TWENTYNINE PALMS—On December 13, John Cole was selected by his council colleagues to serve as Twentynine Palms mayor for the next 12 months.
Cole was nominated by outgoing mayor Jim Harris as his successor.
Cole, 66, has been on the council since 2008. He is a retired educator and was the assistant superintendent for personnel, business and student services of the Morongo Unified School District. Previous to that he was principal of Twentynine Palms High School and Condor Elementary School.
Cole has a Bachelor of Science degree in math from Loyola University, and a Masters degree in education from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.  Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1945, Cole has lived in Twentynine Palms since 1966. He and his wife, Marsha, have raised five children. One of those, Kevin, previously served on the Twentynine Palms city council and was Mayor in 2006.
Cole currently serves on the board of directors for the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG), which is the county transportation agency; the board of the Morongo Basin Transit Authority (MBTA); the county’s Flood Control Advisory Committee; and the board of the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District.