Palm Desert City Council - Regular Meeting, February 13, 2025

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AI transcript text.

[00:09:06] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay, welcome everybody. I hereby call the Palm Desert City Council, Successor Agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency, Palm Desert Housing Authority, and the Palm Desert Board of Library Trustees meeting of February 13, 2025, to order. Could we please have a roll call, Mr. City Clerk?
[00:09:26] City Clerk: Councilmember Nandy?
[00:09:31] Councilmember Nandy: Here.
[00:09:31] City Clerk: Councilmember Petto?
[00:09:32] Councilmember Petto: Here.
[00:09:33] City Clerk: Councilmember Kia?
[00:09:34] Councilmember Kia: Present.
[00:09:35] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem?
[00:09:36] Mayor Pro Tem: Here.
[00:09:37] City Clerk: And Mayor H?
[00:09:38] Mayor Pro Tem: Absent.
[00:09:39] Mayor Pro Tem: Very good. Now we will have Councilmember Andy lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
[00:10:11] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay, and we have... there was no closed session today, so nothing to report from ISRA. And there are actually also no awards or presentations on tonight's agenda.
[00:10:26] Staff: Mayor Pro Tem, I believe it's the inspiration at this point.
[00:10:31] Mayor Pro Tem: Yeah, that's what I thought. Sorry about that. Let's please have Council Member Keia please give us some words of inspiration. Thank you.
[00:10:38] Council Member Keia: No, it is important to say we didn't have a closed session. We got it, that's important business too. Let's... we've all been seeing the cost of inflation and the deceptive packaging that we know as shrinkflation. Those are all important things that are impacting everyone, and this is a time and a reminder to check on your loved ones, even if you don't know them very well. The wildfires have reminded us that we must get to know our neighbors because we never know what's going to happen. We also never know who is struggling and who doesn't know how to seek sources, or who may be too proud to receive services. We know that there were displaced survivors that came to the desert who live with friends or loved ones, and we also had hotels that generously provided room and board for those seeking help. The FIND Food Bank, as a reminder, a lot of organizations support, they don't ask for information about where you live, they don't ask income. So if you need it, or tell a loved one, again, pride doesn't care if you're hungry or not. We have to take care of our bodies and, you know, your pride comes after, but we have to stay healthy in order to keep moving forward. Every single one of us here is either experiencing or knows someone that's going through the tough times. And if you're blessed enough to not be going in that moment, pay it forward. There have been experiences in your life where you have had good things happen to you. This is the time to pay it forward, show love to strangers. And it doesn't matter if you even see a big home, sometimes they have big bills. We still have to show that compassion. Smiles are free, and we don't do enough of that, and that brings community together. We have to be kind and love thy neighbor. We have to practice it, and it doesn't matter where our neighbors were born or what languages they speak, because kindness spoken from one heart to another requires no language. In Spanish, we have the expression, 'no sabemos,' which to translate with rhyme says, 'Faces we can show, but hearts we don't know.' So, in just positivity and peace, please be kind to one another. Thank you.
[00:13:01] Mayor Pro Tem: Terrific. Thank you very much. So we have, obviously, no closed session today, no report there, no awards or presentations this evening. And we move on now to city manager comments. Mr. Hman.
[00:13:16] City Manager Hman: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. We do have two items tonight. I'd like to take a moment to inform the Council and public. I'd like to invite Lieutenant Pors up first to give us a quick overview of Prop 36's recent passage and how it's impacting operations with the Sheriff's Department.
[00:13:37] Lieutenant Pors: Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. Before I get into that, I want to give you an update also regarding staffing levels. Last week, I reported that we were only going to be able to start with one motorcycle deputy, but I have good news: we get to do two starting next week. So the two that you approved are going to start next week, and we're looking forward to introducing them to you guys soon at the next meeting, or soon after that, along with another additional patrol deputy during the daytime hours to continue bolstering the team that you have created here in Palm Desert. So, it's good news for everybody, and looking forward to that. So, a few months ago, Council asked if they can provide an update on Prop 36 and how it's going to impact your community. Prop 36 was passed and went into effect on December of 2024. This allowed changes in sentencing for certain crimes. But before we start talking about that, I also need to remind the public that many things happened years ago, such as California prison realignment and Prop 47 sentencing guidelines, that have an impact on how things were shaped and why we're here today. So, what changed for law enforcement under Prop 36? Really, when it comes to law enforcement, nothing. We continue to enforce the law, make...
[00:15:00] Lieutenant: ...arrest and take people to jail. What has changed is the sentencing guidelines now. So to better understand the changes, I've invited Deputy District Attorney Melissa Kale to kind of explain some of the highlights of what Prop 36 has done to the criminal justice system and moving forward. So with no further ado, here's Deputy District Attorney Melissa Kale.
[00:15:23] Melissa Kale: Thank you, Lieutenant. Council members, again, I'm Melissa Kale. I'm a Deputy District Attorney in Indio, as well as the Community Action Team liaison for the city of Palm Desert. And so basically, Proposition 36 is the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act. It took effect on December 18th, 2024. The changes really include the creation of new felony theft and drug crimes targeting recidivist offenders, removal of eligibility for the sentences of certain offenses to be served in county jail pursuant to Penal Code Section 1170(h), and alignment of the punishment for crimes involving fentanyl with that of other similar controlled substances. Really, there are two main changes to the Health and Safety Code 11395, which is that if you have two prior qualifying convictions of drug possession and then you are charged again with a third, it can be charged now as a felony or a misdemeanor. It's what we call a wobbler offense, where it's up to the District Attorney's discretion to file it either as a felony or a misdemeanor. The biggest note there is the prior convictions for the drug possession do not have a washout period. So if you were convicted in 1992 and 1998 of drug possession, and then now you are charged again in 2025, you can now be charged with a felony drug possession pursuant to that. Also included in that, though, is a treatment option where the person can elect to do treatment instead of jail time. It creates a new subsection, Health and Safety Code Section 11395, where if they're possessing a hard drug—again, that's the fentanyl, your cocaine, methamphetamine—and having two or more prior felony or methamphetamine convictions, they can choose then to have treatment in lieu of incarceration for that offense. They do still have to plead guilty, and then if they successfully complete that treatment program, then the charges would be dismissed. The other one is under Penal Code Section 666.1, which is the petty theft with priors. Petty theft is similar to like your shoplifting charges, values under $950. But if you have two prior convictions of theft-related charges—those can include robbery, carjacking, grand theft, shoplifting, petty theft—if you have two priors of those, again, there's no washout period for those prior convictions, and then charged with a third similar charge, now you can again be charged with a felony or a misdemeanor, either one. Those are kind of the biggest changes with regards to the drug possession and the theft. There were other things included in there with the fentanyl, adding that into a lot of the drug crimes to make that noted as a serious thing.
[00:18:37] Council Member: One of the reasons that Prop 36 came about was the need to address the way Prop 47 was written to have someone in regards to seeking rehabilitation. And is that if it was a misdemeanor before, where the individual could come before the judge, per se, and say, 'I promise I was just having an issue, I would rather choose rehab,' and they would get to go home because of overcrowding and then may not come back. Can you clarify, or is this still someone will stay incarcerated until that's processed? Because I remember a conversation that said that there were people that would rather, especially if they are addicts, that would say, 'I just want to plead right now, I'll go home, and I can keep using until I go to rehab,' and maybe not complete rehab, and the cycle then continues. Is that something that's being addressed as things are redefined?
[00:19:32] Melissa Kale: So I think what you're looking at—I think so, if I'm understanding your question correctly—as far as when somebody is released, part of the provision now includes, upon booking for a violation of the Health and Safety Code 11395, it requires judicial review prior to release from custody to make an individual determination of the arrestee's risk to public safety and their likelihood to return to court.
[00:20:01] Speaker: Once they are booked for that, then the judge has to make that review and that determination as far as the alignment of when they plead guilty. I mean, if they at arraignment plead guilty to their felony conviction but want the treatment, that is something that we'll have to see how that plays out. Thank you.
[00:20:29] Speaker: So, just one thing I want to add. Some people say, 'Well, this all depends on jail space, right?' So, I know that John J. Benoit Detention Center is operating in a minimal capacity right now, but I want to assure you the department is working hard to get that next phase so that we can have more additional bed space when needed and required to combat these problems. So, thank you very much for your time. I wanted to just thank her for the cooperation we have with the District Attorney's office. And good afternoon.
[00:20:59] Staff: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I'd also like to introduce Gary Schafer, Director of Libraries, to inform the Council and public of an upcoming program that he'll be sponsoring.
[00:21:09] Gary Schafer: Good afternoon, Council members, Mayor Pro Tem. Gary Schafer, Director of Library Services. I just wanted to officially make the announcement here at this very important venue about our One Book, One Palm Desert program coming, really being announced publicly. We'll send it out to our email list next week and then do some programming throughout the month of March. So, we have identified the book, 'Finding Gobi', which is an amazing true story and a very unlikely New York Times bestseller, as our One Book, One Palm Desert. It is a family-friendly read. It has 24 chapters, so one could sit with the family 24 nights during the month of March and read the entire book together. But it also does come in a young readers' version, which is often called a chapter book, and it also has a picture book that accompanies it. So, this unlikely story is about an Australian ultramarathoner who is competing in a 5-day race across the Gobi Desert. He has to carry his entire food source—I think the only thing they supply is water—and a tent to sleep in. And he's running across the Gobi Desert, and suddenly he notices this dog tagging along. And he assumes this little dog will peel off eventually, but the dog is just keeping up with him. And he gets to a stream, and the dog starts barking at him because the dog can't cross the stream. And so he literally goes back and gets the dog, and then it kind of creates this amazing friendship and bond between the two of them. So, he ultimately ends up—don't want to give all the spoilers away—but adopting Gobi and bringing her home to the UK. But there is a very perilous journey involved in that, and really worth the read. So, we hope everyone will join us on March 29th when we will do a major program at UC Riverside with Dion Leonard with Gobi. Gobi is alive and well and will be there in person as well. We also have programs happening earlier that day, a children's program, and we have programs on Friday at the library with the Living Desert. And we've got just programs throughout, including like bring your dog for a pup cup at the library, a dog parade at our new dog park, and all kinds of other fun programs throughout the month. So, we hope folks will join. And the whole purpose of this is really about building community. If you're going to read one book this year, make it this book because it's the one book everyone's going to be talking about. It's published in 24 languages, including obviously English, but Spanish, French, Chinese, and several others. So, we just wanted to share that with you, make it official, and hope to see you all. It's on your calendar at the large event. And I left a copy of the book for you, as well as other information about the other programs going on and some of the latest resources that the library has to offer, including our PressReader resource, which allows folks to download the New York Times to their computer—the whole paper—or tablet device each and every day for free, courtesy of your Palm Desert Library and the City of Palm Desert. So, thank you all.
[00:24:34] Mayor Pro Tem: Excellent. Thank you, Dr. Schafer. Look forward to that, and thank you for a copy of the book. Looking forward to reading that. Okay, next item we have is City Council reports and requests for action. Let's start with Council Member, please.
[00:24:48] Council Member: Thank you very much, Mayor Pro Tem. Quick reports, as much as I can be quick. Cala National Monument was designated. I think I may have seen you off in the distance. It was a pretty big...
[00:25:00] Council Member: ...event. So, it was rescheduled from January, but it was wonderful to see that this is a very unique opportunity of co-stewardship between the different agencies involved with the tribal members. So, it protects ecological corridors and biodiversity, and a lot of benefits not only to commerce for people that have businesses in the outdoors, but people that travel through. That was a beautiful event.
[00:25:26] Council Member: And with regards to CVAG Public Safety, that was a meeting that we held yesterday, and the issue of the ongoing 911 outages was brought up. The discussion was to add this as one of the legislative priorities, and that locally, the conversations with Spectrum and Charter and other cable providers are ongoing. And believe it or not, copper theft is also a factor in this, not just the storms. Indio has a 'Drive Safe, Arrive Safe' program, and that leads along the lines of what we were talking about in reviewing our transportation and safety element. There was an ongoing discussion on the training that Cal Fire and our local fire engines and agencies are working on, especially in areas like the mountain communities where there isn't the existing infrastructure. They have recently acquired one Air Attack—I think it's a helicopter or small plane—two trucks to haul water, one bulldozer, and one Blackhawk helicopter with night vision and sky cranes that will be able to scoop water where there isn't any type of hydrants, with a 35,000-gallon capacity. So, those were great things to know. We may feel like the fires were very far away, but we do have some close—can have close calls.
[00:26:52] Council Member: And I want to thank Mayor Harnik, even though she's not here, for entertaining my request to have the state commissioners, the Insurance Commissioner, to bring presentations on what resources are available, since we know that insurance providers are leaving California altogether or are dropping policyholders, so we need to address that.
[00:27:18] Council Member: And along the lines of public safety as well, Lieutenant Boras and—I forgot your title, is it liaison?—and your Deputy DA at the Indio... it's Indio jail, I believe. Okay, thank you. I hoped I got that right. The ongoing efforts with the Probation Department, they have now created a multi-agency focus and a whole-person approach. So, it's not just looking at, 'You're a convict, go back to jail, you don't belong here,' but connecting people to the resources, mental health, to help decrease the rates of recidivism. And I would like to request that for a future public safety and/or homelessness discussion, that we have the Probation Department present so our community knows how we continue to elevate the services that we offer with City Net. So, hopefully I can get some support on that note.
[00:28:11] Council Member: I attended a board meeting for the Associated Students at COD. We discussed getting involved with the local community, plugged the Citizens Academy, plugged commissions and committees, because those things are important to students' transfer and seeking scholarships.
[00:28:31] Council Member: And last but not least, the ever-so-fun Animal Campus. The meetings have now been shifted over to the Desert Recreation District Thousand Palms location. It is much bigger, and there had been the discussion to alternate locations to different cities, but we are the largest place that could accommodate everyone that needed to be at the table, and we would have still needed to bring extra chairs. We are the only place that has enough seating as a gallery, and that's why that location works a lot better. And so, it's not that they may or may not have clear signage. If you know anyone that's been continuing to go to the meetings, please let folks know that it is now at the Desert Recreation District. At the meeting, I attended the study session where there were educational materials presented, and then the regular meeting that Mayor Pro Tem attended. And I would like to request and support that we have an update on the fee study. While I was chair for two years, I was requesting, 'How can you ask us to renew the contract if you haven't told us what fees you're going to charge?' And in bringing that up to the City Manager, County CEO, and their legal team, we were able to negotiate a one-year extension, and eventually they're going to say, 'Well, where's the rest of that?' But I don't think that any of us in good faith would feel comfortable with approving a contract if we don't know what we're going to be charged. So, I hope that that can come about sooner.
[00:30:02] Councilmember: ...rather than later as we look at the expenses that are going on. And I think we're going to keep having ongoing events where the cost of the spay/neuter will be shared between the county and the City of Palm Desert. So that's my two requests: would be to incorporate the Probation Department into a future meeting that discusses our study session or presentation with our law enforcement or homelessness, and requesting a fee study presentation from the Department of Animal Services.
[00:30:34] Councilmember: I support those two requests. As the liaison to the homelessness committee, I'm curious if we need action to invite them to participate in our next meeting. Mr. City Manager, do you need Council support to provide that invitation for them to participate?
[00:30:56] City Manager: No, we're happy to make that invitation to them.
[00:31:01] Councilmember: And that is pretty much what I have in terms of reports. Thank you.
[00:31:09] Mayor: Terrific. Councilmember Nandy?
[00:31:13] Councilmember Nandy: Yes. So at the CVAG Energy and Environmental meeting today, South Coast Air Quality District gave a very, very short presentation on their plans to basically ban gas appliances. While it's not going to be a mandate if you already have a gas appliance, but in new home construction. So for the home building community, they would be forced to only have electric appliances. And I know many, many people like and prefer to cook with gas stoves, and I don't believe our public knows about it. And again, this presentation was very brief. I can say our committee has strong reservations, and I don't know where my fellow council members stand on it, but it's a huge decision. And to think that one agency could make such vital changes to our lifestyles and a whole industry of natural gas, I believe it's very important. So I would like to at least have it as an agenda item or, you know, have staff reach out to South Coast and Tom Kirk at CVAG and share more information with us before it takes effect.
[00:32:32] Councilmember: I would absolutely support that. I am part of the State League of Cities Environmental Quality Policy Committee, and when that came up as a discussion for statewide policy, those were some of the issues. In communities where you don't have the infrastructure to have everyone plugged in to an electrical grid, that would be a challenge. If we have an outage in the middle of winter and you can't get electricity, how are we going to have any other alternatives? So I think that is a very important topic to review.
[00:33:08] Mayor: Okay. Do you have enough direction, Todd, or is that too vague?
[00:33:10] City Manager: No, it's fine. Our Assistant City Manager has been interacting with both CVAG and the other organization in order to try to get as much information as possible. It's been pretty general up until today, and so we'll certainly ask if we can get a presentation. If Council would like to also consider something where you put a resolution together to speak as a group and give your direction to them as well and your thought process, we can organize that as well.
[00:33:40] Councilmember Nandy: Okay. And I believe the City of Loma Linda has already done something along those lines.
[00:33:43] City Manager: Okay. If that's Council's desire, we're happy to put that together for you.
[00:33:48] Councilmember: I would support that.
[00:33:50] Mayor: Okay. All right, thank you. Councilmember Petto?
[00:33:53] Councilmember Petto: I want to thank staff for joining Principal Longoria at Coffee with the Principal last week. I want to thank Randy, Chris, Julia, Ryland, Lieutenant Poris, and Deputy Davidson. The principal had record attendance, and we had probably about two dozen parents there. We talked about safety. Parents really acknowledged the staff, the work staff's been doing to improve traffic safety around the school, and they were thrilled to no end to have our motor deputy working speed down that area as well. So I want to thank staff for making that effort, and we got lots of good feedback from the community. That's it.
[00:34:39] Mayor: Okay. Just a few comments from me this evening. It's been a few weeks since our last meeting, and I was able to attend the Desert Arc luncheon, which is an annual event celebrating clients of the year. And we also had the retirement of the director last week, and I've got to say, I'm just so proud to have that organization in our city. They service...
[00:35:00] Councilmember: ...about 700 clients from the Coachella—actually from Blythe all the way to Banning, and it's just a beautiful organization. The work they do is incredible, and it was just so nice to have a chance to celebrate them. And they're down off of Country Club Drive, if you ever have a chance to visit their facilities. It's really very, very impressive, and they give these clients a lot of pride by getting them into the workforce and giving them meaningful jobs and activities. The Artists Council—I was able to attend two of their events at the Artists Council in the last few weeks. First was the Plein Air Festival, second was that juried art exhibition. And I got to say again, I am so proud that that is in our city. It was vibrant, it was bustling. I mean, the place was just jam-packed with people. And it's really neat. And that, along with the Melissa Morgan event where we dedicated the 18 new sculptures on El Paseo, Palm Desert really does promote the arts, and again, I'm just super proud of that. And last but not least, I had a chance to do a ride-along with the Sheriff's Department last evening with Deputy Nelson, who was here earlier and then left. But a few takeaways from that: we live in a really safe city. I mean, I was with him for three hours, and it was pleasantly quiet. There was very, very little activity, actually. We went to a few of the hot spots, but it was really amazing. We're blessed to have such a committed and enthusiastic group of professionals serving our city. They do incredible work. And last but not least, that Flock camera system is a pretty darn powerful tool. It was really an eye-opener with that. If you're not familiar, we have about 100 cameras throughout the city that help track vehicles and license plates, etc. So, it was a great, great experience. Really enjoyed it, and we'll do it again for sure. And that is all I have this evening. So next up, we will move on to non-agenda public comment. So the next item, the non-agenda public comments. This time has been set aside for the public to address the City Council on issues that are not on the agenda for up to three minutes. Because the Brown Act does not allow the City Council to act on items not listed on the agenda, members may briefly respond or refer the matter to staff report and recommendation at a future meeting. And, City Clerk, turn it over to you for some housekeeping.
[00:37:14] City Clerk: For those on Zoom, if you want to participate in public comment, please click the raise hand button on your computer or smartphone. If you're joining by calling in on your phone, please dial star nine to raise your hand, and when called upon, press star six to unmute yourself.
[00:37:29] Councilmember: Terrific. Do we have any online participants?
[00:37:32] City Clerk: No hands are raised online.
[00:37:34] Councilmember: Terrific. Okay, I will go with the... I have four cards in front of me. I will go through them as I have them stacked up here. And first off, we have, uh, Professor Chip.
[00:37:53] Professor Chip: Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I've been a resident of Palm Desert for 30 years, and I'm in the employee benefit area and retirement planning. And I've talked to the city managers. The city manager instructed the HR to give me an interview and do whatever I say. Interestingly, all of the HR people have refused to even give me a meeting. So we could say the HR people were like embezzling money in the fact that they weren't netting out all the commissions for health insurance. It's 7%. For life and disability, it's 25%. So because they... so we would shoot for March 1 to change and reduce. Then, because they acted in bad faith, we go back 30 or 40 years and get that number and then triple it. Now there's going to be litigation, and I actually have a law degree, so I'll be able to work on that. Mr. Hillman has been very... well, I hate the word to use 'mean', but just mean to me. And I had to sit there for about 20 minutes with he and his assistant telling me that because I mentioned I knew Linda Evans and she knew Jan and they would vouch that anything I suggested would be great because I've actually helped Tenet rearrange some of their employee benefits. And so he said because I donated a lot of money to the politicians that he never wanted to see me again. And then today we talked about the $95 million in the reserve, and I talked with another gentleman, and apparently y'all are fantastically found people that can, with some risk, minimal risk, get 11% return. So that's fantastic. There's an insurance company called Pacific Mutual, and it's the whale that jumps up. They do annuities and...
[00:40:00] Public Speaker: They'd be willing to guarantee 12% with no commissions and no fees so we could have two entities competing for the business, and that's all I have to say. Thank you, and I'm sorry I had to bring this out public, but Mike just forced me to do it.
[00:40:18] Mayor Pro Tem: Thank you very much. Uh, next up we have Mr. John Sisley.
[00:40:31] John Sisley: Hi, my name is John Sisley. I represent all the union plumbers, pipefitters, and refrigeration for San Bernardino and Riverside counties. I'm also a delegate to the Inland Empire Labor Council and the Building Trades Commission, State of California. Um, when, when you give out public works projects, you got to pay prevailing wage. Um, and just as an example, a plumber costs $57 an hour plus benefits. That is the DIR's wage determination for public work in this area. Incidentally, that is also to the penny the union wage for that man, and we do that on purpose. We match that so our contractors can get in there and get those jobs. So the other day, I'm out here, big hole opened up in the street at College of the Desert. I walk by, bunch of workers standing around, they're doing plumbing. I walk up to the guys, 'Hey, how you doing? I'm John, I'm from the union.' 'Hey, how are you?' I go to the guy I think's in charge, I say, 'Hey, how are you? I'm John.' I stick my hand, he shakes my hand, he says, 'I'm Chris. How you doing, Chris?' I said, 'Not trying to steal you, but just so you guys know, the union's out there if you ever need a job, we're hiring.' Chris says, 'Yeah, you know, I'm pretty good. This company takes care of me. I got a company truck, you know.' I said, 'Great, great. Well, if you don't mind me asking, what do they pay you an hour, Chris?' Chris says, 'Well, they pay me $35 an hour.' I say, 'Great, man. Just, just so you know, my journeymen, they're making 57.' And his eyes get real big. 'Wow, $57 an hour?' 'Yeah. Well, thank you. You guys have a nice day.' I go back to the website, the Department of Internal—or excuse me, Department of Industrial Relations website. I pull their public payroll. I look, that company's got two journeymen on site, and they have check stubs for $57 an hour. And that foreman I talked to, well, they have a check stub for $63 an hour for that man. So at that point, that's fraud, and I file a labor compliance case. I filed 120 of them last year. I get them all day long out here. I bring this up to you, and I don't think it's even something you awarded in this particular case. I bring this up to you just because I want you to know what goes on out there, okay? And what goes on in this area, and be very cognizant of the developers and the contractors that you're giving the public work to, okay? They routinely will steal and lie from you, okay? Just, just had to come by tonight and point that out to you guys. Thank you.
[00:43:02] Mayor Pro Tem: Thank you very much. Uh, next up we have Mr. Mike Morish.
[00:43:13] Mike Morish: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, council members, staff. Today, I'd like to, uh, talk a little bit about the establishment of, uh, the Palm Desert City Foundation. As per the city staff report published recommendation dated August 22nd, 2024, was to focus on fundraising to help fund the library programs and later expand to help public art, aquatic centers, fire stations, parks, police stations. In addition, to form a 501(c)(3) to seek donations and apply for foundation grants for its tax-exempt status. Financial impact not to exceed $10,000, included in the '24-'25 annual budget for library services, and no impact to the general fund. This came about in post-Hurricane Hilary and COVID virus that made a huge financial impact to the city. Moving forward, we worked on the passage of Measure G that would help fund these programs with revenue estimated around $25 million per year. So the question is, with Measure G overwhelmingly passing by ballot vote, do we need to duplicate funds for these programs? Was 1% sales tax not adequate? Has the foundation drafted bylaws and articles of incorporation? Is the structure five members and two alternates without members of the City Council on the board, but acting as a liaison? I'd like to close by saying, uh, thank you, Councilmember Nante.
[00:45:01] Mr. Morish: ...for bringing up Rule 1111. As we know, the gas company is one of our best allies to prevent this change in our lifestyle from going from gas water heaters and HVAC units to electric, which are very expensive. It could cost the homeowners lots of money when they go to replace their existing units. Thank you.
[00:45:32] Mayor Pro Tem: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Morish. I appreciate it. And last but not least, we have Connor Lamont.
[00:45:43] Connor Lamont: Good evening, council members, Mayor Pro Tem. Connor Lamont, 72375 Upperway West. I live in the Cahuilla Hills behind St. Margaret's Church in Palm Desert. The street I live on, Upperway West, is private. The entire residential area consists of private residences surrounded by open space. Stone Eagle borders our south. In the past year, the number of trespassers has increased to a level that is completely unacceptable. Hikers literally traipsing past our windows or down drives and walkways. Cyclists with absolutely no concern for either the fact that they are trespassing or that they are putting the homeowners and themselves at risk from a liability perspective. Yesterday was the last straw for myself and nine of the 11 homeowners I spoke with on Upperway West and South Cliff. We were caring for a neighbor's 18-month-old puppy on our property in front of our home. A trespasser, upset with the dog barking, pepper-sprayed her. If you're not familiar with pepper spray, it's the substance that led to the death of the Capitol Police Officer Sicknick during the January 6th insurgence. It is vile. In helping to remove it from the puppy, it transferred to me. It transferred into my eyes, my skin. I will tell you, it was painful. To have someone trespassing on my property and then using pepper spray on an animal that belonged is unacceptable. We called the police. They were terrific, but they were unable to apprehend the man. This is one of a collection of incidents each of the residents could share. We need help. At this point, all we can do is call the police, which we feel is a waste of resources and does not rectify the issue. We need Palm Desert to start coordinating their ordinance by stating that Homme Adams Park closes at dusk, as the signs state. Please put up signs at the south end property line stating 'The park ends here,' and at least for a little while, we need police presence. These acts are increasing, and their harmful nature is escalating. Thank you.
[00:47:45] Mayor Pro Tem: All right, thank you, Ms. Lamont.
[00:47:49] Clerk: And no online speakers requested.
[00:47:53] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay, terrific. Next item is the consent calendar. The public may comment on any items on the consent calendar for up to three minutes.
[00:48:03] Clerk: I don't have any speaker cards for consent items and no raised hands online, Mr. Mayor.
[00:48:09] Mayor Pro Tem: Terrific, thank you. Does the City Council want any items removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion?
[00:48:14] Council Member: I would like to pull H and P. H as in Harry, H as in Potter, so you know I'm a nerd. P.
[00:48:25] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay, terrific. Gina?
[00:48:27] Council Member: Joe, R and U.
[00:48:33] Mayor Pro Tem: So so far we have item H, P like Peter, R like Robert, U like umbrella to be pulled for further discussion. And I will entertain a motion to accept the consent calendar with the following items, H, P, R, and U, removed for separate discussion.
[00:48:49] Council Member: So moved.
[00:48:52] Council Member: Second.
[00:48:59] Clerk: Council Member... Motion passes 4 to 0.
[00:49:09] Clerk: And to make sure the record—and to let the record reflect that it's Mayor Harnik that's absent.
[00:49:18] Mayor Pro Tem: Terrific, okay. Thank you very much. I guess we played a little bit of musical chairs. We're each other's... I got you. Okay, terrific. Okay, so first up, we will just—we'll take this in alphabetical order, I suppose. We'll discuss item H, which is ratify the letter of support for UCR for the Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines Resilience Research and Innovation Initiative. Terrific. All right, thank you, Council Member Kia. Do we have—do we start with the staff, or anything specific you want to discuss?
[00:49:52] Council Member Kia: I think it's just more of a comment, and then if there's any feedback either from staff or the Council in...
[00:50:00] Councilmember: terms of how we continue support. Um, as I mentioned earlier in speaking to the COD students and looking at how to get involved at a municipal level because it does impact their ability to go on to, you know, college or graduate programs and so on. I'm wondering why the city doesn't, um, have a more active or proactive role in using the research that is conducted locally. Within the letter itself or within, um, the proposal, it says that, you know, these programs are designated to be a hub for innovation, and in particular, this project to address climate resilience and challenges within the Inland Southern California, directly quoted. It is cutting-edge research and technology development that are community-based scientific discoveries that are practical with community-focused solutions. We already pay, and as a state, to the UCs, to the Cal States, to College of the Desert, and all of our wonderful consultants and all of these experts that we pay. Where are they getting their research? Where are their policies informed but from the already research institutions? When we acknowledge that we have, uh, UC schools, they are research-based, that's why they grant PhDs. The Cal State schools are practitioner-based. We should do more to incorporate our local students to things like focus groups when we have the ability to have, for example, social work, um, students that can maybe ask follow-up questions that our staff may not be thinking of when it comes to things like quality of life. When, you know, the pedestrian access, you know, I know we've got wonderful staff, but having this come from a ground-roots level, especially with younger students that will be helping as we look at our, our plan for the future, not just 2030, but 40 years into the future, I think we need to keep looking ahead. Um, one positive example is Cal State's nursing program. We already see the benefit of having their street medicine unit. When I was an academic adviser there, um, I know that with everything they already did and taking one, maybe two extra classes, when they graduated, they automatically had a public health nurse designation on their degree. That's the kind of thing that makes a great difference when entering the workforce. Um, I think that as we, um, within the letter that we sent, it also specifically states that this will significantly contribute to broadening participation in STEM and reducing barriers to inclusion and access to STEM education and careers. At one of the, uh, conferences through the League of Cities, it was mentioned that a lot of our students within high school and, and so forth aren't aware of the number of jobs that are available at a municipal level with retirement and great wages. It's just not in their, their scope of awareness. So we end up having to put out job offers to people out of state that want way more money, that are going to come here and take up more housing, when we will have local people that know the local needs. So this is an opportunity to create a symbiotic relationship. So I clearly support that we want to do this, but I think this is an opportunity for us to look at how we can utilize these relationships because they can customize the research and practices we need and that we can drive here. Um, we've got a lot of first-generation students that we can support as a community, and I think this is also a good opportunity to look at, um, how to have interns. So those are, that is my, my reason for pulling item 10H for discussion. Is there anybody from staff who wants to address it, or...
[00:53:54] Staff Member: Well, I think, I think the genesis of many of these, uh, letters of ratification support that we get from the universities, they're typically going after money, grant money, that sort of thing. And so they will ask us for support, that this is important to the community. We're always happy to do that, always run them letters by you before we send them out. Um, in, in, in terms of getting them involved in research, you know, there very well could be an opportunity to have them weigh in, for instance, when we're updating our environmental plans. Uh, that, that makes a lot of sense. Um, and we, we do, we will continue the dialogue if there's other opportunities. Uh, from an economic development perspective, we work very closely with Dr. Bonas and the university trying to get educational programs brought in for our, um, for our business owners and, and, you know, trying to respond to the needs of the area. But most of the time, the context for these are they're going after grant money and they want to know that you're on board with it, and because it helps strengthen their applications. But if there are opportunities for them to weigh in, um, we can certainly reach out. I mean, we're going to be undergoing some, um, some planning processes and updated, um, plans here shortly, and it costs us nothing to ask them to look at...
[00:55:00] Staff: Is that satisfactory?
[00:55:04] Council Member: Absolutely, thank you.
[00:55:07] Mayor: All right, terrific. Next up we have—
[00:55:09] City Clerk: Go ahead, Mr. Mayor, if I could have a motion and a second.
[00:55:10] Mayor: Beg your pardon, one at a time. Okay.
[00:55:13] Council Member: Make a motion to approve item H-A.
[00:55:16] Council Member: Second.
[00:55:18] City Clerk: And I will do a roll call vote to the seating change. Council Member Nandy?
[00:55:21] Council Member Nandy: Yes.
[00:55:25] City Clerk: Council Member Petto?
[00:55:25] Council Member Petto: Yes.
[00:55:25] City Clerk: Council Member Konia?
[00:55:27] Council Member Konia: Yes.
[00:55:27] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Try?
[00:55:27] Mayor Pro Tem: Yes.
[00:55:27] City Clerk: Motion passes 4 to 0.
[00:55:30] Mayor: All right, next up pulled for discussion we have item P like Peter, 10P, which is approve prepayment of July 4th, 2025 Independence Day celebration event expenditures in an amount not to exceed $130,000 and to be included as part of the fiscal year 2025-26 annual budget. This is pulled by Mr. Petto—no, oh, Council Member K, I beg your pardon.
[00:55:55] Council Member Konia: Right, yes. This one is the item regarding the Fourth of July expenditures. Um, in the language of the staff report, it said 'of unforeseen expenses.' That's just kind of a blanket statement, so I'm wondering what kinds of expenses have there been in the past, and were those then used to, um, fill in or build into consideration for the following year so we can contain costs?
[00:56:23] Staff: Definitely. Some of the items, um, that are included in the miscellaneous are the band who performs. Um, we also have security in place. Um, so these are not new items. They're every year, they just weren't listed out, um, as every single item, um, but they are annual items that we utilize.
[00:56:41] Council Member Konia: I think it would be important for future years so that we—we know in terms of that catch-all what could come up. I—I think it's important to highlight those things. And then I think one of the things I had seen was—was two radios. I imagine as a city with gigantic departments, um, we couldn't find radios internally? Or am I understanding that that was an additional purchase or something that would be sourced within the city?
[00:57:06] Staff: That is, um, a rented item, and it's about $300, um, for the day. And it's so that we can communicate quickly, um, with police, um, fire that's on site, and all staff members, including the pyrotechnics and the Fire Marshal and the staff at COD.
[00:57:23] Council Member Konia: And we don't have any system within the City's capacity that would serve that purpose instead of renting it?
[00:57:28] Staff: I don't believe we have the number that's required, but I can look into that.
[00:57:32] Council Member Konia: Yeah, I think that one, if we don't have it, this would be something to consider purchasing for the need of emergency services and—and safety, especially if we have a 911 outage. And if—if we already have it within the city, I think that we need to ensure that we're using those funds, um, specifically for that purpose. Additionally, what I did not see is any consideration to, um, keep the Portola Community Center open. As an autism-certified city, I was proud that we opened that up, um, last year, and I think with better promotion—I think last year was only 72 hours' notice, and that didn't let people know it was available. When I did the coffee with the mayor for—for veterans at the iHub, it was really sad to hear one Palm Desert resident say, 'I just drive up to Idyllwild because I can't take it.' We hear from pet owners, you know, we—we can't satisfy everyone, but if we are aware of sensory issues, we should take that initiative. It's only a mile and a half away. They have their own parking lot, so we wouldn't have to use any shuttles. I was there with one of our wonderful staff members and one of our, um, Citizens on Patrol volunteers, and the loud fireworks, it sounded like maybe your neighbor slamming a car door. I think it works very successfully, and we can—we can take those things into, uh, consideration. And also, someone, I think there had been another question, um, that was posed through my peers regarding, um, the possibility of having low-noise fireworks or drones. Is that something that we've considered?
[00:59:12] Staff: We haven't considered it up until this point. We are in year two of three with our current Pyro Spectaculars company. Um, once that expires, we'd be happy to explore those options if that direction's given.
[00:59:24] Council Member Konia: Okay, so is that something that—that will be considered, um, having an allocation of—of time or resources to the Portola Community Center?
[00:59:32] Staff: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, there was no expenses associated with having that open, so we're—we're happy to do that.
[00:59:37] Council Member Konia: Okay, if I can request that that as an ongoing issue be added so that if it comes back in the past, it can be documented that these are our values that are put into practice. Thank you.
[00:59:49] Mayor: Absolutely, terrific. Any other questions?
[00:59:52] Council Member: Move approval.
[00:59:52] Council Member: I will second.
[00:59:56] City Clerk: Council Member Nandy?
[00:59:56] Council Member Nandy: Yes.
[00:59:59] City Clerk: Council Member Petto?
[00:59:59] Council Member Petto: Aye.
[00:59:59] City Clerk: Council Member Konia?
[00:59:59] Council Member Konia: Yes.
[00:59:59] City Clerk: Mayor...
[01:00:01] Mayor Pro Tem: Yes, motion passes 4 to 0. Right, terrific. Next up is Item 10R, which has been pulled for further discussion, which is adopt resolutions approving the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 mid-year budget adjustments and revised staff allocation schedule. With the passage of Measure G, I thought it would be interesting to get a quick staff report on kind of what the future looks like. It looks like we're already projecting a little leveling of sales taxes, even maybe a little bit of reduction in expectations, so I was just hoping to get a little staff report.
[01:00:42] Veronica Chavez: Okay, certainly. Honorable Mayor Pro Tem and members of the City Council, Veronica Chavez, Director of Finance. I'll just do a high-level overview of the requests in the mid-year budget, and then we'll get into Measure G, what we're anticipating, if you don't mind. For the general fund estimates for mid-year, we are anticipating an increase of revenues of about $4.46 million. That increase is predominantly supported by Measure G approval, which we're estimating about $4 million to come in for the last quarter of the fiscal year, I should say. We are also anticipating an increase to expenditures of about $1.32 million. What staff tends to do is see where funds can be reallocated when it comes to expenditures, and so we are requesting that funds be reallocated from the Capital Improvements projects fund to cover those increases, as we had projects that were canceled and those funds are no longer needed in that place. As far as our special funds, we are anticipating a net decrease of about $9.2 million. That is predominantly supported by the reallocation of funds for the construction of the rehabs of Station 33 and 71. You all approved an appropriation last council meeting for the construction of 102, and so that offsets that transfer. So the result of that is still a positive revenue increase for the mid-year. In addition to this, we are providing the Council with an update of the staff allocation of the changes that have occurred since budget approval back in June, and so that's also included in your packet. With regards to Measure G, the leveling off that we're seeing: so initially, we were anticipating about $26 million every year for Measure G funds. It's very close to what we typically get from the Bradley-Burns distribution in our annual sales tax. So initially, we were thinking $26 million, which typically grows around 3% annually. Our projections that we're receiving from our sales tax administrator right now show a little bit of a decline this year, and it's really a leveling off post-COVID. Our sales tax increased at the rate of about 30% immediately, and it has slowly been coming back down to reality, which is about that 3% increase annually. And so for next year, we're anticipating about $25 million in Measure G funds, and then a straight-line increase of 3% over the years moving forward from that. I don't think we'll see any sort of, you know, great increase like we did post-COVID ever again, but you never know. So we will remain optimistic about that, but that is about all I have on Measure G at the moment. If you have any specific questions, I'm happy to answer them.
[01:04:02] Mayor Pro Tem: I do want to highlight that the resolution includes the addition of a Public Works team, which is something the voters voted for and we're delivering on, so I want to point that out. I also understand that staff was looking forward to the passage of Measure G, and that with the passage of that, some of these classifications are additional promises kept to keep some of our top talent around, so I want to point that out. I did express some skepticism about increasing positions at the same time that we have about $1.3 million more in expenses, and half of that is salary and benefits. And I did talk to the City Manager about my concern about upgrading positions mid-year and what that budget impact is, but we do trust our City Manager with that discretion on how to run the city, and we're putting a lot of faith in him. And I wanted to go ahead and pull this item to let the public know that when you voted...
[01:05:01] Speaker 1: For Measure G, you trust the City Council to be watching these things, and that's what we're doing. And we're also making sure that we're taking care of our staff and keeping our promises on that end as well. And with that, I will move approval.
[01:05:11] Speaker 2: I would, before I second, I agree that we need to move forward on that. I would think that this is a good opportunity to bring up something that Mr. Morch brought up during his public comment in terms of when Measure G was approved, it did say how much of that was going to go towards the library, and then we created the foundation that was supposed to be the library, then we folded in other areas. Is this going to be entirely separate for like physical renovations or maintaining the physical building, or was any of the Measure G funding intended for programming and things where the library foundation is going to be raising money? That was one of my concerns when I was opposing it. Where are we going to get the minutia of what money is going into what pot so that we can have transparency?
[01:06:07] Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'll answer that question. I think there's multiple answers. Measure G will fill the financing gap for the library, which you saw tonight in the overall presentation of where we are. Obviously, once it's built, we're going to have to build the ongoing cost of maintaining that building into the city's budget, so there will be an ongoing impact as well. The foundation was initially set up not to supplant funds to build the building, not to supply funds to take care of it. The focus was really to bring in programs. We were looking at Rancho Mirage as sort of the model for this, how they use the donations to bring in speakers, put on programs. For instance, last week they had Bill Gates in here and Rick Steves and I can't remember who else was there. But I think it's an interesting question for you, and it's obviously your policy call whether you think the foundation's necessary or whether we build a straight-up line item in the library budget if those types of programs are important to you as part of the culture asset of running a library. There isn't a right answer. Some cities tend to like to have the ability to raise the money to bring in speakers that might cost a lot of money, and that can be very controversial with the city budget as we're discussing tonight. But there's not a right answer. If you would prefer to just budget it in and not put a foundation together, and maybe even not be so aggressive on the programming, that is your call. So as you're thinking about whether you want to kick the foundation off, what kind of a mission you want to provide these folks, it is not to build the building, it is not to replace ongoing funds for that building, it is simply to enhance the level of programming for our residents. So I think that's, I hope that answers your questions.
[01:07:57] Speaker 2: Yeah, it does clarify in one area and then, you know, murky in other part. But this is the place that we discuss things in public. Our reason for separating from the County library system is that we didn't know what was put into what pot, so we knew how much was needed for facilities. So we're creating our own murky idea if we're not able to track these separate expenses to say, 'Here's what we're spending, why.' In identifying the trends, why do we continue to bleed in this direction? Where are the opportunities to grow? You know, when we discussed the library foundation, my understanding is that it was going to be people in the community that were going to give their input back to... One of my considerations was we need an oversight committee. Then it was shifted to, 'If you want to be on this task force, you better come in and raise some money.' Those seem to be very conflicting ideas of how we support a community-based jewel, because we know that libraries are keys to having a city. So, I mean, there's a lot of things that are swirling in terms of intent, execution, funding, tracking, transparency.
[01:09:20] Speaker 3: I think I would just add that I think the transparency issue has been massively enhanced. You've got to remember it took us 12 months of negotiating with the county to figure out exactly how much of the money that was being sent to Riverside was actually being reinvested back here, and it turned out to be about 25% of every dollar that we sent to Riverside came back to run the operations here. So through the negotiations, we were able to kind of claw back 50% of it. I know that our Mayor Pro Tem would like to see 100%, we're still trying to make him happy. You know, but from that perspective, we do understand how much money that we're getting back. We are, it is largely...
[01:10:00] Todd: ...but not entirely covering the cost of operating the library. It will be more expensive once that beautiful facility is constructed to operate it down the road. We will build that into the city budget to maintain our promise on the Measure G components. But I really think, from the whole Foundation issue, it was never really set up for community input as much as, you know, obviously that's important, but also to raise dollars that may be somewhat controversial to build into a city budget to bring kind of extraordinary programming here. And I would suggest that before we go through and do any interviewing of these committee folks, that you all come to an agreement on what that Foundation is going to do based on the conversations we're hearing tonight.
[01:10:47] Council Member: I agree with that, Todd. So that's going to be another issue separate from us just approving the consent item before us.
[01:10:53] Todd: Yeah, I'll work with staff and we'll try to get something on an agenda well before you interview, because I really think it's important that all five of you are on the same page, and that's obviously not there right now.
[01:11:06] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay. All right, so we have a motion and a second. So with that discussion, do we need a substitute motion to adopt the resolutions while having a further conversation on the library or the Palm Desert Foundation after?
[01:11:23] Todd: We can put it in the motion, but I think staff has—we'll get the item back to you regardless of this budget item for your discussion.
[01:11:30] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay, perfect. Just making sure that we've got everything procedurally with, you know, our motions and substitute motions. Thank you.
[01:11:37] Council Member: Okay, I make a motion then to approve Item 10R.
[01:11:43] City Clerk: You can just call for the vote.
[01:11:44] Council Member: Oh, I beg your pardon.
[01:11:46] Mayor Pro Tem: I beg your pardon. All right, let's do the vote. Thanks, Anthony.
[01:11:48] City Clerk: Council Member Nandy?
[01:11:50] Council Member Nandy: Yes.
[01:11:51] City Clerk: Council Member Petto?
[01:11:53] Council Member Petto: Yes.
[01:11:53] City Clerk: Council Member Konia?
[01:11:55] Council Member Konia: Yes.
[01:11:55] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem?
[01:11:56] Mayor Pro Tem: Yes.
[01:11:56] City Clerk: Motion passes 4 to 0.
[01:11:58] Mayor Pro Tem: Terrific. Next up, we have Item 10U, pulled from the consent calendar for further discussion. So we have Mr. Randy Chavez coming to give us a—I'll read it out real quick: Approve Change Order Number 1 to Contract Number C47350 with Cal Stripe Inc. for on-call Citywide Street and bike lane striping improvements, Project Number MST-00000-02, I believe that's the right number of zeros.
[01:12:27] Council Member: You missed a zero.
[01:12:29] Mayor Pro Tem: I did? You added two. Stop. All right, thank you. Randy, you're up.
[01:12:31] Randy Chavez: Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Members. I'm Randy Chavez, Deputy Director of Public Works, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.
[01:12:39] Council Member: I pulled this item because I fully support it, and I just wanted to take time to highlight the good work you've done. One of the things I ran on is maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. This is right in the wheelhouse. So I want to thank you and your crew, and just wholeheartedly move this for approval.
[01:12:58] Mayor Pro Tem: A motion to approve.
[01:13:00] Council Member: I'll second.
[01:13:02] City Clerk: Council Member Nandy?
[01:13:04] Council Member Nandy: Yes.
[01:13:05] City Clerk: Council Member Petto?
[01:13:07] Council Member Petto: Aye.
[01:13:08] City Clerk: Council Member Konia?
[01:13:09] Council Member Konia: Aye.
[01:13:10] Mayor Pro Tem: Yes.
[01:13:11] City Clerk: Motion passes 4 to 0.
[01:13:13] Mayor Pro Tem: Okay, then that takes care of our consent items for the evening, and we don't have any action calendar items tonight. So we will move on to—beg your pardon, let's see, I need to get public hearings. Oh, beg your pardon, here we go. Anthony made it too easy for me. Terrific. The next item is 12A, a public hearing regarding the establishment of Community Facilities District 2025-...
[01:13:55] Mayor Pro Tem: City Clerk, has notice of this hearing been given in accordance with applicable law?
[01:14:00] City Clerk: Yes, notice of the public hearing has been published in accordance with the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act, and proof of publication is on file with the City Clerk's office.
[01:14:08] Mayor Pro Tem: Terrific. So I use the gavel. The public hearing is now open, and I would like to ask for a staff report, please.
[01:14:17] Eric Ceja: Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem, members of the City Council. Eric Ceja, Director of Economic Development. If you give me one second here, we just have a quick slide presentation to run through the history of this project and why we're here tonight. So last January, Marriott International approached the City looking to amend the existing development agreement with the City here to open up 18 acres of undeveloped land within Marriott's Shadow Ridge for future single-family home development. That property is now transacted. As a result, the City received $1.6 million for that land transaction, and Toll Brothers has now received entitlements for 93 homes. As part of that agreement, they're also required to form a new...
[01:15:00] Staff Member: ...service CFD to support Public Services within the project. And at your last meeting in January, the City Council did adopt a resolution of intention to form this District for Shadow Ridge, that included the rate and method of apportionment for the development, as well as the term for 30 years. Tonight, we request to open the public hearing and, absent a majority protest, adopt resolutions for the formation of this CFD, call for the special election for the landowner (which the City Clerk will read), and then also adopt resolutions declaring the results and introduce an ordinance for this CFD. That concludes our report, and we're ready to proceed. Any questions for staff?
[01:15:42] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: From my colleagues? Okay, terrific. The floor is now open to testimony from members of the public. At this time, all interested persons or taxpayers may approach the podium and testify orally or in writing for or against the formation of the District and the levy of a special tax within such District. Do we have anybody who wants to come up and speak? And no public speakers online. All right, terrific. Well, there being no other speakers, the public hearing is now closed. There we go. City Clerk, does a majority protest exist against the formation of the District and the levy of a special tax therein?
[01:16:26] City Clerk: No written protests have been received; therefore, a majority protest does not exist.
[01:16:31] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Okay. Well, at this time, because a majority protest does not exist, it is appropriate for the City Council to consider resolutions to form the District and to call a special election within the District. Is there a motion and second?
[01:16:48] Councilmember: I'll move.
[01:16:50] Councilmember: I'll second.
[01:16:52] City Clerk: Councilmember Nandy?
[01:16:54] Councilmember Nandy: Yes.
[01:16:55] City Clerk: Councilmember Petto?
[01:16:56] Councilmember Petto: Yes.
[01:16:57] City Clerk: Councilmember Konia?
[01:16:58] Councilmember Konia: Yes.
[01:16:59] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Trubee?
[01:17:00] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Yes.
[01:17:01] City Clerk: Motion passes 4 to 0.
[01:17:03] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Okay. And pursuant to the resolution adopted today, which calls for the special election for the levy of the special tax within the City of Palm Desert Community Facilities District No. 2025-01... which I feel like... City Clerk, have you received the ballots from the landowner in this District?
[01:17:27] City Clerk: Yes, I have received the ballots and find that all the ballots in the election have been submitted, and I declare the election closed.
[01:17:35] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Terrific. So, can we... that's considered canvassing the ballots, is that correct?
[01:17:40] City Clerk: At this point, I will now open the ballots. Thank you.
[01:17:51] City Clerk: As the election official for the special election held today concerning City of Palm Desert Community Facilities District 2025-D1 Shadowridge Public Services, I have completed the canvassing of ballots. The canvas was as follows: 18 votes were cast in support of the proposition, and zero votes were cast in opposition to the proposition. Therefore, the proposition was approved with 100% vote in favor.
[01:18:16] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Terrific. Thank you so much. So, at this time, it is appropriate for the City Council to consider the resolution declaring the results of the special election and directing the recordation of a notice of special tax lien. Is there a motion and second from my colleagues?
[01:18:33] Councilmember: Moved.
[01:18:34] Councilmember: Second.
[01:18:35] City Clerk: Councilmember Nandy?
[01:18:37] Councilmember Nandy: Yes.
[01:18:38] City Clerk: Councilmember Petto?
[01:18:39] Councilmember Petto: Yes.
[01:18:40] City Clerk: Councilmember Konia?
[01:18:41] Councilmember Konia: Yes.
[01:18:42] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Trubee?
[01:18:43] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Yes.
[01:18:44] City Clerk: Motion passes 4 to 0.
[01:18:47] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Terrific. Now we introduce the ordinance. At this time, it is appropriate for the City Council to consider the ordinance authorizing the levy of the special tax within the District. Is there a motion and second?
[01:18:59] Councilmember: Moved.
[01:19:00] Councilmember: Second.
[01:19:01] City Clerk: Councilmember Nandy?
[01:19:03] Councilmember Nandy: Yes.
[01:19:04] City Clerk: Councilmember Petto?
[01:19:05] Councilmember Petto: Yes.
[01:19:06] City Clerk: Councilmember Konia?
[01:19:07] Councilmember Konia: Yes.
[01:19:08] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Trubee?
[01:19:09] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: Yes.
[01:19:10] City Clerk: Motion passes 4 to 0.
[01:19:11] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: And just for the record, this is to introduce an ordinance—an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, acting in its capacity as the legislative body of the Palm Desert Community Facilities District No. 2025-01, authorizing the levy of a special tax within said District. Terrific. All right, this is official. The next item is 12b, a public hearing to consider adoption of a mitigated negative declaration and mitigation monitoring and reporting program, and approval of preliminary design for the Haystack Channel Improvement Project.
[01:19:44] Councilmember Petto: Mr. Mayor Pro Tem, I own property near the project, outside of 500 feet but within 1,000, which is squarely in the gray zone. So, out of an abundance of caution, I will be recusing myself.
[01:19:56] Mayor Pro Tem Trubee: All right. Mr. Petto is excused from the discussion. Terrific. All right, we're...
[01:20:02] Mayor Pro Tem: We're going to have a staff report for Mr. Nick Maloney, looks like. All right, great.
[01:20:06] Nick Maloney: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem and honorable council members. Nick Maloney with the Planning Division. I'm joined by Ryan Lamb, Senior Project Manager with Capital Projects, as well as the consultants for the project, John Chris with Terra Nova Planning and Research, and Travis Moss at Moffett with ERSC. As you stated, the action for your consideration is the adoption of a Mitigated Negative Declaration pursuant to CEQA, the approval of a preliminary design for the channel, which includes provisions for additional landscaping, as well as funding for said landscaping, which will utilize unencumbered monies from the separate drainage project to be applied to this project. The Planning Commission considered the item at the regular meeting of January 7th and adopted a resolution recommending approval of the—or adoption, I should say, of the Mitigated Negative Declaration, and as a part of that motion, also recommended the inclusion of additional landscaping in response to comments raised by residents during public hearings. Just to briefly go over, the Haystack Channel is located in South Palm Desert along the north side of Haystack roadway. On the screen, you'll see the typical condition. There's grass turf areas in the western sections of the channel, and then towards the eastern section, which is east of Heliotrope Drive, there's a highly eroded natural channel, which is subject to the repair. The project will include repairs to restore the functionality of the channel. In the western sections, there's minimal visible changes; they'll restore some existing subterranean work and then restore the turf to match the existing. More substantial modifications are proposed in the eastern section, which will stabilize the slopes using boulders, create a 15-foot access road for the City to provide future maintenance of the project. But this is a rendering of the typical condition, which has been presented multiple times in the past. One thing to note is that the preliminary schematics include a 20-foot access road; this will be revised during the construction drawings to show a 15-foot access road. Part of this discussion includes the provisions for additional landscaping. Based on comments that were provided by members of the public, and ultimately a part of the recommendation of the Planning Commission, was to include additional landscaping. This exhibit shows where that landscaping would occur. It would be located along the sidewalk—the existing sidewalk along Haystack Road—to infill some of the vacant areas, as well as to provide an additional buffer at the top of the slope on the south side of this channel, where there'll be a five-foot-wide area. Some examples of that landscaping are shown on the screen here. It'll essentially match the existing landscaping that's out there, utilizing a desert native plant palette. This is based on the CV—sorry, I don't want to use the acronym—Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan approved plant list, which is included as an appendix to the biological report of the MND. So on that, in terms of CEQA, this is a project where an initial study was prepared, and it was found that all of the potential impacts could be mitigated to a less-than-significant level. A Notice of Intent to adopt was circulated. We received comment letters from Agua Caliente Tribe, Riverside County Flood Control, as well as California Fish and Wildlife. There were minor comments that didn't require any recirculation. Mitigation measures were prepared for biological, cultural, and hydrology resources. Overall, the project fully complies with the procedural requirements of CEQA. A public notice was issued in accordance with state law. We did receive two written comment letters; however, the comments did not raise any new issues that would trigger recirculation. There are some concerns about the accessibility to the project. It is not the intent that that access road would provide access to the public, and there would be design measures that would dissuade access from being taken. So none of these comments raise any issues that require recirculation. And there have been several community meetings, but with all that, staff is recommending that the Council proceed.
[01:25:01] Staff: ...with the recommendation shown on the screen. Thank you.
[01:25:04] Mayor: All right, any questions from my colleagues?
[01:25:06] Council Member 1: You mentioned that there were letters from the tribe. Were they letters in support, or in general, what were those letters, and who else were the other agencies?
[01:25:18] Staff: The letters were in support. There are mitigation measures for monitoring and, in the event that any artifacts are discovered, standard comments.
[01:25:28] Council Member 1: Perfect, thank you.
[01:25:32] Council Member 2: Yeah, two quick questions. I noticed there were infiltration ports or something being added sort of in what I would call the green belt section, maybe east of Alamo, is that right? If you go back a couple slides... I'll go back to the... there, actually forward one, yeah. Proposed underground infiltration system to mitigate erosion and standing water, and that's sort of in the place that already has grass.
[01:25:59] Staff: Yeah, there's... this may be a technical question and I can defer, but there's existing underground... an existing underground system there that would be replaced.
[01:26:09] Council Member 2: Oh, so it already is existing, we're just adding more access to it, is that the idea? And is it meant to convey or percolate the water, or just curious?
[01:26:19] Staff: Yeah, so the existing system, when there is a major event, the existing system doesn't fully support the effects of the erosion. So if you were to go out there after an event, which we presented in previous sessions with the public, where you could see that there's undermining where it comes off of the... where there's some concrete and there's some infiltration locations and it starts undermining, and then the percolation rate is inhibited, and then so we have standing water for an extended period of time. So what we'll do is the grass will still remain afterwards. So we dig it up, lay some new perforated pipe, and it's going to improve on that percolation and mitigate the effects of that... of the excessive flow in those areas.
[01:27:04] Council Member 2: And a second question: in the portion that is, I guess, east of Heliotrope, I thought I read in the report that, you know, a lot of the native landscaping will be removed just through the improvements, and that some will be restored, planted, and that the rest they anticipate will just naturally regrow. Is that right?
[01:27:25] Staff: Yes.
[01:27:26] Council Member 2: Well, my consideration, or I don't know if anybody really knows the answer, but I've always had the feeling that the city was kind of built up around that channel, that portion of the channel. In other words, it was just kind of left, it was never sort of denuded in the first place. And how confident are you that nature will restore some of those native plants? You know, it seems like something new.
[01:27:49] Staff: Yeah, so the channel itself, when it was constructed and has been since in the '70s when it was constructed, there is no irrigation, there was no planting that was done. It was a barren channel, there was no planting. So nature did take its course, which then, you know, vegetated the area. And so, confident it will happen. The challenge that is, you know, from the public has been how long will it take? Is it something... you know, some of the public, their comments were, well, one, they didn't want plants to be removed, but then also it's going to be an eyesore without vegetation for an extended period of time, which obviously with nature we don't know how long it'll take. We do know standard vegetation and growth rates, and, you know, with a commitment from our Public Works team to continue maintenance and monitor the location to ensure that it is kept clear and functional. And then, as time goes by, if there... you know, if Council decides that it's not, you know, vegetating fast enough, then maybe, you know, we can look at other opportunities to make the change.
[01:28:53] Council Member 2: Okay, so I was wrong. In other words, when this channel was first either constructed or improved, there were no native plants in there. Okay, terrific. Thank you, appreciate the clarification.
[01:29:03] Staff: You're very welcome.
[01:29:09] Mayor: Do we need to do with this, Mr. Cid? Oh, I beg your pardon, you're right. I'm sorry, thank you, Gina. All right, at this time I would like to open the public hearing. Oh, a little louder, here we go, boom. The public is invited to speak on this public hearing for up to three minutes. Do we have any online speakers, Mr...?
[01:29:29] City Clerk: No online speakers.
[01:29:31] Mayor: Terrific. Um, no other public speakers here in the chambers. So, there being no other speakers, the public hearing is now closed. Is there any discussion or additional questions from the Council?
[01:29:43] Council Member 3: I just know a lot of planning went went into and I and...
[01:29:49] Mayor: Oh, okay. Well, now's the time, Mr. Tolzman. I recognize that gentleman. I guess you're welcome to come on up here. And is that right, Anthony? We don't need a speaker card? So I need to reopen the public...
[01:30:00] Mayor: Hearing officially... there we go. Mr. Tolzman, here's your opportunity.
[01:30:04] Mr. Tolzman: Thank you. Um, it kind of rolled really fast there, I missed it. Um, I've appeared at almost all of the uh public hearings on this event, and can we go back to the slide that shows the the blue on this between the sidewalk and the street? To me, that's new.
[01:30:31] Mayor: The blue areas between the sidewalk and the street, those are to be re-landscaped? Ryan, come on up.
[01:30:42] Ryan (Staff): So to answer the question, so from when we came out of the Planning Commission with the request to add landscape to the project along Haystack Road, the orange is, so between the channel and the sidewalk, is that whole entire area would get added landscape. And then the areas in blue were rough locations where the existing landscape is a little sparse, so where we can add in, kind of fill in a little bit more so it won't be as open. Because if you were to drive by there now, you might see, you know, 10 plants within 20 feet, and then there might be a 20-foot section with only one or two plants. So the idea would be to add some additional planting in those. That's what the blue is, and all native plants.
[01:31:29] Staff: I may just add one clarification. There are some areas there where there are utilities where, this is a preliminary diagram, those will be evaluated when the landscape construction drawings to ensure that we're providing the appropriate clearances wherever those utilities do exist.
[01:31:46] Mayor: Terrific. Okay, so I guess we'll start. Mr. Tolzman, if you'd like to have your three minutes now, does that sound good? Okay, thank you.
[01:31:51] Mr. Tolzman: All right. Um, because those were, those, the blue areas were never in the public hearing before, so that's why I wanted to address it. Um, so I walk that area quite often, and the areas that are in question, the blue areas, are not that minimally vegetated. I've been in the process of trying to save smoke trees along that street for the last six years, and I walked that way a couple days ago, and there were 60 new smoke trees between the sidewalk and the street. So they're coming back on their own. The problem is the City uses herbicide and weeding crews that kill the babies. So you can't replant smoke trees; they don't transplant well. To grow them from seed is the best way, and to take care of the seedling is the best way to do that. Um, I know the City's going to do whatever they're going to do. Um, the couple things I want to mention: that when you put the boulders in, I'd like to see granite boulders from our native thing, as opposed to bringing in Colorado boulders from Southwest Boulder & Stone or whatever, so that we don't have a rock that is not native to our area. Um, one of the other points that I made at the meeting that I want on public record is the possibility, if you're going to grade the area, save the top foot or two of soil to redistribute over the top, because it's a thousand-year-old seed bank of smoke tree seeds, and they have a really hard seed coat, they last for 500 years. So, um, so and then on the process of that is like, if you add irrigation to the seed bank, it will recover much faster. I've gotten smoke trees along the 74 to bloom in five years from a seedling, so they appear and they're blooming in five years. So that's probably faster than transplanting. Um, and I think that's about it. I just wanted to make sure that you're aware of all that. And also with the planting of the, um, brittlebush, again, don't put in plants, put in seed, because you're wasting money. So that's it. Thank you very much.
[01:33:47] Mayor: Any other public comments? We do. And again, Mr. City Clerk, do we need... Just a reminder, to do public comment, you need to submit a public speaker card. But please proceed.
[01:33:59] C.B. Buller: All right, thank you. My name is C.B. Buller. I live at 73-648 Sun Lane. I want to support what that gentleman just said. And, uh, a number of us who've attended these hearings are really concerned about how this wash is going to look at the end of things. And I think that we're moving in the right direction there, but I'd like to see planting on the other side of the water as well. But David really knows what he's talking about. I hope you guys listen to him. Thank you.
[01:34:30] Mayor: All right, thank you very much. And seeing no other public speakers, no online speakers, is that correct at this point? Terrific. Well, there being no other speakers, the public hearing is now closed. And is there any discussion or additional comments from my colleagues?
[01:34:47] Council Member: Well, I will just say then, um, and maybe this is directed to Todd, so the suggestions that were given by our speaker this evening who lives in the area, is there the opportunity for him to...
[01:35:00] Staff: Collaborate with staff on his comments. I see no reason why not. You know, I think Ryan and our team has done a really good job of trying to address as many concerns as possible. These are not construction drawings that we're seeing tonight; this is the mitigation on the CEQA impact. So, I don't think there's any concerns if folks would like to see what we're going to be bidding out and before we put the construction docs out, we're happy to take their input. I think it's gone a long way towards hopefully calming some of the residents down who were very upset about the project at first, and I think I'm hoping that we can get everybody in a better place before we bring a contract for your award. So, I'll ask Ryan and the team to reach out again and see what kind of input we can get. All right.
[01:35:50] Council Member: I absolutely support, and I think that a lot of times we see a plant is a plant—it's got roots, it needs water, it needs sunshine—but not all plants even grow the same. These smoke trees require—they have the hard seed, if you think about it kind of like a grape, it's not like a sunflower where you can easily burst it open and get to the innards. The ironwood tree, I think it requires a severe flash flood type of movement to erode the exterior seed for them to grow. So, the points that have been made are essential, that we just can't treat it as anything else. The smoke trees, any time of the year, they look like some weird gray things. In fact, that's why they were called smoke trees when the Mormons first came west; it looked like a giant puff of smoke off in the distance. When they bloom, they are gorgeous, and we can't replace that. We talk about Palm Desert being beautiful and focusing on native landscape, and this is an exact opportunity to have the community. So, thank you to those that have been coming forward to the hearings to be engaged and to be here on behalf of the residents that could not attend tonight. I'm very happy to hear that this will be an ongoing opportunity for collaboration to make the best decision, not only for future landscape, but the future needs of our infrastructure and the residents. So, thank you.
[01:37:25] Mayor Pro Tem: Terrific. Yeah, and I appreciate hearing from Ms. Buler and Mr. Tolzman. I know David has a lot of expertise in the area, this discipline, so I do hope he's able to give some input to staff moving forward. So, do we have a motion? So, we do need to make a motion then.
[01:37:40] Council Member: So, I make a motion to move forward, and we'll handle the additional input.
[01:37:48] Mayor Pro Tem: I second. Okay, looks like we're ready for a vote. Council Member Nandy?
[01:37:54] Council Member Nandy: Yes.
[01:37:57] Council Member Kia: Yes.
[01:37:58] Mayor Pro Tem: Yes. Motion passes 3 to 0. And calling Mr. Joe Petto to return to the dais.
[01:38:20] Joe Petto: Yeah, that was a long time.
[01:38:36] Mayor Pro Tem: Terrific. Okay, the next item is 12C, a public hearing to consider an appeal of the City Manager's revocation of the business license for Massage 111. And I would like to ask for a staff report.
[01:38:58] Richard Kenon: Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council. For the record, Richard Kenon, Director of Development Services. I'll take you through—there's quite a number of slides here, I'll try to get through them as quickly as possible. Also with me, I have Paul Villanova, our Code Compliance Officer, who was the one from our team that had responded. So if there's any specific questions or details, he is available, as well as our Building Official, Jason Finley, regarding the unpermitted building work. But I'll try to get through this as expeditiously as possible. Just a little bit of background on the business: this license was issued in 2019 for a massage parlor at 45120 San Pablo, Suite 2A. The licensee was Ms. Dunker Go. She was the only massage therapist on file at the time of application and that we currently have on file. In addition, the business type as stated on her application is a sole...
[01:40:01] Speaker: Proprietorship meaning that is a single individual maintains full control and responsibility for that business. On November 26th, there was a search warrant that was executed at the subject location. This was done in cooperation with our Palm Desert Sheriff Station Special Enforcement Team and the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.
[01:40:27] Speaker: Their investigation stemmed from a tip that they had received regarding illicit activities, revealing prostitution at the business, and then subsequent undercover operations. Through that serving of the warrant, they also contacted our Code Compliance Officer, Paul Villanueva, to assist with a number of Palm Desert municipal code violations.
[01:40:54] Speaker: One thing I also wanted to mention, there is a section in the Palm Desert municipal code within the massage regulations that allows our code officers to inspect at any time. So, whether it was as part of the search warrant or not, they're able to inspect at any given time as a requirement for that license.
[01:41:14] Speaker: In addition, at that time, the licensee was arrested. It was confirmed to Paul that she was in fact arrested for maintaining an illicit brothel and booked into the Riverside County Jail in Indio.
[01:41:28] Speaker: In addition to that, the Sheriff's Department did release a press release regarding this incident. Within that press release, they indicated that multiple suspected sex buyers were identified and released pending further investigation.
[01:41:45] Speaker: In addition, there were two females identified as possible human trafficking victims that were located on site, and those individuals had received advocacy services and were released. As you'll see through Officer Villanueva's observations, it was very consistent with on-site living, which sort of supports the concerns that were raised.
[01:42:11] Speaker: With that, while there was the arrest and pending investigation and charges for the prostitution, there were also a number of municipal code violations that were uncovered. Within our municipal code, the City Manager has the ability to either suspend or revoke. Given the severity of the incident, in this regard, I believe we had 11 documented violations of the Palm Desert Municipal Code, which ultimately was declared a public nuisance, and then that revocation letter was issued.
[01:42:47] Speaker: And so with that, I'll quickly go through those images. They are in your backup, but again, this is just the front and location of the business, as you can see here. As I go along through each of these slides, I won't read every single violation, but those corresponding municipal code violations are included at the top of each of these slides.
[01:43:11] Speaker: And so this is the area, again, consistent with living. As you can see, debris and other items scattered throughout that area, as well as garbage and unsanitary conditions.
[01:43:34] Speaker: These are what we believe were the massage therapist certifications of the two individuals. That's why their names are redacted, as well as their certification numbers. But in addition to them not having notified the City that there are additional massage therapists, as you can see, their certifications have been expired since '22 and '21 respectively.
[01:44:05] Speaker: These again are just additional images of the establishment. A couple of these I have highlighted just to make it clear. Where we talk about failure to obtain building permits for interior modifications, the image on your left where the circle is, while there's some decorations, what that does show is that that wall does not go all the way to the ceiling, which is just proof that when we looked at the approved building plans, all of these improvements were done without permit and after the original improvements were inspected.
[01:44:41] Speaker: Additionally, these are within the massage rooms themselves. Just highlight a couple of the things that were noticed. It looks like one of the bottles that were used for the massage oil was actually a reused bottle of hair dye, specifically Nice 'n Easy Step 2.
[01:45:02] Staff: Next to a used, discarded tissue. Again, additional images of the massage room and the conditions. You'll see multiple towels, bags, multiple bottles, toothpaste, and a number of other items throughout. This is just another side image, another image of that room where you see multiple stacks of towels. Again, multiple bottles, unmarked, some in containers or bottles that appear to be more akin to a condiment bottle as opposed to what you typically see at a licensed massage therapy place. But again, this gives you just the idea of some of the items that were observed and noted.
[01:45:57] Staff: Again, another room where you see a soiled towel and covering on the table, as well as what appears to be a Crockpot in the corner, along with towels as part of that. So it appears that that may have been used for hot towels. Again, you see the piles of, whether they're clean or dirty, towels throughout the facility. This indicates, again, additional violations of towels, linen, sheets, not having a single-service towel dispenser.
[01:46:34] Staff: These were the building plans that were approved in 2015. They ultimately were inspected and signed off on in 2017. One thing I'll notice, I won't go through the entire building plan, but just for a quick point of reference, if you look at the isometric drawing on the left, there is a two-inch vent that goes through the roof. And as you'll see on the subsequent pictures, that does not go through the roof. And so at some point in time after this was inspected, it was modified since this owner had taken, since they opened their business operation. And so again, multiple violations of plumbing modifications that were done without permits.
[01:47:20] Staff: And as a result of those violations, on November 27th, the city manager issued a notice of revocation pursuant to the code. In addition, the licensee was informed of their right to appeal within 15 calendar days. These are the findings of fact that are included both in the backup as well as in the resolution. I won't read through all of these items, but as you see, there are 11 listed code violations as it relates to the pictures that were provided.
[01:47:56] Staff: Findings of fact two and three, four, five, six, seven, eight. And then the notice of appeal. We did receive a notice of appeal from the licensee's attorney, Mr. George Young, the appellant, that was submitted on December 2nd. Our city clerk on December 4th issued a deficiency notice per the Municipal Code, citing their failure to include the specific decision being appealed, the specific grounds for the appeal, and the relief or action being requested by City Council.
[01:48:38] Staff: On December 9th, the appellant did submit an amended notice of appeal and gave the following reasons: the decision being appealed, obviously the revocation; the grounds for appeal, their statement was that they're blatantly false; and the requested relief is that the license be reinstated, compensation for damages, and a formal apology from the City of Palm Desert for revoking her business license without good cause and without due process.
[01:49:09] Staff: The appeal then was scheduled. The city clerk had sent that notice out on December 12th. Two days later, the appellant requested that that hearing be postponed to February as he had a scheduling conflict. And then on December 16th, that was rescheduled to this evening. Staff did want to respond to the appellant's statements. First being the appellant's claim of false violations. The appellant claimed that the violations are blatantly false, suggesting that the Sheriff's investigation, search warrant, arrest of the licensee, and Code Compliance Officer Villanueva's investigations were untrue. Documented evidence, attachments, photographs, and testimony confirmed that the revocation was based on verifiable facts, not mere allegations, and that the appellant failed to provide any...
[01:50:00] Staff Member: ...evidence, affidavit statements, or factual arguments to refute the findings, only an assertion that states the findings are blatantly false. The second would be a contradiction with the Palm Desert Municipal Code. The requested relief, which includes a reinstatement of the business license, contradicts the Palm Desert Municipal Code, which is specifically designed to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. Then again, allowing a reinstatement would undermine the purpose of those Municipal Codes and fail to address the public nuisance created by the licensee's actions. Lastly, the due process claim: the applicant's statement of a lack of due process, quite honestly, is baseless. The licensee was informed of their right to appeal. The applicant was provided with ample opportunity to challenge the revocation. Rather than presenting factual rebuttals, the applicant again resorted to baseless claims without any supporting evidence. And then, at the applicant's request, the hearing date was postponed, accommodating a scheduling conflict, again demonstrating that due process was not only provided but extended as a courtesy. Based upon that and the findings of fact, including the investigation findings, documented violations, reports, photographs, and additional testimony or evidence presented at tonight's public hearing, staff recommends that the City Council uphold the revocation of Massage 111's business license, and then that the appellant's request for reinstatement, damages, and apology should be denied as is unsupported by any substantive evidence and is contrary to the public interest. With that, staff recommends the following two actions in front of you, and I'd be happy to answer any additional questions you may have.
[01:51:36] Mayor: Any questions from my colleagues?
[01:51:42] Councilmember: Miss K... beg your pardon, thank you. My question is, since the time that this all took place, has the appellant brought anyone else to no longer be a sole proprietor but have others? And do we know if the appellant has entities that they own outside of the valley that may have a similar history?
[01:52:10] Staff Member: To the second part, we're not aware of. Regarding the first part of the question, since the 26th, once we issued that declaration and it was a public nuisance, the business has been closed since then. And so, there has not been... our team continually monitors it, so there's not been any activity at that location. Thank you.
[01:52:39] Mayor: So at this time, I will invite the appellant or the representative to speak for up to five minutes. Is the appellant available?
[01:52:48] Staff Member: Yes, and the appellant's representative is Mr. George Young, and I will bring him into the room. One second.
[01:52:58] Mayor: All right. And Mr. Young, just so you know, you have five minutes for your comments.
[01:53:01] George Young: Yes, can you hear me?
[01:53:06] Mayor: Yes.
[01:53:08] George Young: Okay. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen of the City Council, I came before you today to prevent an injustice on a business owner in the city of Palm Desert. My client has purchased this business a few years ago. She has made no modification to the interior of the business, and the business has been reasonable, and she has... I think she is a benefit to the community. Now, according to the city of Palm Desert staff report dated February the 13th for meeting's date, it states that the Palm Desert Sheriff's Station stated to the city that they were going to execute a search warrant at Massage 111 on November 26, 2024, and there were human trafficking task force. So on that day, these police officers raided my client's business, and there were customers in there, and there were two ladies there, and ultimately there were no charges filed against anybody. Nobody. I represented my client in the citation for operating a brothel, which is extremely curious, I believe, upon the fact that there were the two ladies that were also detained at the premises were not charged with any sort of prostitution. I've handled criminal defense and practiced law for more than 30 years, so I see a lot of these massage businesses being discriminated upon, and you can tell just by people referring them as massage parlors, which kind of insinuates that they are illegal and there were hanky-panky going on. I don't... I do not...
[01:55:02] Public Speaker: I believe that is true. We are in this century now, and a lot of people go to massage businesses to get a massage to relax. So, my client was cited for operating a brothel that day. Nobody else was cited, even though the report indicates that there were multiple suspected sex buyers there. Nobody was charged or issued a citation for that on that day. And in fact, the initial appearance date for my client for the arraignment in the criminal court was in January. They continued that—the Police Department continued that to February, a few days ago. And I found out from the District Attorney that they were not going to file any charges, notwithstanding the ticket that was issued by the Sheriff's to my client. So they have rejected the filing of any complaint, and I have no information that anybody was cited on that day. But as a result of this—and I also want to point out that when my client looked out of her business on that day, after these cops with gears came into her business, there was also the media out there filming. So clearly, this is more of a publicity stunt, I believe, possibly brought on by a jealous competitor who basically said there were illicit activities going on to shut down my client so they can benefit from the shutting down. So on that day, my client's business was revoked initially. Basically, a business that she has spent years in improving and helping her to make ends meet was shut down, and her license was revoked strictly based on innuendos, anonymous phone calls, and nothing else. So I do not think that is fairness, because our jurisprudence requires due process and proof. You don't just shut a person's livelihood, sever a person's livelihood, by listening to hearsay statements without evidence. Ultimately, no charges were filed, nobody went to jail. My client was just given a ticket. Those two ladies, they were not given tickets. None of the customers were given tickets or prosecuted. There was no human trafficking. So this is all blown out of proportion in an attempt to shut down my client's business. I believe this is an injustice that only the City Council can remedy, because I understand there are many small business owners in the City of Palm Desert, and they may have to face the same situation. Thank you.
[01:58:12] Chairperson: Your five minutes is up. All right, thank you.
[01:58:18] Chairperson: Okay, at this time, I would like to open the public hearing. Public is invited to speak on this public hearing for up to three minutes. Do we have any?
[01:58:28] Staff: I have no speaker cards and no speakers online.
[01:58:31] Chairperson: Terrific, thank you. There being no other speakers, the public hearing is now closed. Is there any discussion or additional comments from my colleagues?
[01:58:42] Council Member: May I start? It appears that there are some clear violations of the municipal code, and it appears to me that the argument that because there were no criminal charges, therefore there are no violations, is invalid because a violation of the criminal code is irrelevant to the violation of our municipal code.
[01:59:05] Council Member: I would concur with that, and then also the fact that a search warrant is not needed to go into a massage parlor as well. So that negates the one comment as well about there was no search warrant issued. So I believe staff and our Sheriff's Department did their due diligence, gathered evidence, and it's relevant. Those are my comments.
[01:59:33] Council Member: And, Council Member, if I may, I agree. We're looking at a whole lot of different issues. If we look at it from the Palm Desert level, I believe staff presented that there are 11 violations. They're substantial. They're substantial; they're not a matter of a fix-it ticket that your hedge was too high or you had the wrong kind of lighting. These are substantial threats to public health. We don't have jurisdiction over things that...
[02:00:01] Council Member: For example, Riverside County would go through their health codes, such as the non-sterilized equipment or unlabeled chemicals. That's absolutely crazy, but those are significant, significant questions that I would have. And in terms of the Sheriff, I think that just because charges weren't filed now, in my opinion, that doesn't mean that charges can't be filed later. We don't know the turn of events, we don't know the timeline, we don't know what evidence is there. And from a presentation that I recall from the CVAG public safety meeting, we had a very, very detailed presentation of what happens when someone calls in the County's Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force. And it's not just a few folks that want to come in, knock on a door, and shine a flashlight, for example. They mentioned that if someone is called in, they usually also have the San Diego County Sheriff that comes with them, somebody from the District Attorney's office, and this also involves the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Secretary of State, FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the County Rape Crisis centers, the DA Victim Services, Operation Safe House, and other partners, such as, I think at one presentation, the Director of Forensic Services and Victim Advocacy from the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center. This isn't something to be taken lightly and saying that these individuals were engaging in prostitution. We have to completely separate it. There's somebody that's engaging in prostitution, and there's somebody that is being trafficked. That is—that's false imprisonment. You don't get to go home and decide, 'All right, tomorrow I'm going to tell my boss something that, you know, I don't want to do this anymore.' There's a reason that all of these local, state, and federal agencies come together. The level of detail that goes into investigating these cases—I was very surprised to know that there are electronic storage detection canines, and there's an organization that donated two dogs to Riverside County. These animals are trained—some search for drugs, they will search for micro USBs hidden in the walls, hidden in different places, because trafficking can also include the exploitation in many multiple ways. I don't think that we should minimize if the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was involved. We can't take this lightly. The City can't act on behalf of federal agencies. We can act with what's known here, but I firmly hold that just because charges weren't filed now doesn't mean that charges can't be filed later on any of these absolutely egregious, egregious issues that can be brought up.
[02:02:58] Council Member: Move approval.
[02:03:00] Council Member: I'll second.
[02:03:03] City Clerk: Council Member Nandy?
[02:03:04] Council Member: Yes.
[02:03:05] City Clerk: Council Member Petto?
[02:03:06] Council Member: Yes.
[02:03:07] City Clerk: Council Member Kia?
[02:03:08] Council Member: Yes.
[02:03:09] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem?
[02:03:11] Mayor Pro Tem: Yes.
[02:03:12] City Clerk: Motion passes 4 to 0 to deny the appeal, correct?
[02:03:16] Mayor: Terrific. Okay. City Clerk, any more other information items?
[02:03:22] City Clerk: No informational items.
[02:03:25] Mayor: Terrific. Well then, I do hereby declare this meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. Thank you all so much for coming. All right.