RECAP: Twentynine Palms City Council May, 28, 2024
RECAP: Twentynine Palms City Council May, 28, 2024
Youth Council, budget, event and CDBG grants, and whether to pursue a big Climate Resiliency grant
Tuesday night, the Council took a crack at a lengthy agenda. The new Youth Council was sworn in and the Council deliberated on a grant to a new Dine 29 Food Festival and Restaurant Week event planned for September, mulled Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for several community organizations, and launched a feasibility assessment of going after a $10 million federal Climate Emergency Resiliency grant.
The agenda packet and the video can be viewed here, and our agenda preview is here.
Pastor LeeAnn Clarke from the 29 Palms Ministerial Association gave the invocation, and Mayor Steve Bilderain announced that item #12, purchase of a new Code Enforcement vehicle, would be removed from tonight's agenda.
AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS
At long last the Twentynine Palms Youth Council was officially sworn in. (We reported on the Council’s launch here.) Efforts to establish a Youth Council languished in Council during much of 2023, appearing on multiple agendas under "Future Council Initiated Items." City Recreation Programs Supervisor Amy Tessier noted that "Increasing communication between our City's youth and adults is integral to ensuring the youth voice is heard." City Clerk Cindy Villescas then swore in the 13 sixth- through twelfth-grade volunteers. It remains to be seen what endeavors the new Youth Council will undertake and whether the Council will allocate funds to the Youth Council for their operations.
CONSENT CALENDAR, PUBLIC HEARING
The Council voted unanimously to approve the consent calendar excluding item 11, City Fee Waiver Policy for Facility Rentals, and then ended up voting unanimously to approve item 11 as submitted by staff.
The Council voted to approve pulling item 11 for further discussion, with Mayor Steve Bilderain saying this was by public request. Kary Minatrea, Recreation Division Manager, then briefly presented on it, saying its language was simply a cleaned up version of what Council approved at its previous meeting.
Cindy Bernard, speaking on behalf of the Desert Trumpet, argued that the City ought to grant fee waivers for use of City meeting space for nonpartisan City Council candidate forums where a nonprofit organization invites all candidates and provides impartial moderation. She pointed out that under federal law, 501c3 nonprofits must act in a nonpartisan fashion in any case, otherwise they'd risk their tax-exempt status. "City facilities are pretty much the only venues in town. So charging a nonprofit $500 to $600 for the Community Center makes it tough to hold a free community [Council candidate] forum," Bernard said, adding "Let's give residents an opportunity to hear from the candidates."
Susan Peplow then spoke, urging the Council to think twice before increasing the number of fee waiver days for use of City facilities from its current one day per year to three days yearly: "I think it's too much. I think that your obligation is a fiscal responsibility for the City. There are a lot of costs associated with these facilities."
Council discussion after these objections was brief. Councilmember Daniel Mintz asked City Attorney A. Patrick Muñoz to weigh in, and Muñoz advised, "I'd have some concern about the proposal language because somebody that tells you they're nonpartisan holds an event and then they turn out to be partisan. And now all of a sudden the city is left holding the bag and with all the liability."
With this City Attorney opinion as the cherry on top, the Council displayed no appetite for altering Park and Rec staff's suggested language around fee waivers for use of City facilities, voting 5-0 to approve item 11.
14. Proposed Budget Revisions for the General Fund for Fiscal Year 2024-25
The Council voted 5-0 to approve the general fund budget for the upcoming fiscal year following a presentation by Finance Director Abigail Hernandez-Conde.
Hernandez-Conde noted that on the positive side, projected City income, expenditures, and reserves for the coming fiscal year are fine, saying "our reserves are good, you know, 82%, it's a good ratio."
At the same time, however, she warned the Council of upcoming budgetary challenges they should bear in mind. The elephant in the budget room, per her staff report, is "continued rising inflation and increases in operating costs, which does not align with the City's operating revenue flows." In other words, the multi-year trend she projects of City income versus expenses warrants concern.
Hernandez-Conde noted two additional budget risks in her presentation. The first is the new Advanced Clear Fleets regulation imposed on cities by the California Air Resources Board, which will force the City to purchase only zero emissions trucks starting in 2027. The second is that the Community Center at Freedom Plaza is a big money sink — it is projected to cost the City $214,000 next fiscal year while fetching fees of less than $2,000.
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
15. Community Events Grants
After heated discussion, the Council voted 5-0 to approve a $1,500 grant to Black Cactus Co-Working for a Dine 29 Food Festival and Restaurant Week event in September. An additional tranche of City grant money may follow pending review by the subcommittee.
Community Events Coordinator Scott Clinkscales presented this item, explaining that of the $9,500 allocated for event grants, an ad hoc events subcommittee consisting of Councilmembers Mintz and Scott had met and recommended funding this event with a grant of $1,500. Clinkscales noted this would leave $8,000 to fund other events.
Terence Latimer, owner of Black Cactus Co-Working, described the event as "designed to foster a sense of community and camaraderie within the restaurant and hospitality sectors, which are vital to Twentynine Palms," noting "how much restaurants in 29 are struggling." He added a plea for additional funds, saying "While the $1,500 originally approved by the city is greatly appreciated, we would greatly value your help in getting closer to our initial fundraising goal of $15,000." Latimer pointed out he now had 14 signatures in hand from restaurants committed to participate in the event, whereas last time he approached the Council he just had a few such confirmations.
Scott and Mintz skirmished in discussion. Scott favored immediately increasing the grant, arguing the Council should "go ahead and give that $9,500 to the Black Cactus event so that we can start working on [grants for] next year." Mintz countered that the event's increased scope from more restaurants participating came as a surprise, and he wasn't comfortable doing a larger grant without further discussion in a smaller forum with the recipient. "I just received the rest of this information tonight.…I just don't think this is the appropriate place to just go from $1,500 to $9,500."
Mayor Steve Bilderain resolved the impasse by proposing Council approve the $1,500 grant tonight, giving time for Scott and Mintz to meet again with Latimer and potentially return to the Council for additional grant funding. All were in favor.
Note that Community Events Grant applications for the fiscal year July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 are due June 30. The City has allocated $50,000 for these grants — the guidelines and application are here.
16. Subcommittee Recommendations for Contributions to Nonprofit Agencies.
For this CDBG item, the council voted 5-0 to grant 29 Palms Community Food Pantry & Outreach Ministries, Inc. and Reach Out Morongo Basin (founded by the 29 Palms Ministerial Association) their full funding requests of $30,000 and $20,000, respectively.
These grants were among the four funding applications presented at the CDBG workshop and subcommittee meeting held immediately prior to the February 13 Council meeting. On that subcommittee were Bilderain and Mintz.
Kary Minatrea, Recreation Division Manager, presented staff recommendations on this item including proposals to grant Morongo Basin Unity Home $5,000 out of the $12,000 they requested by reallocating $5,000 from the City's Housing and Homeless Program budget, and without explanation declining any funds toward the Twentynine Palms Branch Library's $10,000 request for their Adult Literacy Program.
In discussion Scott argued the Council should increase funding for Morongo Basin Unity Home beyond $5,000 because their VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) funding was being halved by the state. "I think it's very important that we fund the Unity Home because they're working with women and men who are victims of domestic violence and are without shelter, and they're going to be losing a lot of state money," said Scott.
Agreeing, the council tabled CDBG funding for Morongo Basin Unity Home for the moment, pending research into how further funding could be scavenged from the City's Housing and Homeless Program budget.
17. Consideration of Partnership with Women of Color Global (WOCG) in Connection with Proposed Grant Application
Torn between desire for better emergency preparedness for the City versus apprehension about the City resources such a project might consume, the Council unanimously approved a motion directing staff to work with WOCG to assess the feasibility of partnering with WOCG to pursue a $10 million federal Climate Resiliency grant.1
Carrie Williams and Karen Harper of WOCG presented this item, with Williams saying "We are okay with the city taking the lead on this project and have other organizations partner as well.…All we want is to provide the programming and the outreach of the the project." Harper clarified that part of WOCG's proposal is for the City to allow construction of a new Climate Resiliency Center on a vacant City-owned parcel near Freedom Plaza, not donate the parcel itself to WOCG.
Councilmember Scott chimed in that "the city of Coachella just recently received a $10 million grant for a Community Resilience Center," establishing a local precedent.
Mintz voiced concern about liabilities the City might face if it partnered with a third party like WOCG on this initiative, using the example of the two large, solar-powered Climate Emergency Resiliency Vans featured in the proposal. "There's a lot more to these buses than they realize.…If we're their partners, are we liable for anything and everything that happens at that Resiliency Center?" worried Mintz.
Scott countered that there's ample precedent for the City partnering with many organizations without undue fear of liability.
Mintz and Bilderain then wondered aloud where ongoing funding would come from to continue this initiative once the Climate Resiliency Center was built and the three-year grant period expired.
City Attorney Muñoz warned the Council against an open-ended commitment of City staff to spending what could amount to hundreds of hours analyzing and pursuing this grant proposal. New City Manager Stone James weighed in, agreeing, and suggested that perhaps the City should engage a grant writer on a consulting basis to evaluate this initiative.
Finance Director Abigail Hernandez-Conde then spoke about the challenges of fulfilling all the requirements for federal grant money, further complicated by a potential funding partnership with a third party, WOCG. James agreed, saying "We [City staff] already have an extremely full plate, and one could suggest that we're already understaffed in providing our basic core duties. And so these additional responsibilities come with these federal reporting requirements."
Scott said, "I've actually been in conversation with the EPA today, regarding the feasibility of this project, this lady is very excited for us, she thinks that we have a good chance of getting this grant." Mayor Pro Tem Joel Klink asked Williams what the deadline was for the grant application, and Williams replied that it was due by November of this year.
In the end the Council agreed to direct City staff to examine the feasibility of going after this grant and voted accordingly.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
LeeAnn Clarke thanked Bilderain and James for attending the recent Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, and thanked the City for its Memorial Day ceremony, which included an observance of the recent, tragic death of Gunnery Sergeant Robert McDonald.
Susan Peplow argued the Council should restore their recently eliminated practice of reading written or emailed public comments at Council meetings, suggesting that if length was the concern, they could easily be limited by word count to fit within the same three-minute allotment Council uses for in-person public comments.
April Ramirez, waving a heavily annotated stack of papers, threatened to go to the Office of the Inspector General (which oversees state prisons — presumably she meant the California Attorney General) with allegations of financial malfeasance regarding the City's alleged failure to fulfill its obligations outlined in a grant application the City submitted to the federal government in 2020 to gain a Economic Development Administration grant for wastewater infrastructure.
Finally, Cindy Bernard spoke, seconding Peplow's complaint about Council eliminating public reading of written comments by noting "We live in an economically disadvantaged community with a lot of social isolation spread across 58 square miles. Not everybody can get to Council." Bernard also suggested Council consider adopting the TBID's (Tourism Business Improvement District) practice of including community members on subcommittees reviewing grant applications.
CITY MANAGER UPDATE
City Manager Stone James commented that he's "looking forward to working with the various groups and potentially analyzing our ability to pursue this [federal Climate Resiliency] grant."
The next City Council meeting will be on Tuesday, June 11 at 6:00 p.m.
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The Environmental and Climate Justice Program (ECJ program), created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) under Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 138, is a program of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that provides funding for financial and technical assistance to carry out environmental and climate justice activities to benefit underserved and overburdened communities. For a city to qualify, the city must be designated as an EPA IRA disadvantaged community. Staff has confirmed Twentynine Palms is considered an EPA IRA disadvantaged community