RECAP: Twentynine Palms City Council, March 11, 2025
Improved Luckie Park ADA parking, fire safety and TBID warnings
On Tuesday, March 11, the Twentynine Palms City Council held an hour-and-a-quarter meeting where they approved a design contract to enhance ADA parking at Luckie Park, received a fire safety update and got an earful from multiple residents concerned about the TBID’s (Tourism Business Improvement District) desire to switch to the 1994 law from the 1989 law governing TBID formation.
The Council then vanished into closed session to do a first performance evaluation of City Manager Stone James.
Our agenda preview for this meeting can be found here and the meeting video is here:
AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS, AND PROCLAMATIONS
For the groups' volunteer work on the Cash for Trash program, Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Mintz awarded $300 from Burrtec Waste Industries to the Twentynine Palms High School Women's Basketball and Softball Teams.
Amy Tessier, Recreation Programs Supervisor, then presented regarding a $20,000 Gender Equity in Sports Community of Practice grant the department recently received from the National Recreation and Park Association in association with Nike. She advised the department will use the grant to partner with Girls on the Run Inland Empire, which is running two ten-week programs this spring, one for third through fifth grade girls and another for sixth through eighth grade girls, each culminating in a "celebratory 5K event." In addition, there will be two-week summer camps for third to fifth grade girls.
Most of the fees for all these activities will be paid out of the grant proceeds.
Responding to questions from Council, Tessier advised that although so far most of the enrollees are from Twentynine Palms, these programs are open to girls living throughout the Morongo Basin. She added that although some of the sessions have already started, sign-ups are still being accepted on the Girls on the Run Inland Empire website.
Mayor Steven Bilderain proclaimed March as Irish American Heritage History Month and Mintz presented Cora Manno Palomino, co-owner of The Virginian Cocktails, with the proclamation. Palomino said of her mother, "She was 100% Irish, and it's crazy because my dad was 100% Italian... my mom never forgot her heritage. She was truly a warrior with tremendous strength as a woman and a human being. It would be an honor for me to accept this award for her and her memory."
Following this, Bilderain proclaimed March as Women's History Month. Kelly Corney, accepting the proclamation from Mintz on behalf of Desert Ace Hardware owner Janet Kodish, said," Thank you to the community, because we can't do it without you guys."
San Bernardino County Fire Department Chief Bill Villarino then presented. He advised that the fire station in Yucca Valley responded to 752 calls in the fourth quarter of 2024, 515 of which were medical calls. "I cover the entire Morongo Basin, all the way to Needles," he said, adding that the County Fire Department anticipates breaking ground this year on a new fire station in Yucca Valley.
Regarding the now-empty Lear Avenue fire station in Desert Heights close to Twentynine Palms, Villarino said its reopening awaits the funding to staff it. "We did a Station 43 remodel off of Lear but we don't have the the money for staffing yet. We were able to remodel the entire station and it's ready. When we do have the financial ability to put staffing in there, it's one of the priorities for me to close the gap between our [Yucca Valley] station and Joshua Tree and here [in Twentynine Palms]."
Villarino warned homeowners that "defensible space is one of the biggest things we can do to protect our homes" from fire, cautioning them that even in the desert, it's critical to clear combustibles away from structures.
CONSENT CALENDAR
8. Award a Contract Agreement for Design Services to HR Green Pacific INC, for Fiscal Year 2024/2025 CDBG Luckie Park ADA Improvement Project
The Council unanimously approved the consent calendar, a single item supporting a project to replace two non-compliant, asphalt ADA parking spaces at the Parks and Recreation office at Luckie Park with fully compliant, ADA-accessible parking spaces and concrete, awarding this work to HR Green Pacific, Inc. for engineering and design totaling $28,984.
Departing from usual practice, this meeting featured no public hearing nor discussion and potential action items, and the Council proposed no new future Council initiated items, so the meeting moved directly to public comment.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Developer Scott Currey recounted his recent volunteer efforts at the Flying Doctors event in Yucca Valley, which he said was a big success, with "100 total volunteers, 30 dentists, 15 ophthalmologists, in a two-day session we took care of over 300 patients." He suggested that Freedom Plaza in 29 would be a perfect venue for the next Flying Doctors event.
Eric Menendez said it was the third anniversary of Freedom Plaza's grand opening, congratulating the Council on the City's progress. Menendez then warned the Council against supporting the TBID's bid to switch to the 1994 TBID law, which would grant the TBID more independence and enable Council to reauthorize the TBID on five- to ten-year cycles. Finally, he condemned the TBID's recent move to engage a third-party consultant at a cost of nearly $25,000 to make the case for this change.
Susan Peplow then weighed in on the same issue. "I ask for your help," she implored the Council, adding "the TBID is not listening to stakeholders. We are completely ignored." She further complained, "Stakeholders have received no information or communication from the TBID regarding events that have been awarded or sponsorship or the funding, no Constant Contact, no email, no newsletter, no phone calls, nothing. It's difficult to create a partnership with your stakeholders when there's no communication being held with them." She concluded by exhorting, "We need City Council to hold the TBID board accountable."
A woman who identified herself only as "Maggie" then spoke, imploring the City to fix the extremely rough road in front of her house.
Restaurateur and short-term rental (STR) owner Eileen Leslie then expanded on others' complaints about the TBID, saying "We are not provided any analytics, proof of success, or even progress made, over the last two years, that any [of the TBID's] marketing attempts increased tourism." Leslie cited the decline in City STR permits, saying "we're down to 366 short-term rentals." Like Menendez and Peplow, Leslie advised the Council against approving the TBID's switch to the 1994 TBID law.
Finally, hotelier Veno Nathraj weighed in, also regarding the TBID, saying "I come here today not to make personal attacks." But just prior to commenting, Nathraj had distributed to Council and to assembled press a printout of poor hotel reviews of what Nathraj called the "derelict building" owned by TBID Chair Rakesh Mehta. Pulling no punches on his opinion of Mehta and the TBID, Nathraj said, "We need a recall of our TBID chairman, Mr. Rakesh Mehta, and an overhaul of the TBID board. The TBID today is a joke, with small businesses closing and hotels suffering."
CITY MANAGER UPDATE
City Manager Stone James advised that he was continuing meetings on disaster preparation and communication with the Ministerial Association and other community groups.
ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
Prior to the Council going into closed session to perform a performance evaluation of City Manager Stone James, Bilderain asked whether there were any comments from the public on this item.
Eric Menendez took this opportunity to thank James for his service, saying "Stone does a great job," adding that "I feel like the City Manager's department is understaffed. I think he needs a deputy."
Council appointed James at their March 26, 2024 meeting, so this was James' first performance evaluation by the City Council.
The next City Council meeting will be on March 25, 2025.
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