ON THE AGENDA: Twentynine Palms City Council, January 28, 2025
Discussion of a Community Resource Center, an update from Molding Hearts on the unhoused, Proposition 36, and more.

This upcoming Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at 6 pm the Twentynine Palms City Council will hold their second regularly scheduled meeting of the month. They will discuss a potential community resource center, approve the purchase of a new animal control truck, approve a planning contract for a City-funded affordable housing unit, and receive an update from Molding Hearts on their recent local homeless initiative. The agenda packet for Tuesday’s meeting is linked here, and coverage of the previous City Council meeting can be found 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, just pick up a green or gold form at the entry desk, fill it out, and hand it to the Clerk, who usually sits just in front of the Council bench toward 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. The Mayor has stopped reading emails into the record at meetings. You can also copy the clerk at cvillescas@29palms.org and ask that your letter be made part of the public record.
AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND PROCLAMATIONS
Following an invocation from Suzy Dick of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Council will hear a presentation from the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office on Proposition 36, Vickie Waite of the Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts on the 12th Annual JTNP Art Exposition, and a presentation from Lakita Johnson, CEO and Founder of Molding Hearts, on a recent initiative the organization undertook after receiving $24,500 in November from the City to address the local unhoused population.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar consists of routine items usually approved with a single vote. The public is given a chance to make public comments on these items prior to the Council motion. Again, fill out a comment form if you wish to address any of the items on this meeting’s Consent Calendar.
Items on this meeting’s consent calendar include approval of an “Agreement for Procurement” of recovered organic waste to Burrtec Waste and Recycling Services LLC, a Treasurer’s Report for the second quarter of the ‘24-’25 fiscal year, and the awarding of a Professional Services Agreement contract to Design Concepts in Yucca Valley for an affordable housing rehabilitation project.
6. Treasurer's Report - FY 2024-25 Quarter 2
Item 6 on the Consent Calendar is the 2nd Quarter Treasurer’s Report, presented by City Finance Director and Treasurer Abigail Hernandez-Conde, which shows the City as having $19,567,471 dollars in funds and trusts, including $6.9 million dollars in investments. Per Hernandez-Conde, the City has sufficient funds to meet expenditures for the remaining six months of the current fiscal year. Much of the City’s portfolio contains investments with market values slightly lower than their principal value, which is determined by a variety of market factors.

7. Award Professional Services Agreement for 6943 Elm Avenue Rehabilitation Project.
Per the Staff Report, the City owns parcel (APN 0624-082-23) on Elm Avenue that has four units: a stand-alone (6937 Elm Ave) structure and a three-plex (6939, 6941, and 6943). The parcel was acquired in 2021 with the intention of converting the units into affordable housing. The City is partnering with Yucca Valley-based company Design Concepts to execute improvements and renovations on the standalone unit.
The costs are covered by State of California’s Project Home Key, which designates statewide funds to local municipalities to address affordable housing and homelessness prevention initiatives.
The City’s 2029 Adopted Housing Element goals, signed off by former City Manager Frank Luckino and approved by the State in February 2023, are approaching an ambitious target of establishing 1,105 affordable housing units in Twentynine Palms by 2029.1 Discussion of affordable housing and the State’s Housing Element played a key role at the Desert Trumpet’s City Council Candidate Forum in September of last year.
Approval of the agreement Tuesday will address asbestos abatement, building design, kitchen and bathroom upgrades, ADA compliance, and public transit accessibility for one housing unit in the complex to the tune of $33,800, making a small dent in efforts to address affordable housing. The City also has funds from Project Phoenix designated toward a 100-unit affordable housing project near City Hall, under discussion as far back as 2022 but yet to come to fruition.
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
8. Purchase of a New Animal Control Truck and Body
City Council is set to approve the purchase of a new Ford F-350 animal control truck for $130,894.22. An initial $105,000 was approved for the purchase in the ‘24-‘25 general budget back in May 2023. However, citing “inflationary concerns,” City Staff is now requesting an additional $25,894.22 in funding for the truck. The current animal control truck is from 2012 and will be used as a backup once this new vehicle is acquired.
9. Community Resource Center
Over the last year, there has been a push by a combination of community and Council members to develop a way to provide centralized services for youth and vulnerable populations in Twentynine Palms, especially during climate emergencies such as extreme heat and cold.
In April 2024 Women of Color Global 29 made Council aware of an EPA grant that would build a Climate Resilience Center to educate residents and provide services prompted by our changing climate. However, when the grant was actually filed, it was redirected in part toward funding the Channel Trail Project and other needs such as workforce training in addition to a community resource center.
In December 2024, a building located at 6767 Adobe Road came on sale that Councilmember Octavious Scott felt could fulfill the need of a community resource hub including uses such as a cooling and heating center for residents during power outages and extreme weather conditions.2
Traditionally, the Twentynine Palms Senior Center has filled this role, albeit informally. Earlier this month, during SoCal Edison’s power outages, the County of San Bernardino and City of Twentynine Palms, working in conjunction, used the gymnasium at Freedom Plaza to distribute portable solar chargers, literature, bottled water, and other power outage supplies, while the Senior Center opted to expand operating hours to accommodate community members affected by shutoffs. These buildings are typically used on an impromptu basis for weather-related emergencies, including heat waves and floods, though they are not officially designated as such.
These needs were discussed during the last strategic planning session and resulted in the creation of the Housing and Homelessness Committee, which has been meeting for 18 months on these issues. City Manager H. Stone James was hired after most of these discussions took place.
City Manager James is now reviving the conversation and asking Council to reassess community needs prior to consideration of acquiring new properties. The agenda item is broken into subcategories that include building design, the types of services the City might offer, economic considerations, and discussion topics.
The report poses a handful of questions for Council to consider, with economic feasibility as priority:
What funding sources, if any, are available to operate this center? What is the long-term fiscal impact this operation would have on the City?
What buildings in town can meet the specifications necessary to fulfill this project?
Additionally, the City Manager recommends a survey to assess community needs, despite the discussions that have already taken place. To that end, the staff report includes a proposal from public opinion and Los Angeles-based research firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (also known as FM3) for a citywide strategic plan survey of 300 residents for a cost of $29,750 to $34,500.
Per the FM3 proposal,
The survey will help City leaders better understand attitudes toward city services, programs and infrastructure, residents' priorities and concerns, opinions on current and proposed policies.
At their November 12, 2024, meeting, Council already approved a contract with consulting firm Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc. (MIG) to assist in the upcoming Strategic Planning process at a cost of $36,360. In October 2023, the City conducted a survey asking residents to prioritize City objectives and asking whether residents would support a sales tax to fund certain City services — $18,750 of that cost was paid in December 2023.
It is unclear based on the staff report if the City posted an RFP (Request for Proposal) before considering FM3. Also attached is the real estate listing for the property at 6767 Adobe Road, currently for sale at $489,000.
The report concludes with this analysis by City Manager James:
All this is to say, maintaining healthy reserves and limiting (as much as possible) future non-scalable spending is vital to long term municipal financial health. As will be discussed in the upcoming strategic planning sessions, there are a number of existing buildings with significant deferred maintenance. The Council must balance construction of new buildings (and the resulting new operating costs) with the ongoing obligation of maintaining existing assets and programs.
In closing: A community resource center could be a valuable addition to the Twentynine Palms community and provide services to those in need. As Mahatma Ghandi [sic] is reported to have said, "the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members".
FUTURE COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS
Revisit allocated funds for the portable showers and Navigation Center.
Discussion on the General Plan Update.
Discussion surrounding dirt roads versus paved roads and city maintenance of roads.
Shade structures for Freedom Plaza and a new art fixture
A review of fees for Site Plan Reviews of Barber Shops in already-existing buildings.
City Council compensation increase discussion.
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Numbers from the March 2024 Housing Element report update show the City operating at about 16% of its goal set for 2029.
Conversation with Councilmember Octavious Scott, January 26, 2025
I wonder how many taxpayers in this city are aware of the future costs all this effort devoted to homeless, etc. is going to require?
The clouds above certainly are not aware. I've been watching for just rain, not dollars, and little of that is showing up on my doorstep. And let's not even begin to speculate on the cost cutting waves that are going to impact "the best laid plans of mice and men" in 29 Palms as the Trump mindset sweeps past the empire builders within the city limits.
What nonsense.