WATCH OUT - NEXT GEN 29 IS COMING
New leaders signal a generational shift in Twentynine Palms
How does one mark the generational change in a community?
For many years, Twentynine Palms has been governed by a mix of an “old boys club” consisting of descendants of the City’s founders and early residents and Marines who fell in love with the town in which they were stationed and stayed. Four of the five current City Council members served in or are associated with the military and until recently the majority of Planning Commission members had military backgrounds and/or worked as contractors on the base. Planning Commissioner Jim Krushat is well known for touting his family’s founder roots.
Over the last 24 months a shift has taken place, visible on the City bodies where members are appointed by City Council: the Planning Commission, Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) and Public Arts Advisory Committee (PAAC). Desert Trumpet noticed that four of the five Chairs and Vice Chairs are under 50 years old — two being under 40 — and that most stepped into those leadership positions within the last year. All except for one are relatively recent transplants to Twentynine Palms and while one was born in the Base hospital, none of them are ex-military or work full time on the Base.
We thought our readers might want to meet this next generation of leadership so we’ll be publishing profiles of them over the next several weeks: Planning Commission Chair Jessica Cure and Vice Chair Alex Garcia; PAAC Chair Paul Razo and Vice Chair Sara Lyons; and TBID Vice Chair Ashton Ramsey.
Change is here.
Read our first profile — on Planning Commission Chair Alex Garcia.
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Amazing humans and leaders....29 Palms is lucky to have their minds and passion for community.