RECAP: Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District, October 17, 2024
A board member vacancy, events and sponsorship grants to come, and Mehta's Rules of Order
Last Thursday, October 17, 2024, the Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) held their first board meeting since their annual City Council reauthorization, marking the start of the 2024-’25 fiscal year. Chair Rakesh Mehta was present along with Board members Ashton Ramsey, Maria Madrid, and Benjamin Uyeda. Longtime Board member Heidi Grunt of the 29 Palms Inn announced her departure from the TBID board recently, leaving open a Vice Chair position and a board member vacancy on the five-member governing body.
The 90-minute action-packed meeting involved the usual TBID kerfuffle as the board delved into topics ranging from events grants and sponsorships to a tenuous business proposal and subcommittees. Absent from the meeting was the sense of decorum in keeping with Roberts Rules of Order at best, and attention to legal meeting requirements in the Brown Act at worst.
Following a request from Marketing Director Breanne Dusastre to switch the order of discussion items 4 and 5, Chair Mehta then called for public comments, despite the published agenda’s sequence calling for the Board to address “Business” items first, which would have included approval of the previous meeting’s minutes and a Marketing Update from Marketing Director Dusastre.
In open public comment, Eric Menendez called for TBID meetings to be recorded:
Other cities have arts commissions, TBID-like boards…any type of work like this, they're videotaped for transparency and recorded. The minutes that we have don’t reflect everything somebody says during a public comment, or they're not thorough as far as what everything that was discussed as far as the action items, so I just wanted to put that out there.
Menendez continued, “We meet on a weekday at 3:30 where a lot of people are working, parents are picking their kids up from schools. It's just making it accessible for people to follow what we do here.”
The board then reverted back to the agenda sequence and addressed business, with the previous meeting’s minutes being approved 4-0. In an update from Marketing Director Dusastre, she reported on two networking events Visit 29 Palms took part in since the last TBID meeting, which included a September familiarization tour (known as a FAM tour) with Brand USA’s Ireland and UK partners and a Media Reception and networking event through Visit California.
Dusastre then announced a Vice Chair vacancy:
Before we launch into discussion and action items, we do have a Vice Chair vacancy, and so I think this would be a good time, if there are any other board members interested in assuming the Vice Chair.
A nomination for Ashton Ramsey of Ramsey 29 to be the new Vice Chair was floated by Board member Benjamin Uyeda. Although no formal vote of approval was taken, board members appeared to be in consensus. Typically, a Vice Chair moves on to become Chair after one to two years of service. Such is the case for the City of Twentynine Palms Planning Commission Chair/Vice Chair and Mayor/Mayor Pro-Tem positions. However, current Chair Rakesh Mehta has been installed as TBID Chair since the board’s formation in 2017.
With the appointment of Ashton Ramsey to Vice Chair, Chair Mehta then commended Heidi Grunt’s years of service on the board:
I think that it would not be appropriate if we didn't recognize Ms. Heidi Grunt’s support during these past, what, now, six years? She was the Vice Chair and also part of a lot of the subcommittees during her tenure. So definitely want to recognize her efforts and her time that she spent in getting us started from day one to date, and it will be a huge void, but Ashton, I think will do a great job. We have to still look for one more chairperson [sic], but she will be missed.
Applications for the TBID vacancy are due Thursday, November 7, 2024.
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
City Entertainment Permits with Community Development Director Keith Gardner
Entertainment permits have been the Community Development Director’s top priority lately with the topic bouncing between Planning Commission, City Council, the Public Arts Advisory Committee (PAAC), and now TBID. Citing concerns of public safety, Community Development Director Keith Gardner called for businesses and stakeholders to participate in the process, notifying the board of an intended workshop before finalizing the revised ordinance for Planning Commission approval:
I'm looking at putting this before the Planning Commission as a workshop on November 19th. I have a blessing from the City Council to take this approach. I've had one workshop before the Planning Commission already, and these are my next steps. If everything goes smoothly, I can have regulations ready to go to the Planning Commission by the end of the year.
Chair Mehta said it would be good to define live entertainment and numbers of attendees. Gardner said City Staff is leaning toward adopting a policy similar to that of Desert Hot Springs due to its broad applicability to various event types and venues. Speaking on building occupancy, Board member Uyeda says these entertainment permits can serve as a type of “health check” on businesses. Emphasizing fire marshal regulations, “A lot of business owners I talk to don't exactly, off the top of their head, know what their occupancy even is,” said Uyeda.
Mehta then skipped public comment on the item and deferred to Dusastre, who moved forward discussion of forming subcommittees, stating, “So the first discussion item I would love us to talk about or tackle here is to establish some subcommittees to support all of the initiatives and plans we have set for this year….”
Subcommittees and Supporting Strategic Initiatives for Fiscal Year 2024-25
Director Dusastre pushed for the formation of three subcommittees with a focus of “event development, marketing, and partnership building.”1 The marketing subcommittee will target social media and content creation. Leaving little breathing room for contemplation, Mehta launched into Board member discussion on the subcommittee topic.
“So who do we have on the events subcommittee right now? It was me and Heidi. I guess it's me and Ashton,” Chair Mehta stated, appointing the brand new Vice Chair to the events subcommittee position presumptively and without discussion or a vote.2 The committee will be in charge of reviewing events grants and sponsorship applications in the upcoming rounds of TBID grant applications, a process that has not been without contention in the past.
Uyeda and Ramsey agreed to make up the Marketing subcommittee, with Mehta and Uyeda forming the Partnership Development subcommittee. According to Dusastre, each subcommittee will have a set meeting schedule.
At this point in the meeting, the Brown Act was again not adhered to. Mehta moved to the next discussion topic without opening the previous topic for public comment. Those attending the meeting, such as Susan Peplow, wished to speak on the subcommittee agenda item, which lead to some back and forth between attendees and the meeting’s facilitators. Acknowledging the break in formality, Dusastre stated:
Our apologies. So, right, with each discussion item, before we move on, we are supposed to open it up to public comment. Our apologies on that. And we did at the beginning of the meeting. We did one change of agenda whereby we identified we would tackle discussion on item number five before number four. So would you like to make public comment on the subcommittees?
Commenting on subcommittees from the public were Eric Menendez and Susan Peplow. Menendez emphasized the need for these subcommittees to generate reports, stating he could not recall seeing any committee reports in the published TBID annual review:
I want to know that this is being spent and done effectively. We need time to evaluate the effectiveness. I've seen no reports of all the evaluations on these different events. I've gone to some of them that were charging $100 and $150 for a pass, and there's like 20 people inside, and they got $20,000 to produce the event. I mean, is that a good use of public funds? I would rather we give the money to Parks & Rec because they’re accountable, and it’s on file, and it's on the agenda, and they're public, you know? This is not money that should be wasted, and we shouldn't rush it to give $100,000 when we haven't even formed a subcommittee for next year.
Peplow echoed Menendez’s views, calling for subcommittee reports to ensure grantees remain accountable to their grant terms:
I would like to ask Events Subcommittees, TBID Board members, and staff to actively monitor grantees to ensure they are fulfilling their obligations as to marketing and referencing Visit 29 Palms. It is recommended that this detail be included as part of the timeline and ongoing review of event grants and monitoring of the Subcommittee. It is my understanding that advertisement is not only good practice, but necessary to achieve the marketing goals of the event grants and to include where guests should stay, specifically referencing visit29.org/stay.
Timeline and Review Process for Sponsorship and Event Grants
It’s that time of year again — the time for TBID’s grant application process. In its rollout year, the TBID events grants and sponsorship program assisted in funding a number of events in Twentynine Palms within the last six months, including To 29 And Beyond, the Freedom Daze event on July 4th weekend, and the 29 Palms Queer Film Festival. Since their meeting on October 17, the TBID has since extended the grant application deadline by one week from October 25 to November 1, 2024. The event grants and sponsorship program was first announced on social media on October 3.
Speaking from the public on events grants were Eric Menendez, adding to his previous comments, and Jacqueline Pfister. Pfister asked questions on the grant application process, which were answered after subsequent exchanges between Chair Mehta and meeting attendees, who insisted that Mehta could respond to her questions since they were on an agenda item.
Marketing Proposal by Joshua Tree Gateway Communities Alliance
TBID Board members were presented with a marketing proposal from Eric Menendez of the Joshua Tree Gateway Communities Alliance.
The proposal requests funding to operate a weekly booth at the Palms Springs Village Fest for six months with the primary goal of engaging tourists who might travel from the Coachella Valley region to Twentynine Palms.
Menendez received pushback from Board member Uyeda on the proposal, who suggested an RFP (Request-For-Proposal) process may be needed and spoke to pre-approved budget concerns. Chair Mehta suggested that Menendez submit the proposal to the events subcommittee for funding despite the proposal not being an event or located in Twentynine Palms as required in the guidelines. The Alliance is seeking roughly $4,000 in monthly funding for an approximate six-month period to cover operating costs at the Palms Springs Village Fest, which would include social media promotion, in-person staff, and geofencing to engage tourists throughout the Coachella Valley.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
In board member comments, Chair Mehta acknowledged the importance of recordings and minutes. Speaking to transparency, Mehta recommended these items be looked at “seriously.” Board member Uyeda requested the previous year’s numbers be put on the record:
I think what's so critical with the sort of public call for accountability and actually seeing progress is to get on the record what our previous year's numbers were, so that way we can track in real time if and when we exceed them.
Continued crosstalk between audience, Chair, and board members occurred. Attendee Pfister stated a speaker slip for a previous agenda item was submitted but she was not called. With clear-cut sentiment, Uyeda added:
Part of the accountability is sticking to a process. I think that's really important to have. Like disciplined and ordered meetings.
ADJOURNMENT
The next Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting will take place November 7, 2024, at 3:30 pm at 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!
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 that donations in excess of $100 are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and your subscription/donation will be listed as AHA Projects, the name of our fiscal receiver, on your statement. Donations over $100 can be made via the AHA Paypal.
Source: Meeting Agenda Packet
Similar to the appointment of the new Vice Chair earlier in the meeting, no formal vote was taken regarding the formation of the three subcommittees.