it is your town and my town,” the outgoing mayor concluded.

Newly-appointed Mayor Merl Abel shared his appreciation for Jeff Drozd’s work during the last year, telling him directly “It’s a pleasure to present our outgoing mayor with a small token of our appreciation and also wish him a happy birthday too. For all the hard work of former mayor, always mayor, Jeff Drozd, our appreciation is shown in this plaque for you.”

And with that, there was a 10-minute break while the council was reorganized and councilmembers, town staff, and around 35 residents in attendance all got the opportunity to eat carrot cake and visit.

The meeting was far from over with presentations from Joshua Tree National Park, San Bernardino County Fire, finance auditors, the Yucca Valley Film Festival, the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter Committee and a full public comment period.

We’ll have those stories later this week right here on Z107.7 FM and on z1077fm.com.

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