RECAP: Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District, June 18, 2025
TBID votes to pause the conversion process under the 1994 Property and Business Improvement District Law, and the City Manager announces a new shuttle between the Marine base and Tortoise Rock Casino.
In a short, but occasionally tense meeting on Wednesday, June 18, the Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) Board met to discuss one agenda item and hear public comment. Vice Chair Ashton Ramsey was absent.
Since the TBID had just met on May 29, this meeting appeared to be called only to discuss a staff recommendation to pause their conversion from the 1989 law under which it was formed to the 1994 law. This change has proved controversial in the past as it shifts the City Council reauthorization period from 1 year to 5 years.
The meeting had originally been scheduled for Thursday, June 12, and was rescheduled for an unknown reason. Due to the Juneteenth holiday falling on Thursday, it was scheduled to Wednesday, June 18, at 3 pm. The schedule adjustment, and non-standard time, may have accounted for light attendance, and the frustration expressed by participants during the public comments, which points to the importance of notifying stakeholders in advance of meetings.
Marketing Director Breanne Dusastre noted that three future agenda items had inadvertently been dropped from the agenda: the social media request for proposals (RFP), events workshop, and reviewing the events grants program.
Director of Marketing Update
Marketing Director Dusastre began with a brief update on the sponsorship and event program and advertising efforts, including billboards in Los Angeles and on the I-10.
Dusastre announced:
A July 1 deadline for all late summer and fall events funded by the TBID to be added to the events calendar on Visit29.org.
The development of a full, seasonal event guide once listings are finalized.
Scheduling a workshop for local lodging partners on how to leverage events after July 1 to ensure a complete event schedule.
The review and update of the Sponsorship & Event Grant Program guidelines are planned to align with TBID’s FY2025-26 marketing plan, with a target completion date of late July or early August.
Dusastre also mentioned that she will meet with City department heads and Finance in July to review the grants workflow process, since it is relatively new. She noted that grantees AERIALNAUTS and the No Sound three-concert series at Very Very would need to postpone their events due to venue availability and scheduling conflicts.
Dusastre’s update on the advertising efforts supported by the TBID included:
The billboard on 1-10 in the Banning/Beaumont area featuring the “New Desert Hotspot” messaging has gained more than 2 million impressions and will be up through August.
Further talks with Lamar Advertising about other billboard opportunities.
The Z107.7 radio campaign, which has shifted from event-specific marketing to broader destination branding reinforcing the idea that Twentynine Palms is the place to stay. She is also going to explore different voices for the ads.
The Palm Springs Life guide two-page advertorial feature highlighting Twentynine Palms as the rising desert destination, which is on track for delivery for the August 15 deadline.
TBID Board members and meeting participants commented on how visible the billboard on the I-10 was, with Board member Maria Madrid noting, “[It’s] extremely visual. That's the only thing you look at when you're driving.”
Dusastre said that she would be publishing a new e-newsletter, summer blog content, and adding a media page to the website. While visitorship has slowed for the summer, she added, “I do want to note that it's been encouraging to see the steady flow of German visitors coming through … I'm really encouraged by that, especially as you tune into the news and the headlines about concern of international visitation for a lot of different reasons.”
Public Comment
The public comment period was relatively brief. Both Eric Menendez and Susan Peplow emphasized the need for greater stakeholder engagement and advance notice of meetings agenda items and slides.
Peplow also focused on the need for clearer expectations for grantees when publicizing their events. She noted that a July 1 deadline for listing later summer and fall events seemed too close for events starting in August. She shared a print out of an email with board members that she sent in March 2024 that outlined ideas for a clearer timeline for grantees to publicize their events. She also voiced frustration about TBID’s lack of engagement and negligence to share regular updates with lodging stakeholders, noted that welcome letters had yet to go out to new Vacation Home Rental (VHR) owners, and that the meeting’s agenda had only been emailed to stakeholders that morning. She ended her comment encouraging clearer guidelines:
This cannot be considered process or progress … We need to do better. So what I'm hoping, what I'm asking from the board, is that you establish and enforce clear direction and timelines to staff and grantees alike.
Clearer timelines, more advanced notification, and greater engagement from the TBID has been an ongoing request from stakeholders. Transparency and greater engagement of grantees with the TBID has also been an ongoing request. In fact the grant guidelines state, “Events should primarily aim to attract tourists located 50 to 100 miles away, contributing to the city's tourism from beyond the local area.”
While transparency and clear guidelines around publicity are important for grantees, aren’t many receiving grants also running small organizations and juggling multiple responsibilities on top of producing events? Do these Twentynine Palms-based organizations have the kind of reach necessary meet to additional requirements such as directing publicity to out of town visitors?
Caitlin Gill encouraged the TBID to publicize Rediscover 29’s Friday Night Lights program, in which businesses have expanded operating hours, especially at a time when other desert businesses are quieter for the summer. She also encouraged the TBID to update the grant website with 2026 application dates to help organizations plan better, even if it was just “TBD,” and to update a notation on matching funds, which was causing confusion among grantees, from 1:4 to ¼. This had become an issue of professionalism with potential event partners:
The matching requirement in our current listing for event sponsorship is listed as a ratio of 1:4. Well, what the board actually wants is a fraction, 1/4 such an easy fix … it's come up as kind of a laughing point among producers taking a look at the page. If that hadn't happened twice, I would not bring it up in public comment, but in planning for 2026, a producer I presented this page to kind of pointed at it and as a bit of a hesitation point, honestly, that they want to invest resources in this project, but hesitate when they see errors like that that are so easy to address.
In addition, Audrey Philpot gave an update that the grant to support a free concert series at the Freedom Plaza bandshell would be submitted to the Levitt Foundation before June 30. She thanked City Manager Stone James and Dusastre for their letters of support and that she hoped to know whether they would make it to the next round by mid-July.
Recommendation to pause conversion process under the Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994 and vote
Per the staff report:
The Visit 29 Palms Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) is currently established under the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989, one of two enabling laws in California that allow for the formation of business improvement districts. … As an initiative for this year, the TBID Advisory Board approved funding to engage Civitas, a leading consulting firm specializing in TBID formation and management, to assist in exploring a potential conversion to the Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994.
Dusastre gave a presentation outlining the basic differences between operating under the 1989 law and the 1994 law and recommended pausing conversion to refocus on alignment, stakeholder education, and reauthorization. Pausing conversion also pauses the Civitas contract authorized at the Februrary 25 meeting. For a more extensive breakdown and analysis what this conversion would entail, as well as the decision to work with Civitas advisors, see our previous reporting in the TBID agenda preview and meeting recap from February 27, 2025.
In short, key differences between ‘89 versus ‘94 laws include:
Annual versus multi-year authorization terms
One-year versus five-year planning framework
Short term versus long term funding for tourism marketing
Greater independence through the formation of a 501c6 nonprofit membership organization
Dusastre emphasized that the need for a greater alignment of vision with stakeholders was what was driving her recommendation.
Can we sit confidently today and say we have a shared mission, mission or goals, or, you know, a similar long term vision of how we want to shape tourism for this city? So, those are some of the reasons why I'm here to suggest that we use this next year to really thoughtfully do the planning and the work needed to be able to set ourselves up for success.
Public comments on the agenda item supported the pause.
Peplow noted that pausing conversion was an opportunity to better engage lodging stakeholders, recommended forming a TBID subcommittee to explore how the board could strengthen what works without a change in operational law, and re-emphasized the importance of transparency and publicly setting clear operational direction in each meeting.
Proceeding with the conversion efforts without input or education of lodging partners has been problematic and should not be repeated. Any future consideration would begin with, step one, engagement and transparent communication with lodging partners who ultimately hold the vote. In the meantime, cutting losses and halting this process is a smart decision and one that I fully support. Let's redirect those efforts and focus on the immediate priorities … After eight years, the TBID has built strong relationships, and believe many partners would welcome the opportunity to collaborate on shared long term goals in good faith.
Cindy Bernard concurred with Peplow in public comment and noted that the board has new energy thanks to new members, that social media and advertising has improved, and continuing to take time to build on that energy and pause the conversions would be a strategic, well-considered move.
I think that if you do a great data-driven marketing plan this time, that will really help, and it'll put you in a good position with the community and your stakeholders and council to move ahead to the five year conversion in 2026.
Eric Menendez also supported the decision to postpone the conversion and suggested potentially forming an additional board that was made up of broader stakeholders beyond lodging, including restaurants, tour operators, bus operators, and hotel operators.
Once the discussion concluded, and with some prompting, Chair Rakesh Mehta invited the board to make a motion to pause funding for the engagement of Civitas and the conversion process, which passed 4-0-1.
City Manager update—new shuttle bus between the Marine base and Tortoise Rock Casino
City Manager Stone James closed the meeting with a short update. He thanked the board for pausing the conversion process, agreeing that greater alignment will help support the city’s growth.
The city has evolved greatly here in the last [5 - 10 years]. And so I definitely think that the 94 is the entity that as a city we should mature into and I'm actually heartened tonight. I'm grateful for the the board's support in pausing the ‘94 [conversion process] and spending some doing the reauthorization, and then really spending the time kind of diving into the mission, the values, the roles and the goals of the TBID.
He also provided an update on a new shuttle bus, run by the Twenty-nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, which will run between the Marine base and the Tortoise Rock Casino Friday through Sunday. He hopes it will bring more Marines into the downtown area to enjoy the shops and restaurants. It will make two stops in downtown Twentynine Palms at the Historic Plaza and Freedom Plaza, with the loop taking a total of 47 minutes. The busses have already been purchased and the Tribe has conducted trial runs. He remarked,
I think that is going to be just a great opportunity to strengthen the shops and the restaurants within our city. It's going to give our men and women in the military a better experience being here in Twentynine Palms.
James also noted that he would be working with Dusastre to set up workshops for the City Council about the differences between the 1989 and 1994 Property and Business Improvement District laws, drawing on resources previously provided by Civitas.
The meeting concluded with some confusion about the Social Media RFP future agenda item. Dusastre mentioned she was going to “consult with the board,” which cannot be done without a public meeting, and then mentioned the RFP would be available Friday, June 20, on the website and up for thirty days before being discussed at a future meeting. As of Friday afternoon, the RFP had not been posted.
With the one-year renewal process coming up, the TBID has another opportunity to focus on engagement, transparency, greater alignment, and future planning. While they are making strides in this direction, there’s still great opportunity to improve. Will stakeholders receive advance notice and the type of consistent engagement that has been requested? Will TBID be able to balance managing their projects and responsibilities with greater transparency and more organized communication with stakeholders? How will the TBID proceed with with deepening stakeholder trust, especially as they look ahead to a potential conversion to a nonprofit entity with a multi-year planning and renewal cycle?
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