RECAP: Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting, October 16, 2025
TBID board members highlight celebration and concerns in the first TBID meeting of the fiscal year.
The Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) met on Thursday, October 16, their first meeting of the new 2025-26 fiscal year. The agenda included Visit 29 Palms marketing updates, celebrations and concerns from board members, the selection of grant review committee members, and an update from City Manager Stone James. The meeting was overall positive, though wide ranging, and lasted slightly longer than usual, at an hour and forty minutes.
All five TBID advisory board members were present: Chair Rakesh Mehta, Vice-Chair Ashton Ramsey, Maria Madrid, Ben Uyeda, and Liz Shickler.
Update from the Joshua Tree National Park Association, including their operations during the shutdown
The meeting began with an update from Jacqueline Guevara, Executive Director of the Joshua Tree National Park Association (JTNPA), who was joined by Director of Development and Programs, Christine Grimes. JTNPA is the primary nonprofit partner of Joshua Tree National Park and operates five visitor centers, as well as providing educational programming.
Guevara noted that as an independent nonprofit, the JTNPA association visitor centers in Twentynine Palms, Cottonwood Canyon, Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, and Black Rock Canyon remain fully staffed and operational during the federal government shutdown. Guevara reported that, unlike the last shutdown in 2018–2019, law enforcement rangers, maintenance staff, and fee rangers are still working. While the fee rangers are not collecting entrance fees, they are giving out health and safety information to visitors. The JTNPA continues to collect donations to support the park.
Ms. Guevara also noted that the JTNPA plans to open a visitor center at Indian Cove ranger station and has acquired a warehouse on Adobe Road to store the association’s merchandise. They also received a grant to look into creating ranger housing, as well as an education and event space, in Twentynine Palms. The JTNPA has several major upcoming education, community, and fundraising events, including working with the Sky’s the Limit Observatory on the Night Sky Festival, and a fundraising gala on November 1, with all proceeds going to Joshua Tree National Park.
Marketing Director update
Marketing Director Breanne Dusastre shared slides and reported on the TBID’s recent marketing activities through Visit 29 Palms. Dusastre highlighted the two-page feature that Visit 29 paid for in the 2025-26 annual Palm Springs Life Desert Living Guide. She also shared the non-sponsored day trip guide, “How to Spend a Day in Twentynine Palms” the magazine recently published on their website.
Dusastre highlighted upcoming events that were supported by grant money from the TBID, including the Twentynine Palms Book Festival, the Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo, which is bringing in artists mainly from California, but also from as far away as Florida and British Columbia, and the Joshua Tree Half Marathon. Dusastre noted that the half-marathon would attract over 1,000 people, many of whom are first-time visitors to the area.
As the area moves into the busy tourism season, Dusastre highlighted that website traffic to Visit29.org has increased in the past 30 days, with an over 60% increase in active and new users seeking information about events, dining, hotels, and the government shutdown. She also discussed a new social media contractor who will produce short form video (Reels) for Visit29, as well as improvements planned for the website’s infrastructure. She touched on planning for more billboards and that Travel and Leisure is working on a destination guide for Twentynine Palms, though did not provide details as to when that would launch.
While web traffic and social media engagement is important to track, it would have been helpful to hear about projections for visitorship to the area for the fall season. As Dusastre mentioned in her annual report in August, the number of tourists overall is expected to decrease this year due to uncertain economic and cultural conditions. How is the shutdown, an uneven economy, and overall uncertainty impacting overnight stays and pass-through revenue so far this fall?
Public comment
Two public comments followed Dusastre’s presentation. Speaking initially as a visual artist, Anna Stump mentioned she has received more visitors to her studio during the Highway 62 Art Tours this year than the previous years she participated. Then in her capacity as representative of the Twentynine Palms Music Committee she updated the board on the progress of the application to the Levitt Foundation for a $120,000 grant that would support three years of free public music programming at $40,000 a year. She confirmed that they had submitted letters of support, including one from Chair Mehta, and that the grant winners would be announced in mid-November. She also noted that while Twentynine Palms came in 12th in the public voting section of the application process, the foundation has not been clear about how many grants would be awarded. She thanked Vice-Chair Ramsey for hosting a get-out-the-vote party for the grant at Tin Town on September 8, and acknowledged the support of co-hosts the Interact Club and the Youth Council.
Susan Peplow commented on staffing of the Twentynine Palms visitor center, sharing a concern that it was not open when she stopped by during regular opening hours, 11 am - 3 pm, during the week. She acknowledged that the board had made a past decision to trim visitor center hours so Dusatre could focus on promotional work, and asked the board if they were still considering alternative options to cover staffing gaps by volunteers or lodging partners to help solve the problem of limited time and limited manpower.
TBID board members share celebrations and concerns: The need to attract larger events and develop more nightlife options
In order to provide context for the TBID’s work and strengthen their relationship with their constituents, TBID Advisory Board members were invited to share an initiative they are excited about and one they find challenging. Members shared a mix of observations that highlighted positive developments, opportunities, and challenges.
The celebrations and positive mentions included:
Uyeda’s appearance on the Mikey Taylor podcast to discuss the growth of Twentynine Palms.
Hotel RESET was recently added to the Michelin Guide (Uyeda).
The positive mix of tourists and residents who regularly enjoy local restaurants like GRND SQRL and the 29 Palms Beer Co (Uyeda).
The power of organic social media, as opposed to paid advertising, to build energy, community, excitement, and drive press mentions (Ramsey).
The board’s commitment to a common goal to grow tourism (Madrid).
The opportunity for TBID to move from a one-year to a five-year reauthorization process (Shickler).
About the positive mix of residents and tourists at local restaurants Uyeda said, “I see that same type of mix at a lot of the restaurants here, across the hi-desert, and it made me think that, sure, we’re a tourist destination, but we’re still a home.”
The opportunities and challenges the board brought up were:
The opportunity to promote Twentynine Palms as a “drive-in” destination as the shutdown causes flight delays and aggravation (Uyeda).
Larger events are faltering and venues to host these events, such as the drive-in movie theater, the racetrack at the airport, and the Joshua Tree Lake Campground, could be more heavily utilized (Ramsey).
The lack of nightlife, and specifically a nightclub for dancing, as a major barrier for the growth of tourism and driver of repeat visits (Madrid).
The fragility of the landscape and infrastructure as a hurdle to hosting larger events (Shickler).
The need to think creatively about venues for nightlife and other tourist attractions (Mehta).
About the lack of nightlife Madrid elaborated,
Nightlife is one of the main things that I get asked about [by my guests], even when I pick up the phone, someone’s calling in to ask, ‘Hey, what is there to do in Twentynine Palms?
As the last to comment, Mehta reflected on the evolution of Twentynine Palms as a destination and the motivation he felt working with the other TBID board members and his appreciation for the public’s engagement. He noted,
I gotta definitely say the public comments and the participation has been increasing, and we encourage that. Sometimes it might feel adversarial, but we take every comment as a constructive criticism without an attack, and I would respect that everybody follows that decorum, because just like you are spending your time and wanting to be here, we’re doing the same and we all have the same goal.
In public comment, Caitlin Gill of Joshua Tree Astronomy Adventures and board member of Rediscover 29 acknowledged the importance of celebrating wins and suggested supporting and helping the venues that are here improve, such as the drive-in movie theater. She also noted that larger events need to ensure they make a profit, noting,
You also have to recognize that if you do want to put on larger scale events you are competing for those events and their producers … The board has to be open to funding events that show profit on their revenue sheets, because they can host them elsewhere without the risk of a smaller market and without the cost of additional marketing to drop people into the location.
As this part of the meeting was fairly open and wide-ranging, it’s unclear how the TBID will act on the challenges and opportunities they each brought up, or if there are clear next steps.
The formation of the TBID district conversion steering committee and reorganization of TBID subcommittees
As outlined in the agenda, and previously reported on by the Desert Trumpet, the TBID is actively pursuing conversion from a one-year authorization process under the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989 to a five-year re-authorization process under the updated Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994. Conversion is a key focus this year for the TBID.
Dusastre introduced the importance of forming a steering committee of two TBID members who would work with the City Council’s TBID subcommittee and the city manager’s office. The core committee will:
Oversee the development of the district management plan to guide the TBID over the five or ten-year term.
Outline the type of marketing activities the TBID will take on.
Define the assessment structure for the district and the district’s boundaries.
In public comment, Susan Peplow noted that she supports the conversion of the TBID, but cautioned that,
But hopefully the steering committee, whoever that may be, might be able to look at and say, ‘Are we really building the layers that we need before we put the icing on too early?’ I just wouldn’t put an end date on it, and hopefully the subcommittee can see when that would be appropriate. Maybe it is next year, but I think there’s some more work that needs to be done and more direction to get there.
Following Peplow’s comments, Mehta asked Dusastre about current TBID subcommittees, which have shifted to be as follows:
Ramsey and Uyeda remain on the Marketing subcommittee.
Ramsey and Mehta are stepping down from the Events subcommittee and Shickler and Madrid stepped up.
Mehta and Shickler will serve on the District Conversion steering committee.
Selection of the 2025-2026 event grant review subcommittee members
Before stepping down from the events subcommittee, Ramsey recommended three community members to serve on the grant review subcommittee: Susan Peplow, Paul Perez, and Mary Jane Binge. The appointment of the subcommittee was approved by a 5-0 vote.
However, applicants for committee members had only been given a two-day notice to apply, with an email being sent to TBID stakeholders on October 10 with a deadline of Sunday, October 12. Was this the best way to ensure that everyone who may have been interested to serve on the grants review committee have a chance to participate?
Dusastre noted that,
We are adding a new step to the process, and that involves taking all [grant] applications received, whether they’re sponsorship or event grants, and those will go to the City’s planning department for that first review, and from there, they’re going to break out: If they sponsorship, they’re going to go to the TBID advisory board as TBID subcommittee members, and the grant applications, will then flow through to the grant review committee.
It’s unclear where the decision to send TBID grant and sponsorship applications for initial review by the planning department originated. It has not been discussed or voted on by the TBID board.
City manager update
City Manager Stone James shared the same update he shared at the City Council meeting on October 14, on the City’s financial realities. Following James’ presentation, Ramsey asked how the City was ensuring income and James discussed his analysis of the City’s sales tax relative to the surrounding area, including Yucca Valley and Palm Springs, as well as the City Council’s fiscal discipline. The Desert Trumpet reported on, analyzed, and re-created the slides, which were not shared in the agenda packet, in the city council meeting re-cap and discussed the proposal for the 1% sales tax increase in greater detail.
Takeaways and next steps
Overall the tone of the meeting was positive and cordial. However, the amount of work ahead for the TBID to both continue to build on their past momentum to support events and programs that position Twentynine Palms as a tourist destination remains.
How will the TBID follow up on the challenges they themselves outlined, especially around drawing and supporting larger events and uplifting current venues, cultivating nightlife, building organic momentum on social media, and encouraging repeat visitors? Will the new events subcommittee take on these challenges directly or recommend grants or event sponsorships that speak to these concerns? In addition, it remains to be seen how the steering committee for district conversion will approach the process and ensure the TBID is better positioned for conversion next year. It is the very beginning of the TBID’s fiscal year, as well as an uncertain time economically, so much work is ahead for 2025-26.
The next meeting date has yet to be confirmed, but may either be Thursday, November 13 or November 20, 2025.
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Hi,
The Levitt Grant would fund free music concerts for three years, not four.
Thanks, Anna