Senator Ochoa Bogh Hosts a Town Hall, and Civics Lesson, in Twentynine Palms
The California State Senator discussed her role in Sacramento, encouraged local involvement, and listened to residents’ concerns.
California State Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh came to Twentynine Palms on Wednesday, October 29 to host a town hall meeting in the Freedom Plaza gymnasium. About 35 people attended, along with elected officials including members of the Twentynine Palms City Council, the Morongo Unified School District, and the Twentynine Palms Water District.
In her talk, Ochoa Bogh, a lifelong Republican, focused on her role in the legislative process in Sacramento, as well as the necessity of working across the aisle and finding common ground throughout a diverse district. She emphasized the importance of connecting to local resources and listening to her constituents and gave ample time to the local officials who attended to speak about the issues they are focused on.
Unlike the contentious town hall held by Representative Jay Obernolte last February, the overall tone this evening was civil, if even conciliatory and subdued. Ochoa Bogh is a former educator, and the town hall had the feeling of a civics lesson meets campaign speech. The Senator facilitated the conversion during public comment as if she were leading a classroom, talking about issues, soliciting responses, and then calling on people if they had a question or comment. This meant there wasn’t necessarily an organized process for participants to speak or comment comprehensively on issues that were important to them.1 Residents brought up issues including access to public transportation, childcare, affordable housing and services for the unhoused community, environmental regulation, and activities for youth, and the senator took note of them. However, there wasn’t an equal chance for everyone to speak or a shared understanding of how long to speak. Overall, the event served as an introduction to the senator and an invitation to engage further.
Showcasing local officials
Before she officially began her talk, Ochoa Bogh asked the elected officials and government staff members present to come to the front of the room, introduce themselves, and summarize the top issues that they are working on.
The public officials present and their priorities were:
Steve Bilderain, Mayor of Twentynine Palms and District 1 Representative: Fixing the flooding issues in the city, as well as securing money for food pantries with the ongoing federal shut down.
Daniel Mintz, Mayor Pro Tem and District 3 Representative: Future financial stability for Twentynine Palms and balancing the budget.
April Ramirez, District 2 Councilmember: Accessible, affordable healthcare for veterans and residents.
Octavious Scott, District 1 Councilmember: Housing, youth, economic, and workforce development, as well as addressing the flooding issue.
McArthur Wright, District 5 Councilmember: Economic growth in Twentynine Palms, worried that the all-electric mandate is unaffordable for the community, and representing the ministerial community.
Glen Harris, Field Representative for Supervisor Dawn Rowe: Land use services, code enforcement, public affairs, and serving the diverse communities of the hi-desert.
Matthew Shragge, General Manager for the Twentynine Palms Water District: Unfunded mandates from the state and well improvements to the water system, including a new removal facility for naturally occurring fluoride in the water. He noted the board may be pursuing a rate increase in the near future and encouraged all to attend the water board’s meetings the fourth Wednesday of every month.
Also present were Melissa Bond, trustee of the Morongo Unified School District, Twentynine Palms City Manager Stone James, and Jeff Gabrow, Corporate Chair Los Medicos Voladores Flying Doctors. Gabrow announced that the Flying Doctors will hold a free pop up vision event with optometrists and free glasses in the Freedom Plaza Gymnasium on December 6, as well as a two-day medical clinic in Yucca Valley March 7 and 8, 2026. He presented the senator with a certificate of appreciation for her support of the Flying Doctors and invited her to volunteer with them in March.
Serving the newly drawn 19th district
After the introductions of local officials, Ochoa Bogh introduced herself and her role. She was elected in 2020 as the first Republican Latina to serve as a state senator in California in the 23rd district. In 2024 she was re-elected to serve the newly redrawn 19th district, which stretches from the low desert to the mountain communities, north to Ridgecrest and east to the Nevada border.
Ochoa Bogh commented on the size and scope of the district and her approach to legislating, noting,
It’s a huge geographical district, very diverse, and whoever did the redistricting was incredibly creative or playful in that they placed the most literally opposing politically spectrum cities in the same district. So, they gave me the most progressive city, which is Palm Springs, with my most conservative city, which is Apple Valley. So people often ask, ‘Well, how in the world are you going to be able to navigate such opposing polar cities in your district? How do you govern that?’ And I go, ‘Easy.’ Well, actually, not at first. I have to think about it, but the way that you do that is you focus on issues that impact all your constituents.
She did not immediately enumerate what those issues that impact all are. Instead, her talk relied heavily on the context of how legislation works in Sacramento, toward her stated goal of providing “transparency and accountability” about the inner workings of government. Because she is the new senator for this area, elected in November of 2024, Ochoa Bogh detailed that she was using her current series of town halls as a way to become more familiar with her constituents and open an ongoing dialogue.
A lesson in civics and an emphasis on engagement
Ochoa Bogh’s past as an educator was on full display as she used her time in the town hall to explain how California government works. She explained her goal is to make the workings of government easy to navigate for her constituents:
One of the things that I realized when I first got elected was that we were literally introducing, vetting and voting on bills that impacted all of our lives, and the majority of Californians had no idea what they were, and that was very apparent when they were voting for bills that I felt did not represent my district … It was my goal to figure out how to make it easy for you to be engaged in the legislative process and understand it, so that you could be informed and engaged with that.
She outlined how each state senator represents close to 1 million people (988,086 according to the state senate website) and there are 40 state senators in total, 30 Democrats and 10 Republicans. Since 21 votes are needed to pass legislation in the senate, Ochoa Bogh has to build coalitions to address her priorities.
As a registered Republican, Ochoa Bogh outlined that believes in small government, personal liberties, and fiscal conservatism. However, she emphasized that she works in Sacramento for all her constituents, saying,
But I do believe firmly and wholeheartedly that once you are elected, you have a fiduciary duty to represent all our constituents, regardless of demographics, regardless of political party. What does that mean to you? It means that I have an open door policy. I meet with all of my constituents, regardless of where they are, politically, socially.
Ochoa Bogh made it clear that she is focused on public service, as opposed to the political theater. She remarked, “I don’t work for the [political] theater or the drama. I don’t do it. I want to be there to actually work on good governance, because we’re literally impacting personal lives and professional lives.”
The senator explained that she relies on her constituents to educate her on the matters important to them and to learn more about the areas in which she lacks expertise. She encouraged town hall participants to write and call her office about issues that they are concerned about and bills they support or oppose, stating, “Your voice has a lot of power, folks, but it has more power in numbers. So if you’re working with coalitions, if you’re working with groups, bring that forward. Let us know.”
Public discussion framed around likes and dislikes
Ochoa Bogh framed her discussion of legislative priorities by asking participants about what they like and dislike about living in California. In pushing on her beliefs about smaller government she noted, “We’ve been voting and vetting 1000s of bills every single year, folks, and when we think about California, do you think the quality of life has gotten better for the majority of Californians? No?”
When asked what they liked about living in California, participants mentioned the beaches, state parks and public land, equal rights, the strength of our entertainment, technology and manufacturing industries, the community college system, and transitional kindergarten (T K). On the subject of T K, the senator, who is the Vice Chair for Education and on the Education subcommittee, mentioned that she’s heard from day care owners that are suffering because of lower enrollment. The participant who brought up T K countered, noting that due to high prices of day care, T K was the first time that he and his wife could have someone else look after their children.
Among those commenting were:
Real Estate broker Scott Curry on the lack of affordable housing and increasing insurance rates and the difficulty to insure many properties, as well as how environmental regulations, especially around Joshua Trees, contribute to the cost of development.
Jenn DeFalco: The lack of affordable housing in the desert and the difficulty of connecting the unhoused with what affordable housing is available and the services that they need, as well as the concern that the unhoused in the area are undercounted.
Councilmember April Ramirez: Keeping children safe from sexual predators and preventing the desert from being a “dumping ground” for sex offenders because it’s a rural area.
Audrey Philpott: The looming food crisis due to the lack, or delay, in SNAP benefits and what the state is doing about it, as well as the specific need for community gardens to help provide fresh, healthy food.
Concerns expressed by other participants ranged widely, but overall focused on affordability, quality of life, and community safety:
Access to and coverage by public transportation in our rural area.
Access to healthcare and the long wait times to see doctors and specialists in California.
Concern about the all-electric mandate and the fact that gas-powered vehicles pay more tax, due to paying gas tax, than electric.
The lack of available activities for young people in Twentynine Palms, and especially the lack of a Boys and Girls club.
In response to these concerns, Ochoa Bogh noted each one, asked her staff to look up related pieces of legislation, and ensured that people in the room were connected to local resources and officials who were working on these issues. She also spoke about her commitment to education and youth development, infrastructure for public transit, and ensuring that CEQA doesn’t impede development of affordable housing. She highlighted her virtual insurance town hall, which brought together speakers from the Department of Insurance, United Policyholders, the Personal Insurance Federation of CA, and the CA Fair Plan.
At the end of the town hall, Ochoa Bogh stated her belief that many of the issues that participants brought up were most effectively addressed at the local rather than state level. Most of these issues are well-known to the engaged residents of Twentynine Palms and the Morongo Basin. For example, Councilmember Scott recently convened a discussion on housing and homelessness, a topic that has been reported on extensively in the Desert Trumpet.
The challenge may be less connecting residents to each other or finding creative solutions to these challenges, as most organizations in the basin seem to be fairly aware of each other, and many local-level solutions have been proposed, but more about finding pathways forward for plans that have been blocked due to funding, lack of consensus, or lack of political will.
An invitation to engage further
While there was a slight wave of impatience toward the end because participants may not have had a chance to bring up their issue or felt empowered to speak up, Ochoa Bogh also emphasized this is the beginning of a dialogue. In closing she said,
Now that we have the basics addressed, we can actually expand a little further on all of them, because I’m asking questions a little deeper, and I’m hoping that you will ask those questions a little deeper and have the dialog, and have those conversations with community members [and] experts.
At times the event had sheen of a political campaign stop to promote Ochoa Bogh’s views. In a polarized political environment, it was a refreshing opportunity to learn more about an elected official who is passionate about listening to constituents and committed to the legislative process. As her term continues, will hi-desert residents continue to take Ochoa Bogh up on her open door policy? How will residents organize to ensure their concerns are regularly heard and addressed by the senator? And will the senator continue her commitment to listen to all her constituents and not play into partisan political theater?
For those looking to meet the senator and share their concerns, Ochoa Bogh will host an additional town hall in the hi-desert on Thursday, November 6 at Copper Mountain Community College, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. You can also reach her office in Sacramento at (916) 651-4019 and Redlands at (909) 335-0271, email the senator, and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter).
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This also meant that participants didn’t always give their name prior to speaking. We’ve done our best to ID those we recognize.
We have had the pleasure of seeing Sen. Ochoa Bogh and her staff at numerous community events throughout the Morongo Basin and Coachella Valley, and cannot understate how wonderful and engaging it has been to be having discussions about issues that truly matter to our communities.