ON THE AGENDA: Twentynine Palms City Council, Monday, April 27, 2026
New City Manager, general fund updates, and a local developer requests a waiver
The Twentynine Palms City Council will hold a regular meeting this upcoming Monday, April 27, at 6 pm, following a closed session at 5:15 pm with the following topic:
Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 – PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT: Title - City Manager.
Given agenda item 9, entitled “Appointment of City Manager and Approval of Related Employment Agreement,” this likely indicates that the Council will appoint its newest City Manager at this meeting. This follows the resignation of the previous City Manager, H. Stone James, which was announced following a special closed session meeting on Thursday, April 9.
Coverage of the previous City Council meeting is available here and here. The 103-page agenda packet is linked here.
PUBLIC COMMENT
You can comment on agenda items and issues important to you at every City Council meeting. Comments on agenda items take place during discussion of that item, while comments on non-agenda items take place near the end of the meeting. The Brown Act prevents Council from commenting on non-agenda items. To comment, pick up a form at the entry desk, fill it out, and hand it to the Clerk, who usually sits just in front of the Council dais on the right.
Here’s the list of Council email addresses to write if you can’t get to the meeting — be sure to email them prior to 2 pm on the date of the meeting so they have time to read your email prior to discussion. You can also copy the clerk at cvillescas@29palms.org and ask that your letter be made part of the public record.
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AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND PROCLAMATIONS
Council will hear a presentation from Reach Out Yucca Valley on 7-OH and Kratom, which are commercially available substances with high rates of abuse and propensity for addiction due to their opioid-like effects.1 Products sold at local smoke shops and liquor stores sometimes contain these substances. Reach Out has presented this community issue to Council in the past, noting their commercial accessibility makes school-aged youth vulnerable to abusing these substances, particularly when local smoke shops and liquor stores fail to properly ID minors when making purchases.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar consists of items usually approved with a single vote. The public is given a chance to comment on these items prior to the Council motion. Fill out a comment form specifying the item you wish to address and submit it in person, or send an email in advance regarding any of the items on this meeting’s Consent Calendar.
Consent Calendar items for this meeting include approval of the April 9 closed session meeting minutes, approval of a $326,567.05 construction contract for upcoming road repairs, septic system maintenance information, and a Treasurer’s Report for the 3rd quarter of the ‘25-’26 fiscal year.
PUBLIC HEARING- NONE
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
7. Preliminary Review of the 2026-27 General Fund Budget Revisions.
Council approved its general fund budget on June 10, 2025. Since then, due to decreases in projected property tax revenue and vehicle license fees, the City Finance Director is requesting revisions to that approved budget.
The 47-page staff report states:
Revenues from Property tax and Property tax in Lieu of Vehicle License Fees (VLF) combined are expected to be $249K lower than originally projected. For instance, in FY 2022- 23, the City’s net taxable assessed values increased by 11.16% from the prior year. In FY 2023-24, the increase from the prior year was 12.01%. The City’s net taxable assessed values for FY 2025-26 are projected to increase by only 4.6% from the prior year.
Possible explanations for this include a slow down in the local housing market and general economic woes that are being seen countywide, not just in Twentynine Palms.
Transient Occupancy Tax, or TOT, revenues were reported higher than this time last year, but due to the volatility and unpredictability of the local tourism market, the City Finance department is remaining conservative in terms of its projected TOT revenue going into 2027, expecting only a $50,000 uptick despite new hotels now fully operating in town, such as Hotel Wren and Reset Hotel. The staff report states:
Staff is anticipating another moderate growth year with Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) and Joshua Tree National Park continuing to have attendance growth.
City staff is requesting that Council approve money transfers to cover $40K in construction costs associated with the repaving of the Luckie Park parking lot, and an additional $25K to cover costs associated with a sales tax ballot measure, expected to be voted on by residents in the November 3 election.
In the wake of projected revenue being nearly $250K lower than expected, and to maintain a balanced budget, the staff report says, “adjustments were made, including reducing grants to non-profits from $75K to $50K.”
The staff report concludes by adding that inflation continues to be a constraint on the City budget, along with lowered gas tax revenue.
8. Waiver of Requirement of Traffic Impact Assessment for Administrative Use Permit.
City Council will consider waiving a requirement for a Traffic Impact Assessment for a proposed development project on a half-acre lot located on the southwest corner of Twentynine Palms Outer Highway and Encelia Avenue. City rules require a traffic study whenever a project generates more than 50 car trips per day, and the City Engineer estimates that this development will generate at least that much traffic.
The developer, Nathsons Hospitality Inc., whose principal is Charmaine Nathraj, submitted an Administrative Use Permit (AUP) application through David Rodriguez of CAD Design Plus in October 2025 to waive a traffic study because of its cost, although the fee is not included in the staff report and the City does not determine such costs. The City responded to the AUP application with an itemized request list for the application to be complete, which included the traffic study. Email correspondence between Community Development Director Keith Gardner, Cal Trans District 8 representatives, and developer Veno Nathraj, who is representing Nathsons Hospitality, is included in the staff report.
The City of Twentynine Palms passed its traffic study policy in 2005. Email documents included in the staff report show CalTrans also requests a traffic study for this particular project:
Also included in the staff report’s email correspondence were some testy words from Gardner to Nathraj, a local hotelier and business owner:
Of particular concern to Gardner, as noted in the emails, is whether the City waives this traffic study requirement or not, CalTrans will still require its own traffic study as a condition of approval for the project, meaning the developer will likely still have to pay any associated traffic study costs.
9. Appointment of City Manager and Approval of Related Employment Agreement
No name for a future City Manager is provided with the agenda, but given the resignation of the most recent City Manager and the upcoming closed session on the topic, one can assume the City has a particular candidate in mind. Whether this individual was drawn from a pool of previous City Manager applicants from 2023, following the resignation of Frank Luckino, is unknown.
Noted under this agenda item is that the “Staff Report and related documents will be provided at the beginning of the meeting.”
The Brown Act does not mandate the City to post applications for this open position, though they have done so in the past, nor is there any legal requirement that discussions on City Manager appointments be conducted publicly. However, the discussion of compensation must be public and should be discussed under item 9.
Back in October 2023, when the City had open applications for a new City Manager’s position, and prior to the appointment of the most recent City Manager, Dr. H. Stone James, Desert Trumpet penned an opinion piece entitled, “Who Should We Hire?” which called for an open and transparent government process in choosing a new City Manager.
The City of Twentynine Palms lists the expectations and duties of the City Manager on its website. The goal of the City Manager is to fulfill the following:2
Be the City’s chief administrative officer and be responsible to the city council for the proper administration of all affairs of the City.
Appoint and, when necessary, suspend or remove officers and employees of the City except as otherwise provided by the city charter or law, and direct and supervise their work.
Prepare the budget and submit it to the Council annually, together with a message describing its important features, and be responsible for its administration after adoption.
Prepare and submit to the Council as of the end of the fiscal year a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the City for the preceding year.
Keep the Council advised of the City’s financial condition and future needs and make such recommendations as he may deem desirable.
Recommend to the governing body a standard pay schedule for each appointed office and position in the city service, including minimum, intermediate, and maximum rates.
Recommend to the governing body (from time to time) adoption of such policies as he may deem necessary or expedient for the health, safety, or welfare of the community, or health, safety, or welfare of the community, or for the improvement of the administrative services.
Consolidate or combine offices, positions, departments, or units under his jurisdiction with the city council’s approval.
Attend all city council meetings unless excused therefrom and participate in the discussion of all matters coming before the Council.
Supervise the purchase of materials, supplies, and equipment for which funds are provided in the budget.
See that all laws and ordinances are properly enforced. Investigate the activities of the City or any department or division.
Investigate all complaints concerning the administration of the government of the City and regarding service maintained by the public utilities in the City, and see that all franchises, permits, and privileges granted by the City are faithfully observed.
Devote his entire time to the discharge of his official duties.
Perform such other duties as may be required by Council.
The meeting takes place at 6 pm at 6136 Adobe Road. See you there!
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7-OH (7-Hydroxymitragynine) is an alkaloid derived from kratom, the name for the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa, a tree that grows in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea.