RECAP: Twentynine Palms City Council, December 10, 2024
Council picks Bilderain to continue as Mayor; Klink sent off with fanfare after 20 years of service
On Tuesday December 10 the Twentynine Palms City Council held an hour-and-a-quarter meeting as they presided over multiple awards to commemorate outgoing Councilmember Joel Klink's 20 years of service to the City, with this meeting marking Klink’s last as Councilmember for District 2.
They then swore in returning Councilmember Steve Bilderain for District 1 and new Councilmember April Ramirez for District 2, and chose Bilderain to serve as Mayor and Councilmember Daniel Mintz to serve as Mayor Pro Tem during the coming year.
Our agenda recap for this meeting can be found here and link to the meeting video is here.
AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS, AND PROCLAMATIONS
3. Presentation of Mayor's Employee of the Year and Mayor's Recognition Award
Mayor Bilderain presented the Mayor's Employee of the Year award to Public Works Superintendent Craig Stacey and the Mayor's Recognition Award to resident Christina Dozer.
4. Presentation of the State of the City Address by Mayor Bilderain
Bilderain then delivered the State of the City Address, noting milestones such as the City's hiring new City Manager Stone James, launch of the new Youth Council, and oddly, the previous year's decline in STR (short term rental) permits. "As we move forward, let's remain committed to honoring our past, while forging our bright future," he said.
2024 State of the City Video; captured during meeting by Jonathan Hume.
Bilderain proceeded to play an eight-minute "2024 State of the City" video spotlighting safety and traffic improvements, increased tourism revenue and business openings, local events, fundraising successes for the the Palms-N-Paws Animal Shelter, and the community pulling together to recover from the July 14 storm.
5. Presentation to Mayor Pro Tem Klink
It was time to fete Klink on his retirement. On behalf of Congressman Jay Obernolte, Field Representative Corrine Mora presented Klink with a commemorative plaque of congressional remarks, declaring "Joel is a devoted public servant to California's 23rd District, serving on the Twentynine Palms City Council for 20 years, and as the City's Mayor for four terms. He also served on the League of California Cities Desert and Mountain Division, Morongo Basin Transit Authority, MBTA San Bernardino County Flood Control Advisory Committee, San Bernardino County Solid Waste Task Force and Mojave Desert and Mountain Recycling Authority."
Functioning in his day job role as Field Representative for District 12 State Senator Shannon Grove, Councilmember Octavious Scott then presented Klink an award for "civic leadership and dedication to enhancing the lives of the people of Twentynine Palms," on behalf of both Grove and District 19 State Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh.
Next Field Representative Steve Reyes, representing County Supervisor Dawn Rowe, presented Klink with a certificate of recognition, saying "Thank you for all your public service, not only on behalf of Supervisor Rowe, but on my behalf. I live in the Hi Desert too, and it takes a special person to give that amount of time for their community."
Bilderain then gave Klink a plaque from the City, saying he was "known as the singing Councilmember and Mayor," for "20 years of dedicated service to the community of Twentynine Palms, your leadership, commitment and tireless efforts have made a lasting impact in our community.
Klink spoke, saying "I had no idea this journey would last 20 years." Klink recounted the City's achievements during his tenure, noting,
we've paved dozens of roads, built a $6 million swimming pool, built the $19 million Community Center, and are in the process of reinvigorating our downtown and, oh, by the way, we finally got our own Starbucks!
He advised incoming Councilmember Ramirez, about to fill the seat he held for so long, to "vote from the heart and please remember you're not going to please everyone." He thanked his family, friends and the Council for their support over the years, then closed by leading the chamber in singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Finally, the Council presented Klink with a commemorative flag and a Twentynine Palms street sign reading "Klink Way - 2004-2024."
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Council unanimously approved the consent calendar, which included approval of this month's City’s Warrant Register for $993,531.53; certifying the November 5 election results; CDBG funding prioritization for fiscal year 2025/2026; and deploying a FLOCK License Plate Recognition (LPR) camera system to monitor nine major City intersections along Twentynine Palms Highway and Adobe Road using 31 cameras.
SWEARING IN OF NEWLY ELECTED COUNCILMEMBERS
City Clerk Cindy Villescas administered the oath of office to returning Councilmember Bilderain for District 1 and new Councilmember April Ramirez for District 2.
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
11. Selection of Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem
The Council voted for Bilderain to continue as Mayor and for Councilmember Mintz to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.
City Attorney Patrick Muñoz introduced this item, arguing that the succession procedure the Council adopted last year, of rotating by Council district number,
won't really work this year, because the idea was that the Mayor would be selected, the Mayor Pro Tem would be selected, and then the Mayor Pro Tem would succeed the mayor... [But now] with former Mayor Pro Tem Klink leaving, there's not a easy succession plan, so strictly following the policy that you voted on won't really work, and as I indicated, you really are free to do whatever you would like on this.
Muñoz was confirming that as we noted in our agenda preview, if the 2023 scheme were followed, new, incoming Councilmember Ramirez, representing District 2, would be elevated to Mayor pell-mell, with no experience serving on Council or as Mayor Pro Tem.
He went on to suggest the process outlined in the staff report: that Council nominate one of their number for Mayor, and if more than one person is nominated, to discuss the matter amongst themselves, then vote; with the same procedure for Mayor Pro Tem, except that the new Mayor will call for nominations instead of the City Clerk.
In public comment on this item, Tom Ingram argued that waiting until after the election to change the Mayoral selection process seemed unfair. Referring to new Councilmember April Ramirez, who might otherwise be seated as Mayor, he said,
I'm not for her or against her, but I am against goal posts being moved after the election," and posed the question, "Can we trust the City Council not to change the goal posts after goals have been scored in the future?
Bilderain offered Muñoz an opportunity to respond to this concern. Muñoz countered that "The council has had a tradition here of kind of following its own process for that appointment, but it has not always been followed. There's been a number of occasions over the years where that has not been the case. In most cities, a tradition like that doesn't exist and is not followed. So it's not really a matter of changing the goal post or changing the rules."
Notably, the Council simply accepted staff’s suggestion about changing the Mayoral rotation method and they never voted to change it from the process they adopted in 2023.
Kicking off Council discussion, Councilmember McArthur Wright nominated Bilderain to continue as Mayor. Wright argued that sticking strictly to the 2023 system of rotation by district number and elevating Ramirez to Mayor with no prior experience would be doing her no favor, recalling "When I came on the Council, my first year on the Council, we had a similar situation, and [the] Councilmember felt that they were not ready to take that position. And so in this situation right here, even though it's supposed to be District Two, according to the way we said, or whatever, I think that we would be doing Mz. Ramirez an injustice and not setting her up for success."
Councilmember Scott countered with an alternate approach, to continue rotation by district number but skip District 2, represented by Ramirez, and instead choose District 3, represented by Councilmember Daniel Mintz. Scott opined, "I think the way to continue the process without doing an injustice to Councilwoman Ramirez, would be to go to the next district. And so I would be more inclined to recommend Councilmember Mintz [for Mayor]."
No one on Council asked Ramirez for her thoughts on the matter.
Wright then nominated Bilderain and Scott nominated Mintz, and Wright moved that the Council vote. In the end the vote was 5-0 for Bilderain to continue as Mayor.
Council quickly moved on to filling the office of Mayor Pro Tem. Wright moved to nominate Mintz as Mayor Pro Tem, explaining "I think that keeping in line, because Danny [Mintz] would be the Mayor Pro Tem so, he should be the Mayor Pro Tem, and then we'll be back on track." Ramirez seconded it and the vote was 5-0.1
There were no new future Council initiated items.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
LeeAnn Clarke, Secretary for 29 Palms Ministerial Association and Chair of Action 29 Palms, thanked Bilderain and others for attending the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on November 19 at First Assembly of God church as well as the Community Thanksgiving Service November 24 at Freedom Plaza. She also thanked Bilderain and Klink for attending the unveiling of the mural by local artist David Green at Ace Desert Hardware on November 23.
Tom Ingram asked why there weren't more big entertainment events in Twentynine Palms, recommended the City better publicize local events and suggested the City start an event email list. "I think if you get people like me involved in the entertainment, and I'm not looking for money for it, but just advice to help people who are doing entertainment here, I think the City could do a lot better," he said, pointing to Pappy and Harriet's as a model for the City.
Finally, Steve Fridley commented on the City's recent engagement of Molding Hearts to help address homeless issues, expressing some skepticism and impatience. "So I'm just wondering, I'll take $24,500, I'm sure everybody here will do the same thing. I just want to know what kind of oversight or what kind of report back we can get on that," he said, meaning Molding Hearts' progress on the issue.
Usually, to comply with the Brown Act, public officials can’t reply to comments, but this time Bilderain said to City Manager Stone James, “We can't say nothing because of public comments, but you can.”
James then responded to Fridley’s concern by saying that the City had just finished inking the contract with Molding Hearts earlier that day. James reported that Lakita Johnson, CEO of Molding Hearts, had already been active in anticipation of the contract being finalized — said James,
I met a woman who was living in her car within a certain facility within our city, and I reached out to Miss Johnson, and I think Miss Johnson contacted her within 24 hours, and Miss Johnson is in the process of making arrangements to hopefully house this individual.
CITY MANAGER UPDATE
James thanked outgoing Mayor Pro Tem Joel Klink for his service, thanked all the candidates who ran in the recent election, and thanked the Councilmembers who'd attended the City's recent Employee Appreciation event. He addressed Tom Ingram's comment by saying that he'd have Community Development Director Keith Gardner reach out to Ingram for followup.
The next City Council meeting will be on January 14, 2025, as the December 24 meeting was cancelled due to the holidays.
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The original version of this article mistakenly identified Scott as seconding this motion, whereas Ramirez was the one who seconded it. We regret the error! - Corrected by author 12/14/24 7:30 p.m. PST.