Palm Desert City Council - Regular Meeting, September 11, 2025

Transcript text

AI transcript text.

[00:06:40] Mayor Hornick: Welcome to the Palm Desert City Council. It's a joint meeting of the successor agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency, Palm Desert Housing Authority, and the Palm Desert Board of Library Trustees, and of course the City Council. And it is September 11th, 2025, at 4:03 p.m. Can we have a roll call, please?
[00:07:14] City Clerk: Absolutely. Councilmember Neandi?
[00:07:17] Councilmember Neandi: Here.
[00:07:18] City Clerk: Councilmember Pedto?
[00:07:21] Councilmember Pedto: Here.
[00:07:22] City Clerk: Councilmember Kintania?
[00:07:23] Councilmember Kintania: Present.
[00:07:24] City Clerk: Mayor Pro Tem Trouy?
[00:07:25] Mayor Pro Tem Trouy: Here.
[00:07:26] City Clerk: And Mayor Hornick?
[00:07:27] Mayor Hornick: Here.
[00:07:28] City Clerk: All members are present. Thank you.
[00:07:29] Mayor Hornick: Thank you so much. We will follow with the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Councilmember Kintania, and inspiration.
[00:08:10] Councilmember Kintania: Well, good afternoon and thank you all for being here, and I will provide some inspiration for a day, September 11th, that makes us all think. There was an article in this weekend's Wall Street Journal by Peggy Noonan, who's a brilliant, thoughtful, elegant, and eloquent writer and a speechwriter for a couple of our presidents, some very effective presidents. And she's known and stands out for expressions like 'a thousand points of light' and 'a kinder, gentler nation.' And I'm going to read just a little bit of her article, and it starts with, 'Most of us see autumn as the real new year, involving a return to life and a recognition of things. It's a good time to step aside the fray and consider what propels you. We're in a history-rich time, not a thin one, and restating your premises can be reorienting.' And I'm going to skip over where she says, 'When you see a decline in public standards that were once fairly high, when you see our public life become rougher and uglier, you can accept it, either go with it, or you can fight. You can push hard against what's pushing you. You can't be dreamy about the past and say it was nice then. It was never nice. It was made by human beings. You can't say people were better then. They weren't. But in even the most recent past, the allowable boundaries of...'
[00:10:01] Speaker: Public behavior were firmer and the expectations we held for our leaders higher. And their public behavior was often preferable to the public behavior we see today. So you don't want to live in the past, but you do want to bring the best of the past into the present. History only goes one way, forward. And the history we're living won't be getting less rough with time. Neither will our political manners. Neither will the strains under which we are put as a society and a political culture. But my generation owes those who follow more than, 'Here's some cash, toughen up and get off my lawn.' It's hard to think of anything more helpful as the new year begins than reading history, spying out the moments of dignity and grace, seizing them and trying to pull them into the future. So, I'd like to share with you a little inspiration on 9/11. You know, a day 24 years ago, we all remember and where close to 3,000 innocent people were killed by pure evil. So, we'll share and watch the better part of America. This may take a little while because it's going through a few channels to get to us. May be a little grainy and it may take a little while to download.
[00:11:40] Video Speaker: I thought I was watching a movie, Towering Inferno, at first and then I looked real close and I noticed it was the World Trade Center. I was compelled because I'm a type of person that can't stand by and watch other people suffer. And to me, they were suffering. They wanted to get off the island. And there was no way for them to get off the island other than the water. And I had noticed when I was watching the television, I saw a lot of, you know, the ferries going up into the slips and taking people off. I says, 'Fine, we could do the same thing. I could take people on my boat, get in there, take them where they have to go.' And that's what we did.
[00:12:42] Video Speaker: On the morning of September 11th, when the towers came down, millions of people ran for safety. Hundreds of thousands of them ran south to the water's edge. That's when they realized that Manhattan is indeed an island and that they were trapped.
[00:13:02] Video Speaker: They were feeling helpless and that's the worst feeling in the world. What was a person on the ground going to do? Buildings were down. There were people laying under the rubble of the building. Firemen, civilians. My wife was there and I turned around. I says, 'I have got to go do something.' Just like that. And she looked at me. She says, 'What are you going to do, you maniac?' I says, 'I'm going to take the Amberjack up into the city and help.' She says, 'But what if they're attacked again?' I says, 'Well, then that's something I have to live with.' I says, 'I have to do what I have to do.' I says, 'And nobody can stop me right now. Even if I save one person or I rescue one person, that's one person less that will suffer and die.'
[00:13:56] Video Speaker: ...people. Anybody want to bring in the evacuation?
[00:14:04] Video Speaker: They were trying to evacuate Manhattan because nobody knew what was going on. You know, you didn't know something else was going to happen. It was just a, you know, a madness on one side and, you know, wanting to help people on the other side.
[00:14:16] Video Speaker: They were just streaming out of the buildings and the first mode of transportation they saw was a ferry boat. That's when they knew, 'This is how I'm getting out of here.' They didn't even care where the boat was going.
[00:14:29] Video Speaker: There wasn't panic in New York in the beginning, just volume. It wasn't until the first building fell that there was panic.
[00:14:46] Video Speaker: You heard the building go down, but we're in the slip, so we can't see it. That's when we started letting go. And then all of a sudden, engulfed. You couldn't see anything.
[00:14:58] Video Speaker: People were actually jumping into the...
[00:15:00] Speaker: ...river and swimming out of Manhattan. Boats were very nearly running them over.
[00:15:06] Speaker: Wait, wait, wait. These people wanted out of Manhattan no matter any way they could.
[00:15:11] Speaker: Somebody wants you to go over there.
[00:15:17] Speaker: Every mode of transportation out of Manhattan was shut down. All the subways were shut. The tunnels were all closed. They closed the bridges. They closed everything immediately.
[00:15:28] Speaker: Boats, usually an afterthought in most New Yorkers' minds, were for the first time in over a century the only way in or out of lower Manhattan. We're going to start evacuating people. Anybody can get over here. We're evacuating.
[00:15:44] Speaker: The process actually had already started. There were some boats that were grabbing people and people were lined up at the walls.
[00:15:50] Speaker: Those people running on the left. On the left. On the left.
[00:15:53] Speaker: It's just human nature to see people in distress on the seawall in Manhattan begging you to pick them up. You have to, you have to pick them up.
[00:16:00] Speaker: They didn't know what was going on. They seen the building getting hit with these two planes. As far as they was concerned, you know, we were being bombed. I was wondering if they were going to come on the boat, if they had people with bombs or if they were going to come on. We're a big orange target in the middle of that harbor. My job is to keep the boat safe, the passengers safe, my crew safe. Everybody was in shock running around. They didn't want to leave a family. They had loved ones running around sitting.
[00:16:23] Speaker: Anybody have a baby?
[00:16:27] Speaker: Nobody has a...
[00:16:28] Speaker: There was one guy ran from the apron and jumped onto the boat. He grabbed onto the metal, climbed up right next to the father. So I'm going out there to say something. He slides down to the next deck. So the decks get him and go, "What? You know, what are you doing?" He goes, "I'm jumping for my life." So you know, you couldn't argue with him there. There was a small boat that was at the lower tip of Manhattan. I thought the boat was going to flip over because so many people were trying to get on. And as I looked behind, there were just 10 deep. That's kind of what gave us the idea.
[00:17:05] Speaker: We decided that this has to get better organized and we better do it. And that's what we did.
[00:17:12] Speaker: So we decided to make the call on the radio. All available boats, this is the United States Coast Guard. The pilot boat, New York. Anyone want to help with the evacuation of lower Manhattan? Report to Governor's Island.
[00:17:29] Speaker: When that call came on the radio, they were coming.
[00:17:33] Speaker: I was uncertain of who was going to respond. About 15-20 minutes later, they're just boats all across the horizon.
[00:17:42] Speaker: Literally 100 targets converging on the lower part of Manhattan. When we came out of that dust cloud, tugboats. I never seen so many tugboats all at once.
[00:17:52] Speaker: They were just like a fleet of tugboats headed to Manhattan.
[00:17:56] Speaker: If it floated and it could get there, it got there. All different sizes, shapes, and more. I mean, and they were zooming across this water. Ferries, private boats, party boats. I worked on the water for 28 years. I've never seen that many boats come together at one time that fast. One radio call and it just came together just that fast.
[00:18:24] Speaker: Hundreds of boats converged on the city, leaving the sunbathed harbor behind them. Dead ahead, the unknown. That was something I won't forget. It was just low, dark, acrid black smoke. It's like there was a big chimney in Manhattan. When we pulled into Pier 11, the dust was unbelievable.
[00:18:53] Speaker: And then out of nowhere, you just kept on seeing people coming.
[00:18:56] Speaker: They looked like zombies coming through the fog. And you knew that they were, those were human beings. "Don't leave us. Please don't leave us here. Take us." You need help? Do you need help? At that point, the Coast Guard said, "Not how many people are you allowed. How many people can you fit?"
[00:19:17] Speaker: Come on, guys. Anybody come and get your ass over here now. Now, come on.
[00:19:23] Speaker: Boats started hanging. Literally would take a bed sheet off a bunk and then a can of spray paint and paint their destination on. Some of these people never been on the water, never been on a boat before.
[00:19:41] Speaker: Housewives,
[00:19:43] Speaker: workers to do windows.
[00:19:46] Speaker: We had executives from...
[00:19:48] Speaker: And the thing that was the best...
[00:19:53] Speaker: Everyone helped everyone.
[00:19:54] Speaker: I want you to hold my hand. Come on board. Get inside.
[00:20:02] Speaker: I saw four businessmen lifting up an old woman with a Shanghai dog, a German Shepherd, and they lifted her up like a surfboard and passed her over the handrails. When we would carry a load of people over and there was somebody standing there that seen her husband or wife, you know, that made us feel even better, you know. Well, at least we got two back together, you know, keep on going. You know, the guy that works at the ferry, he's a welder. His son was on my boat. He actually came up and he thanked me. We went back and forth all day long carrying boat loads as many as our boat could hold. There's a lot of people. A lot of people. You couldn't have planned nothing to happen that fast, that quick. No training. This was just people doing what they had to do that day.
[00:21:00] Speaker: You forget all about what you supposed to do, what the teacher in school, and you say, 'You know what, morally, this is the right way to go. And deep down, this is what I'm going to do.'
[00:21:11] Speaker: Average people, they stepped up. And when they needed to, they showed me, you know, when the American people need to come together and pull together, they will do it.
[00:21:21] Speaker: I do feel, in a way, honored that I was a part of it. That was the greatest thing I ever did with my life.
[00:21:27] Speaker: The greatest day that I've ever seen in all my boating. I mean, my life on the water.
[00:21:33] Speaker: The great boat lift of 9/11 became the largest sea evacuation in history. Larger than the evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II, where 339,000 British and French soldiers were rescued over the course of 9 days. On 9/11, nearly 500,000 civilians were rescued from Manhattan by boat. It took less than 9 hours.
[00:22:05] Speaker: I believe somebody has a little hero in them. You got to look in and it's in there. It'll come out, if need be. I have one theory in life. I never want to say the word 'I should have.' If I do it and I fail, I tried. If I do it and I succeed, better for me. And I tell my children the same thing. Never go through life saying you should have. If you want to do something, you do it.
[00:22:46] Mayor: So somehow when the worst happens in America, it brings out the best in Americans. And what we saw was the American—the America we don't often hear about. The Americans we don't read about, and they're there, but they don't make the news because they're just good people. And that's what we just saw, the real Americans. So that was 24 years ago and that's there. That's our foundation and it's what brings people together. So I hope that gives everyone something to think about, some inspiration, and know how great America is. And if anybody wants to look at that another time, it is—it's the boat lift, and I'll bet no one's ever seen that. And it's so amazing because it's so incredible that how could we not know the largest boat rescue in our history, in the world's history, occurred on 9/11. So that's the America we love and that's the America we know is out there. So we will now—that was our inspiration for the day and we'll ask if there is a report out from closed session. Back to the business of the people.
[00:24:05] Speaker: Thank you, Mayor. There's no reportable action from closed session today.
[00:24:09] Mayor: Okay, we will go to awards, presentations, and appointments, and let's talk about Hunger Action Month.
[00:24:41] Mayor: So for those of you who may or may not know, and I can't imagine someone not knowing, this is Debbie Espinosa and she is head of FIND Food Bank. So whereas FIND Food Bank partners with 200 Feeding America food banks across the country for the annual nationwide campaign to raise awareness and take action to fight hunger in the United—
[00:25:01] Jan C. Haruk: ...States in the month of September. And whereas FIND Food Bank helps feed 150,000 people each month struggling to make ends meet, providing essential nourishment to our community members in need, and making all efforts to provide food for pets, recognizing that pets can be part of the family, reducing the number of animals that ended up in shelters. And whereas addressing the food insecurity needs of children, seniors, veterans, and all community members is fundamental to fostering a healthy and thriving society and recognizing that access to food is a human right. And whereas more than 44 million people in the United States face hunger, including one in five children, highlighting the urgent need for collective action and support. And whereas FIND Food Bank became the primary food bank during the COVID-19 pandemic, changing their model for food distribution to thousands of families and individuals during one of the most challenging times we have endured as a community. And whereas the City of Palm Desert recognizes the importance of equality and inclusion in addressing food insecurity, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, have access to nutritious food and be treated with dignity and respect. And whereas the City of Palm Desert and its employees have been longtime supporters of FIND Food Bank, actively participating in efforts to combat hunger and raise awareness of this critical issue. And whereas the City of Palm Desert brings awareness to hunger action month by lighting up City Hall in the color orange for the month of September, symbolizing our commitment to the fight against hunger. Now therefore, I, Jan C. Haruk, along with the entire City Council of Palm Desert, California, do hereby proclaim the month of September 2025 to be Hunger Action Month.
[00:27:08] FIND Food Bank Representative: Thank you.
[00:27:13] Jan C. Haruk: If you'd like.
[00:27:14] FIND Food Bank Representative: I would love to. Thank you so much.
[00:27:21] FIND Food Bank Representative: Thank you, Mayor Hick, City Council members, Palm Desert community, city staff members. Just want to say thank you so much, not just on behalf of FIND Food Bank, but on behalf of all of the clients and the partner organizations that FIND Food Bank serves to make sure that we have an equitable distribution of healthy food to all of the people in our community that need help and support. It's one of the things that I think you had mentioned with regards to the America that we know and the people that are really doing the everyday things to make sure that we together can be community. And a lot of the times there isn't recognition for it, but that's one of the reasons why we have Hunger Action Month. I think, one, it's to be able to bring attention to the fact that there's still people here in the United States and here in our community that are wondering where their next meal is coming from. And in a country that has so much abundance, we as a community have to come together to make sure that they know that they're not going to get left behind. And that's the human spirit. That's the community spirit. I think that that video showed so eloquently, and I'm so glad that you played that for us to be able to remember that it takes all of us to make sure that we can take care of community. Just I want to give a couple of quick facts, too, as well, because we always like to be able to give the state of food insecurity during this time, so each one of the cities in the Coachella Valley knows where you're at, not just with the amount of people that are food insecure for here in your city, but the amount of work that we're all doing together to make sure that they're being taken care of. So the percentage of Palm Desert residents that are facing food insecurity is at about 14.3% right now. But what is great about, I think, the community coming together in Palm Desert, you're always there volunteering at FIND Food Bank, you're always there supporting, you're making sure that the community is understanding what the need is in order to be able to get community support. In Palm Desert alone, the annual client feeding engagements that we have between FIND Food Bank and all of the partner organizations totals over 150,000 client engagements in the last 12 months. The amount of annual food distribution in Palm Desert through FIND Food Bank and the food that we supply to the partner organizations here was over 1.7 million pounds of food this past year. And the SB 1383 partnership that we've been developing over a period of years, we started in 2022 rescuing food under the CalRecycle guidelines.
[00:30:01] Speaker: We've been rescuing food for many years before that, um, in partnership with all the stores, but really categorizing the way in which Cal, the state of California, would like for us to do it. Now, since 2022, we've onboarded 14 tier 1 grocery stores, 20, 37 tier 2 restaurants, and the total food collected under SP 1383 is a little over 1.4 million pounds of food that's getting redistributed back into the community for people that are food insecure. So, I just want to say thank you to Palm Desert for being a partner in this fight. Um, we're recognizing Hunger Action Month for the work that all of the organizations are doing to help support people, what Find is doing, but I'd like to recognize the city of Palm Desert, too, because without you guys, we would not be able to do it alone. So, thank you so much.
[00:30:54] Speaker: Had a lot to do with 1383. So, thank you for everything you did to develop that program with Find Food Bank and thank you for everybody for what they do, too. There's always a chance to volunteer at Find Food.
[00:31:08] Speaker: Absolutely. All right. Would you mind taking a quick picture of this?
[00:31:36] Speaker: Hey, nice.
[00:31:41] Speaker: Come on up.
[00:31:49] Mayor Jan Harik: So...
[00:31:51] Mayor Jan Harik: We see Rhonda every year. So this is for Constitution Week. Whereas September 17, 2025 marks the 238th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention. And whereas it is fitting and proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and its memorable anniversary and to the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate the occasion. And whereas Public Law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States of America designating September 17th through 23rd as Constitution Week.
[00:32:40] Mayor Jan Harik: Now therefore, I, Jan Harik, mayor of the city of Palm Desert, California, along with the entire city council, do hereby proclaim the week of September 17th through 23rd as Constitution Week in the city of Palm Desert and ask our citizens to reaffirm the ideals of the framers of the Constitution had in 1787 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties, remembering that lost rights may never be regained.
[00:33:14] Mayor Jan Harik: And I was invited by Rhonda, who's with D, Daughters of American Revolution. And I've gone to their event at St. George's. And last year I got this, and this is my 'Proud to be an American'. And I don't know if anybody knows how tough it is to get an American flag pin made in America. I have one.
[00:33:39] Mayor Jan Harik: So, I want to share a couple facts about the Constitution if I may. It is the shortest written constitution in our world now with 4,400 words. It has only been changed in all its life for 17 different times. It has 27 amendments and with those amendments now it's up to 7,591 words. Still remarkably short. The oldest person who signed it was 81, the youngest 26. And the word democracy does not appear in the Constitution. And in 1789 on November 26th, coincidentally also the day that Palm Desert was incorporated, George Washington declared that we were to give thanks for the Constitution and that's why we have Thanksgiving. And I don't know if anybody knew that's what Thanksgiving was about, and I didn't until I did a little research.
[00:34:51] Mayor Jan Harik: But I want to remind everybody what Benjamin Franklin said to the wife of the mayor of Philadelphia when she asked, 'What type of government is...'
[00:35:00] Speaker: ...this?" He said, "Our new government is a republic if you can keep it."
[00:35:08] Speaker: So, thank you so much.
[00:35:10] Mayor: There you go. And please, I'm sure you have an invitation to everyone as well.
[00:35:15] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:35:16] Mayor: Thank you.
[00:35:19] DAR Representative: On behalf of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Kawia chapter, we offer our sincere thanks to Mayor Jan Hearnick, Mayor Pro Tem Evan Trouy, our city council members Joe Petto, Karina Kitania, Gina Nande, the city staff, and the city of Palm Desert, California for issuing this proclamation in honor of Constitution Week.
[00:35:41] DAR Representative: I like to tell people a little bit about our organization, Daughters of the American Revolution, or the short version is DAR. It is a non-political, nonprofit, patriotic organization that encourages education and historic preservation in communities across America. Currently, there are 3,000 chapters and 190,000 members who share one common bond of lineal descent from patriots of the American Revolution.
[00:36:11] DAR Representative: My particular patriot, Colonel William Crawford, was a dear and good friend long time of General Washington.
[00:36:20] DAR Representative: This proclamation is a tribute and an inspiration to the dedicated volunteers of the DAR who have worked to educate the public, especially children, about the US Constitution. This year, our initiatives include Constitution Week displays in five local libraries in the Coachella Valley, the most we've ever done, especially and including Palm Desert; donating children's history books to local libraries in need; offering a fun Constitution Week education program in local schools; and hosting the Bells Across America event at St. George Greek Orthodox Church next Wednesday.
[00:37:02] DAR Representative: Thank you again, Mayor Hearnick, city council members, city staff, and the city of Palm Desert for this proclamation. We are so proud to be part of the Palm Desert community. Thank you.
[00:37:13] Mayor: Thank you for always.
[00:37:15] DAR Representative: You're welcome.
[00:37:17] Mayor: Thank you.
[00:37:18] Speaker: I need to take a picture.
[00:37:30] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:37:33] Mayor: All right. Thank you. Thank you again.
[00:37:51] Mayor: Okay, we'll now move to city manager comments.
[00:37:56] City Manager: None for today.
[00:37:58] Mayor: Wow. Okay. And we'll go to council member reports and requests for action. Can we start with... we'll start with Council Member Petto.
[00:38:08] Council Member Petto: I have none.
[00:38:10] Mayor: Okay.
[00:38:11] Mayor: And let's go to Council Member Kintania.
[00:38:15] Council Member Kintania: Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh, this week I had the CBEG public safety meeting. It was, I think, one of the best ones in seeing what's coming to progress with the CB sync. I know a lot of folks were trying to figure that out and now see the benefit to have less waiting at the red light if we're synchronizing as many green lights as possible. The update that now Ranch Mirage is participating, where they had chosen to not participate before. And what I found very interesting is that through that synchronization, there is smart technology that is being connected to our emergency services. So they will have on their iPad something that tells them not only where the emergency is, but the best route possible and synchronizes the cameras to let them get there faster. And from my notes, I think it is either anticipated or already has reduced the response time by 30%. So I think that is a substantial... you know, every minute matters. So I'm really proud to bring back that report.
[00:39:25] Council Member Kintania: Something else that's coming up, I think it will be piloted in Cathedral City and Palm Springs, and hopefully as it comes about, I think that maybe that's something that we can join, which would be an app that is meant to have distracted drivers... tell you, "Hey, the light is green, the light's coming up red," and most importantly, "There's a pedestrian ahead in that flashing crosswalk," where I think a lot of times people are focused and not seeing the flashing, and that's a big public safety issue. A wonderful service...
[00:40:01] Council Member: Check, and I believe we have a gentleman that's here, so I will let him speak during public comment. And the importance of that, knowing that Palm Desert has the largest population of residents over the age of 65 in the Coachella Valley—we have over 22,000, and that's even more than the City of Indio, who's double our size—so I think that was worth noting. The other thing is, in the chair rotation, I'm now the vice chair. So, we're happy to again continue to bring that information forward. And the county supervisor also made sure that he had a Palm Springs council member and his senior legislative analyst discuss the Riverside County immigration resources. And they have put up a landing page: rivco.org/immigration-resources. And that is available to everyone with links to nonprofits and different agencies and legal services. And they don't collect any data; they don't share that with any agency unless, of course, there's a need to mandate report a criminal activity. I think it's very important that we look at how we support our neighbors and the unfortunate profiling that is happening, and that sadly happened after 9/11. Yes, we love seeing all the beautiful ways we came together, but we also have to address the challenges. And the other way that continues is the way that it's impacting our businesses, as people are seeing their workforce being too afraid to come in, the way that it's affecting the people that are willing to travel, and sadly, even the cancellation of the pilgrimage for Our Lady of Guadalupe and how many tens of thousands of people that brings, and unfortunately, now it's impeding people's ability to express their faith. Hispanic Heritage Month is coming up, and it's celebrated starting in September through October in recognition of how many countries created their independence from Spain—a lot of them, like Mexico, starting on the 16th, and it normally hovers right there in the middle to follow. Other upcoming events: September 20th, that is our e-waste recycling, and on the 17th, there will be a reading of the Constitution word-for-word at our library. So, I think that is all that I have in my notes. Oh, and then, of course, the opening of the new Millennium Apartments. I don't know if any of you would like to speak on that, so I will defer that to my colleagues. But that is it. Thank you. That's Member Nandi, please.
[00:42:53] Council Member Nandi: At the Cultural Arts Committee meeting, and they are in charge of all the beautiful sculptures you see on El Paseo. There is 18 of them. And so, there was a nice discussion on whether to allow the sculptures to stay for three years versus two years. The policy has been two years, but they ultimately decided they did not want to go to three years. They're going to keep it at two years. And the funds to pay the honorarium for each artist does come from their own budget that they get from developer fees, and they increased that fee from 5,000 to 6,000. That's it.
[00:43:35] Mayor: Mayor Pro Tem Trouy?
[00:43:37] Mayor Pro Tem Trouy: Actually, no comments this evening. Thank you.
[00:43:40] Mayor: Okay, just a couple of things. We did go to the Millennium Apartments opening. That's 330 new apartment homes over near the DMV. And in Palm Desert, we're proud to bring a home for everybody. So, there's something for everybody, and we just broaden and deepened those options. Also, the Artists Council opening occurred the other night, and please, if you get a chance, do go by. It's a wonderful experience, and you'll see wonderful art all the time, and it's from local artists, and it's really extraordinary. I did want to mention, and we've heard a lot about it, you know, we lost a great citizen when we lost Harold Matzner, and we will be adjourning the meeting in his name. And I know that we talk an awful lot about what he did in Palm Springs, but let's talk about what he did in Palm Desert through Desert X, all that he did for the McCallum, all that he's done for the Living Desert, and something that serves us all, the Eisenhower Hospital. He's given so much to our entire community. And I know one of the last texts I got from him, it was thanking Palm Desert for supporting the arts and...
[00:45:00] Mayor: for supporting, uh, the McCallum Theatre. So though we thank him, he was thanking us. But we will, uh, adjourn in his name today.
[00:45:11] Mayor: And, um, that's about it. So we will move then to the non-agenda public comments. And the first one, why don't we have Brad Anderson speak? Wait, no. Is it you have two things? I mean, where'd he go? Did he leave?
[00:45:32] Mayor: Okay. So Brad Anderson has left. Uh, Bill Miller, please.
[00:45:48] Bill Miller: Good afternoon. My name is Bill Miller and I represent a nonprofit, 65 Check, down here in the desert. Our program is assisting seniors in reducing their isolation by having a daily phone call to them. Three times they attempt to call. If they do not answer, an alternate is called. If that alternate, for whatever reason, cannot check on them, then it goes to a wellness check with the local first responders. That's how simple the program is. Uh, our initial funding is from Cathedral City on a, uh, community grant and also the Cathedral City Senior Center, uh, and private donations. Um, look forward to take it and working with Palm Desert and helping reduce isolation with some of the seniors and keep them home. That's basically the program.
[00:46:56] Bill Miller: Any questions?
[00:46:57] Mayor: Does anyone have any questions? No.
[00:47:00] Mayor: Thank you so much. There's a great need for that and we appreciate your efforts on that. Thank you.
[00:47:08] Mayor: Okay. We will, um, move to the consent calendar. Are there any public comments?
[00:47:14] Staff: For those on Zoom, if you would wish to participate in public comment, please click the raise hand button on your computer or smartphone. If you are joining in by calling on your phone, please dial star 9 to raise your hand. And when called upon, press star six to unmute yourself. Please keep your comments to no more than three minutes and begin with stating your name for the record.
[00:47:35] Staff: No comments at this time, Madame Mayor.
[00:47:37] Mayor: Right. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion at this time.
[00:47:41] Council Member: I would like to, um, move by pull P and Q. P and Q.
[00:47:49] Council Member: And I will actually need to register a recusal on item 13F due to proximity.
[00:47:55] Council Member: And I will also register a recusal on 13F due to proximity to my real property. Are there any others that you would like to pull or comment on?
[00:48:09] Mayor: Okay. Can we have a motion to move the balance, please?
[00:48:12] Council Member: Move the balance.
[00:48:14] Mayor: Is there a second?
[00:48:17] Council Member: I second.
[00:48:19] Mayor: Thank you. Vote, please.
[00:48:24] Staff: Motion passes 5 to zero.
[00:48:30] Mayor: Okay, we'll now go to P to, uh, let's see who we have to speak to that issue.
[00:48:41] Mayor: Chris Gary. This is to ratify the change order number three to contract number C48140 with DBX, Inc. for the Marketplace Drive and Cook Street traffic signal improvements.
[00:48:55] Chris Gary: Mayor Harnik and council members, uh, you have the staff report in front of you and I'm available for any questions.
[00:49:00] Council Member: I don't have a question. I have a comment to say. Thank you very much for working on this project. That is an area where I've seen many illegal turns, a lot of people that are impatient, and even a fatal bicycle accident in the area. So, thank you for the work that you've done on that to make our city and all the motorists and cyclists, pedestrians safer. Thank you. Thank you.
[00:49:26] Mayor: Okay, why don't we try to do this and we'll see how it works out for Q for Sean Mure to approve the amendment number four to contract number C32410 with Desert Recreation District for Park and Portola Community Center Services.
[00:49:43] Sean Mure: Good afternoon, mayor, members of the city council. Sean Mure with Community Services. Um, we have before you a staff report to adopt an amendment to the contract with Desert Recreation District amending their pricing matrix. And I'm here to answer any questions.
[00:49:59] Council Member: Thank you so much. If I may, Madame—
[00:50:01] Councilmember: Mayor, please. My question is in regards to the amount of oversight with the park attendants that are there. I know that I have had residents that have called and said either somebody is taking up a kiosk and they claim that they reserved it but will not produce anything, or people that have reserved it and have folks that will not vacate their reserved areas. What is the process for someone to call a park supervisor?
[00:50:36] Staff: Sure. We have widely posted in the parks signs with QR codes and phone numbers for people to contact the on-duty park attendant. They do patrol the parks. However, if they don't find someone immediately, they can call that number and the on-duty attendant will come right over.
[00:50:52] Councilmember: And my other question is, do they just generally rotate throughout the city's parks or, depending on the number, are they assigned to a particular park?
[00:51:03] Staff: There are one to two that rotate throughout the city's parks through the day, and that's seven days a week.
[00:51:09] Councilmember: Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
[00:51:11] Staff: You're welcome.
[00:51:13] Mayor: Can we have a motion for P and Q?
[00:51:16] Councilmember: I'll make a motion to approve.
[00:51:18] Mayor: Okay. Is there a second?
[00:51:20] Councilmember: Second.
[00:51:21] Mayor: Can we have a vote, please?
[00:51:27] Clerk: Motion passes 5 to zero. Thank you.
[00:51:29] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:51:32] Speaker: Thank you.
[00:51:34] Mayor: We'll now move to the action calendar to 14A. The recommendation is to approve the city manager employment agreement with Christopher Escobedo effective September 11, 2025, and authorize the mayor to execute the agreement.
[00:51:57] City Attorney: Mayor, I'll make the staff report. As you noted, the item before you is the city manager employment agreement between the city and Chris Escobedo. It follows the short-term contract that was previously in place since April, and that's when the council first appointed Mr. Escobedo to the position of interim city manager. SB 1436 requires local agencies to verbally report out certain information before changing the compensation or benefits of city executives such as the city manager. And so therefore, I'll go ahead and summarize the employment terms. So, the proposed city manager contract includes the following: annual compensation and increase of salary from $270,000 to $285,000 per year subject to an annual cost of living increase; an automobile allowance of $600 per month consistent with the city's previous city manager contract; under specified circumstances, there's a severance payment owed of 9-month severance pay if the contract is terminated during the first three years of the agreement, and the severance would be reduced to six months' pay if terminated thereafter. This is also consistent with the city's previous city manager agreement. Vacation accrues at eight hours per pay period with accrual increases as other executive employees, and all other health benefits, deferred compensation, accrual rates, and other benefits are the same as those of other executive employees. With that, I'm available for questions. That's my report.
[00:53:33] Mayor: Thank you very much. Are there any questions of our city attorney?
[00:53:37] Councilmember: Any questions? My question: are you excited for this opportunity?
[00:53:45] Chris Escobedo: Extremely. Thank you.
[00:53:47] Councilmember: That is my only question and I motion to approve. Oh, okay. I'll second it because we may want to have some discussion and comments. I wonder if there are any comments. And those who may not know, there are only two positions at the city that the council hires, and that is the city attorney and the city manager. So this was a city council decision, and I would like any comments that you may like to make regarding the process or your thought behind it.
[00:54:26] Councilmember: No, we're happy to have him as our city manager. Excellent.
[00:54:30] Councilmember: You make all five of us look great because we ask you probably several questions a week and you give us a great answer.
[00:54:40] Councilmember: I agree. You're very attentive. You're responsive. City staff is walking around with a pep of excitement that you are a great leader and you lead by listening, which I think an organization benefits from. So, I am excited to have you on board, probably just as excited as you are, as you said, to accept.
[00:55:03] Mayor: And I would like to make a few comments because what we did was, the City Council thought that we would look at this six months and really pay attention. And that's what we did. And what we saw was a very thoughtful person who cared about Palm Desert, cared about the future, made decisions looking through a broad and inclusive lens and far-reaching lens. And it was so assuring watching over these last six months with the interaction of all of the staff in every difficult meeting we might have had, in every easy meeting we had, there was always a lot of thought. There was always a pause, there was listening to understand, not listening to respond. And that is a strength, and it is with great appreciation that you have said yes, and thank you for that. And I know Palm Desert will benefit by your leadership. Thank you very much. So, we have a motion and a second.
[00:56:24] Staff: Mayor, before the council votes, can we just check if there's public comment because this is an actual calendar?
[00:56:28] Mayor: You know what? Thank you very much for the reminder. Are there any public comments?
[00:56:33] Staff: No comments online, Madame Mayor.
[00:56:35] Mayor: Great. Thank you for the reminder and thank you. Okay. Now, may we have a vote?
[00:56:45] Staff: Motion passes 5 to zero.
[00:56:49] Mayor: Thank you very much. We're now at 14B. It's the 2026 California Desert Plein Air Festival sponsorship request. Miss Powell.
[00:57:03] Erica Powell: Good afternoon, Mayor and members of the City Council. Erica Powell, economic development. Staff is here to present an item regarding the city's sponsorship of the 2026 California Desert Plein Air Festival. The festival is organized by Palm Springs Life and the Desert Plein Air Association. The 2025 event was the first year the festival was rebranded under the California Desert identity and established Palm Desert as the hub for plein air activity in the Coachella Valley. On August 28th, Palm Springs Life presented a post-event recap at City Council study session. That recap highlighted the festival's contributions to attendance, market research, regional positioning, and alignment with the city's arts and tourism goals. Excuse me. Highlights from the 2025 festival, headquartered at the Artists Center here in Palm Desert: it spanned over three weeks from January 8th through February 2nd. It included paint-outs, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and artwork sales. The event featured over 40 nationally recognized plein air painters. It offered a $15,000 Best in Show prize. The attendance had over 3,000 participants with strong turnout at Palm Desert events. The marketing reach included over 1 million media impressions valued at more than $100,000 in advertising. On June 11th, the Cultural Arts Committee voted unanimously to recommend the approval of the continued sponsorship for the 2026 festival. The proposed sponsorship is $25,000 with a split between the Public Art Fund and the Marketing Fund. The amount is already included in this fiscal year. I'm here with any questions.
[00:58:55] Mayor: Thank you very much. Are there any public comments?
[00:59:00] Staff: No comments online, Madame Mayor.
[00:59:01] Mayor: Thank you so much. Are there any questions?
[00:59:05] Council Member: I have a question, please. I'm wondering if there was any surveys that were conducted to either the participants to see how they liked what we could improve, and also any of the 3,000 visitors.
[00:59:21] Erica Powell: I have Paulina Larson here from Palm Springs Life who can speak to that. Thank you.
[00:59:32] Paulina Larson: Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members. Thank you so much for having us here. I am accompanied by Diane Moore, who is the president and founder of the Desert Plein Air Association, who are the owners and operators of this event, and we are here as a partner in support. To answer your questions, Council Member, we did not capture data to be able to go back to attendees to create these surveys. Reason being, this is...
[01:00:00] Staff Member: Uh, the first year that we've really implemented expanded programming outside of the payouts. Um, moving forward in 2026 is we, uh, expand the footprints of the activations and create programming that is surrounded with ticketing. Um, when we have a ticketing mechanism, we're able to capture emails, zip codes, and we'll be able to provide you a more sophisticated, um, uh, information on our attendees. As far as the artists, um, we do, um, Diane is the direct contact with all of the artists. She hand selects and she does all the personal invitations. On page three of the recap, um, we did ask all of the participants to please provide, uh, testimonials as to their experience. Um, so there are very many, um, but one that I would say would highlight is, uh, their fascination with being invited to the city of Palm Desert, uh, to partake and to be able to do their art form, uh, through the beautiful backdrops of the Coachella Valley, specifically El Paseo and the Living Desert. Um, moving forward, uh, we will go ahead and do this in a formal way where we'll be able to extrapolate those, um, and present them to you. But on page three, there's a lot more, uh, that you, that we can go through.
[01:01:19] Council Member: Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
[01:01:21] Staff Member: Any other questions?
[01:01:22] Mayor: Any questions or thoughts?
[01:01:25] Council Member: No. Thank you very much.
[01:01:27] Staff Member: Thank you.
[01:01:29] Mayor: Okay. Uh, any, uh, discussion at all?
[01:01:36] Council Member: Well, I, I do have a little something I want to say about that festival. I think it's outstanding. It represents not only our entire desert, but it is so, uh, indicative of the values of Palm Desert. We support the arts and it is a good piece of that foundation for us, and I support it entirely. And I know it's going to grow and just continue to be another jewel in our crown when we talk about art. So, thank you very much.
[01:02:07] Council Member: If I can add one final comment after my question. Um, when this was first presented to the art in the, um, cultural arts, uh, committee, it was great to see the potential for growth, seeing how in other cities there are thousands and thousands of artists. So again, I think that because this is an outdoor event, we will be able to grow in ways that won't be limited to a physical space. And, uh, I, I look forward to having more, um, of an idea through again those surveys of how the arts are economic development as well. In fact, I know that, you know, we've seen the studies after the Palm Springs, um, um, I don't remember the, oh my goodness, I can't remember their, their, not fashion week, anyway. One of the Palm Springs signature events for Modernism Week, that's what I was going to say. So they published a booklet that really shows the way that art does have that impact on economic development. So, um, the surveys do help to be able to show how we can support the ongoing growth. But I think it's great because it shows the desert is more than golf. The desert is more than pickleball now. And it showcases why we work so hard to keep clean air and natural landscape. Thank you.
[01:03:29] Mayor: Okay, I'll entertain a motion.
[01:03:31] Council Member: Move approval.
[01:03:34] Mayor: Is there a second?
[01:03:35] Mayor: May we have a vote, please.
[01:03:44] Clerk: Motion passes 5 to zero.
[01:03:46] Mayor: Thank you. We'll now go to the award of contract for El Paseo courtesy cart program and Miss Magger.
[01:03:59] Vanessa Maker: Uh, good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. My name is Vanessa Maker with the Economic Development Department. Before you is a request to award a contract for the El Paseo courtesy cart program. Thank you, ma'am.
[01:04:11] Vanessa Maker: At a study session back in April, City Council provided input to staff to assist with releasing an RFP for the continuation of the El Paseo courtesy cart program for the '25-'26 season. The RFP was released in July with two proposals submitted. The proposals were from Circuit Transit Incorporated and Ace Parking III LLC. Here are the proposals. Proposals were reviewed by committee and based on the content of the work plan, experience, and performance, staff determined ACE to be the most responsive vendor. The bullet points on the slide highlight the top reasons for the selection. Uh, the only hesitation that staff had at the time were the carts proposed by ACE, which were traditional golf carts, as you can see, uh, eight-passenger golf...
[01:05:00] Presenter: Carts and ADA golf cart. Staff reached back out to ACE to inquire if they would consider utilizing carts similar to the ones provided by the previous vendor, which are these GEM vehicles that you see or you might have seen the last three years on the street. These are six-passenger GEM vehicles with doors. ACE was open to this request and provided an update which allowed staff to compare apples to apples now that we were comparing same carts service options. Based on the second proposal, staff weighed the options and considered the three-year cost breakdown which you'll see there in option two is considered. Staff will include additional provisions listed on the slide to ensure that all parties are clear on the agreement. Oh, I went too far. There we go. Thus, staff recommends that the city contract with ACE Parking utilizing the GEM vehicles. This option will enhance the visitor experience, establish long-term city assets as this option means the city will own the GEM vehicles after the first year and can lease back to ACE for years two and three. This option also provides branding opportunities and allows the vehicles to be reused post-program. This is the end of the presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.
[01:06:22] Mayor: Thank you very much. Are there any public comments?
[01:06:29] Staff: No comments at this time, Madame Mayor.
[01:06:31] Mayor: Thank you. Are there any questions or comments?
[01:06:35] Councilmember: Well, comments.
[01:06:36] Mayor: Questions. Let's go with questions first. Any questions?
[01:06:40] Mayor: Oh, okay. Comments. Go.
[01:06:42] Councilmember: I like the GEM vehicles with the doors. So, I do support that and I like the idea of the city owning the vehicles. So, that's what I would like to approve, but I'll see what my other colleagues have to say.
[01:06:56] Mayor: Any other comments or questions?
[01:07:00] Mayor: There you go. I'll entertain a motion.
[01:07:03] Councilmember: Is that you made the motion and then I'm seconding or no? I'm making the motion. I approve the motion of option two to approve the GEM vehicles and the option to purchase the vehicles.
[01:07:14] Councilmember: I'll second.
[01:07:15] Mayor: You have a motion and a second. Please vote.
[01:07:22] Mayor: Motion passes 5 to zero.
[01:07:26] Mayor: Thank you very much. There are no public hearings and there are no—does anyone have any additional items? Seeing none, we will now adjourn the meeting. Wow. At 5:04 and we will be adjourning today in Mr. Harold Master's name. Please keep him, his family in your thoughts. Thank you.