RECAP: Twentynine Palms City Council, January 14, 2025
A punt back to Planning; three fresh faces for TBID and PAAC; revamped subcommittee and regional organization assignments
On Tuesday, January 14, the Twentynine Palms City Council held an hour-and-a-half meeting where they sent a development code amendment back to Planning, made three new appointments, and rejiggered their own subcommittee memberships and regional organization assignments to accommodate new Councilmember April Ramirez.
They then vanished into closed session to confer with City Attorney Patrick Muñoz on possible litigation, in contrast with the usual Council practice of doing a closed session prior to the public meeting.
Our agenda preview for this meeting can be found here and link to the meeting video is here.
AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS, AND PROCLAMATIONS
1. State of the Base Address by Brigadier General Mark H. Clingan
Brigadier General Clingan outlined the unique role that the MCAGCC (Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center) plays, arguing that "Twentynine Palms is the crossroads of the Marine Corps, because almost every unit in the Marine Corps, all the ground combat element units, come here at least once every two years" for training. "You can't do this training in many other places. Sometimes, 29 Palms is the only place that you can do this training because of the size and space that we have for maneuvers and also for the live fire," he added.
Clingan emphasized the key role the base plays in the local economy, stating:
"we've contributed about $1.1 billion annually to the regional economy, just by the civilians, employees and all the service members we have on the base, by our calculation, we're the basin's most significant employer, estimated at 41% of the total employment in the area."
He touched on some of the many community events the base participates in or hosts, including parades, celebrations and car shows, as well as annual events for local youth like the Back to School Resource Fair and a job shadowing event.
He concluded by listing various ongoing challenges and opportunities, including scarce child care, spouse employment, transportation, and health care access. Finally, he complimented the City on its growth and the variety of activities and restaurants it now offers, versus during his first stint 15 years prior, saying, "this is a different 29 Palms than when I was here before."

2. Presentation by Public Arts Advisory Committee (PAAC) of the Arts and Culture Award
Committee member Xárene Eskandar presented the PAAC’s first Arts and Culture Award to LeeAnn Clarke for Clarke's years of service preserving the local murals with Action Council 29 Palms as well as years of service on the PAAC. Accepting the award, Clarke thanked the many who helped through the years and recalled highlights from her preservation work, including "the repaint of mural number five, which was a massive undertaking with Chuck Caplinger in his early 80s, and being able to actually reproduce five separate murals on that one wall!"
CONSENT CALENDAR
City Manager Stone James requested that item 9 on the consent calendar — award of design services for the Hatch Road and Sullivan Road Bike Path Project — be removed to enable a few further tweaks to its contract provisions.
The Council unanimously approved the remaining consent calendar, including approval of item 9 subject to the City Attorney's minor contract revisions. The consent calendar included this month's warrant register for $1,331,140.63; a $687,400 expenditure of SB1 funds for material to resurface four miles of roadway; award of an agreement for design services for the SR 62 Phase 2B Project; and approval of a construction management services contract for the Split Rock Avenue Bridge Project.
PUBLIC HEARING
11. Development Code Amendment—Mobile home Parks and Special Occupancy Parks
With few comments, aside from suggesting that all interested parties attend the Planning Commission meeting when this item is considered, the Council voted unanimously to send this quandary back to the Planning Commission.
Prior to the vote three commenters weighed in. Robert Evans—who said his parents, Vickie and Bill Talley, had owned 29 Palms RV Resort—argued for "making the code supportive of future development in 29." He noted that he works for the Manufactured Housing Educational Trust, "a nonprofit trade association representing the manufactured housing industry," and he thanked Councilmember April Ramirez "for reaching out to me to discuss affordable housing options via manufactured housing."
Eric Menendez cautioned against allowing overly dense campgrounds or RV parks, warning that "you need to keep the density low, because they will skirt every rule," and suggested that TBID board members attend the Planning Commission meeting where this development code amendment is considered. "I think it's important that we be a leader and make sure we figure out a way to make campgrounds work," he added.

Kat Talley-Jones read a letter from organization Save Our Deserts, expressing concern that campgrounds or RV parks might bring "noise, traffic disruption, trash and fires to communities that choose RL zones for their peaceful desert lifestyle" and arguing to "expand commercial tourist zoning through a general plan revision" instead of permitting any camping or RV park use on the RL-zoned land that currently constitutes most of the City.
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
12. Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) Advisory Board Appointment
The Council unanimously voted to appoint Liz Shickler, who works as operations manager at the 29 Palms Inn and Campbell House, to serve on the TBID board.
Mayor Steve Bilderain recounted the subcommittee's rationale for recommending Shickler for this appointment, explaining that Shickler had worked at the 29 Palms Inn and Campbell House since 2011 and is "very interested in the marketing of the TBID."
Councilmember Octavious Scott quizzed Bilderain about the recommendation process, asking, "Mr. Mayor, was this a two-person subcommittee at the time?" Bilderain replied, "It was." In other words, the subcommittee making this recommendation consisted of Bilderain along with now ex-Councilmember Klink — not just Bilderain himself, as our preview article had speculated.
In response to a comment from Eric Menendez, Bilderain advised that the TBID had received three applications for this appointment, and Menendez replied that Shickler sounded fine. Menendez mentioned several tourism promotion initiatives he was working on and complimented the TBID's progress, saying "I think we are a leader in what we've done with the Tourism Board." Finally, Menendez expressed hope that as the TBID matures, the Council will support migration from its current yearly renewal scheme, to a more stable five-year renewal cadence.
Just prior to the vote, pointing out the fact that the current TBID board lopsidedly slants toward the hotel industry, Scott suggested the next available TBID board appointment go to an vacation home rental owner or operator. "I just want to be mindful that in the future, we would want to make sure that we look at someone who's a VHR owner, because I think this recommendation is going to make it so that the entire board are hoteliers," Scott said.
13. Public Arts Advisory Appointments
The Council voted 5-0 to appoint Jenelle Angeles and Rita Lilly as fresh PAAC board members and to re-appoint Paul Razo for another term on the PAAC.
Community Development Director Keith Gardner introduced this item, then after Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Mintz said he'd like to hear from the two candidates, current PAAC member Paul Razo introduced them.
Rita Lilly said she'd been living in the City for four years and has been involved in the arts for almost 60 years, adding that "I want to use my time on the PAAC to really reach out to our young people, to our seniors, to our underserved communities. And also I really enjoy systems and putting processes together. Another thing I look forward to is helping to pave that path that artistic voices in the future will be able to walk."

Jenelle Angeles said she'd lived in 29 for seven years. She recounted an inspiring story of thriving in Twentynine Palms, saying she started out in 2018 "below the poverty line," explaining that "I really used the STR business and I started a cleaning business, and I got a house on an owner-will-carry loan," adding that Twentynine Palms had "allowed me to flourish in a way that no one in my generational line had before." Angeles argued that "even though our community is economically challenged, we can really use that as a stepping stone…to have our voices heard in this community." She concluded by thanking Anna Stump and Kate Short for their work on the PAAC.

14. City Council Regional Organizational Assignments
In fits and starts the Council got through redistributing which Councilmembers represent the City on boards of various public agencies and adjusted which Councilmembers serve on the Council's subcommittees, to accommodate the arrival of new Councilmember April Ramirez and departure of former Councilmember Joel Klink.
Scott suggested that he now represent the City on the SBCTA (San Bernardino County Transportation Authority) board. However, Mintz chimed in that he has long been alternate for this spot, attends these meetings with some regularity, and would like to be the primary representative. Scott conceded and accepted a position as alternate.
City Clerk Cindy Villescas chided Councilmembers for their occasionally lackluster attendance at some of these regional organization meetings, particularly the Desert/Mountain Division of the League of California Cities meeting, the primary representative for which is Octavious Scott.
Ramirez noted that she's already an elected board member of the EVRSC (East Valley Regional Steering Committee), a committee of the San Bernardino County Interagency Council on Homelessness. Villescas noted the City will be adding representation for this board but hasn't done so yet.
For the Personnel subcommittee, Mintz pointed out that this subcommittee membership must be updated and traditionally this subcommittee's two members are the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. Bilderain confirmed this, reiterating that it's now he and Mintz.
McArthur Wright noted the Budget and Audit Subcommittee must be updated to accommodate Klink's departure. April Ramirez said she'd like to serve on Budget and Audit, and Bilderain said he supports that so Budget and Audit will be Bilderain and Ramirez.
Regarding the Planning Subcommittee, which nominates candidates for the Planning Commission, Ramirez voiced that she'd like to be on this subcommittee. Bilderain noted it's currently himself and Scott and he'd be satisfied to keep it that way. But after a pause, Bilderain offered to step aside from this subcommittee, noting that he's been on it since he first joined the Council.
Ramirez then suggested that if Bilderain remained on this subcommittee, this would maintain representation of District 1 — "If I may, I know that some of the public has voiced that they feel like District 1 does not have representation within the Planning Commission. But if you were to stay on, then District 1, essentially, does have representation." But left unsaid by Ramirez here was that her suggestion would amount to kicking Scott off the Planning subcommittee.
Bilderain wasn't having it. He went on to inveigh against the idea of district-based representation altogether:
“The Planning Commission does not go off districting," Bilderain insistently replied, followed by a short lecture on the evils of having anything else be district-based. "We didn't want to be in districts as a City—we were forced to! So we're not going to force that thing that we didn't want, on everything else we're doing.”
Bilderain then reiterated that he's stepping down from this subcommittee, so it'll be Scott and Ramirez.
In public comment, Eric Menendez complimented Ramirez for joining the EVRSC board and advised that he'd recently accepted a seat on the Morongo Basin Community Health Center Board of Directors and reminded everyone that two more seats on this board were available for interested residents. He said that his organization, the JTGCA (Joshua Tree Gateway Communities Alliance), just had its first board meeting and welcomed participation from Morongo Basin residents.
To wrap up, Council voted unanimously to affirm all the preceding haggling and horse trading.
There were no new future Council initiated items.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
LeeAnn Clarke, Secretary for 29 Palms Ministerial Association and Chair of Action 29 Palms, reminded everyone about the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day March on January 20. Following the march, "Mayor Bilderain will present the proclamation to the 29 Palms Bible Baptist Church" at 8:30 am, she advised, adding that "we would really love to have a strong turnout for our community in honoring Dr. King for what he did so many years ago for us to be able to really have the freedoms we have today."
Jen DeFalco from Morongo Basin ARCH then spoke, advising all that on January 23, ARCH will perform a point-in-time count of homeless individuals. DeFalco noted that "we have no sleeping bags or anything to offer unhoused individuals, and it has been extremely cold. We've already lost a couple of individuals in the past couple of weeks due to weather and illness." She requested sleeping bags and blankets from the City.
Restaurateur Eileen Leslie congratulated new Councilmember Ramirez, then reflected on the recent fires that have ravaged Los Angeles, asking whether Twentynine Palms had water sufficient to quench any similar disaster here. "I think it's really important, and it's important, not just to me personally, obviously, but to the future of our city," she said.
Eric Menendez, in his fourth meeting comment, argued for greater regional coordination around tourism, as well as that the City ought to record and stream TBID and PAAC meetings just as it does Council and Planning Commission meetings.

Local resident Jeff Grabow then spoke, representing Los Médicos Voladores (LMV), The Flying Doctors. "We provide free medical, dental and vision care to the underserved or not served in such places as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, and California," he said, and advised about a large event coming March 8 and 9, at Yucca Valley High School, where "we will have 20 dentists, oral surgeons, pediatric dentists, general dentists and hygienists." He anticipates that he and his team of will serve 500 attendees, and urged anyone interested to volunteer to help.
Finally, Lakita Johnson, CEO of Molding Hearts, the organization the City has engaged to help mitigate homelessness, advised that so far Molding Hearts has housed 16 people, including three families. Addressing potential funding conflicts, Johnson advised that, "When an individual is coming to Molding Hearts, and they say that they already have Social Security, but they're looking for funding, that measure has already been met. And I think that's where some of the misunderstanding is coming from, is that Social Security is supposed to be for your housing — not your cigarettes, not your drugs, not any other activities." She said she'd be presenting a progress report at the next Council meeting on January 28.
CITY MANAGER UPDATE
Stone James brought the Council up to speed on the City's Split Rock Bridge project, advising that "the bridge is completely designed, and the City has received state funding for construction." The City selected Parsons to do construction management, he said, and Parsons will assist the City with selection of a general contractor. James anticipates construction to kick off late this year with completion in late 2026.
Speaking with emotion, James then recounted some of his experiences last weekend, working 30 hours over two days, serving as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff and EMT for L.A. County during the Los Angeles wildfires. "It was terrible. You got to see so many people lose everything," he said. He outlined his key takeaways for Twentynine Palms, including "separating the fuels from the structures" to minimize fire risk; to create ways to better tally and account for evacuees; strengthening neighbor relationships; and helping people keep their critical documents together to better prepare for fire or disaster.
James then addressed Eileen Leslie's comments about water availability for firefighting, saying "we have about 17 million gallon capacity within our various reservoirs." He advised that he was continuing to examine 29's readiness but so far he felt assured that the City's water supply for firefighting is more than adequate. It’s perhaps worth noting here that on the City’s 2023 Strategic Planning list is “10. Emergency Response Plan,” something the City still lacks.
ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
The next City Council meeting will be on January 28, 2025.
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Lakita Johnson advised that, "When an individual is coming to Molding Hearts, and they say that they already have Social Security, but they're looking for funding, that measure has already been met. And I think that's where some of the misunderstanding is coming from, is that Social Security is supposed to be for your housing — not your cigarettes, not your drugs, not any other activities”. Molding Hearts website advertising states, “We focus on services that are designed to strengthen and increase self-esteem, self-respect, and respect for others. Lakita Johnson’s comment , “not your cigarettes, not your drugs, not any other activities”, certainly does not support the mission of Molding Hearts.
Does anyone else have an issue with her stereotypical attitude of the homeless?