RECAP: Twentynine Palms City Council, March 25, 2025
City Manager announces strategic planning sessions, Council approves zoning study and County cooperation on street vendors, TBID comments continue
With the exception of sharing a few very active meeting schedules, City Councilmembers rested their vocal cords during open session at their Tuesday, March 25, 2025 meeting. The five consent calendar items and three discussion items were all settled with little discussion and much consensus, resulting in four 5-0 votes in under 50 minutes.
Speaking more frequently were critics of the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID, sometimes also referred to as “Visit 29”), which recently announced its intent to change from yearly Council reauthorizations to a vote every five years. Our agenda preview is here and video of the meeting can be viewed on YouTube.
Strategic Planning Sessions Announced
The big news happened at the conclusion of the meeting during the City Manager’s report. Two much-anticipated strategic planning sessions have been scheduled, albeit with just ten days’ public notice:
Friday, April 4, 2025, 5 pm in Council Chambers — an overview of all City Departments, including recent accomplishments and current projects.
Saturday, April 5, 10 am, location TBD — a workshop for visioning and strategic planning. Speaking with Mayor Bilderain after the meeting, he expressed hope for substantive public input in this process.
We’ll be releasing a report on Council progress on the strategic planning objectives from the 2023 session and the final top ten prior to next week’s sessions. These sessions will be held in lieu of the April 8 City Council meeting, which is now cancelled.
Closed Sessions
All five Councilmembers were seated a few minutes late after participating in closed sessions for approximately 45 minutes. We are assuming that neither item — the performance evaluation of the City Manager and discussion of anticipated litigation — resulted in a vote as Mayor Steven Bilderain had nothing to report.
Desert Trumpet continues to question why the Mayor rarely reports on these closed sessions especially when they involve anticipated litigation. As we understand it, there are circumstances where disclosures are permissible: when facts and circumstances are known to potential plaintiffs or when written communication from a potential plaintiff is to be made available for inspection, for instance.1 It seems unlikely that these circumstances are never met given the frequency of closed sessions on agendas that quote Government Code Section §54956.9, the anticipated litigation statute.
Consent Calendar
The Consent Calendar consisted of the March 11 meeting’s minutes, a warrant register covering expenses of $1,790,045.92 from February 5 to March 12, 2025, road improvements, an annual review of City investments and an update of a lease with the Family Service Association of Western Riverside County, which furnishes meals to seniors at the Senior Center.
In public comment, Robin Schlosser, representing Reach Out Morongo Basin, which manages the Senior Center, said in support of the Family Service Association, “They do provide the Senior Nutrition Center, our program at the Senior Center, and it is very vital to the clients that we serve there at the community.”
Eric Menendez, Director of the newly formed Joshua Tree Gateway Communities Alliance (JTGCA), expressed concern that TBID transactions are mixed with other City transactions on the warrant register, making it difficult for the public to track the agency’s spending:
There's no warrant register [in TBID agendas], so you really can't see what they're spending, line by line as an organization. And I did talk to the [City] Finance Director, Abigail [Hernandez Conde], who confirmed that the transactions are mixed in with the general warrant register that appears on the City agenda. So it's very hard for us to see what's going on now, as far as Visit 29 goes.
The Consent Calendar was approved 5-0.
North Adobe Commercial Area
Community Development Director Keith Gardner introduced the first of three discussion items coming from Planning and Code Enforcement:
There is a large area in the north part of the City that's up against the [Marine] Base that is zoned for general commercial uses. We've been approached by more than one potential applicant developer up there who would like to do things more of light industrial nature, like self storage or car storage and things like that, that aren't specifically allowed in General Commercial [zoning].
This area is adjacent to and immediately south of Adobe Flats military housing on the Marine Base and a short distance from Condor Elementary School, also on the Base.
Gardner referred to the need to coordinate with the Base due to this proximity. Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Mintz and Mayor Bilderain echoed Gardner on the necessity of consulting with Marine Base representatives who may have security concerns regarding potential adjacent zoning and businesses.
Gardener also mentioned that there is more than one way to allow for light industrial in that area — a development code amendment in lieu of changing zoning for instance. However, he also pointed out that a zoning change makes it easier for developers to look at the land map and understand where a business might fit, and while there would still be a process, they would be saved the expense of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).
In public comment, Carlos Blandon, also a frequent speaker at the meeting, expressed concern that this was a “pander move” for special friends and developers while average citizens have to pay for development code amendments. Surprisingly, none of the “potential applicant developers” spoke at the meeting.
Studying the potential change in zoning from General Commercial (CG) to Service Commercial (CS) was approved 5-0.
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Agreements
On this item Gardner recommended the City Manager be responsible for signing reimbursement agreements between “the City, the City's CEQA Consultant, and the project proponent.” EIRs are comprehensive studies of the effects developments have on the region being altered and may include evaluations for traffic, air, water, biological, archeological and other impacts.
Referring to developers, Mayor Pro Tem Mintz clarified that “we’re not trying to do them any favors” and that this was only meant to streamline the development process. Gardner confirmed that allowing the City Manager to sign reimbursement agreements would save time as they’d no longer need to wait for a City Council agenda item for signature approvals.
After public comment from Carlos Blandon, who appeared to be asking for “a work based structure” for determining pricing in development process for more accurate deposits from developers, the item was approved 5-0.
Approval of the San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services Street Vending Collaboration Program
In his final item of the evening, Community Development Director Gardner recommended the City take advantage of the free County Street Vending Collaboration Program. The program is a database of existing licensed and unlicensed vendors that would allow verification of required certifications and more stringent action should those be missing. Councilmembers Octavious Scott and April Ramirez both endorsed the program with Ramirez commenting:
So if what we're truly caring about is the health and well being of the public, then it seems kind of counterproductive to have these criminal laws to say, “Hey, you're out here selling hot dogs or out here selling fruit” and punish someone who's trying to make a living — honest, hard working people. So I am 100% in favor of this.
The idea was also endorsed by Eric Menendez in public comment.
Mayor Bilderain expressed the need for signage so the public can see if a vendor is certified, and Gardner assured him that if the City chooses to participate, it will know which are certified.
The Council voted 5-0 in favor of participation.
Future Agenda Items Clarified
As we noted in our agenda preview, Item 1, “Revisit allocated funds for the portable showers and Navigation Center,” had been removed from the list. Per City Manager Stone James, “We have begun to dedicate some of the funds to the CLEP Center. But in thinking that through, that's something we're going to put back on just as a reminder.” We are assuming James is referring to the $10,000 given to the Hope Center’s Feed the Need program at the February 11 City Council meeting. The Hope Center is a project of the Community Learning and Equipping Project (CLEP).
City Manager Report
In addition to announcing the two strategic planning sessions, City Manager James discussed an effort to bring programming from Boy’s and Girls Club of the Hi-Desert, located in Yucca Valley, to Twentynine Palms; the City Attorney working on an agreement to be used with nonprofits; and potentially purchasing lots for self-help housing being on the agenda for the April 22 City Council meeting.
General Public Comment
First up in public comment was Ben Guzman, an outreach specialist at Reach Out Yucca Valley, who wanted to raise awareness about services for opioid use disorder including the availability of strips used to test for fentanyl. Reach Out Yucca Valley is located next to Chase Bank in Yucca Valley. Mr. Guzman encouraged anyone interested to call him at (760) 365-7130 or email him at benjamin@we-reachout.org.
Stakeholders insist on TBID transparency
The drumbeat for greater transparency from the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) continued with public comment from Eric Menendez, Susan Peplow, Carlos Blandon and Mary Kay Sherry (who read the remainder of Peplow’s statement after she exceeded her allotted three minutes). They expressed frustration with a lack of TBID transparency, lackluster engagement with stakeholders and with Council failing to hold the tourism marketing body to account during reauthorization. Said Peplow:
Accommodation providers, both existing and new, are not being engaged. This includes the new hotel Wren. Has the TBID welcomed this new business or informed them about resources or partnership opportunities or how to be listed on Visit29.org? 29’s “stay” page shows hotel Wren is still missing, despite being licensed back in November. In 2023 significant effort and expenses were put into redesigning the Visit29 [website] to allow stakeholders and other businesses…to advertise and post events. Yet, only five vacation homes have been added since 2023, with three listings available. Why is participation so low?
Menendez distributed a hand-out consisting of the TBID staff report for the February 27 vote to authorize a $24,960 payment to Civitas to manage an upgrade to the 1994 TBID law that would increase the TBID reauthorization cycle to every five years. The staff report provided a brief TBID history but did not mention the failed 2023 attempt to upgrade to the same law, accompanied by a similar payment made to Civitas. In notes appended to the report, Menendez points out, correctly, that three of the five current TBID Boardmembers (Ashton Ramsey, Ben Uyeda and Liz Shickler) were not in office during the 2023 “attempt to do the very same thing.”
Menendez expressed empathy for Marketing Director and sole full-time staff member Breanne Dusastre:
What it concerns me is…Breanne is the subject, and she's also taking the notes. So she's the minute taker. She's the staff member, you know…I mean, we've asked for help for her for years, and she continues to say, “No, I got it. I have a part time helper.” It's not working….And then when we bring this to the Board's concern, they turn around and start talking about being personally attacked. And it's not a personal attack. You know, we're stakeholders. We have a right of this.
Stone James increased the tension of what had been a mostly relaxed meeting when at the end of his City Manager’s report, in discussing the goals of the upcoming strategic planning sessions, he appeared to chastise those speaking about the TBID:
What we do is, once we go on Saturday [the April 5 meeting], identify who it is we are now, who we want to become in 15 or 20 years, and then start to work backwards on what are those goals looking like? One, three and five years. There may be a temptation for some individuals to come and want to discuss the merits of TBID — this is not the place for that. And so certainly there will be an opportunity for a three-minute public comment, but this is about the strategic direction of the city, and not really a place to maybe grind axes on certain issues that are more tactical in nature. And so just that's important, because that's not what this meeting is going to be about.
Menendez, speaking for others in the public chairs, replied, “We think that was totally unnecessary.” The Mayor proceeded to adjourn the meeting saying “I know you’ll be there. We’ll talk.”
Is there a basis for their complaints? As we have reported previously, Council promised changes to TBID in 2023, yet other than a turnover in Board members, there is little evidence of the structural change that many demanded. That said, the new TBID members have brought energy to Visit29 promotion of Twentynine Palms, as evidenced by the recent billboard installed in the Echo Park / Silverlake area of Los Angeles, a first for the TBID.
The next City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 22 at 6 pm in City Hall.
Leave your thoughts in the comments below. Please note that we do not allow anonymous comments. Please be sure your first and last name is on your profile prior to commenting. Anonymous comments will be deleted.
Feel free to share this article!
We have reached our goal of $5,000 in paid subscriptions! We are very grateful for support from our community. We know that many communities in the Morongo Basin are economically disadvantaged, so our coverage will always be free. However, if you have the means to support our work, we always appreciate upgrades to a paid subscription. Your upgrade helps keep subscriptions free for those who cannot afford to donate.
Note: your subscription/donation will be listed as AHA Projects, the name of our fiscal receiver, on your statement.
Thank you, Cindy, and the entire staff of The Desert Trumpet for your continuing in-depth coverage of the TBID Board Meetings. Without this, there would truly be no legitimate public record of what actually transpires and is discussed throughout the course of these meetings. The City has absolutely no excuse from a budget, technology limitation or other type of which should preclude upgrading their technology/process in which to make these meetings transparent to the public via audio-visual recording or webcast/Zoom.