ON THE AGENDA: Twentynine Palms City Council, Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Council bids farewell to outgoing City Manager James, nonprofit grant presentations, a letter of support for Veterans' services
Commencing at 5:15 pm with Community Development Block Grant presentations, the Twentynine Palms City Council will meet this upcoming Tuesday for a regularly scheduled meeting. Attendees can expect a marathon of presentations, with no action items and no public hearing. This will be a good opportunity for public comment.
The 622-page agenda packet is available here; coverage of the last City Council meeting 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.
WORKSHOP (5:15 pm) - CDBG Non-Profit Grant Applicant Presentations
The City opened applications for Community Development Block Grants to nonprofits on March 2 and closed April 3. A total of twelve applications were received during the open period, representing an aggregate funding request of $196,890.
City staff verified each applicant’s operating status and non-profit registry standing to confirm eligibility and adherence to the City’s funding guidelines.
Faced with a $75,000 budget, some applicants may be walking away empty handed or with significantly less money than requested. Those applicants and requested grant funds were:
29 Palms Artists’ Guild - $11,300
29 Palms Community Food Pantry & Outreach Ministries - $30,000
Animal Action League - $10,800
Armed Services YMCA 29 Palms - $10,000
Basin Wide Foundation - $60,000
Desert Media Foundation - $3,500
First Assembly of God Church - $55,790
Girls on the Run Inland Empire - $15,500
Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts - $5,000
PALS of Palms N Paws - $10,000
Project Sheba - $10,000
Reach Out Morongo Basin - $25,000
Though the 442-page staff report did not specify which organizations, if any, did not meet the City’s verification criteria, only one organization—Project Sheba—showed a revoked California AG charitable registration status. For Fiscal Year 26-27, the pool of available funds will be even smaller than last year, as the City’s nonprofit budget gets reduced to just $25,000.
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AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND PROCLAMATIONS
1. Re-Enlist to Life Housing and Veteran Services Overview and Letter of Support Request
Re-Enlist to Life, or REL, is a nonprofit based in Yucca Valley that provides housing services to veterans and critical support services, such as vocational job training, to veterans who have been released from incarceration.
The nonprofit is seeking a letter of support from the City of Twentynine Palms as part of the State of California’s Housing and Community Development (HCD) Homekey grant application process. The letter will show support for REL’s proposed Veteran Campus Project, to be located at 605 Utah Trail on 40 acres of property.1
According to the staff report:
The Twentynine Palms Veteran Campus is a $12.6 million Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) development designed to serve 32 justice-involved2 veterans annually. Managed by Re-Enlist to Life, the project utilizes a vocation-to-wellness ecosystem to provide a stable, trauma-informed environment that prevents homelessness and recidivism. The mission is rooted in the lived experience of Marine Corps veterans who served at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms.
At the last Council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Octavious Scott and Councilmember McArthur Wright expressed enthusiasm and willingness to show support toward REL.
2. Presentation by the Town of Yucca Valley on their 35th Anniversary
The Town of Yucca Valley will be presenting on the 35th anniversary of their incorporation. To commemorate the occasion, 35 facts about Yucca Valley are posted on the city website to highlight the town’s vibrant history, from Frank Sinatra’s summer getaways in Yucca with the Rat Pack, to acknowledging the earliest stewards of the area—the Chemehuevi and Serrano.
3. Presentation by the San Bernardino County Fire Department
The agenda packet provides no information for this presentation. San Bernardino County Fire provides fire service coverage for Twentynine Palms following the annexation of the Twentynine Palms Fire Department back in 2016, which was previously operated by the Twentynine Palms Water District.
4. Presentation to Dr. Stone James for his Service to the City of Twentynine Palms
At their last meeting, Council approved an employment contract for Kevin Cole to assume the role of City Manager to the tune of $186,000 a year. This follows the resignation of Dr. H. Stone James, whose departure was announced in April. After more than six years as the Economic Development Director for Cathedral City, James assumed the Twentynine Palms City Manager’s position in April 2024 with a 5-0 Council appointment approval.
Since then, James has served as Co-Chair for San Bernardino County Homeless Partnership’s East Desert Regional Steering Committee and was inducted to the 29 Palms Rotary Club.
In the City’s announcement on his resignation, James was acknowledged for his ability to navigate the town through severe flash flooding incidents and emergency preparedness efforts.
Of note from his stint as City Manager is James’s proactiveness during a federal government employment crackdown from the Trump Administration, in which James facilitated the transfer of the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center lease from the National Park Service (NPS) to the Joshua Tree National Park Association to mitigate impacts from NPS staff layoffs.
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.
Code Enforcement Contract Raises Questions
Though the consent calendar typically consists of routine items, such as updating the authorized signers on the City bank accounts, Agenda Item 10 pertains to a seemingly unexpected approval of $9,000 to Culper Consulting, executed by outgoing City Manager H. Stone James.
On April 16, 2026—after he had announced his resignation on April 9—James had signed a $17,000 contract with Culper Consulting to produce a Code Enforcement Policies and Procedures Manual. The manual would be based on results from a 2025 Code Enforcement Evaluation Report.
Four days later, on April 20, the City Attorney issued a work stop order on the Culper Consulting contract. The staff report doesn’t explain why the City Attorney intervened or on whose authority.
Culper Consulting, operated by elected official and current Deputy Mayor for the City of Yucaipa, Justin Beaver, is now charging the City $9,000 for services rendered. A draft manual of the Code Enforcement guidebook is included in the agenda packet, though it must be vetted by the City’s legal team before Council can consider its adoption. According to the staff report:
The one-time payment of $9,000 will come from the code enforcement clean up budget. This $9,000 will decrease the Code Enforcement’s short-term ability to fully clean up 7535 Sherman Hoyt Avenue, however, implementation of an industry-standard policy manual will give Code Enforcement the structure and tools to prevent future homes from becoming public nuisance like 7535 Sherman Hoyt Avenue has become over the last several years.
Though the contract was for up to $17,000 — within a city manager’s typical signing authority — the proximity to the contract execution and the City Manager’s resignation is worth noting.
The draft code compliance manual that Culper Consulting delivered prior to work stoppage uses Cathedral City — where Stone James previously worked — as its example city throughout its report. Per the staff report, the manual contains internal contradictions that staff say require review by HR and the City Attorney before any adoption can take place.
Also included in Item 10 is the 2025 code enforcement evaluation report, composed by Gemini Training — a firm whose principal, Justin Gardiner, is Cathedral City's Code Compliance Manager — a contractor hired by the City Manager with direct ties to his former employer. Gardiner’s name is included throughout the report.
Whether Council and City Attorneys were aware of the Cathedral City connection between Gardiner and James prior to the Gemini contract being awarded is not addressed in the staff report.
PUBLIC HEARING — NONE
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS — NONE
FUTURE COUNCIL INITIATED ITEMS
Shade Structures around Freedom Plaza and a possible art fixture with “Freedom Plaza” announcing the location.
Discussion of a policy regulating the use of City Attorney resources.
Discussion on creating a “Recognized Neighborhood Program.”
Discussion on the new Federal holidays to coincide with the City’s holiday schedule.
Discussion on the use of City funds for grants and the potential reallocation of housing and homeless funds to grants.
Discussion on creating guidelines for the use of City Hall meeting rooms by elected and appointed officials for official city business.
Discussion on the next steps of reallocating $1.3 million for housing.
Discussion of Code Enforcement and compliance with Proposition 36 and find a pathway to meeting the new guidance issued by Governor Gavin Newson.
Discussion about annexing parcels: APN 0634-05-124 and 0634-05-109, also known as Set Free Ranch.
Discussion of a possible safe passage with CalTrans around Donnell Hill.
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Desert Trumpet was unable to confirm the location of 605 Utah Trail as the address does not currently exist. Numbering does not align with current Utah Trail addresses and the staff report did not provide an APN associated with the proposed project’s parcel.
Formerly incarcerated through the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation