Rancho Mirage City Council Meeting, May 01, 2025

Transcript text

AI transcript text.

[00:00:11] Good afternoon everyone.
[00:00:14] It is Thursday, May 1, approximately 100
[00:00:18] p.m. This is the regular meeting of the
[00:00:21] Rancher Mirage City Council and
[00:00:23] Community Services District, Energy
[00:00:26] Authority, Housing Authority, Joint
[00:00:29] Powers, Finance Authority, Library and
[00:00:33] Observatory, and Redevelopment Successor
[00:00:36] agency boards.
[00:00:39] I would now ask you if you would join me
[00:00:42] in saluting our great country.
[00:00:49] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[00:00:52] United States of America and to the
[00:00:54] republic for which it stands, one nation
[00:00:58] under God, indivisible, liberty and
[00:01:01] justice for all.
[00:01:06] May we have a roll call, please? Council
[00:01:08] member DS I'm here. Council member
[00:01:10] Framberg Edelstein present. Council
[00:01:12] member O'Keefe here. Mayor Prom Molatto
[00:01:15] present. And Mayor While
[00:01:20] here. Nice to see you all here. Thank
[00:01:23] you for joining us today. We have
[00:01:26] several presentations this this
[00:01:28] afternoon.
[00:01:30] The
[00:01:31] first one that is extremely important
[00:01:35] and close to the hearts of our city is
[00:01:38] Eisenhower Health Project update. And I
[00:01:42] will ask Michael Landis, president of
[00:01:44] Eisenhower Health Foundation and Monica
[00:01:48] F Vasquez, director of community giving,
[00:01:52] if they would come to the podium,
[00:01:54] please.
[00:02:04] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
[00:02:06] Is this on? Oh, good. Mr. Mayor,
[00:02:10] council, city manager. We
[00:02:13] um we're really thankful that you all
[00:02:17] put us on the agenda and you put us up
[00:02:19] front because I think we're we're
[00:02:21] running fast at Eisenhower nowadays. And
[00:02:24] um but I also I wanted to make the
[00:02:26] presentation but I wanted everyone also
[00:02:28] to meet Monica who was our uh head of
[00:02:32] community services and Monica is a
[00:02:34] fireball and I say that I report to
[00:02:37] Monica and that's kind of how it works
[00:02:39] around the foundation at Eisenhower. So
[00:02:42] but uh thank you Monica for interacting
[00:02:44] and for helping us get this all
[00:02:46] organized. So, I'm going to start the
[00:02:49] presentation and Monica, if you want,
[00:02:51] you you don't have to stand here if you
[00:02:55] don't wish.
[00:02:57] Um, oh,
[00:03:00] good. Well, first of all, I want to say
[00:03:03] with all genuiness that we're in
[00:03:05] probably the greatest city in the
[00:03:07] Coachella Valley, if not California. I
[00:03:09] think um Eisenhower would not be what it
[00:03:13] is if it wasn't for our city of Rancho
[00:03:15] Mirage and the way we have we have had a
[00:03:18] warm um relationship but we also have
[00:03:22] the same vision the vision for um which
[00:03:25] council has been able to uh enact for
[00:03:30] many many many years and I've been here
[00:03:32] for 25 years at Eisenhower has been a um
[00:03:36] a vision for excellence in and
[00:03:38] Eisenhower has a very similar vision for
[00:03:41] what we want to do, what we want to
[00:03:43] accomplish. So, um I'm here to give you
[00:03:46] an update on how we're implementing that
[00:03:49] vision and also to be a little bit more
[00:03:52] um if you will responsible about the
[00:03:54] very the the last um large grant that
[00:03:59] the hospital made was to cardiovascular.
[00:04:01] I want to show you where it's gone. So,
[00:04:04] we'll start with just sharing with you
[00:04:06] that Eisenhower is now
[00:04:08] um all the way from North Palm Springs.
[00:04:11] We have four now facilities. We're we're
[00:04:13] located
[00:04:15] um with over a 100 clinics now
[00:04:18] throughout the Coachella Valley and
[00:04:19] North Palm Springs all the way to India.
[00:04:22] We've we just opened up our first
[00:04:24] primary care facility in India. And uh I
[00:04:28] think for the very first time over the
[00:04:30] last several years, we've said to
[00:04:31] ourselves, we have the ability to grasp
[00:04:34] the entire Coachella Valley as being
[00:04:37] responsible from a community hospital
[00:04:40] standpoint for, if you will, as many as
[00:04:43] we possibly can. And we've we've changed
[00:04:47] in some regards. We we've done that not
[00:04:50] only by investing in these locations
[00:04:52] that are throughout the Coachella
[00:04:54] Valley. Um, but we've also been able to
[00:04:57] do things whereby we've decided to take
[00:05:00] on medic medical Medicaid patients that
[00:05:05] may not allow the the hospital to earn
[00:05:08] income, but it's our responsibility to
[00:05:10] see
[00:05:12] um uh the care and to take care of, if
[00:05:15] you will, those that also have very
[00:05:18] little ability to to engage with a great
[00:05:21] healthcare organization. We want to
[00:05:23] provide them with the very best. The
[00:05:24] final thing that we've done is we uh
[00:05:27] invested in a mobile clinic thanks to
[00:05:29] philanthropy um but also to the overall
[00:05:32] vision of the hospital for excellence
[00:05:33] for the Coochell Valley. We invested in
[00:05:35] a mobile clinic. One of the things we do
[00:05:37] is we staff it with our resident
[00:05:39] physicians and we take that clinic down
[00:05:42] to uh underpasses down to migrant
[00:05:45] workers down to mostly the east valley
[00:05:49] to provide vaccinations and health care
[00:05:51] for those that frankly don't have the
[00:05:52] ability to even get transportation to
[00:05:54] get healthcare. So we're we're probably
[00:05:56] going to double the size of that. And
[00:05:58] that's something that by the way that
[00:05:59] Monica innovated and has driven forward.
[00:06:02] And so we're we're believing that we're
[00:06:05] able to, if you will, encompass the
[00:06:07] whole valley. That's part of our vision.
[00:06:10] Two things. One, um I could go through
[00:06:12] each one of these, but um Times of
[00:06:14] Essence and US News and World Report has
[00:06:17] gifted us with, if you will, by virtue
[00:06:19] of the way they evaluate standards of
[00:06:22] quality. Number one in the Inland
[00:06:25] Empire. I think we're tied with Lomol
[00:06:26] Linda, but it's we're uh number one in
[00:06:29] in cardiovascular services, orthopedic
[00:06:32] services, and um of course the Inland
[00:06:36] Empire encompasses San Bernardino as
[00:06:38] well as Riverside County, probably the
[00:06:39] largest geographic area in in
[00:06:42] California. So, we're very proud of
[00:06:45] that. We um also just received our third
[00:06:49] magnet designation. magnet means that
[00:06:52] that that is the highest honor you can
[00:06:54] receive for nursing care in hospitals.
[00:06:57] Only 8% of hospitals throughout the
[00:06:59] United States, and there's 6,000
[00:07:01] hospitals in the US, only 8% are magnet
[00:07:05] hospitals for nursing. And I could go
[00:07:07] into what that really means, but truly
[00:07:09] what it means is that nurses are part of
[00:07:11] decision- making and at the executive
[00:07:13] level. And also our um if you will the
[00:07:18] standards for our nurses are that you
[00:07:20] will become a BSN for so our goal is
[00:07:25] every single nurse at Eisenhower becomes
[00:07:27] a BSN. So we scholarship nurses, we we
[00:07:31] do everything we can, if you will, to
[00:07:32] continue to educate those nurses. So
[00:07:34] when those COD nurses graduate, we
[00:07:37] actually are are very supportive of them
[00:07:39] getting their BSN, two more years of
[00:07:40] education in order to continue working
[00:07:42] at Eisenhower.
[00:07:44] Um we talked about excellence. Um we
[00:07:48] we've just we we know that we have and
[00:07:52] I'm going to come to volumes here in a
[00:07:53] minute that we have challenges with
[00:07:55] regard to the emergency department.
[00:07:57] We've done two things this year to help
[00:08:00] overcome some of the delays, many of the
[00:08:03] delays that we see in the emergency
[00:08:05] department, which um which is important.
[00:08:08] One, we've start we become a trauma
[00:08:11] center. So, we're a trauma center four
[00:08:13] now and you go down for levels of
[00:08:16] trauma. We're going to become a trauma
[00:08:18] level um three we think in the next year
[00:08:21] and a half. You've got to have trauma
[00:08:24] surgeons on call for that. So, we just
[00:08:28] received a donation from Jan Salta, uh,
[00:08:31] thank goodness, to be able to, um, build
[00:08:33] the bottom floor of the Salta building
[00:08:36] and create space for our trauma surgeons
[00:08:39] before we recruit them. So, the
[00:08:41] recruiting is ongoing. We believe next
[00:08:43] year we'll be able to do that and
[00:08:44] receive certification to become trauma
[00:08:48] for uh, three. And then of course we're
[00:08:50] on our way to trauma 2 which means
[00:08:52] you've got to have a um um essentially a
[00:08:56] brain surgeon uh neurosurgeon on call
[00:08:59] 365 24/7. This is a very expensive
[00:09:02] endeavor. Uh Desert does it very well.
[00:09:05] Desert regional trauma is a specialty of
[00:09:07] theirs but we need to be as well. So
[00:09:10] then the center of the valley will be
[00:09:11] able to care for those patients that
[00:09:13] that have issues and them and and give
[00:09:16] them confidence and you all and your
[00:09:18] residents confidence that you can go to
[00:09:20] Eisenhower for trauma.
[00:09:22] Um so the second large thing other than
[00:09:26] adding trauma is we added 10 new rooms
[00:09:29] in the emergency department. And the
[00:09:31] actually let me add a third. We just
[00:09:33] became licensed for 26 new beds in the
[00:09:36] hospital. One of the issues with
[00:09:37] emergency care is that you get backed up
[00:09:40] and there's no space in the hospital in
[00:09:42] the inn. So, but now that flow through
[00:09:45] can start happening a little bit faster
[00:09:48] to get into the hospital. So, we've done
[00:09:49] those things. They were all expensive,
[00:09:51] but we were able to um push that through
[00:09:55] and I think we're going to see changes.
[00:09:56] I believe we're going to see real
[00:09:57] changes in the speed of that care. So,
[00:10:00] look at some of the numbers. um
[00:10:02] inpatient days have just the volumes of
[00:10:06] what we're we're serving have gone up
[00:10:10] tremendously. Um in patient days are
[00:10:12] almost 80,000. But I want to show you
[00:10:14] the days in the ER visits. So we have
[00:10:17] over 95,000 ER visits in in 24. We're on
[00:10:22] the path right now to have over a
[00:10:24] 100,000 ER visits. And one of the ways I
[00:10:27] explain that is that um I believe that
[00:10:31] it's truly the brand and the excellence
[00:10:33] of Eisenhower that is attracting people.
[00:10:36] Um I don't mean this to be derogatory
[00:10:39] about any other uh healthcare
[00:10:40] organization but when people experience
[00:10:43] Eisenhower and the way in which we care
[00:10:46] for people as well as the excellence
[00:10:48] that they receive, they want it again.
[00:10:49] And if 8% of our patients we found in
[00:10:52] 2024 came from India. So, the more we
[00:10:57] start treating those that are coming
[00:10:59] from the East Valley as well as North
[00:11:01] Palm Springs as well in our ER, the more
[00:11:04] families start to want to attach back to
[00:11:07] um Eisenhower once again. And we're
[00:11:09] seeing that over and over. And so, the
[00:11:12] brand is responsible for its success in
[00:11:17] this way. and we have to live up to the
[00:11:20] expectations that we're going to be able
[00:11:22] to serve them and not have to wait for
[00:11:24] 10 hours in the ER. And I know that this
[00:11:26] is an issue. Um, but we're we're really
[00:11:31] uh focusing on I'd say it's our top it's
[00:11:33] one of our top three issues that we're
[00:11:34] dealing with. So, Michael, if I could
[00:11:36] just add something because we have
[00:11:38] talked about that topic before uh in
[00:11:40] this chamber uh and it's uh backed up by
[00:11:44] a study that was done by the Desert
[00:11:46] Healthcare District. Yes. And so, uh,
[00:11:49] that study, uh, pulled valley residents.
[00:11:52] And one of those polling questions was,
[00:11:55] uh, if you could pick anywhere for a
[00:11:57] non-life-threatening,
[00:11:58] uh, issue, what hospital would you go
[00:12:01] to? And so it listed, uh, the valley
[00:12:04] locations, right? So, Eisenhower,
[00:12:06] Desert, JFK, and then somewhere else.
[00:12:10] And that study said uh according to
[00:12:13] their poll that the Desert Healthcare
[00:12:14] District did a little over 75% of the
[00:12:17] time they were picking Eisenhower,
[00:12:20] right? And so I know sometimes when we
[00:12:22] hear about this at the city about, oh
[00:12:24] man, the emergency room is such a long
[00:12:25] wait. Well, yes, because you're a victim
[00:12:28] of your own success, right? When when
[00:12:30] people are going to an emergency room,
[00:12:32] typically they are driving themselves
[00:12:34] there. Not always. Sometimes it's by
[00:12:36] ambulance, but most time they have a
[00:12:37] choice. And that study by the Desert
[00:12:39] Healthcare District said 75% of the time
[00:12:42] they're picking your hospital. What was
[00:12:44] also interesting about that study is
[00:12:48] somewhere else scored higher than the
[00:12:51] two tenant facilities. Oh my gosh. So
[00:12:53] Desert and JFK were lower than just
[00:12:56] somewhere else. M so you know part of
[00:12:59] the problem uh if you want to call it a
[00:13:01] problem with the weight times is
[00:13:04] Eisenhower is carrying you know its
[00:13:06] undue burden in the valley because of
[00:13:08] the quality care that you guys provide
[00:13:10] and that's been backed up by an
[00:13:12] independent study uh done by the desert
[00:13:15] healthcare district. So, uh, I thought
[00:13:17] that was always an interesting result.
[00:13:19] And when we get somebody that's
[00:13:20] expressing maybe some concerns about
[00:13:22] your weight times, you know, ultimately
[00:13:24] you're a victim of your own success, uh,
[00:13:27] when it comes to the that regard because
[00:13:29] people are overwhelmingly picking your
[00:13:31] facility over somewhere else in Thank
[00:13:33] you. Thank you, Isaiah, for for that.
[00:13:37] And, uh, that's probably the most
[00:13:38] positive thing I've heard from the
[00:13:39] Desert Healthcare District in a while.
[00:13:43] Um it came from the public and not from
[00:13:45] the I know it was a survey. Thank you.
[00:13:48] Well, you can see as we continue um
[00:13:53] again not just ER visits but ER
[00:13:56] represents almost 50% of the of the way
[00:13:59] in which we create new relationships and
[00:14:02] our clinic office visits have have gone
[00:14:05] up beyond
[00:14:06] 665,000. It's just amazing. Orthopedics
[00:14:09] does 116,000 visits a year. It's just
[00:14:11] goes on. I can tell you it's it's
[00:14:13] amazing. So, um, excellence in uh I'm
[00:14:17] going to take a bit from everything so
[00:14:19] that we can keep uh going quickly, but
[00:14:23] we've just learned um I was just with
[00:14:25] Marty the other day and we we learned
[00:14:27] that Eisenhower has more
[00:14:29] robotic surgery machines in in a variety
[00:14:34] of different areas of the hospital than
[00:14:37] any other hospital in Southern
[00:14:39] California. And it's not because we
[00:14:42] wanted to win some sort of uh award for
[00:14:45] doing that. It's because robotics has
[00:14:49] allowed us to and our surgeons and our
[00:14:52] teams to actually be able to serve the
[00:14:55] patient I think at a higher level not
[00:14:58] always but at a higher level of care.
[00:15:01] Um you have less need to stay in the
[00:15:04] hospital. Um so for instance if we do a
[00:15:06] hysterctomy and we do it robotically
[00:15:09] we've found uh with the right surgeons
[00:15:12] and they have to be trained well but
[00:15:15] that a uh a patient a woman could could
[00:15:18] stay in the hospital overnight one night
[00:15:20] not three nights because you were able
[00:15:22] to cauterize so quickly with that robot
[00:15:24] you're able to stop the bleeding so
[00:15:26] quickly and you were able to also be
[00:15:28] able to perform the procedures quicker
[00:15:31] the person's under anesthesia less time.
[00:15:34] All of those things make a difference.
[00:15:36] And so these things are, we think,
[00:15:39] critical to the outcomes. Um the quality
[00:15:42] of care that we provide and you can be
[00:15:45] proud that Eisenhower really is on the
[00:15:46] cutting edge. Um our economic impact, we
[00:15:51] will share a little bit more of that
[00:15:52] with you, but we hired a Claremont
[00:15:54] professor to provide us with the
[00:15:56] economic impact report for Eisenhower.
[00:15:59] It is considered the largest single uh
[00:16:02] economic impactor in the Coachella
[00:16:05] Valley. We didn't know that because we
[00:16:07] don't really I don't know do PR that way
[00:16:10] where we pat ourselves on the back for
[00:16:11] these things. But but Eisenhower
[00:16:13] actually is the one of the highest
[00:16:16] percentages in Southern California if
[00:16:18] you were to compare any single business
[00:16:21] impact on an area geographic area that
[00:16:24] has a a GRP a gross regional product.
[00:16:27] Eisenhower is the highest in the
[00:16:30] Coachella Valley compared to for
[00:16:32] instance what USC would be doing in LA
[00:16:35] or what there is hardly a comparison
[00:16:39] that you can come to that shows you this
[00:16:42] large impact this hospital had the um
[00:16:45] the to put it in perspective uh the
[00:16:48] professor said if you were
[00:16:51] to take away all of the economic impact
[00:16:54] of all of the hotels in in the Coachella
[00:16:57] Valley. Take it away. Eisenhower would
[00:17:00] exceed it. Would exceed every single
[00:17:04] economic Oh, it would exceed every every
[00:17:07] economic driver that came from those
[00:17:09] hotels. So, that's how big we are. Let
[00:17:10] me get to the the the final wrap up as
[00:17:14] we go. We're on um a phase one of our
[00:17:17] campaign and the city of Ranch Mirage
[00:17:20] and the city council were and the
[00:17:22] residents were so supportive to be able
[00:17:25] to give provide us with support for our
[00:17:27] cardiovascular institute and our
[00:17:31] uh center of excellence and just to give
[00:17:35] you an update on that campaign we have
[00:17:38] raised now it's not 39.8 8. It's
[00:17:41] actually
[00:17:42] 32. Well, sorry, 32 to go. We've raised
[00:17:46] $247 million and we just received a $7
[00:17:50] million uh commitment yesterday. And so,
[00:17:54] we can see the light of the finishing on
[00:17:57] phase one. And I'm going to show you
[00:17:59] what what your monies have gone to
[00:18:01] support. This cardiovascular institute
[00:18:03] is on the on the left side and we
[00:18:06] intended to be finished at the end of
[00:18:08] 26. That's where all physician, all your
[00:18:11] cardiovascular physicians, all your
[00:18:12] surgeons, all your heart related care
[00:18:15] will be in one building almost like a
[00:18:17] Mayo Clinic now. And it's in the new
[00:18:20] center of the campus. You all know where
[00:18:21] it is, but others will show you. It's
[00:18:24] across from the orthopedic building.
[00:18:25] It's the new heart of the campus. And
[00:18:29] that we we intend to be able to, if you
[00:18:32] will, rival
[00:18:34] um the large of Cleveland clinics of the
[00:18:37] world. And so we actually are on a
[00:18:40] pathway to be top 10 in cardiovascular
[00:18:44] in the United States um with not only
[00:18:48] this outpatient facility, but I'll show
[00:18:50] you the impatient as well. So this
[00:18:52] specialty clinics building will go up
[00:18:54] and start um several years from now and
[00:18:57] won't be done until 2029. But this will
[00:19:00] keep going. So this is called overall
[00:19:03] the Washington Family Center. The
[00:19:05] cardiovascular institute is the one on
[00:19:06] the left and as you can see some of the
[00:19:09] numbers it's going to be 82,000 square
[00:19:11] ft. We'll have a 100 exam rooms that get
[00:19:14] we have already recruited what we think
[00:19:16] are are 15 and it's all verbal 15 new
[00:19:20] cardio cardiologists who've seen what
[00:19:24] we're doing. They want to practice down
[00:19:26] here. They they see the level of care
[00:19:28] that we provide which is cutting edge in
[00:19:31] in heart and they're excited about
[00:19:33] coming. So once this building's done, we
[00:19:36] think we're going to start being able to
[00:19:37] fill it. Um this is the building and
[00:19:39] this is in the middle of the campus. So
[00:19:41] any of your residents that come to
[00:19:43] campus, this is what it is. This is
[00:19:44] what's going up is the cardiovascular
[00:19:47] uh institute building and your city had
[00:19:51] um a portion of that steel. They have
[00:19:53] helped invest in this. So we want to
[00:19:56] thank everyone for that and thank thank
[00:19:58] you all for allowing us to do this. This
[00:20:00] is four stories, 82,000 ft. And we just
[00:20:03] finished putting the main beam in and we
[00:20:06] had the Washingtons who were the primary
[00:20:08] underwriters of philanthropy. They've
[00:20:10] committed 32 million to this project.
[00:20:13] And um they came out and signed it. And
[00:20:17] a funny thing I'll just tell you and
[00:20:19] then I'll keep going but I'm almost done
[00:20:21] is Dennis Washington I was just told I
[00:20:23] was given 247 uh 24hour notice that we
[00:20:26] we had a beam signing available. We need
[00:20:28] to do it now. The steel workers need to
[00:20:30] put it up. and Dennis happened to be
[00:20:33] checking out of the hospital and I said,
[00:20:34] "Dennis, could you put your sweats on
[00:20:36] and come over to the
[00:20:37] beam?" And he made his way over. So, the
[00:20:41] tradition is that the steel workers um
[00:20:44] make this the vi final beam. They screw
[00:20:46] it in and then they we have a flag on
[00:20:49] the left side and a spruce tree on the
[00:20:50] right for luck so there are no injuries.
[00:20:53] And then they shimmy across. That's four
[00:20:55] stories up and they stand there and
[00:20:57] shake hands. And that's the tradition.
[00:20:59] So, we're we also have so keep going on
[00:21:03] the projects. We have uh a memory care
[00:21:05] center that we're building off of
[00:21:06] Country Club as well as the childcare
[00:21:08] center that's in in action right now. We
[00:21:11] intend to be complete uh by the end of
[00:21:15] 26. Um the uh memory care center is
[00:21:21] going to be able to house we hope up to
[00:21:24] 200 people that have memory disorders.
[00:21:27] day care, not overnight. And but it's
[00:21:30] also a respit for the spouse and the
[00:21:33] loved ones that are caring for those.
[00:21:35] And it is going to be truly a tremendous
[00:21:38] asset, we think, to the quality of life
[00:21:40] in the valley and certainly Rancher
[00:21:42] Mirage. And then our our u memory care
[00:21:45] will be located next to child care,
[00:21:48] which is a real stimulant for both for
[00:21:51] both those that are in the memory care
[00:21:52] side, but also the ch the children.
[00:21:54] We're going to have programs because
[00:21:56] research actually um indicates that it
[00:21:59] is a great stimulus for both and that's
[00:22:02] uh going to be for Eisenhower physicians
[00:22:05] and children and not the physicians
[00:22:08] themselves um as well as for our
[00:22:12] employees of which we have almost 5,000
[00:22:15] employees and and their children and we
[00:22:18] think this is something that is critical
[00:22:21] to be added to the Coachella Valley. uh
[00:22:23] we have a real need for child care and
[00:22:27] um and then the final couple of projects
[00:22:30] that are part of that campaign. We start
[00:22:32] this this in May actually at the end of
[00:22:35] this month we're starting the
[00:22:36] cardiovascular pavilion 35,000 square ft
[00:22:39] of internal inside the hospital. We're
[00:22:42] redoing all cardiovascular
[00:22:45] uh equipment and uh we're tearing down
[00:22:48] walls, rebuilding with brand new
[00:22:50] equipment. This is an example of what we
[00:22:51] call a hybrid suite where you can do
[00:22:54] both procedures but open heart surgery
[00:22:57] both under in the same room and um these
[00:23:01] are the docs that make that happen. So
[00:23:04] the the cardiovascular and
[00:23:05] cardiovascular uh docs but also
[00:23:08] surgeons. We just finished the Paula
[00:23:10] Herd Cancer Pavilion extension. And if
[00:23:13] you are at Eisenhower, you're at the the
[00:23:16] um
[00:23:17] uh cancer center, the Luc Can Cancer
[00:23:20] Center, you should go upstairs, the
[00:23:22] second floor, and take a look at this.
[00:23:23] It's really it's amazing what we did. It
[00:23:26] was um transformed. So, some of you know
[00:23:29] what it is, but it was transformed and
[00:23:31] expanded into a uh a breast a true
[00:23:34] breast center that was just frankly just
[00:23:36] a patio that was out on the So, we put a
[00:23:38] roof over it and and really has worked
[00:23:41] out well for us to be able to expand um
[00:23:44] our volume and we're in the midst of
[00:23:47] needing to expand the cancer center. Uh
[00:23:49] we finished the Ranker Wellness Center
[00:23:51] which is cardoppulmonary wellness for
[00:23:53] those that need to stay in shape and
[00:23:56] we're expanding our inpatient pharmacy
[00:23:58] which we haven't done in 25 years. Um as
[00:24:01] volumes have gone up they're still in
[00:24:02] the same closet. So we're expanding. We
[00:24:05] have two robots that will be like this
[00:24:08] that pull the medications automatically
[00:24:12] and then we send them up to each of the
[00:24:14] rooms. The final is that to finish all
[00:24:17] of this it will be more expensive. It's
[00:24:19] not really t tariffs as much as it is
[00:24:21] just overall 3 years of preparing and
[00:24:26] then doing prices have risen and uh
[00:24:30] we'll probably be raising an additional
[00:24:32] 78 million to to finish everything and
[00:24:34] at the end of it all we will have raised
[00:24:36] 350 million really to do this and the
[00:24:39] city's been in its own way part of that
[00:24:42] whole thing not just for support but
[00:24:44] also being able to view these things and
[00:24:47] be able to give us great direction and
[00:24:49] vision. And so we appreciate all you do
[00:24:51] for us. Thank you. Well, thank you,
[00:24:58] Michael. Thank you so much. Yes. I can't
[00:25:01] begin to tell you how proud we are u to
[00:25:05] have uh Eisenhower Health located in the
[00:25:08] city of Rancho Mirage. Uh we for a fact
[00:25:14] uh are every day meet people
[00:25:18] uh that acknowledge that they move to
[00:25:21] Rancho Mirage specifically to be close
[00:25:25] to Eisenhower Health and
[00:25:28] uh you know frankly that's rewarding.
[00:25:31] It's rewarding for you. It's rewarding
[00:25:33] for us. Uh, but it makes us that much
[00:25:36] more proud. And obviously Eisenhower
[00:25:39] being such a a major ingredient for the
[00:25:43] success of our city and our job now
[00:25:47] along with yours is to continue to
[00:25:50] develop affordable housing so that we
[00:25:54] can provide housing for your staff uh to
[00:25:59] live and work in the area. And that's
[00:26:02] what we work hard at every single day.
[00:26:05] So it's a it's a team effort between,
[00:26:09] you know, Eisenhower, the city of Rancho
[00:26:11] Mirage, and we're very proud of it, and
[00:26:13] thank you for being here. Thank you,
[00:26:16] Feelings Mutual. Thank you.
[00:26:22] Okay, the next presentation we have is
[00:26:26] for fire hazard severity zones
[00:26:31] presentation. Uh I will ask um deputy
[00:26:34] fire marshall Hedrickk and division
[00:26:37] chief Beverlin if they would please join
[00:26:40] us and bring us up to date on obviously
[00:26:44] a timely and important subject. Yes,
[00:26:47] sir. Uh good afternoon, council. Uh
[00:26:51] great to see you again. Thanks for
[00:26:52] having us. Mike Beverlin, uh fire chief
[00:26:55] for the city. Uh before, uh the deputy
[00:26:57] fire marshal gives his presentation on a
[00:26:59] very important subject, I thought I'd
[00:27:01] give, uh a quick proper introduction for
[00:27:04] him. His name is Cole Hedrickk. Um he
[00:27:07] has uh 20 years experience in public
[00:27:10] safety. The last 11 of those have been
[00:27:13] in the office of the fire marshal. He's
[00:27:15] worked in the city of Coachella um out
[00:27:18] of the east operational office and most
[00:27:20] recently in uh the city of Riverside at
[00:27:23] the headquarters for the fire marshall's
[00:27:25] office. He brings a tremendous uh amount
[00:27:27] of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Um
[00:27:30] he's in a leadership position now and so
[00:27:32] he's been a great member of the team and
[00:27:34] unfortunately for him he's come in uh
[00:27:37] promoted to a time when legislation's
[00:27:39] giving him a bunch of work. So um I'll
[00:27:42] uh introduce him. uh he'll do his
[00:27:45] presentation and I'll have some closing
[00:27:46] remarks. So Cole, come on up, introduce
[00:27:48] yourself and uh continue with your
[00:27:50] presentation. Thank you. Thank you,
[00:27:52] Chief Beverlin. Uh distinguished members
[00:27:55] members of the council, city staff, it's
[00:27:57] my pleasure to be here to join you uh in
[00:27:59] this new role and responsibility. Um I'm
[00:28:01] filling in behind the uh retirement
[00:28:03] vacancy of uh Deputy Fire Marshal Sonia
[00:28:05] Culie, who you might know very well over
[00:28:07] many years of service here in the
[00:28:08] valley. And I hope I can have just as
[00:28:10] long as tenure as she had. So, look
[00:28:13] forward to that. And as Chief Beverlin
[00:28:15] mentioned, uh we got a busy period of
[00:28:16] time right now. Uh you're one of six
[00:28:19] cities I get to help through this
[00:28:20] process that we're legislatively
[00:28:22] required to do. So, to kind of start
[00:28:24] into that presentation, we're going to
[00:28:25] talk about what this is that we're
[00:28:27] exactly considering. Um
[00:28:30] so FA we were part of phase 4 here in
[00:28:33] Riverside County uh March 24th when the
[00:28:36] state fire marshall uh released and
[00:28:38] published their uh proposed maps for the
[00:28:41] fire hazard severity zones. Uh so it
[00:28:43] should be displayed on your screens
[00:28:44] there uh specifically for the local
[00:28:46] responsibility areas. So the state has
[00:28:48] their state responsibility areas. Um but
[00:28:51] here in the incorporated cities, they're
[00:28:54] considered local responsibilities. Uh
[00:28:56] legislatively through the many
[00:28:58] challenges the state has had with
[00:28:59] wildland fires um the legislation
[00:29:02] identified that the state fire marshall
[00:29:03] would be tasked with identifying
[00:29:06] specifically what areas even local
[00:29:08] jurisdictions that would have to be
[00:29:10] mapped for various ranges of fire hazard
[00:29:12] severity zones. So dealing with those,
[00:29:15] that's where we uh received that uh on
[00:29:17] March 24th. Um to kind of break this
[00:29:20] down a little bit, the state fire
[00:29:21] marshall utilized uh um various methods
[00:29:24] and and methodology to and studies to
[00:29:27] identify um be it from embercast models,
[00:29:31] fuel loading, uh prevailing winds and
[00:29:33] other elements to identify target uh
[00:29:36] relatively hazards as far as potential
[00:29:39] risk uh for that. And so these updates
[00:29:42] impact our areas. Um, and it doesn't
[00:29:46] take into account as far as, you know,
[00:29:47] local resources or local responses or
[00:29:51] preventive measures, defensible space.
[00:29:53] It's purely just from a modeling of
[00:29:55] there's fuel, there's structures, how
[00:29:58] can they connect and that potential risk
[00:30:00] in that. So, um, as we carry into that,
[00:30:04] this is the map that was published, uh,
[00:30:05] specifically for the ranch of Mirage,
[00:30:07] uh, city. Um and you'll see that there
[00:30:10] is a single highlighted uh color of
[00:30:14] moderate hazard yellow. So the benefit
[00:30:16] for rancher mirage and I'll say benefit
[00:30:18] uh tongue and cheek on that as far as um
[00:30:21] other communities here in the Coachella
[00:30:23] Valley have include high fire hazard
[00:30:25] severity zones. Uh thankfully Ranch
[00:30:28] Mirage just has moderate. Uh about 4,600
[00:30:31] acres were added to the city limits for
[00:30:33] the moderate fire hazard severity zones.
[00:30:35] We can tell that it majority of it is
[00:30:37] definitely within our our foothills and
[00:30:39] hillsides uh regions uh and that come up
[00:30:42] to within the subdivision regions along
[00:30:45] the uh southwest portion of Highway 111
[00:30:48] there. Um there's a PDF map uh that's
[00:30:52] available on the city's website. We uh
[00:30:54] worked with city staff to create a web
[00:30:55] page to uh view this PDF map, but it
[00:30:58] also gives you a link to the county fire
[00:31:00] marshals uh web page for the GIS map
[00:31:03] where you can actually put in a parcel
[00:31:05] number, put in an address, and it'll pin
[00:31:07] drop you right to where it's at and you
[00:31:09] can kind of correlate to if you're in
[00:31:11] one of those zones. So, encourage you to
[00:31:13] check that out. Uh take those
[00:31:14] assessments uh to to really see where
[00:31:17] those heart potential hazards are.
[00:31:20] So, according to government code section
[00:31:24] 51179B3,
[00:31:27] um these are the mandates that we have
[00:31:28] before us. And so, we've uh working with
[00:31:31] city staff, we've already met the first
[00:31:32] bullet point there, uh identifying um
[00:31:37] I'm sorry that we have to make these uh
[00:31:39] elements available. The restriction is
[00:31:41] is that we cannot decrease these. We
[00:31:43] can't reduce the map area. We can't
[00:31:45] reduce the classification. We can only
[00:31:47] increase. Well, Riverside County Fire
[00:31:49] Department as your fire department has
[00:31:51] determined that there is no need nor
[00:31:53] desired to propose any modifications or
[00:31:56] increases to that here within the city
[00:31:58] of Ranch Mirage and really throughout
[00:31:59] the uh throughout the county uh
[00:32:01] jurisdictions. Uh some jurisdictions are
[00:32:04] kind of exploring for whatever
[00:32:06] particular reason why they might want to
[00:32:08] make some increases. Uh but we'll handle
[00:32:10] those on an individual basis. Uh so per
[00:32:12] state law uh we've uh were identified
[00:32:16] that within 30 days of that March 24th
[00:32:18] we'd had to make these maps available
[00:32:20] for public review and comment. So that's
[00:32:22] been done here at the local level as
[00:32:24] well as at the county. And u so our next
[00:32:26] venture is to go through the uh
[00:32:28] appropriate legal process to uh draft an
[00:32:31] ordinance propose it to to hear the
[00:32:33] council uh first reading and a second
[00:32:36] reading and then have it adopted by
[00:32:38] within 120 days. So by July 22nd, we
[00:32:41] have to have that adopted and then
[00:32:43] forwarded up to the state for their uh
[00:32:45] documentation as well. Any questions at
[00:32:48] this point?
[00:32:50] No, certainly timing is is
[00:32:53] is accurate because of what we've gone
[00:32:56] through in the last obviously the last 6
[00:32:58] months. Fire hazards is on the mind of
[00:33:01] uh of all of us. So, uh, the timing
[00:33:05] couldn't be, you know, more critical.
[00:33:08] And so, we thank you for, uh, you know,
[00:33:12] initiating this, taking the lead, and
[00:33:15] most importantly, keeping us and our
[00:33:17] constituents informed. Yeah. So, if it's
[00:33:20] all right, I I'll continue in the in the
[00:33:22] slide presentation as far as some of the
[00:33:23] additional details that see what that
[00:33:25] actual impact is uh to developers,
[00:33:28] homeowners, property owners, and so
[00:33:29] forth. So to kind of break this down now
[00:33:32] keep in mind Ranch Mirage is going to be
[00:33:33] in that bottom category of moderate as
[00:33:36] you notice there there is only one task
[00:33:38] for us. It is simply to adopt the map.
[00:33:40] It's basically for an awareness. Um and
[00:33:43] ultimately it's just for that knowledge
[00:33:46] and appreciation of potential hazards at
[00:33:49] some point in time. Obviously depending
[00:33:51] on what type of weather systems we have,
[00:33:53] how much rain we get, we might get more
[00:33:55] or less vegetation growth in those hills
[00:33:58] and and potential hazards for that. Um,
[00:34:00] should there have been any high the any
[00:34:03] development within those high zones
[00:34:05] would have been required to um uh to
[00:34:08] construct according to fire hazard
[00:34:11] severity zone standards chapter 7A in
[00:34:13] the building code or residential code
[00:34:15] has another provision. uh basically
[00:34:17] would increase the uh the safety factor
[00:34:19] of the roofing material. Uh ember
[00:34:22] screens on your attic and crawl space
[00:34:24] access points uh appropriate type of
[00:34:26] glazing for your windows and even
[00:34:28] non-combustible siding. It's not until
[00:34:30] you get to the very high categories that
[00:34:32] we talk about defensible space. So, we
[00:34:34] don't really have to worry about that
[00:34:35] here necessarily, but it's certainly a
[00:34:37] good um thought for our developers that
[00:34:40] maybe they can still consider it
[00:34:42] proactively, but that we we're not going
[00:34:44] to uh require it from a development
[00:34:46] standpoint because of the classification
[00:34:49] of only
[00:34:51] moderate. Um this is a little bit
[00:34:53] broader of a looked to kind of look at
[00:34:55] the different requirements between the
[00:34:56] state responsibility and the local
[00:34:58] responsibility for all three categories.
[00:35:00] Uh so focusing on the right hand side of
[00:35:03] uh the kind of the gray uh bullet points
[00:35:05] between all that you'll see that um the
[00:35:07] local responsibility requirements are uh
[00:35:10] significantly less than what a state
[00:35:12] responsibility area mapped hazard zone
[00:35:14] of the same category would be. U so
[00:35:17] that's just to kind of break it down so
[00:35:18] that in case there was any confusion a
[00:35:20] developer having developed in the state
[00:35:22] responsibility area even in moderate
[00:35:24] we're like well I had to do all this in
[00:35:26] this project over here. Well, here in
[00:35:29] the local responsibility being only
[00:35:31] moderate, you won't have to construct a
[00:35:32] chapter 7A requirements. So, those are
[00:35:35] potential benefits for our developers,
[00:35:37] but they could if they wanted. Um, so
[00:35:40] these are just recommendations. Um,
[00:35:43] well, essentially these are if they're
[00:35:45] in those zones, so very high, they would
[00:35:47] have to maintain defensible space. They
[00:35:49] would have to do some home hardening
[00:35:50] improvements. Uh, they would have to
[00:35:53] construct in accordance with those
[00:35:54] wildland urban interface building codes.
[00:35:57] And uh anytime that they were to sell
[00:35:59] their property, they would have to do a
[00:36:00] disclosure. They would have to get an
[00:36:02] inspection possibly as well to identify
[00:36:04] if they're currently compliant with
[00:36:06] defensible space. And that would be part
[00:36:08] of the disclosure package. Uh for the
[00:36:10] high category, um it's a little bit less
[00:36:13] components. They don't have to do
[00:36:14] defensible space, but still meet the
[00:36:16] other requirements including the
[00:36:17] disclosure. Uh that would be state
[00:36:19] responsibility or local responsibility.
[00:36:22] Um, so as we get into these uh the WOOI
[00:36:25] codes, um, something to to recognize is
[00:36:27] that currently they're kind of scattered
[00:36:30] between the different uh, building
[00:36:31] standards codes. You got the building
[00:36:33] code chapter 7A. You got the residential
[00:36:36] code R337. Uh, you got a little portion
[00:36:39] in the fire code. um January 1 of this
[00:36:42] next year when we adopt the new code
[00:36:44] cycle every 3 years there's going to be
[00:36:46] a designated wildland urban interface or
[00:36:49] we code that's going to put these all
[00:36:50] together make it a little bit easier. Uh
[00:36:52] but in general it talks about the
[00:36:54] regulations to safeguard life and
[00:36:56] property depending on those uh whether
[00:36:58] it's from construction as well as
[00:36:59] defensible space um and how we can
[00:37:02] prevent the spread of fire from property
[00:37:04] to property.
[00:37:07] So these are uh this bullet this sheet
[00:37:10] is really a good one to reference as far
[00:37:12] as recommendations um for those that are
[00:37:15] in the moderate. This is purely a
[00:37:17] recommendation. Consider some of these
[00:37:19] things proactively or even uh
[00:37:21] retroactively uh maintaining the 30 ft
[00:37:24] of lean lean clean and green or at least
[00:37:27] to your property line. Um, you know,
[00:37:29] some of the regions that we have, they
[00:37:30] don't have large parcels up here. So,
[00:37:32] they may not be able to get more than
[00:37:33] five or 10 feet of defensible space uh
[00:37:36] because it's their next uh nextdoor
[00:37:38] neighbor's property. But, uh, keeping
[00:37:40] things such as the roofs and gutters
[00:37:42] clear debris, trim branches, uh, dead
[00:37:44] dead wood, clear all that out. If they
[00:37:47] happen to have the ability to do 100 ft,
[00:37:49] further thin that out um, uh, as well.
[00:37:53] And then zone zero, there's an asterisk
[00:37:54] on that. Um this is a uh legislation
[00:37:58] that is still pending adoption and
[00:38:01] implication for very high uh where they
[00:38:04] would actually have 0 to 5 ft of an
[00:38:06] ember resistant zone. Some mistakenly
[00:38:09] say it's a non-combustible zone and and
[00:38:12] in in looking at the the recommendations
[00:38:14] for that it would be not having mulch
[00:38:17] bark mulch uh within that 5 ft cuz
[00:38:20] embers can capture that. So utilizing
[00:38:22] gravel or pavers or other
[00:38:24] non-combustible type of ground cover
[00:38:27] within that space to eliminate it. If
[00:38:29] you have a uh fence or gate that's
[00:38:31] attached to your sideyard, changing that
[00:38:34] out to a non-combustible ember resistant
[00:38:38] type of uh gate or fencing system as
[00:38:40] well. Um then it talks about home
[00:38:43] hardening. So, um, probably the easiest,
[00:38:46] simplest thing to do, um, probably
[00:38:49] doesn't even cost that much is to change
[00:38:51] out your attic screen vents. So, at your
[00:38:54] roof lines, under your eaves, um,
[00:38:56] wherever it's at, replace the screen on
[00:38:58] it with a much smaller orifice, 1/8 inch
[00:39:01] orifice, uh, screen opening. Because as
[00:39:05] our atticss breathe, especially when
[00:39:06] it's windy and there's fire events going
[00:39:08] on, the likelihood of those embers being
[00:39:11] able to penetrate that screen, get into
[00:39:13] the combustible attic space and igniting
[00:39:15] your house from the attic is a lot less.
[00:39:17] And so, those are the good
[00:39:18] recommendations for that. talks about
[00:39:20] ceiling entry points under ease by
[00:39:22] boxing them in as things can collect
[00:39:24] under there. Think of our our birds uh
[00:39:27] like to make nests in some those areas
[00:39:29] and stuff like that where they can get
[00:39:30] to. So sealing those off. Um and then we
[00:39:35] don't have a lot of chimneys out here,
[00:39:36] but uh considering spark arresters and
[00:39:38] other elements for
[00:39:39] that. Uh some questions that are common
[00:39:42] here. Uh we kind of went already went
[00:39:44] through some of these. Uh ultimately um
[00:39:47] question three there is kind of one good
[00:39:49] one to point out that will existing
[00:39:51] homes buildings be subject to upgrades
[00:39:52] or mitigations if their hazard severity
[00:39:55] zone is now more restrictive for the
[00:39:58] specific specivity of uh the moderate
[00:40:00] category. No, there's no requirement.
[00:40:03] Should there have been high categories?
[00:40:06] Um it would be up to the building
[00:40:08] official to ultimately identify when
[00:40:10] they would want these to be done. But as
[00:40:12] it mentions there, certain remodels,
[00:40:14] additions, or improvements. So any
[00:40:15] permitted activity, it may go under
[00:40:17] review by that building official to
[00:40:19] identify, hey, you're doing a re-roof.
[00:40:22] Guess what? You're going to need to do a
[00:40:23] higher classification of a of your
[00:40:25] re-roofing to comply if they're in a
[00:40:28] high or very high category. But we don't
[00:40:30] have that here. Um, and similar for
[00:40:32] other other elements that are going
[00:40:35] on. All righty. Um, let me step back one
[00:40:38] there. The fourth question there talks
[00:40:39] about what zone is enforced where
[00:40:41] property falls into two or more zones.
[00:40:43] We're going to follow suit and uh
[00:40:45] consider the the worst case. So if
[00:40:47] there's a property that has that mapping
[00:40:50] that's splitting the parcel in
[00:40:53] some not necessarily down to a
[00:40:55] percentage, but if if any portion of it
[00:40:57] has two categories, we're going to go
[00:40:59] with the worst case. So if it's high, go
[00:41:02] with the high. If it's very high, go
[00:41:04] with the very high. Um, can cities and
[00:41:08] counties decide not to adopt the L maps?
[00:41:10] Unfortunately, uh, they are required to
[00:41:12] adopt the maps as mandated by the
[00:41:14] assembly bill as they are without, um,
[00:41:17] any decreases and so, but we can
[00:41:21] increase. And then there's some
[00:41:23] references here for that talking about
[00:41:25] the expansions between a Senate bill,
[00:41:27] assembly bills, um, and then additional
[00:41:29] information that's not only available on
[00:41:31] your city website now, but also at our
[00:41:34] county fire department website.
[00:41:36] That's all I have for that presentation.
[00:41:38] Any questions for me? Yes.
[00:41:42] Can people if they need if they're we're
[00:41:44] not in a high moder, but if they were,
[00:41:46] could they ask the fire department to
[00:41:48] come out, walk their property, and help
[00:41:50] them identify ways to or they have to do
[00:41:53] that privately? Yeah. So, uh, in the
[00:41:56] state responsibility area, uh, Calire
[00:41:58] Calire has the responsibility of doing
[00:42:00] what's called LE 100 defensible space
[00:42:02] inspections. Um, and they would
[00:42:04] typically do that. they try to do it on
[00:42:06] an annual basis. In the local
[00:42:07] responsibility area, there's not a
[00:42:08] requirement for us to do that. Um the
[00:42:11] typically right now the only
[00:42:13] proactive assistance that we provide is
[00:42:15] when they're doing a um um uh a change
[00:42:18] of ownership if they're selling the
[00:42:20] property cuz they need that as part of
[00:42:21] their disclosure package. But otherwise,
[00:42:24] a general outreach if they wanted to, we
[00:42:26] can certainly arrange for that. It just
[00:42:27] comes down to, you know, availability uh
[00:42:29] to to support that. But we can
[00:42:31] certainly become available as needs may
[00:42:34] arise should that be a case. And in
[00:42:37] looking in that map, I just recognize
[00:42:38] that my home is moderate.
[00:42:42] So, do I have to make a disclosure?
[00:42:44] Because I you'd said it about high and
[00:42:45] very high, but as a moderate category,
[00:42:48] there is no disclosure required for a
[00:42:50] home sale. Yeah. Spoken like a true
[00:42:52] attorney.
[00:42:56] May I ask a question? We we we're all
[00:42:58] familiar with how the state has been
[00:43:00] devastated by by fires over the years
[00:43:03] and of course that in turn has increased
[00:43:06] insurance rates both on a residential
[00:43:08] and commercial level with the adoption
[00:43:10] of of this map with the with a status of
[00:43:14] moderate.
[00:43:16] Is that something um that insurance
[00:43:19] companies would take a look at to help
[00:43:22] lower you know it continue to contribute
[00:43:24] to lowering risk thereby lowering costs
[00:43:27] because that is significant um I'm a
[00:43:31] real I'm a realtor during the day and
[00:43:33] one of the biggest challenges is uh for
[00:43:36] home buyers to find insurance so that's
[00:43:40] one and then our business community it's
[00:43:42] a large expense for them. Yeah. So with
[00:43:44] the adoption of this map, is this
[00:43:46] something that they could work with
[00:43:47] their respective insurance agencies or
[00:43:50] we we as a community can work with
[00:43:53] insurance companies to help lower costs
[00:43:55] and risk? So it's it's a wonderful
[00:43:58] question. Um in a way it's a kind of a
[00:44:00] double-edged sword. So if we look at the
[00:44:03] um frequently asked questions on the
[00:44:05] state fire marshals website about these
[00:44:06] maps, it asks that question. Can the are
[00:44:09] the insurance companies able to utilize
[00:44:11] this in a proactive or a negative way?
[00:44:14] And ultimately it was communicated that
[00:44:16] no, they have no right to utilize this
[00:44:19] as a method to identify the risk for
[00:44:21] their insurability. Um and to the extent
[00:44:24] that they're supposed to utilize other
[00:44:25] metrics to actually identify true risk.
[00:44:27] This is just identifying a potential
[00:44:29] hazard. Um they use some legal languages
[00:44:32] to to kind of reference that. Should an
[00:44:35] insurance possibly do that? It's quite
[00:44:37] possible. Um ultimately the uh the
[00:44:40] clients of that insurance has access to
[00:44:42] raise complaints with the California
[00:44:44] State Insurance Board uh as far as if
[00:44:48] there was any clear designation that
[00:44:50] they utilize that uh but kind of going
[00:44:52] into the next presentation that Chief
[00:44:54] Beverland's going to talk about. city
[00:44:56] has made vast improvements to articulate
[00:44:58] that um insurance companies should feel
[00:45:01] more comfortable about Ranch Mirage and
[00:45:03] other communities that um even if they
[00:45:05] have these designations because we've um
[00:45:08] collectively developed such a robust uh
[00:45:10] response system um as well as other
[00:45:12] proactive measures, preventative
[00:45:14] measures that um it should not be a
[00:45:17] factor for insurabilities. Terrific. Mr.
[00:45:20] Chief, are you going to talk about the
[00:45:22] uh ISO plan? Yes, sir. Okay, cool. Mr.
[00:45:24] Mr. Mayor, may I? Yeah. So, uh, two
[00:45:27] questions. First, uh, it looks like
[00:45:29] we're in fairly good shape in the city
[00:45:31] of Ranch Mirage. The, uh, moderate areas
[00:45:34] are the areas south of Highway, uh, 111.
[00:45:37] So, a good portion of the city is in
[00:45:39] less than moderate, uh, a less than
[00:45:42] moderate zone. Um, so that's a I I guess
[00:45:45] that's a that's something that we should
[00:45:46] be happy about. The question though is
[00:45:48] uh in moderate zones, one of the issues
[00:45:51] was compliance with something about um
[00:45:55] 7A. What what does that mean? What does
[00:45:58] it mean for those residents in 7A? What
[00:46:00] do they specifically need to comply
[00:46:01] with? Yeah. So, if this was a moderate
[00:46:04] category in a state responsibility
[00:46:06] mapped area, uh they would have to
[00:46:07] comply with construction standards
[00:46:10] identified in the California Building
[00:46:11] Code Chapter 7A. uh talks about the
[00:46:14] roofing material, talks about the
[00:46:15] exterior siding, ember screens, uh
[00:46:17] decking material and other stuff like
[00:46:19] that. Being that this is in the local
[00:46:22] responsibility area with moderate,
[00:46:23] there's no uh compliance required for 7A
[00:46:26] or any other uh type of standards. It's
[00:46:28] it's essentially just awareness. Got it.
[00:46:30] Okay. Thank you.
[00:46:34] Any other questions?
[00:46:37] Thank you very much for the
[00:46:38] presentation. I'm going to bring up uh
[00:46:40] No, my pleasure. and then we'll bring it
[00:46:41] back up, brother Chief
[00:46:44] Beverly. Thanks, Cole. Great job. So,
[00:46:47] um, that was kind of the the the
[00:46:50] wildland portion of, uh, the
[00:46:52] presentation to comply with, uh, the
[00:46:54] legislation, um, to update the the full
[00:46:57] council and and staff, um, as long as
[00:47:01] commercial, um, business owners and
[00:47:04] residents. Um over the last 2 years
[00:47:07] we've been kind of being assessed by the
[00:47:10] insurance service office. Um and what
[00:47:13] that uh company does is they come out
[00:47:15] and evaluate the community um for its
[00:47:18] fire um protection services for
[00:47:22] structure fires. Doesn't include a lot
[00:47:24] of the wildland uh things that you just
[00:47:27] had a presentation about. Uh so um with
[00:47:31] the leadership of uh you all your your
[00:47:34] direction, your guidance, your support
[00:47:35] along with the city manager and his
[00:47:37] staff in conjunction with our partners
[00:47:40] in Palm Desert and Indian Wells, our um
[00:47:43] fire uh public protection classification
[00:47:45] has improved from uh a 33X to a 22 2X.
[00:47:51] And that sounds complicated, but it's
[00:47:53] not really that complicated. What it
[00:47:54] means is is that um we have uh they
[00:47:59] evaluated uh the fire department
[00:48:01] response model, they evaluated the
[00:48:03] dispatch center and they evaluated the
[00:48:06] water system um for all three cities and
[00:48:09] cumulatively uh together um we are in
[00:48:12] really good shape. So um I think the
[00:48:15] last uh assessment that we had was uh
[00:48:18] 2016 or 18 I think um co kind of got
[00:48:21] them off cycle a little bit. uh usually
[00:48:24] I think we get these ratings um in
[00:48:26] studies about every uh four to to six
[00:48:29] years depending on the cycle. So what
[00:48:31] that means to us is that um we are uh we
[00:48:35] are in really good shape. Um if you look
[00:48:38] across the nation in 2023 there were
[00:48:41] about 38,000 fire departments that were
[00:48:43] studied. Um, if we add in uh the updated
[00:48:47] model that'll take take effect uh June
[00:48:50] 1st, um we are in the top
[00:48:53] 6.5% of all cities nationwide with our
[00:48:57] fire protection classification. So, um
[00:49:00] with that being said, we're in in good
[00:49:02] shape. Uh we have a meeting scheduled
[00:49:04] for um July with uh the V-Risk
[00:49:07] representative for ISO to kind of go
[00:49:10] over the data and make sure that we
[00:49:11] validate everything. um the score that
[00:49:14] we got is not as high as I was
[00:49:16] anticipating. Even though we did get an
[00:49:17] improvement, I thought it would be a
[00:49:18] little bit higher. So, I'm going to make
[00:49:20] them validate all of the things that
[00:49:22] they got from us to make sure that we're
[00:49:23] getting the absolute max point value. Um
[00:49:26] and I would anticipate that, you know,
[00:49:28] maybe in in four to 6 years, we might
[00:49:30] have an avenue to be able to get to a
[00:49:33] class one fire department, which there
[00:49:35] are very few. I think nationwide right
[00:49:37] now there's less than 500 total. So, um,
[00:49:40] with that being said, just thank you for
[00:49:42] all of your support. We wouldn't be able
[00:49:44] to do any of these things without the
[00:49:46] guidance from the council and the
[00:49:48] wonderful city staff that con
[00:49:50] consistently just help us out in every
[00:49:52] way possible and in our partnerships
[00:49:54] with the other cities. Um, uh, we
[00:49:57] delivered this message to the Cove
[00:49:59] Commission uh earlier this month and um,
[00:50:02] without uh, a combined effort, we
[00:50:04] definitely wouldn't be where we're at
[00:50:05] today. So, thank you for your support
[00:50:07] and I'm happy to answer any questions.
[00:50:10] Well, thank you, Chief. Indeed, it is a
[00:50:12] partnership uh without a doubt. Uh I had
[00:50:15] the pleasure of hearing your
[00:50:17] presentation at the Cove meeting several
[00:50:20] weeks ago and uh it's great that uh you
[00:50:24] know, you're not uh satisfied with the
[00:50:27] existing rating that you're going to be
[00:50:30] working hard to try to even improve
[00:50:33] that. So that gives us, you know, a
[00:50:35] great deal of encouragement. So thank
[00:50:37] you. Thank you for everything you do.
[00:50:39] Yes, sir.
[00:50:41] Thank you, Chief. Thank you,
[00:50:45] Chief. Okay, we now go to something a
[00:50:49] little lighter and
[00:50:51] uh and that's the recognition of Holly
[00:50:54] Kenley,
[00:50:56] uh Mrs. Senior, California 2025.
[00:51:01] Um, Holly, you might want to come up to
[00:51:04] the
[00:51:05] uh the podium and I'll make a couple
[00:51:08] comments and I'll meet you there in a
[00:51:09] moment. But uh Holly was born in Elie,
[00:51:15] Nevada, a graduate of the University of
[00:51:17] California at Santa
[00:51:19] Barbara. Uh she has a bachelor's degree
[00:51:21] in French and music.
[00:51:24] Uh she has pursued a career in teaching
[00:51:28] and twice was voted teacher of the year
[00:51:31] within the Desert Sands Unified School
[00:51:34] District. Um she received high honors at
[00:51:38] Chapman University earning a master's
[00:51:41] degree in psychology.
[00:51:44] In addition, she has spent 30 years as a
[00:51:49] marriage and family therapist and has
[00:51:52] authored 11 recovery books.
[00:51:55] Amazing. Uh Holly has um advanced her
[00:52:00] work in the field of psychology as a
[00:52:03] seasoned speaker. She's been six times
[00:52:06] presenter of the California Association
[00:52:10] of Marriage and Family Therapists.
[00:52:13] Uh I had the honor of meeting Holly
[00:52:17] briefly before this meeting. She's the
[00:52:20] second recipient
[00:52:22] uh from Rancho Mirage um to receive the
[00:52:27] Mrs. senior California pageant queen
[00:52:30] honors and uh uh we concluded that it
[00:52:34] must be the water
[00:52:38] uh that has enabled her to achieve this
[00:52:42] high mark. So Holly thank you and I'll
[00:52:45] join you in a moment. Okay. Thank you,
[00:52:47] Mayor While.
[00:53:01] Good to see you again. See you.
[00:53:03] Likewise. Come over here,
[00:53:06] Holly. So, this certificate of
[00:53:10] recognition, I'll make sure that we get
[00:53:12] a good picture of you. Not me. But this
[00:53:16] certificate of recognition is presented
[00:53:18] to Holly Keenley, Mrs. Senior,
[00:53:21] California
[00:53:23] 2025. On behalf of the entire city
[00:53:26] council of the city of Rancho Mirage, I
[00:53:30] hereby recognize Holly Canley, the 2025
[00:53:34] Mrs. senior California pageant queen and
[00:53:39] shining example of the dignity, maturity
[00:53:43] and inner beauty of all senior
[00:53:46] Americans. And I can certainly identify
[00:53:49] with the senior part. Holly, thank you
[00:53:51] very much and congratulations.
[00:53:54] [Applause]
[00:54:05] Thank you, Mayor While. I had prepared
[00:54:07] some remarks if you would like me to
[00:54:09] share those. Absolutely. Okay. And thank
[00:54:12] you so much for this honor. It's our
[00:54:14] pleasure. Okay. Thank you. You want me
[00:54:16] to hold this for you? Uh yes. And I was
[00:54:19] going to stand stand over here. Yeah.
[00:54:21] Okay.
[00:54:25] Okay. I can speak right there if you
[00:54:27] like. Okay. Thank you.
[00:54:33] Thank you, Mayor Why, city council
[00:54:36] members, city staff for inviting me here
[00:54:39] today. It is an
[00:54:41] honor. Last weekend, I opened up this
[00:54:45] beautiful book, Rancho Mirage at
[00:54:49] 50. Although I had perused it shortly
[00:54:52] after its arrival, I took the time to
[00:54:55] read it cover to cover.
[00:54:58] Wow, what an extraordinary city we live
[00:55:02] in. After moving to Rancho Mirage almost
[00:55:05] seven years ago, I knew of some of its
[00:55:08] history, but I wasn't fully aware of how
[00:55:11] this city contributes to our quality of
[00:55:12] life with its focus on four areas:
[00:55:16] luxury, community, recreation, and
[00:55:20] conservation.
[00:55:22] Although longtime residents are aware of
[00:55:24] the wonders of Rancher Mirage, I would
[00:55:26] like to highlight a few that stand out
[00:55:28] to me. First, Rancher Mirage is known
[00:55:32] for Restaurant Row, which provides some
[00:55:34] of the most delicious dining in the
[00:55:36] desert. Two of my personal favorites,
[00:55:39] Wallally's Desert Turtle and Las Noeas.
[00:55:44] Rancher Mirage serves as a resort and
[00:55:46] recreation destination with stunning
[00:55:48] properties such as the Ritz Carlton,
[00:55:51] Omni Ranchulus, Palmus, Aua Caliente
[00:55:54] Resort and Casino and so many others.
[00:55:58] Ranch of Mirage is a leader in community
[00:56:00] building with exceptional attractions
[00:56:03] and events such as Sunnyland Center and
[00:56:05] Gardens, Rancher Mirage Library and
[00:56:07] Observatory, Ranch of Mirage Festival of
[00:56:10] the Arts, and a plethora of golf and
[00:56:13] tennis tournaments, just to name a few.
[00:56:16] Rancher Mirage's multifunctional parks
[00:56:19] and commemorative sites such as the
[00:56:20] Veterans Recognition Wall and the Block
[00:56:23] Cancer Survivor Park offer residents and
[00:56:26] visitors meaningful places to gather and
[00:56:29] to connect.
[00:56:31] Lastly, Rancher Mirage's outreach to the
[00:56:34] community is extremely impressive, not
[00:56:37] only in the area of environment, such as
[00:56:39] protecting big horn sheep, but also
[00:56:42] prior prioritizing the health and
[00:56:44] well-being of its population with the
[00:56:47] expansive state-of-the-art facilities
[00:56:49] such as Eisenhower Health and Hazelton
[00:56:52] Betty Ford Center. Yes, this city is
[00:56:56] remarkable and I could go on and on. On
[00:56:59] a personal level, I'll just add that for
[00:57:01] over six years, I maintained a marriage
[00:57:04] and family therapy private practice here
[00:57:06] in Rancher Mirage. Every interaction I
[00:57:10] had with City Hall regarding my business
[00:57:12] license or office inspections was
[00:57:15] incredibly polite, professional, and
[00:57:19] positive. Thank you.
[00:57:22] And when I'm out walking in my Dell web
[00:57:24] Rancher Mirage community, I am witness
[00:57:26] to the joy, connection, and sense of
[00:57:29] belonging when seniors are out swimming,
[00:57:31] exercising, playing pickle ball, or
[00:57:35] gathering at the clubhouse engaged in
[00:57:37] all kinds of
[00:57:38] shenanigans. I am so fortunate to be a
[00:57:41] resident of Ranch Mirage with its quote
[00:57:43] elegance, innovation, and allure. and
[00:57:47] I'm proud to serve as Miss Senior
[00:57:49] California
[00:57:51] 2025. It's no coincidence that our
[00:57:53] pageant's motto is the age of elegance
[00:57:57] where we strive to represent the
[00:57:59] dignity, maturity, and inner beauty of
[00:58:03] all seniors. For we believe seniors are
[00:58:06] the foundation of America and our most
[00:58:10] valuable treasure.
[00:58:12] In October, I'll be competing at the
[00:58:14] Miss Senior America Pageant in Atlantic
[00:58:17] City, New Jersey. I'll give it my best
[00:58:20] shot. Thank you again, Mayor While and
[00:58:24] City Council members, city staff for
[00:58:26] your invitation and your warm
[00:58:29] welcome. Thank
[00:58:31] you. And we wish you welcome.
[00:58:35] [Applause]
[00:58:37] Thank you so much. Be well. Thank you.
[00:58:44] While we're waiting for the mayor to
[00:58:45] come back up, Holly, while he was
[00:58:47] reading, while the mayor was reading
[00:58:48] your list of accomplishments, I couldn't
[00:58:50] help wondering what have I been doing
[00:58:51] with my time. So, congratulations and
[00:58:54] congratulations on winning uh Mrs.
[00:58:56] California, Mrs. Senior California. As
[00:58:58] you mentioned, as the mayor mentioned,
[00:58:59] the second year in a row that the winner
[00:59:01] comes from the city of of Rancher
[00:59:03] Mirage. So, congratulations. Thank you.
[00:59:11] Okay, we're very proud of
[00:59:14] Holly. Uh we will now go to the
[00:59:19] um council member comments. I will start
[00:59:22] on my Mayor, we do have a request for
[00:59:24] public comment on this. So if you'd like
[00:59:26] to do that now. Okay. Brad Anderson.
[00:59:40] Hello, Brad Anderson, City of An Mirage.
[00:59:42] I'm sorely disappointed not in the
[00:59:45] presentations
[00:59:46] but I've requested before to give public
[00:59:50] comments after after your your council
[00:59:54] comments and
[00:59:55] reports and and both times this be the
[00:59:58] third time I've been denied that
[01:00:00] opportunity and I really don't
[01:00:02] understand why. It's like the
[01:00:04] presentations how could I possibly give
[01:00:07] a comment before the presentation? So,
[01:00:10] um, I'm I'm just I'm disappointed that
[01:00:13] this is happening and I will continue to
[01:00:16] do this until you allow me to speak.
[01:00:18] Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
[01:00:23] That was the only comment.
[01:00:30] We have others or no public comments.
[01:00:34] There's no other public comments, so you
[01:00:36] can move. Okay. We'll go go to um
[01:00:39] council member comments. I'll start on
[01:00:41] my left and council member from
[01:00:44] Edelstein.
[01:00:47] I do not have to disclose that I'm in
[01:00:49] the moderate fire zone. I just have to
[01:00:51] make that public again. Otherwise, I
[01:00:53] have no comments at this time.
[01:00:57] Council member O'Keefe. Thank you, Mr.
[01:00:59] Mayor. And no comments today.
[01:01:03] Council member DS.
[01:01:05] I have a couple things. I'm sorry. I
[01:01:07] have a couple things I wanted to talk
[01:01:08] about today, Mr. Mayor. So, first has to
[01:01:10] do with the CV link and the reason I
[01:01:12] wanted to talk about it today is is
[01:01:13] because it's been in the news recently.
[01:01:15] Uh some of the last segments of the um
[01:01:18] current version of the link are being
[01:01:20] completed and so it's been commented on
[01:01:22] the paper and in social media. I do want
[01:01:24] to remind the residents of the city of
[01:01:26] Ranch Mirage the reason why the CV link
[01:01:28] does not run through our city or through
[01:01:30] the city of Indian Wells. The reason is
[01:01:32] that the residents of this city voted on
[01:01:34] it. So in April of 2016, it was on the
[01:01:37] ballot in the city of Ranch Mirage and
[01:01:40] 75 to 80% of the residents of this city
[01:01:44] voted that the CVlink would not run
[01:01:47] through this city. Now the reason uh
[01:01:49] certainly there were some concerns about
[01:01:51] public funds being spent uh for this
[01:01:53] kind of road use, but the biggest
[01:01:55] concern uh for this city was the route.
[01:01:58] The route of the CV link ran through the
[01:02:00] business community and it ran in front
[01:02:02] of some of our uh major uh residential
[01:02:04] areas and the business community and
[01:02:06] those members of those those residents
[01:02:08] of those residential areas were opposed
[01:02:10] to the location of the CV link. The city
[01:02:12] did offer alternative routes and those
[01:02:15] alternative routes were turned down and
[01:02:16] as a result the voters in this city
[01:02:18] voted between 75 and 80% that the CV
[01:02:21] link would not run through this city.
[01:02:23] Now here's one other important issue.
[01:02:25] So, uh, this council sometimes gets
[01:02:26] criticized by, uh, uh, by some, uh, that
[01:02:30] we should reconsider this issue. We
[01:02:31] can't. And the reason we can't is
[01:02:33] because the other issue that was decided
[01:02:35] by the voters is that if the city of
[01:02:37] Ranch Mirage ever decides that it wishes
[01:02:39] to participate in the CV link, it's got
[01:02:42] to be done by the voters in this city.
[01:02:44] So, the voters are in control, not this
[01:02:46] council. So I wanted to make sure that
[01:02:48] that was that that everybody every
[01:02:50] resident of the city is aware as to why
[01:02:52] we do not participate and the reason why
[01:02:54] and what has to be done in order to
[01:02:56] participate if the residents of the city
[01:02:58] want to do so in the future. The other
[01:03:00] thing that I wanted to talk about today
[01:03:01] is uh a few comments about affordable
[01:03:04] housing. Now the reason that I want to
[01:03:06] talk about it today is because in recent
[01:03:09] days we did have a visit from one of our
[01:03:11] affordable housing partners who had some
[01:03:13] things to talk to the city council
[01:03:14] about. And I just wanted to remind this
[01:03:17] city the important strides that we've
[01:03:20] made over the course of the last year or
[01:03:22] so. Now, why is it important for us to
[01:03:24] engage in affordable housing? One is an
[01:03:26] economic reason. It's important to make
[01:03:27] sure that there is an employee base for
[01:03:29] some of our larger employers like
[01:03:31] Eisenhower Medical Center, which is this
[01:03:33] city's and this valley's largest
[01:03:35] employer. It's also the case that
[01:03:37] providing affordable housing, a roof
[01:03:39] over a good solid re roof over our
[01:03:42] residents heads, it's simply the right
[01:03:45] thing to do. And here's the prog
[01:03:47] progress that we've made over the last
[01:03:48] year or so. There are four projects on
[01:03:51] two city-owned parcels that we have
[01:03:52] approved. There is one more uh parcel uh
[01:03:55] that is being developed by a private
[01:03:57] developer. So these five projects will
[01:03:59] represent about 850 of the 1100 or so
[01:04:03] incomerestricted dwelling units that the
[01:04:05] state of California requires that we
[01:04:07] produce or that we entitle rather that's
[01:04:10] almost 80% of our goal and all of this
[01:04:12] has been done in the first two years of
[01:04:15] our current 8-year housing element the
[01:04:17] housing element part portion of our
[01:04:19] general plan. So, I wanted to make sure
[01:04:21] uh that we had an opportunity to to
[01:04:24] remind the uh the residents of this city
[01:04:26] all of the accomplish accomplishments
[01:04:28] that we have achieved in affordable
[01:04:30] housing uh over the last year or so. And
[01:04:32] I hope that u uh a couple of folks from
[01:04:35] Lift Arise who have made comments about
[01:04:36] this city are listening. Thank you, Mr.
[01:04:38] Mayor. Thank you, Council Member
[01:04:42] Towns. Mayor Promatto.
[01:04:45] No comments at this time. Thank you. Um,
[01:04:48] I will,
[01:04:50] um, Council Member DS, I'm going to
[01:04:52] hitchhike on to your comments as it
[01:04:55] relates to, um, do the CV link, and that
[01:05:00] has to do with the our boost for bicycle
[01:05:06] safety, something that we're always very
[01:05:08] conscious of in the city of Rancho
[01:05:11] Mirage. and I'm excited to share an
[01:05:14] update with our vibrant cycling
[01:05:16] community here in Rancho Mirage. As we
[01:05:19] recognize National Bike Safety Month
[01:05:23] this May, the city is making meaningful
[01:05:26] progress on three major construction
[01:05:30] projects designed to improve bicycle
[01:05:33] safety throughout our streets.
[01:05:36] These efforts include upgrading existing
[01:05:39] bike lanes and improving signage to
[01:05:43] create safer, more accessible routes for
[01:05:47] all
[01:05:48] riders. It's all part of Rancho Mirage's
[01:05:51] continuing commitment to sustainable
[01:05:55] transportation and the well-being of our
[01:05:58] residents and visitors alike. Following
[01:06:02] is a brief update from the city's
[01:06:04] project manager with more details on
[01:06:07] these initiatives. And if you would run
[01:06:09] the video,
[01:06:12] please. Here in Ranch Rage, we have a
[01:06:15] pretty large community of bicyclists and
[01:06:18] we like to keep them happy. With palm
[01:06:20] tree lined streets and a stunning
[01:06:22] mountain backdrop, bicycling in the
[01:06:24] valley can be an amazing experience.
[01:06:28] But for some cyclists, it also comes
[01:06:30] with serious safety concerns.
[01:06:33] I've had a friend of mine um was killed
[01:06:36] by a car riding out there in the bike
[01:06:39] lanes in the street. That's why the city
[01:06:40] of Rancher Mirage is stepping up and
[01:06:43] taking action to improve bike safety.
[01:06:46] We're sensitive to the fact that
[01:06:48] bicycles and vehicles sometimes get a
[01:06:51] little close together. We want to keep
[01:06:52] them safe. Rancho Mirage project manager
[01:06:55] Charlie Nesbet says three construction
[01:06:57] projects are planned across the city.
[01:06:59] All aimed at making the road safer for
[01:07:01] cyclists. One is right here along Deval
[01:07:03] road. We have the access ramp here and
[01:07:05] new striping along Delval all the way
[01:07:08] down to Frank Sinatra and then also
[01:07:10] coming down Bob Hope southbound. We'll
[01:07:12] be doing striping and curb modifications
[01:07:15] to add more access as that is a busy
[01:07:17] access. And then also thirdly, Frank
[01:07:20] Sinatra running eastbound. These
[01:07:23] projects are expected to be completed
[01:07:25] this summer, offering riders improved
[01:07:27] safety and greater peace of mind. Seems
[01:07:29] like you're upgrading all the time and
[01:07:31] money well spent. Anything you can do
[01:07:33] for pedestrian or bike is is great.
[01:07:39] And again, I think it shows uh the
[01:07:42] degree of our dedication.
[01:07:45] Uh as uh Steve said, the CB link made no
[01:07:49] sense as far as our city was concerned
[01:07:53] based upon the imposition it would make
[01:07:56] uh upon our residents and commercial
[01:07:58] areas, but the bike safety progress
[01:08:02] we're making is critical and paramount
[01:08:06] and that's foremost in our minds at all
[01:08:08] times. Uh with that, that concludes our
[01:08:12] council comments.
[01:08:14] and council member comments and I'll ask
[01:08:17] the city manager for any comments that
[01:08:20] he might have uh and then we can go
[01:08:24] directly into the consent calendar. No
[01:08:26] comments today, Mr. Mayor. So, I will go
[01:08:28] right to the consent calendar. Uh the
[01:08:30] council has four items on the consent
[01:08:33] calendar for
[01:08:34] consideration. Item 5A is to approve the
[01:08:38] April 17th, 2025 regular meeting
[01:08:41] minutes. Item 5B is to receive and file
[01:08:45] the March 31st, 2025 quarterly treasures
[01:08:49] report. Item 5 C are to approve the
[01:08:52] contracts and 5D are to approve the
[01:08:55] demands before we go to council comments
[01:08:57] or questions. I'll ask the city clerk to
[01:09:00] take any public comment. Brad Anderson.
[01:09:06] Thank you again, Brad Anderson. I
[01:09:08] currently live within the city of
[01:09:09] Anarrage. I wanted to speak on item
[01:09:11] five. This is the consent calendar
[01:09:13] today. Items number 5A, which is the
[01:09:15] minutes, 5C, contracts, and 5D demands.
[01:09:18] I have submitted written comments for
[01:09:21] everything I'll be speaking on today,
[01:09:23] including item three. You changed the
[01:09:25] agenda on me. So, uh, according uh item
[01:09:30] 5A is the minutes and and I've I've
[01:09:32] voiced my concern several times, uh, of
[01:09:35] the minutes not being accurate, meaning
[01:09:38] that my stance on certain items, even
[01:09:40] when I speak on the consent items
[01:09:42] today, it's not reflecting the consent
[01:09:45] item that I'm speaking on. It's just
[01:09:47] general information concerning the
[01:09:49] calendar itself and no stance was taken.
[01:09:53] Um, I'm in opposition to all of it, by
[01:09:55] the way. Uh, uh, and and this is only a
[01:10:00] council meeting, but we have
[01:10:01] subcommittee meetings, too, which are
[01:10:02] just recorded audio, and those are not
[01:10:05] kept, I understand, from the city, and
[01:10:08] legally they're not supposed to be kept
[01:10:09] over 30 days. I believe the legal
[01:10:11] council can chime in on that. So for the
[01:10:14] city to approve those type of minutes
[01:10:17] just off the audio recording and then
[01:10:19] have no other backup information to uh
[01:10:22] rely
[01:10:23] on. That's really
[01:10:27] not I guess good governance and and
[01:10:30] that's what I'm afraid of. the the city
[01:10:32] has taken radical actions to
[01:10:35] silence public speakers mainly public
[01:10:38] comments from the residents of the city
[01:10:40] or or guest to the city and and it's not
[01:10:44] okay. I mean, stuff like that. Even
[01:10:47] today, I mean, I'm not going to
[01:10:48] sidetrack too much, but you changed the
[01:10:50] agenda. So, public non-aggenda public
[01:10:52] comments at the end of the meeting.
[01:10:54] There's no explanation for that, but
[01:10:56] I'll bring that up in my non-aggenda
[01:10:58] public comments. Concerning contracts,
[01:11:00] I've submitted comments. I won't keep
[01:11:02] time. I don't have a time clock here, by
[01:11:04] the way. It might be on the big screen.
[01:11:05] There it is. Um, and five demand uh
[01:11:10] demands again. I I've written some
[01:11:13] comments, submitted them, and and my
[01:11:16] concerns on I brought up some items, but
[01:11:18] mainly that it's had repeated demands
[01:11:21] from the prior city council meeting. So,
[01:11:25] I believe those were already approved by
[01:11:27] the council. So, that's either an
[01:11:29] oversight or intentionally done. I don't
[01:11:31] know why you would intentionally do it,
[01:11:32] but that's something that needs to be
[01:11:34] corrected. And that's all I have. Thank
[01:11:36] you. Thank you for your comment. Is
[01:11:38] there anyone else who would like to
[01:11:39] speak on the consent calendar? That was
[01:11:42] the only speaker. Are there any council
[01:11:44] comments regarding the consent calendar?
[01:11:47] I have no comments. If there I'm sorry,
[01:11:49] did you? No. If there are no other
[01:11:51] comments, I move to approve the consent
[01:11:53] calendar. There's a motion to approve.
[01:11:55] Is there a second? I'll second. Second.
[01:11:57] There's a motion and a second. Please
[01:12:05] vote. You have to
[01:12:12] Motion carries 5.
[01:12:14] Great.
[01:12:17] Okay, we'll go to
[01:12:19] the action calendar. The first is the
[01:12:23] intention to enex territory comprising
[01:12:27] of 10.12 acres
[01:12:30] uh to community facilities district
[01:12:32] number one. Jacob de la Cruz, our
[01:12:36] financial analyst. Jacob, if you would,
[01:12:38] please. Thank you, mayor, and good
[01:12:39] afternoon, council. This item is the
[01:12:41] first step in the city's annexation
[01:12:43] process for developments within the
[01:12:44] city's jurisdiction. The second and
[01:12:46] final step is planned to be considered
[01:12:47] at the June 5th council meeting. The
[01:12:49] territory proposed for annexation is
[01:12:51] located on the east side of Vista
[01:12:52] Deloul, just east of the Betty Ford
[01:12:54] Center and west of Vista Dunes Road. It
[01:12:56] is comprised of two parcels totaling
[01:12:58] approximately 10.12 acres, and the
[01:13:00] project is slated to subdivide the
[01:13:01] parcels into eight residential lots.
[01:13:03] Tenative track map 38222 was originally
[01:13:06] approved by the planning commission on
[01:13:08] April 27th, 2023. Condition of approval
[01:13:11] number 23 for the project requires the
[01:13:13] territory be annexed into CFD1. In
[01:13:15] accordance with the condition of
[01:13:16] approval, the owner of the annex
[01:13:18] territory submitted a petition for
[01:13:19] annexation, requesting that the city
[01:13:21] council initiate proceedings to annex
[01:13:23] the territory into CFD1 and provide for
[01:13:25] expedited approval of the annexation and
[01:13:27] the levy of the special tax. Upon
[01:13:29] approval of the resolution, the city
[01:13:31] will be able to accept the petition for
[01:13:33] annexation, consent to the levy upon the
[01:13:35] territory, allow for the shortening of
[01:13:37] the time for the special election and
[01:13:39] expedite the annexation, accept and
[01:13:41] preliminarily approve the annexation
[01:13:42] map, and direct city clerk to record the
[01:13:45] map, and finally establish the date and
[01:13:47] time of the public hearing for the
[01:13:48] annexation of the territory. That
[01:13:50] concludes my presentation. I'd be happy
[01:13:51] to answer any questions.
[01:13:53] Thank you. Well, Jacob, are there any
[01:13:55] public comments? I did not receive any
[01:13:57] speaker cards for this item. Is there
[01:13:59] anyone in the audience who would like to
[01:14:00] speak on
[01:14:02] 6A? No speakers. Thank you. Are there
[01:14:05] any council comments regarding item 6A?
[01:14:11] If there are none, I'll entertain a
[01:14:13] motion.
[01:14:14] I'll make the motion. Uh move to adopt
[01:14:17] resolution number 2025 next in order
[01:14:20] declaring the city's intention to annex
[01:14:22] territory to community facilities
[01:14:24] district number one and to levy a
[01:14:26] special tax therein for additional
[01:14:28] police and fire services
[01:14:30] preliminarily of approve a map of the
[01:14:32] area proposed to be annexed and schedule
[01:14:34] a public hearing to consider the
[01:14:36] annexation and the levy of the special
[01:14:38] tax for annexation number 197.
[01:14:43] There's a motion and a second. Please
[01:14:45] vote.
[01:14:50] Motion carries 5-0.
[01:14:52] Thank you. The next item will be item
[01:14:55] 6B, the fiscal
[01:14:57] year 2025 2026 rent levels for the
[01:15:02] housing authority residential complexes.
[01:15:05] Marcus Aliman, housing manager. Marcus,
[01:15:10] take it away. Thank you, Mayor. Good
[01:15:12] afternoon, Chair While, housing
[01:15:14] authority board and staff. The city of
[01:15:16] Ranch Mirage's housing authority owns
[01:15:18] and maintains four age restricted
[01:15:20] affordable housing properties. Those
[01:15:22] properties are Park View Villas,
[01:15:23] Whispering Waters, Santa Rosa Villas,
[01:15:26] and Sana Villas totaling 226 units. The
[01:15:30] city contracts with Highter Property
[01:15:32] Management Professionals to oversee the
[01:15:34] daily on-site operations. Each
[01:15:36] household's rent is established using
[01:15:38] the affordable housing formula, which is
[01:15:40] simply to calculate 30% of the
[01:15:42] household's total prior annual gross
[01:15:44] income. Per US Department of Housing and
[01:15:47] Urban Development affordable housing
[01:15:49] guidelines, a rent reertification review
[01:15:51] is conducted annually to establish the
[01:15:53] new rent rates for the following year
[01:15:55] and to confirm the residents eligibility
[01:15:57] for affordable housing. Eligibility is
[01:16:00] determined using the state income limits
[01:16:02] established by the department of housing
[01:16:04] and community development for Riverside
[01:16:06] County as a benefit to the residents of
[01:16:09] Rancho Mirages Housing Authority
[01:16:10] properties. In 2003, city council
[01:16:13] approved a prescription rent credit
[01:16:15] program that covers out-ofpocket medical
[01:16:17] expenses for the prior year for which
[01:16:20] the household receives no reimbursement.
[01:16:22] Prescription rent credits are applied to
[01:16:24] the upcoming fiscal year and are capped
[01:16:26] at $100 per month per household. Staff
[01:16:30] staff recommends that the housing
[01:16:32] authority board approved fiscal year
[01:16:34] 2025 2026 rent levels for Parkview
[01:16:37] Villas, Santa Villas, Santa Rosa Villas,
[01:16:40] and Whispering Waters age restricted
[01:16:42] residential complexes. This concludes my
[01:16:44] presentation. I'm available for any
[01:16:46] questions. Thank you, Marcus. Are there
[01:16:49] any public comments? I did not receive
[01:16:51] any speaker cards. Is there anyone who
[01:16:52] would like to speak on
[01:16:54] 6B? No speakers. Thank you. Anybody
[01:16:58] that's ever visited any of our housing
[01:17:01] properties would be very proud. They are
[01:17:04] just
[01:17:04] outstanding and
[01:17:06] um you know, we're very pleased to be
[01:17:09] able to uh provide
[01:17:12] those. Uh are there any uh council
[01:17:15] comments?
[01:17:18] Um this is just a uh to complement our
[01:17:22] housing manager's efforts along with our
[01:17:26] planning director.
[01:17:28] Um your presentations were wonderful and
[01:17:31] they were clear. They were concise. you
[01:17:35] um presented a tremendous amount of
[01:17:38] patience and compassion
[01:17:40] um for our seniors who had some very
[01:17:43] concerning questions especially with the
[01:17:46] changes potential changes that could be
[01:17:48] coming from Washington and I appreciate
[01:17:51] all of your efforts and uh your kindness
[01:17:54] and your coming from contribution. Thank
[01:17:57] you very very much.
[01:18:00] Good
[01:18:01] comment. Any other comments?
[01:18:04] Mayor, if I could uh just ask one thing
[01:18:06] of Marcus before you guys uh potentially
[01:18:09] vote on this item. What's the current
[01:18:12] weight list and approximate weight time
[01:18:15] for our properties?
[01:18:18] The current weight list is is at above
[01:18:20] 5,000 people and it's about to 5 to
[01:18:23] sevenyear weight.
[01:18:26] Thank you. There's an indication of the
[01:18:29] degree of satisfaction.
[01:18:33] Um, if there are no other council
[01:18:36] comments,
[01:18:38] um, we have a, uh, motion. I'll be happy
[01:18:42] to make the motion uh, that the, uh,
[01:18:44] council approved the fiscal year 2025,
[01:18:46] 2026, July 1, 2022 to June 30th, 2026.
[01:18:51] Rent levels for Park View, Park View
[01:18:53] Villas, Sanento Villas, Santa Rosa
[01:18:56] Villas, and Whispering Waters age
[01:18:57] restricted residential complexes. And
[01:19:00] I'll second. There's a motion and
[01:19:03] second. Please vote.
[01:19:08] Motion carries 5.
[01:19:11] The uh next item on the agenda is the uh
[01:19:15] 6C economic development strategic plan
[01:19:18] professional services agreement. Ryan
[01:19:21] Standelle, assistant city
[01:19:24] manager. Good afternoon, honorable
[01:19:26] mayor, council members. Uh the item
[01:19:28] before you this afternoon is a
[01:19:29] recommendation from staff uh to enter
[01:19:31] into a professional services agreement
[01:19:33] with the Nadlesen Dale Group
[01:19:35] Incorporated in an amount not to exceed
[01:19:38] $135,000 for the preparation of an
[01:19:40] economic development strategic plan on
[01:19:42] behalf of the city of Ranch Mirage. Uh
[01:19:45] if I can get my PowerPoint up. There we
[01:19:46] go. Let me maximize
[01:19:49] mine. Uh a little bit of background on
[01:19:51] how we got here. um staff prepared
[01:19:54] anformational report and and had a
[01:19:55] discussion with the city council in
[01:19:57] September of uh 2024. And the gist of
[01:20:00] that staff report was if we were to
[01:20:02] engage in an economic study, staff's
[01:20:05] recommendation was that we take a quick
[01:20:07] pause in recognition that there was a uh
[01:20:10] regional, county level, and a subreional
[01:20:13] Coachella Valley level study going on
[01:20:15] and funded by VGPS focused completely on
[01:20:18] the Coachella Valley's economy.
[01:20:21] Um the recommendation included reasoning
[01:20:24] why which was consultants are collecting
[01:20:26] a whole lot of background data on what's
[01:20:28] going on economically in the Coachella
[01:20:30] Valley that we would essentially be
[01:20:32] paying in duplicate for if we started at
[01:20:34] that point. Um the estimates from the
[01:20:37] consulting team and VGPS at the time was
[01:20:39] they were anticipating being done in
[01:20:41] January, February 2025. And while we're
[01:20:43] running slightly behind, staff uh from
[01:20:45] various departments have been
[01:20:46] participating in the stakeholder
[01:20:48] meetings uh and uh focus groups. Um we
[01:20:51] are far enough along in that program uh
[01:20:54] at this point where um both marketing
[01:20:57] divisions, city manager's office, and
[01:20:58] the planning department believe we're at
[01:21:00] uh opportune moment. If the council
[01:21:02] wishes to dive into the economic
[01:21:04] studies, we're there. We have the right
[01:21:06] background data. We're at the right
[01:21:08] time. Now would be uh an appropriate
[01:21:11] time to do
[01:21:13] so. So for those who might be curious,
[01:21:16] what does a city use an economic
[01:21:18] development plan for? Um, an economic
[01:21:21] development plan on behalf of an agency
[01:21:23] is intended to first give you a snapshot
[01:21:25] of what's going on in your local
[01:21:27] economy. What are those things uh that
[01:21:29] the policy makers need to understand
[01:21:31] about our strengths, our weaknesses,
[01:21:33] what are the opportunities? Do we see
[01:21:35] any lowhanging fruit? Ultimately, the
[01:21:37] deliverable is a document that should be
[01:21:39] able to set a clear vision for the
[01:21:41] future uh and help support staff in
[01:21:44] making sound recommendations to the city
[01:21:46] council uh for years to come.
[01:21:49] There is a innumerable amount of menu
[01:21:53] items that you can study. Uh but in uh
[01:21:56] review with several staff members, we we
[01:21:58] focused in on four main specific uh
[01:22:01] function areas which I'll briefly go
[01:22:02] through which was one a robust uh
[01:22:05] stakeholder outreach. We want to hear
[01:22:07] from our business community and get them
[01:22:08] involved in this process, including uh
[01:22:11] current uh retail, hotel, tourism
[01:22:13] partners, our chamber of commerce, and
[01:22:16] our other community partners that have a
[01:22:18] vested interest in the success of Ranch
[01:22:19] Mirage. Uh from that point on, we want
[01:22:22] to understand what's going on in the
[01:22:24] broader real estate market. Uh we want
[01:22:26] to understand what's going on uh
[01:22:28] locally, statewide,
[01:22:30] nationally. And then one of the unique
[01:22:33] uh and I'm sorry on the real estate side
[01:22:35] um these can really help us guide um
[01:22:38] policy direction for not only new
[01:22:40] commercial centers but more importantly
[01:22:42] for us the revitalization of existing
[01:22:44] and aging centers and and creating
[01:22:47] strategies and tactics to help with
[01:22:48] that. One of the more
[01:22:51] um interesting
[01:22:53] uh areas of work is we've kind of
[01:22:57] hijacked a process that the planning
[01:22:59] department's working on. But we really
[01:23:01] want to make sure that the land uses
[01:23:03] coming through the highway 111 specific
[01:23:06] plan which the development services team
[01:23:08] has been working on for some time match
[01:23:10] the goals and objectives and actually
[01:23:11] reality of what's going on out there in
[01:23:13] the retail uh environment. So, by having
[01:23:16] the specific plan reviewed by uh through
[01:23:19] the lens of economic development, we can
[01:23:21] make sure that we're proposing the right
[01:23:22] land uses to the city council. And
[01:23:24] lastly, I'm going to squirm a little bit
[01:23:26] on this one, but um uh economic
[01:23:29] consultants can help staff understand
[01:23:31] what's going on in the broader
[01:23:32] economics, trend lines with uh uh hotels
[01:23:36] and tourism, trend lines with retail, uh
[01:23:38] what's going on, what should we expect.
[01:23:40] they can give us a much firmer
[01:23:42] understanding of where our revenues are
[01:23:44] going to be going and forecasting uh in
[01:23:46] the discussion of do we need to be
[01:23:48] looking at the revenue side of the
[01:23:49] budget uh as we a uh head into calendar
[01:23:52] year
[01:23:54] 2026. So uh my staff report and I
[01:23:58] continually use words like
[01:23:59] collaboration, cooperation, alignment,
[01:24:02] etc. But just briefly, we thought it was
[01:24:05] logical to leverage the VGPS and
[01:24:07] Riverside County data. I think we can
[01:24:09] demonstrate there's not only a cost
[01:24:10] savings, but it it helps us make sure
[01:24:12] that we have um synergy between all
[01:24:14] plans and understanding that Ranch
[01:24:17] Mirage is a key job creator. We're an
[01:24:19] employment center. People come in every
[01:24:21] day to work and they leave to go home
[01:24:22] every evening uh in support of our
[01:24:24] tourism, hospitality, and retail
[01:24:26] sectors. So, it makes some natural sense
[01:24:29] to make sure our plans align with the
[01:24:32] more regional efforts. So, we do think
[01:24:34] there's some synergy there as we move
[01:24:36] forward. Um, I don't want to spend a
[01:24:39] whole lot of time here, but staff's
[01:24:40] recommendation back in 2024 to slow uh
[01:24:44] pause um is leading to approximate 30%
[01:24:48] reduction in the overall cost to the
[01:24:50] city on this plan. So, it's very easy to
[01:24:52] spend 200 plus,000 on behalf of an
[01:24:55] agency studying um what's going on
[01:24:58] economically. we've realized a saving
[01:25:00] somewhere between 40 and 60ish thousands
[01:25:04] by allowing um that data to be collected
[01:25:08] on somebody else's uh time. And again,
[01:25:11] the time that that it took to get that
[01:25:13] is certainly helpful. Um and again, who
[01:25:17] who is Natalen Dale? Um they are a firm
[01:25:21] who specializes in economic development
[01:25:23] analysis. um what's going on in the uh
[01:25:26] I'm sorry market analysis and fiscal
[01:25:28] impacts. Uh at this point they have a
[01:25:30] very deep understanding of what's going
[01:25:32] on in the Coachella Valley and this
[01:25:33] isn't their first stint working in the
[01:25:34] Coachella Valley. I have personally
[01:25:36] worked with them in the past. They are
[01:25:37] very capable of conducting the work that
[01:25:39] we are asking of them. Um the plan as
[01:25:42] they've presented it to uh and worked on
[01:25:44] with staff ensures continuity in the
[01:25:47] strategy and messaging places us uh kind
[01:25:49] of in line with the county the VGPS and
[01:25:52] then the city study and it supports uh
[01:25:55] uh data driven data driven policym
[01:25:58] meaning staff is going to have
[01:26:00] um some data and plans when we're making
[01:26:04] our recommendations. We're not
[01:26:07] guessing. So with that that concludes uh
[01:26:10] staff's report. We are recommending
[01:26:11] approval uh of the professional services
[01:26:13] agreement and we'd be happy to answer
[01:26:15] any questions. I' I'd be also happy you
[01:26:17] know even though my staff my name was on
[01:26:18] the staff report uh this was an effort
[01:26:21] of just about everybody on uh this dis
[01:26:23] and uh we'd all be happy to pitch in if
[01:26:25] we have to answer any questions here.
[01:26:26] Thanks. Uh thank you Ryan. Are there any
[01:26:30] um public comments? Yes, Brad Anderson.
[01:26:37] Hello Brad Anderson from City Ranch. Uh
[01:26:40] this is concerning item 6C, I believe.
[01:26:42] Yes. Um this is
[01:26:44] $135,000
[01:26:46] and it's for data that's going to be
[01:26:49] redundant. Uh uh that's already been
[01:26:51] collected. Uh I understand the premise
[01:26:54] of what you want to do, but uh we have
[01:26:57] Mr. Downs fear-mongering concerning the
[01:26:59] economy. Is it a right time to spend
[01:27:03] this amount of money on this private
[01:27:05] company? I don't think so. That's my own
[01:27:07] personal opinion. And uh and I just want
[01:27:10] to emphasize this point that the
[01:27:13] $135,000 is roughly close to what an
[01:27:17] election would have cost to get one of
[01:27:20] these city council members elected
[01:27:22] versus appointed. And that's all I have.
[01:27:24] Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
[01:27:28] Is there anyone else who would like to
[01:27:29] speak on item 6
[01:27:31] C? No other comments. Thank you. Are
[01:27:35] there any council
[01:27:36] comments? I do, Mr. Mayor. Yes. Uh last
[01:27:40] uh Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Last year
[01:27:42] during the uh election, uh this became a
[01:27:45] very important topic that people ask
[01:27:47] about throughout the entire election
[01:27:50] season. This is what we promised to
[01:27:53] do this year. And so I'm happy that this
[01:27:56] is a promise that we're keeping to do an
[01:27:58] economic development strategy plan. And
[01:28:01] the second point I'd like to make is
[01:28:03] that considering the uncertainty about
[01:28:07] retail inventories and things like that,
[01:28:10] it's more important than ever that we
[01:28:12] have consultants who are experts on the
[01:28:14] data and that's the appropriate thing to
[01:28:17] do. I'd also like to make a comment. I
[01:28:21] love this because it's city centric. Now
[01:28:23] the regional studies are great but this
[01:28:26] backs up and goes even micro into just
[01:28:28] what is happening within our city limits
[01:28:32] which I think is vastly important. I
[01:28:34] also think the 111 specific plan when
[01:28:37] you have a city that advertises that was
[01:28:39] said today that restaurant row we have
[01:28:41] to talk about how do we maintain and
[01:28:43] keep or increase restaurant row if
[01:28:45] that's what if that's where the business
[01:28:46] leaders decide to head. I think it helps
[01:28:49] support our chamber in the long run and
[01:28:50] I think uh Katie and her team could do a
[01:28:53] lot with this kind of data in terms of
[01:28:55] improving the chamber and how it can
[01:28:57] serve its members. I also think this is
[01:28:59] key for local workforce development, not
[01:29:02] only on the backs of affordable housing,
[01:29:04] finding places for people that work here
[01:29:06] to live here, but how to attract better
[01:29:09] and more able-bodied workforce
[01:29:11] development for the major employer.
[01:29:13] Eisenhower being just one of a few, the
[01:29:15] casino, others major employers that live
[01:29:18] within our city limits. And lastly, I
[01:29:20] think this leads indirectly to e to
[01:29:22] educational trends for Rancher Marrage
[01:29:24] High School, for Palm Springs Unified to
[01:29:26] help those children who decide to stay
[01:29:28] in this valley and build their future to
[01:29:30] find the jobs that are sustainable and
[01:29:32] long-term. This data could go a very
[01:29:34] long way. And I think this is a great
[01:29:36] proposal.
[01:29:38] Thank you all. Good
[01:29:39] comments. Any other comments?
[01:29:42] I do, Mr. Mayor. So, uh, I do sit on
[01:29:45] the, uh, joint powers authority
[01:29:48] executive committee for visit greater
[01:29:49] Palm Springs and the study. I'd like to
[01:29:51] just, uh, highlight some of the one, one
[01:29:54] of the things that, uh, council member
[01:29:55] Framberg Eststeine mentioned. So the
[01:29:58] issue for visit greater Palm Springs is
[01:30:00] to conduct a regionwide economic study
[01:30:02] that identifies uh opportunities for the
[01:30:05] entire region and determines attempts to
[01:30:08] determine if there are other industries
[01:30:10] or re or industries that we should
[01:30:12] attempt to attract to this region.
[01:30:14] That's their job. Our job with respect
[01:30:16] to this economic study is to figure out
[01:30:19] how we do the same thing on our local
[01:30:22] economic basis. So, it makes made sense
[01:30:24] for us to wait until the VGPS study uh
[01:30:28] was complete or close to complete to
[01:30:30] begin our own study. Uh and it also made
[01:30:33] sense for us to uh ride on their
[01:30:34] coattails with the uh with the same um
[01:30:37] consultant. So, uh I'm going to vote yes
[01:30:39] for this and I thank you Ryan and
[01:30:41] everybody else in this d for your hard
[01:30:42] work on this. Thank you.
[01:30:45] Thank you. Any other
[01:30:48] comment? I will uh entertain a motion.
[01:30:53] I'll make the motion that we approve a
[01:30:56] professional services agreement with
[01:30:58] Natlesen Dale Group Incorporated in the
[01:31:01] amount not to exceed
[01:31:03] $135,000 for an economic development
[01:31:06] strategic plan.
[01:31:08] Second. There's a motion and a second.
[01:31:10] Please vote.
[01:31:17] Motion carries 5. Thank you.
[01:31:22] The uh next item will be item 6D which
[01:31:24] is the amphitheater programming master
[01:31:27] plan professional services agreement.
[01:31:31] Gabe Coding our director of marketing.
[01:31:33] Gabe. Thank you Mr. Mayor. I thought it
[01:31:36] was only fair uh Haley Ty who's our
[01:31:38] marketing and event specialist who's
[01:31:41] been with us almost 6 years and has put
[01:31:43] a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into
[01:31:45] our uh amphitheater and did a majority
[01:31:48] of the work on drafting the RFP, coming
[01:31:50] up with the ideas, interviewing stuff.
[01:31:51] So, I thought it was only fair to allow
[01:31:53] her to uh to uh give the presentation.
[01:31:56] So, I'm going to pass it on to her and
[01:31:57] then we'll help with any follow-up
[01:31:58] questions. Very humble.
[01:32:00] [Laughter]
[01:32:05] Why are you making your staff cry?
[01:32:07] That's the first thing that I want to
[01:32:08] know.
[01:32:12] You're in a safe place here, Haley. Go
[01:32:14] ahead. Go for it, Holly.
[01:32:19] All right. Good afternoon, Mayor While,
[01:32:21] council members, and city staff. Thank
[01:32:23] you for the opportunity to present
[01:32:24] today. We are here to share the
[01:32:25] recommendation to award the contract for
[01:32:27] the Rancher Mirage Amphitheater
[01:32:29] programming master plan.
[01:32:33] The Rancher Mirage Amphitheater built in
[01:32:35] 2015 is nearing its 10-year anniversary.
[01:32:38] As part of the city's commitment to
[01:32:40] positioning the Rancher Mirage
[01:32:41] Amphitheater as a premier cultural
[01:32:43] destination, staff initiated a request
[01:32:46] for proposals to develop a comprehensive
[01:32:49] programming master plan guided by city
[01:32:52] council and the amphitheater
[01:32:53] subcommittee. This plan marks a
[01:32:54] strategic milestone in shaping a
[01:32:57] long-term vision for the venue.
[01:33:00] It will serve as a foundational roadmap
[01:33:02] aligning programming, branding,
[01:33:05] partnerships, operations, and capital
[01:33:07] improvements with the city's broader
[01:33:09] goals for cultural enrichment, community
[01:33:12] engagement, and economic vitality while
[01:33:15] providing a data-driven framework to
[01:33:17] support informed decisions and
[01:33:19] distinguish Ranch Mirage regionally.
[01:33:23] The four key goals for this project are
[01:33:26] one analyzing historical programming
[01:33:28] trends, audience demographics, and the
[01:33:31] amphitheat's evolving role within the
[01:33:32] Coachella Valley. Two, evaluating
[01:33:35] comparable venues throughout the region
[01:33:37] to identify opportunities for
[01:33:40] differentiation, innovation, and
[01:33:42] strategic positioning. Three, conducting
[01:33:44] a feasibility study to assess long-term
[01:33:47] growth potential, economic return, and
[01:33:50] opportunities for public private
[01:33:52] partnerships. And finally, number four,
[01:33:54] engaging a broad representation of
[01:33:56] stakeholders, including city officials,
[01:33:59] resort partners, residents, and industry
[01:34:02] experts to develop a communityinformed
[01:34:04] and evidence-based
[01:34:08] strategy. The scope of work includes
[01:34:10] robust market research
[01:34:13] financial analysis and community
[01:34:15] engagement. It considers both free and
[01:34:18] paid content, ensuring public access
[01:34:21] while exploring revenue opportunities.
[01:34:24] Ultimately, the plan aims to balance
[01:34:26] community impact with economic vi
[01:34:28] viability.
[01:34:30] The chosen agency will deliver a mission
[01:34:32] and purpose statement, branding roadmap,
[01:34:35] and a five-year programming schedule
[01:34:37] designed to broaden audience appeal,
[01:34:39] deepen cultural impact, and enhance the
[01:34:42] amphitheat's regional prominence.
[01:34:46] The RFP process. Following a competitive
[01:34:49] and thorough evaluation process during
[01:34:51] which staff reviewed seven proposals and
[01:34:54] interviewed all bidding firms, Victus
[01:34:56] Advisers was identified as the most
[01:34:58] qualified and strategically aligned
[01:35:00] candidate to lead this effort. Their
[01:35:02] experience with both municipal and
[01:35:04] high-profile venues demonstrates a deep
[01:35:07] understanding of venues with similar
[01:35:09] audience profiles, programming goals,
[01:35:12] and branding aspirations. Victis
[01:35:14] advisers methodology emphasizes a
[01:35:17] balance of analytical depth and creative
[01:35:19] vision. Their proposed approach includes
[01:35:22] extensive stakeholder
[01:35:24] engagement, industry benchmarking, and a
[01:35:27] carefully structured planning process
[01:35:29] that will ensure the final deliverable
[01:35:31] reflects Rancho Mirage's unique
[01:35:33] identity, tourism objectives, and
[01:35:36] community
[01:35:38] values. The project timeline. The
[01:35:41] process can begin upon approval and is
[01:35:43] targeted to be completed by early
[01:35:47] 2026. Fiscal impact. The total cost for
[01:35:51] the development of the amphitheat's
[01:35:52] programming master plan is not to exceed
[01:35:54] $100,000 and will be distributed over
[01:35:57] two fiscal
[01:36:00] years. Staff recommendation. Victus
[01:36:03] Advisors is a nationally recognized firm
[01:36:05] with deep experience in public venue
[01:36:08] strategy. Their work spans both
[01:36:10] municipal and private amphitheaters, and
[01:36:12] their research-driven community focused
[01:36:15] approach aligns well with Rancher
[01:36:16] Mirage's goals. Staff recommendation is
[01:36:19] to enter into contract with Victus
[01:36:22] Adviserss. Thank you for your time and
[01:36:24] we would be happy to take any
[01:36:26] questions. Thanks, Haley. And indeed,
[01:36:30] um, as Gabe said on on the programs,
[01:36:34] Haley gets there early in the morning
[01:36:37] and doesn't leave till the programs are
[01:36:39] over, you know, well into the evening.
[01:36:41] So, thank you for all of the time and
[01:36:44] efforts you put in. Uh, without a doubt.
[01:36:48] Um, are there any uh
[01:36:51] any other comments? Yes, Brad Anderson.
[01:37:00] Thank you again, Brad Anderson, City
[01:37:02] Ranch Mirage. Item number
[01:37:04] 6D, I believe. Uh this is again $100,000
[01:37:09] uh for something that the city staff
[01:37:11] should be able to provide. Uh I'm not
[01:37:14] anti- ranch moral, believe it or not. Uh
[01:37:17] I'm about conserving resources,
[01:37:20] especially since doom and gloom's
[01:37:21] coming. according to one of the council
[01:37:23] members economic or anyway economic or
[01:37:26] if I can say that correctly but uh I'm
[01:37:30] just um I'm concerned uh again this is
[01:37:33] $100,000 that could have been spent on
[01:37:35] election and I don't mean to wire up the
[01:37:38] appointees uh but I just there's Frank
[01:37:42] Sonata Bridge that was a perfect example
[01:37:45] I was never in favor of that and and now
[01:37:48] we're rewriting history where the
[01:37:49] counselor was not ever in favor of it
[01:37:51] and I mean, that's the spin that I'm
[01:37:53] getting, and that's great. It's not
[01:37:55] going forward. And there was a study of
[01:37:57] the roadways to see if potholes are
[01:38:00] going to form. And that's before the
[01:38:02] assistant manager became assistant
[01:38:04] manager. Uh, I was against that, but
[01:38:07] that had to be done. And this year is
[01:38:09] the only year that I can remember seeing
[01:38:11] so many potholes. So, I don't think this
[01:38:14] funds should be spent in this matter.
[01:38:17] And and uh again this is information
[01:38:19] that should be attainable uh through our
[01:38:22] regional contracts through the through
[01:38:24] the city itself and and we're talking
[01:38:26] one venue and that's all I have. Thank
[01:38:28] you. Thank you for your comments. Any
[01:38:31] other comment? Is there anyone else?
[01:38:32] Sorry. Is there anyone else who would
[01:38:34] like to speak on item 6D?
[01:38:36] No other speakers. Thank you. Uh are
[01:38:41] there any council comment?
[01:38:46] If there are none, I'll do Mr. Oh,
[01:38:49] Michael, I would just like to take an
[01:38:51] opportunity to thank Haley and Gabe
[01:38:54] because you did exhaustive work on this.
[01:38:57] You made it look simple in this
[01:38:59] presentation, but I know how uh
[01:39:01] dedicated and how exhaustive it was to
[01:39:06] go through all of that process. So, I
[01:39:08] just want to say thank you for your for
[01:39:09] your work.
[01:39:12] Yes. Again, the same comment similar to
[01:39:15] the last one. We have an incredible
[01:39:17] opportunity. We have an amazing venue
[01:39:20] and it's probably not maximized in a way
[01:39:23] that serves the community and even to
[01:39:27] the point of also making sure it covers
[01:39:29] its expenses if not doesn't prove itself
[01:39:31] to be a profit center and again to be
[01:39:33] city centric in what we can do with our
[01:39:36] own theater program there and how we can
[01:39:37] make it useful for the community. I
[01:39:39] think information like this is vital.
[01:39:41] So, thank you.
[01:39:45] Yes, Mayor Prom. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
[01:39:48] When a city constructs a venue such as
[01:39:51] this, they have an idea of what
[01:39:55] potential a venue like this can provide,
[01:39:58] but is a it is a work in progress. It
[01:40:01] continually evolves. It continually
[01:40:05] improves. And it takes time. It's only
[01:40:08] been 10 years. and what we have
[01:40:10] accomplished. I should not include
[01:40:12] myself on that. I'm not part of the
[01:40:14] events team. We have all these wonderful
[01:40:17] dedicated um employees that make it all
[01:40:20] happen. And um uh just short of a
[01:40:24] miracle on many levels. And what's
[01:40:27] amazing is it's not only Rancher Mirage
[01:40:30] residents that benefit from this, but we
[01:40:32] have residents from across the valley
[01:40:35] that continually come. They're repeat
[01:40:38] customers. if you will, that enjoy what
[01:40:41] our marketing and events team
[01:40:46] provides. We're taking it to another
[01:40:48] level and we want to take it to another
[01:40:50] level, which is why this contract is
[01:40:53] very important. If we were event experts
[01:40:56] up here, we would have been able to
[01:40:58] handle it. But we allow our staff and
[01:41:01] and um team to to provide that work to
[01:41:06] make the productions happen.
[01:41:08] But we want to help them grow as well
[01:41:11] and with the growth of our community. A
[01:41:14] perfect example is Earth
[01:41:16] Day. Earth Day was phenomenal held at
[01:41:20] the library. So we had our library team
[01:41:22] involved. We had many of our staff
[01:41:25] members here involved. We had vendors.
[01:41:27] We had our farmers market vendors. We
[01:41:29] had everything from micro greens. um a a
[01:41:33] wonderful woman that has micro greens uh
[01:41:36] every type of herb and vegetable
[01:41:38] possible. She brought a chef to share
[01:41:41] with the public
[01:41:42] how to make those micro greens work
[01:41:45] within your diet and how it's beneficial
[01:41:48] with health. We help children make bird
[01:41:50] feeders out of ice cream, sugar ice
[01:41:53] cream cones, nut butter and seeds. Uh
[01:41:57] bookmarks with flowers and greenery.
[01:42:00] Berterek, our partnerships throughout
[01:42:02] the valley came. The library community
[01:42:06] room was filled with hundreds of people
[01:42:09] from as small as 2 years
[01:42:12] old, way beyond my age, maybe close to
[01:42:15] the mayor's age.
[01:42:18] I I'll get that. I'll get that. You
[01:42:20] know, I was it was I will you know but
[01:42:24] you know the the weight the weight was
[01:42:26] intermittable
[01:42:28] but you know it was for people of all
[01:42:30] ages and that's what our events bring to
[01:42:35] our city and we thank you for that. It's
[01:42:39] a lot of hours above and beyond and it
[01:42:41] and it and it's with Gabe and Haley and
[01:42:44] I see Pablo and there are people that
[01:42:47] step to the plate with every event and I
[01:42:50] really appreciate everything it takes to
[01:42:52] make those events come off with such
[01:42:54] success and at such variety and we're
[01:42:56] looking forward to growing.
[01:42:59] If I may, Mr. Mayor. Yes, please. So, um
[01:43:03] I'll do my best to avoid any uh
[01:43:05] suggestion about the age of those who
[01:43:07] enjoy our various
[01:43:10] venues. Um I think it's critical that we
[01:43:13] engage in this master plan. So, we have
[01:43:16] a remarkable facility there at the
[01:43:18] amphitheater and we have never spent the
[01:43:21] time that we should to figure out
[01:43:23] exactly how best to utilize that
[01:43:26] wonderful asset for this city. Now a
[01:43:29] great many people who live in this city
[01:43:31] and as as has been me mentioned live in
[01:43:34] adjoining cities enjoy this amphitheater
[01:43:36] and uh it's important for us to figure
[01:43:38] out how best to use it. Now this is a
[01:43:41] consultant that has engaged in stud
[01:43:44] similar studies for similar event
[01:43:46] facilities around the country. This is
[01:43:49] valuable information for us to learn and
[01:43:51] understand about who we how we can best
[01:43:53] use this facility. The other issue about
[01:43:56] the amphitheater is that our ability to
[01:43:58] use it is limited. It's limited one
[01:44:00] because of u of weather here in the
[01:44:03] valley. So there there are a couple of
[01:44:04] months during the hot summer months when
[01:44:06] it's very very difficult if not
[01:44:07] impossible to use that facility. It's
[01:44:09] also the case that it's located in an
[01:44:12] area of the city where it would be very
[01:44:14] difficult to carry on um um events
[01:44:17] during the during the week. So we're
[01:44:19] limited in the amount of time that we
[01:44:21] can use it. It's critical that we have
[01:44:24] the right consultant to help us to
[01:44:26] understand how to use this remarkable
[01:44:29] asset during those limited times than it
[01:44:32] can be used. As you can guess, I plan to
[01:44:34] vote yes on this master plan. Thank you,
[01:44:36] Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Any other
[01:44:39] comments? You know, app propo of the
[01:44:42] comments that have been made as to the
[01:44:45] percentage of uh Rancho Mirage residents
[01:44:48] that use the amphitheater.
[01:44:51] Uh this pertains really to all of our
[01:44:55] amenities in the city, whether it be the
[01:44:57] dog park or the library or the
[01:45:01] observatory. The vast majority
[01:45:05] uh are non Rancho Mirage residents
[01:45:08] because these cities recognize the value
[01:45:11] of these amenities and we're delighted.
[01:45:13] By the way, there is no obviously
[01:45:17] restriction, but they are
[01:45:19] overwhelmingly used uh by our
[01:45:22] neighboring cities. With that being
[01:45:24] said, uh I will entertain a motion uh
[01:45:28] regarding the amphitheater. I'd like to
[01:45:30] make the motion, Mr. Mayor.
[01:45:33] Uh I am happy to elevate the quality of
[01:45:36] life and the cultural opportunities that
[01:45:39] we have in the city of Ranch Mirage for
[01:45:42] all the reasons that have been stated.
[01:45:44] And with that, I would like to move that
[01:45:46] the city council approve a professional
[01:45:49] services agreement with Victus Advisors
[01:45:51] in an amount not to exceed
[01:45:54] $100,000 for an amphitheater programming
[01:45:57] master plan. Second. There's a motion
[01:45:59] and a second. Please vote.
[01:46:05] Motion carries 5-0 and
[01:46:09] congratulations. We look forward to a uh
[01:46:12] you know a wonderful plan. The next item
[01:46:15] is
[01:46:16] 6E and it's the shop local Rancho Mirage
[01:46:20] gift card program. again, Gabe Cotting,
[01:46:24] director of marketing. And uh we have
[01:46:27] gotten a lot of positive comments about
[01:46:30] this program. If you would,
[01:46:33] Gabe. Yes, I spared everybody backtoback
[01:46:35] presentations. So, thank you, Haley, for
[01:46:37] the previous one. Okay, we can bring up
[01:46:40] that presentation when we're
[01:46:47] ready. Just give it here. Give it a
[01:46:49] second here.
[01:46:54] while I stare at my tie.
[01:47:00] Must have made them cry, too. Yeah.
[01:47:05] They don't have the technological
[01:47:06] knowledge that we also
[01:47:09] Hold on. I'll fix it. I'm just kidding.
[01:47:35] Okay. All right. Going ahead and get
[01:47:38] started. Sands
[01:47:40] visuals. All right. So, uh, mayor,
[01:47:42] council, staff, guest, thank you. I'm
[01:47:44] here today to provide an overview and
[01:47:46] propose a new bonus campaign for the
[01:47:49] shop local ranch gift card program. As
[01:47:52] you may recall, uh, city council
[01:47:55] approved and launched this economic
[01:47:56] development initiative back on November
[01:47:58] 20 November 20th of 2024, uh, allocating
[01:48:03] 50,000 towards a bonus incentive. This
[01:48:06] program offered a 50% bonus. So, for
[01:48:08] example, a $100 purchase would yield
[01:48:11] $150 value. as the program
[01:48:14] administrator, the city of Rancher
[01:48:16] Mirage can can determine the start and
[01:48:18] expiration date of the bonus card. And
[01:48:22] so what we did with our previous one is
[01:48:24] it launched in November and the bonus
[01:48:27] expired in January 31st to target
[01:48:30] holiday spending and keeping that
[01:48:33] local. Um to date, the bonus funds
[01:48:38] uh the bonus funds uh were fully claimed
[01:48:41] within just seven weeks. So meaning, you
[01:48:43] know,
[01:48:44] $100,000, you know, $100,000 worth of
[01:48:47] cards were sold and $50,000 worth of
[01:48:49] bonus were expo were were expended in
[01:48:52] about six 7 weeks of that time frame.
[01:48:54] And to date, there's been about a little
[01:48:56] over
[01:48:57] $160,000 worth of shop local cards that
[01:48:59] have been in circulation. Um, currently
[01:49:02] we have 51 businesses in counting that
[01:49:05] are participating and 26 of those, over
[01:49:08] half are restaurants or specialty
[01:49:10] confectioners.
[01:49:12] Uh approximately 72% of redemptions are
[01:49:15] spent on dining with another 20% split
[01:49:17] between retail shopping and health and
[01:49:19] wellness. Here in Rancho Mirage, as is
[01:49:21] the case nationwide, these programs are
[01:49:24] especially impactful to the restaurant
[01:49:26] sector. An exciting platform update is
[01:49:29] coming soon. Yifty, who is the program
[01:49:31] administrator, is launching Tapay,
[01:49:34] uh the Tapay feature for iPhone. So, all
[01:49:37] gift cards, whether you have a you
[01:49:39] whether you purchase a new gift card or
[01:49:41] you have an existing one, you'll be able
[01:49:43] to ac uh access it through the Yifty app
[01:49:46] and there'll be an option to add it to
[01:49:47] your Apple wallet. Um, offering a
[01:49:50] seamless experience for consumers and
[01:49:52] merchants. Yifty is also currently
[01:49:54] working on that same version for like
[01:49:56] Google Pay and the Android platform as
[01:49:58] well that will be launched later. At the
[01:50:01] end of this month, Visit Greater Palm
[01:50:02] Springs will launch its annual
[01:50:04] restaurant week. The city count the city
[01:50:06] of Ranch Mirage is a proud sponsor of
[01:50:08] this initiative and uniquely covers
[01:50:10] participation fees for our local
[01:50:12] restaurants. We're one of the only
[01:50:13] cities that any of our restaurants can
[01:50:15] participate and their fee is covered by
[01:50:17] the city of Ranch Mirage. Given the
[01:50:20] extensive regional PR campaign
[01:50:22] supporting this event, staff recommends
[01:50:24] launching a new bonus campaign to
[01:50:26] coincide with restaurant week and the
[01:50:28] tap to pay feature.
[01:50:34] Let me back up a
[01:50:35] minute. There was tap to pay. There's my
[01:50:39] fancy There was my uh fancy uh pie
[01:50:43] chart. Tap to pay, which we just
[01:50:46] discussed. Restaurant week, which will
[01:50:47] be May 30th through the 8th. Thank you
[01:50:49] guys. It's probably my
[01:50:51] fault. Um and then here's a collage of
[01:50:55] of the restaurants that are currently in
[01:50:57] our gift card gift card program and
[01:51:00] enjoying the benefits of that. So, uh,
[01:51:02] as I said, at the end of this month,
[01:51:04] we're already a sponsor. Um, and so
[01:51:07] staff's proposing a limited time bonus
[01:51:09] offered during restaurant week, May 30th
[01:51:11] to June 8th. This well-known regional
[01:51:14] culinary event offers a strong
[01:51:15] opportunity to drive increased traffic
[01:51:17] to ranch dining establishments and raise
[01:51:20] the city's regional
[01:51:22] visibility. The campaign um, uh, was
[01:51:25] discussed and developed with a mayor
[01:51:27] appointed subcommittee focused on local
[01:51:29] economic growth. The proposed bonus 50%
[01:51:32] of all gift card purchases similar to
[01:51:34] the last program will be supported by a
[01:51:37] $10,000 fund with restaurant week
[01:51:39] kickoff event is set to take place at
[01:51:41] the Ritz Carlton prior to the event
[01:51:43] kicking off. This initiative provides
[01:51:45] further promotion value. Um staff is
[01:51:48] exploring future campaigns along aligned
[01:51:50] with seasonal and regional events which
[01:51:52] will be brought before the city council
[01:51:54] for approval. So uh in essence this
[01:51:57] would just be a week program. We'd put
[01:51:59] $10,000 in, get 50% bonus. You'd have
[01:52:02] your card that you purchase doesn't
[01:52:04] expire, but that bonus that you get for
[01:52:06] your purchase would only be good for
[01:52:08] that week. And while all the PR is going
[01:52:10] around the whole valley for all the
[01:52:12] dozens and dozens of restaurants, let's
[01:52:14] get people excited about the program.
[01:52:16] Piggyback on that PR and drive into
[01:52:18] Ranch Mirage restaurants. Uh so with
[01:52:21] that, that concludes my presentation.
[01:52:22] I'm available for any questions. And I'd
[01:52:25] like to note this request is only for
[01:52:26] 10,000 and Ryan's was for 135.
[01:52:30] Um, Gabe, last time how many residents
[01:52:34] not from Ranchrage bought the cards? So
[01:52:37] that's a great question. So about 75, so
[01:52:40] there's 50% of the program. So let's say
[01:52:42] there was about 1,300 cards uh that went
[01:52:45] out in the previous program. 50% Rancho
[01:52:48] Mirage residents. Another 25% were
[01:52:51] within the region but not Rancho Mirage.
[01:52:53] So about 75 to 80% Rancho Mirage plus
[01:52:56] the region and then the others are
[01:52:58] people coming into town or don't have a
[01:53:00] primary residence here. Thank you.
[01:53:04] Any u public comments? I did not receive
[01:53:07] any speaker cards. Is there anyone in
[01:53:09] the audience who would like to speak on
[01:53:11] 6E? No speakers. Any other council
[01:53:15] comments regarding this program? I just
[01:53:17] love this uh because of the fact it
[01:53:19] supports our restaurants here in Rancher
[01:53:23] Mirage and it's it's the chamber is
[01:53:26] thrilled with this program. Our
[01:53:28] restaurant owners have been thrilled
[01:53:30] with it. Our residents who purchased it
[01:53:32] and and visitors enjoyed it from the
[01:53:35] comments that we've received in the
[01:53:36] past. So, I think it's a winner. Yeah, I
[01:53:39] concur with that. I mean I uh at at
[01:53:42] those areas where I have been speaking
[01:53:47] uh I have been asked are we going to
[01:53:50] continue this program and uh I was uh
[01:53:55] pleased to let them know that we were
[01:53:57] very much considering it and they'll be
[01:54:00] more than pleased to know that today uh
[01:54:04] we likely approved it. So, with that
[01:54:08] being said, I'll enter under entertain a
[01:54:10] motion. I'll go ahead and make the
[01:54:12] motion. But first, Mr. Mayor, I'd also
[01:54:13] like to comment that I think this is a
[01:54:15] terrific program. So, our city has long
[01:54:18] been known for a great quality of life
[01:54:19] for our residents, but also a great
[01:54:21] place to do business for our business
[01:54:23] community. So, uh, as you mentioned, Mr.
[01:54:26] Mayor, we've heard lots of comments from
[01:54:28] our chamber and from our business
[01:54:30] community about the value of this
[01:54:32] program and how it strengthens uh our
[01:54:34] business community, our this this
[01:54:36] council's relationship to the chamber
[01:54:38] and to the business community. So, I'm
[01:54:40] very much in favor of this program. And
[01:54:42] so, I will uh make the um motion that
[01:54:44] this council approve a new shop local
[01:54:47] ranch mirage gift card bonus program to
[01:54:49] coincide with the visit greater Palm
[01:54:51] Springs restaurant week, which is May
[01:54:52] 30th through June 8th of 2025. utilizing
[01:54:56] a $10,000 bonus fund with a 50% match
[01:54:59] incentive. I'll second. Uh there's a
[01:55:02] motion and a second. Please vote.
[01:55:11] Motion carries 5.
[01:55:16] Okay. The uh the last uh item on our uh
[01:55:21] agenda at the moment is the
[01:55:23] consideration of a resolution in support
[01:55:26] of Eisenhower Medical C Center's
[01:55:29] challenge to the Desert Healthc Care
[01:55:31] District's validation action pertaining
[01:55:35] to the tenant lease. Uh with that, Colin
[01:55:39] Kurpatre, our city attorney, if you
[01:55:41] would, please.
[01:55:45] Thank you, mayor. Uh this resolution
[01:55:47] before you is was directed as stated uh
[01:55:50] by the mayor at the last meeting. Um if
[01:55:53] adopted, it would provide the city's
[01:55:55] support of Eisenhower Medical C Center's
[01:55:57] legal action with respect to Desert
[01:56:00] Healthcare District's validation action
[01:56:02] um regarding the tenant lease. Um I'm
[01:56:05] here for questions regarding the
[01:56:08] resolution um or any of the surrounding
[01:56:11] facts. Thank you.
[01:56:13] Are there any public comments?
[01:56:16] Yes, Brad Anderson.
[01:56:22] Thank you again, Brad Anderson, uh, of
[01:56:24] the city. Uh, this is item 6F concerning
[01:56:28] the Desert Healthcare District U LER
[01:56:30] rules or what the Eisenhower, I guess.
[01:56:33] Um, legal action against the Desert
[01:56:35] Healthcare District. Um, believe it or
[01:56:37] not, I'm I'm always been uh um in
[01:56:41] support of the city's position on this.
[01:56:43] Um, I don't believe a resolutions in
[01:56:46] order. Um, because we're by doing that,
[01:56:50] you're really going after the voters
[01:56:52] that voted for the desert house district
[01:56:56] to retain control or to have tenant, the
[01:57:00] private hospital organization, come in
[01:57:02] and manage that or actually buy it off,
[01:57:04] I guess eventually. Uh so it was a
[01:57:07] mandate and uh again I I did vote that
[01:57:10] way just so everybody knows I I I was
[01:57:13] probably the only person that uh sees no
[01:57:16] purpose for the Desert Healthcare
[01:57:17] District any longer in the valley. Uh
[01:57:21] and would like to see it dissolved. Um
[01:57:24] but that's not going to happen. So um I
[01:57:28] I I'm like I guess I already made my
[01:57:31] point. I'm I'm opposed to the
[01:57:33] resolution. I'm in support of the city's
[01:57:35] position. Uh but the uh resolutions I'm
[01:57:38] not um uh the dead healthy because you
[01:57:42] know it's very similar to the city of
[01:57:44] Asim Ross. They just love to spend other
[01:57:46] people's money. Uh so I would just
[01:57:49] hopefully uh and and I did write
[01:57:51] comments on that and and I was concerned
[01:57:54] about how it was proposed the last
[01:57:56] meeting by Mr. downs
[01:57:58] and so I don't think that's the
[01:58:01] regulations or the proper way to uh
[01:58:03] bring something to the council but um
[01:58:06] anything goes in this city. So thank
[01:58:08] you. Thank you for your comments. Any
[01:58:11] other public comments? That was the only
[01:58:12] speaker card. Is there anyone else who
[01:58:14] would like to speak on item
[01:58:16] 6F? That was the only speaker. I'll call
[01:58:20] for council comment. So uh I'd be happy
[01:58:22] to comment on this, Mr. Mayor,
[01:58:24] particularly since I was uh the person
[01:58:27] who asked that this be brought to this
[01:58:29] agenda, uh let me first uh help the
[01:58:33] residents of this city understand a
[01:58:35] little bit about how items are brought
[01:58:38] to the agenda. Any member of this
[01:58:40] council can ask for any item to be to be
[01:58:42] brought to the agenda at any time that
[01:58:44] they wish. So, uh that's the reason that
[01:58:47] I asked for this item to be brought last
[01:58:49] time. It's because I uh believed that um
[01:58:53] that the non-compete clause was the
[01:58:55] wrong thing to do and I wanted to hear
[01:58:56] what my council colleagues also had to
[01:58:59] say about it. Now uh the issue here the
[01:59:02] issue here is that the Desert Healthc
[01:59:04] Care District does not operate the
[01:59:07] Desert Regional Medical Center. They
[01:59:09] haven't been able to. Uh in
[01:59:11] 1997 the Desert Healthc Care District
[01:59:15] leased the hospital to tenant and that
[01:59:17] was a good thing. And the reason it was
[01:59:19] a good thing is because the Desert
[01:59:21] Healthcare District was not a very good
[01:59:23] operator. They could not operate it um
[01:59:26] without significant support uh from the
[01:59:30] taxpayers in the district. And so they
[01:59:32] made the decision to lease to uh to
[01:59:35] tenant.
[01:59:36] Now, that was a 30-year lease that uh
[01:59:39] that was engaged in in 1997. And the
[01:59:41] district voters approved to renew that
[01:59:43] lease in November of 2024. Now, I don't
[01:59:47] have any issue with the basic concept of
[01:59:50] the lease for the obvious reason that
[01:59:52] the Desert Healthcare District is not
[01:59:55] able to operate that hospital. They must
[01:59:57] engage with a operator who can in fact
[02:00:01] operate the hospital. That's what tenant
[02:00:02] does. I don't have any problem with
[02:00:04] that. What I do have a problem with is
[02:00:06] the language in the non-compete clause
[02:00:08] in that lease. And I believe it was the
[02:00:10] wrong thing to do. Now, this district,
[02:00:12] the Desert Healthcare District, does two
[02:00:14] things. They own that leased hospital
[02:00:17] and they make grants to healthc care
[02:00:19] providers around the
[02:00:22] district. Now the district gets funds to
[02:00:25] make those grants from two sources. From
[02:00:28] lease payments made by tenant but also
[02:00:31] from property tax revenues that are
[02:00:33] generated by my property tax dollars and
[02:00:37] yours. So therein lies my issue. Our tax
[02:00:42] dollars are used to fund a charitable
[02:00:46] institution, essentially the Desert
[02:00:48] Healthc Care District, and those tax
[02:00:50] dollars that they raise are then
[02:00:52] redistributed to provide health care to
[02:00:55] district residents. Now, it's reasonable
[02:00:58] that our tax dollars should not be
[02:01:00] restricted. I don't want mine restricted
[02:01:02] and I doubt any of you want yours
[02:01:04] restricted especially by the desert
[02:01:07] healthcare district that has a huge
[02:01:09] mandate over a 457 square mile district
[02:01:13] wherein one organization can't get the
[02:01:18] benefit of desert healthc care grants
[02:01:20] and that single organization is
[02:01:23] Eisenhower medical center why would that
[02:01:26] be why should my funds and yours be
[02:01:29] restricted
[02:01:30] especially Eisenhower Medical Center, an
[02:01:33] organization that, as we learned not a
[02:01:35] short while ago, has more than 100
[02:01:38] healthcare facilities sprinkled around
[02:01:40] this desert. More, by the way, than the
[02:01:44] Desert than Desert Regional Hospital
[02:01:46] has. Eisenhower healthcare is very very
[02:01:50] capable of providing uh service health
[02:01:52] services in a wide area of this 457
[02:01:55] square mile district that the desert
[02:01:58] region hospital can't provide. Why
[02:02:00] should my tax dollars and yours be
[02:02:02] restricted
[02:02:04] artificially by a public health care
[02:02:07] company, a publicly traded healthcare
[02:02:08] company that's based in Texas. I have a
[02:02:11] problem with it and I think most people
[02:02:12] in this city have a problem with it and
[02:02:14] that's why I raised this issue at the
[02:02:15] last council meeting. Thank you, Mr.
[02:02:17] Mayor. Thank you,
[02:02:19] Steve. Uh, are there other
[02:02:22] comments? I previously have expressed my
[02:02:26] uh uh my opposition to the non-compete
[02:02:32] aspect. Uh I have used uh the expression
[02:02:36] that I felt
[02:02:38] that that it it truly was a restraint of
[02:02:42] trade. uh that it was restricting uh the
[02:02:46] uh the value uh of services that should
[02:02:50] be provided. Um and so I uh I'm very
[02:02:55] much in favor of u expressing our uh our
[02:03:00] concern and um recommend that we go on
[02:03:03] record of uh expressing it
[02:03:07] accordingly. Uh if there are no other
[02:03:10] comments, I have a question. Yes,
[02:03:11] please. Does the resolution
[02:03:14] um would it do we know or would it have
[02:03:17] impact on the legal action that's being
[02:03:19] taken?
[02:03:21] Not directly. It's more indirect support
[02:03:23] of Eisenhower's position in challenging
[02:03:25] the validation action. Okay. Thank you.
[02:03:30] Any other
[02:03:31] comments? I'll call for a motion,
[02:03:33] please. I will be happy to make the
[02:03:36] motion that this council adopt this
[02:03:38] resolution in favor of Eisenhower's
[02:03:41] opposition to the validation action
[02:03:43] taken to court by the Desert Healthcare
[02:03:46] District.
[02:03:48] Second. There's a motion and a second.
[02:03:50] Please vote.
[02:03:54] Motion carries 5. That's good. I think
[02:03:57] that message uh is strong and should be
[02:04:01] sent. So again, thank you for the
[02:04:04] motion. Uh we are now at the point of
[02:04:08] non-aggenda public
[02:04:10] comments. This is an opportunity for the
[02:04:13] public to speak on issues not on the
[02:04:16] agenda for a maximum of three minutes
[02:04:20] per
[02:04:21] speaker. Uh will you call the first
[02:04:24] speaker? Certainly. The first speaker is
[02:04:26] Susan Ragsdale.
[02:04:31] Hello, city council. It's a pleasure to
[02:04:33] see you
[02:04:35] all. My love of God is the greatest
[02:04:37] thing in my life. It's it's
[02:04:42] unbelievable. It makes me love everyone.
[02:04:45] It's such a beautiful feeling. Wherever
[02:04:47] I go, I see the light of God in
[02:04:49] everyone's
[02:04:50] eyes.
[02:04:52] And I've been thinking about it a lot
[02:04:55] lately.
[02:04:56] I've already written as much as I
[02:04:59] possibly can about what happened to me.
[02:05:02] It was a mistake and a misunderstanding
[02:05:05] on the part of the
[02:05:07] city. I believe it would be very good if
[02:05:10] the city would have a meeting with me,
[02:05:13] you know, or a member of the city
[02:05:15] council so that they can get my point of
[02:05:18] view because I have a lot to offer
[02:05:21] having been through something
[02:05:23] extraordinary. I all this time I kept
[02:05:26] thinking, why is this happening to me?
[02:05:29] Why is this so crazy and illog
[02:05:33] illogical and I just kept saying, well,
[02:05:35] I have faith in God. I know that there's
[02:05:37] something I'm supposed to be learning
[02:05:39] here. And one of the things that I want
[02:05:42] to say particularly is that I forgive
[02:05:44] you, Mr. Hagermanerman. I forgive
[02:05:47] you. Are you listening to me, Mr.
[02:05:52] Hagermanerman? Okay, good. because
[02:05:54] you're not looking at me. I want to be
[02:05:56] sure. I forgive you. You took on a job
[02:06:01] when you you know what you and I moved
[02:06:03] into Whispering Waters the day you
[02:06:05] became the city manager. And I've always
[02:06:06] thought, whoa, what a
[02:06:08] coincidence.
[02:06:10] Because we have been, I don't know, in a
[02:06:14] strange relationship that doesn't make
[02:06:16] any sense to me except that I know God
[02:06:19] is telling me something. And God's
[02:06:21] telling all of us something because of
[02:06:24] this. I forgive you, Mr. Hagarman. I
[02:06:28] really do. And I forgive you, Mr. Mayor,
[02:06:31] for being afraid of me and not
[02:06:34] understanding. And I forgive you, Steve,
[02:06:37] for perhaps saying things that weren't
[02:06:41] appropriate. I Life is not this
[02:06:44] complicated. We're all human beings and
[02:06:47] we make mistakes. I certainly made two
[02:06:51] huge ones and it's hard to forgive
[02:06:55] yourself, but I can forgive all of you
[02:06:58] and I love you. I know that sounds
[02:07:01] really, but I mean it. And I gave you my
[02:07:04] artwork and I want you to to use it if
[02:07:07] you feel like you you can. I think my
[02:07:10] ideas are really good. I think they
[02:07:12] would stand out. I don't want to go over
[02:07:14] my time, but please help me because I
[02:07:18] chose Rancho Mirage as my home because
[02:07:20] this is my favorite place to live. Thank
[02:07:23] you very much.
[02:07:25] Thank you for your comments. Next
[02:07:27] speaker, Robert Lewinter
[02:07:45] Good
[02:07:46] afternoon, Mayor While, council members,
[02:07:50] ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to tell
[02:07:53] you a little bit about myself before I
[02:07:55] make my comments. So, uh, they're valid.
[02:08:00] You feel they're valid. Uh, I've lived
[02:08:03] here in Rancho Mirage full-time for 13
[02:08:05] years at the Lake Mirage Racket Club. Uh
[02:08:10] prior to moving here in my career, I was
[02:08:14] the uh associate healthc care consultant
[02:08:17] for the European Command of the United
[02:08:19] States Air Force. I then came to
[02:08:22] California and was an executive at the
[02:08:24] City of Hope Medical Center. And then I
[02:08:27] was an executive at uh the University of
[02:08:30] California, San Diego's University
[02:08:33] Hospital. And then after that I was the
[02:08:36] associate director of hospital
[02:08:38] administration at the UCLA medical
[02:08:41] center where I retired from. I later had
[02:08:45] a healthc care consulting company and
[02:08:47] then I went to work for the California
[02:08:50] Department of Public Health which
[02:08:52] licensed hospitals and I've probably
[02:08:54] been in 105 California hospitals during
[02:08:58] my career.
[02:08:59] The reason I'm here today is to talk
[02:09:02] about Eisenhower
[02:09:04] health. And I listened to the beautiful
[02:09:07] presentation by the president of the
[02:09:09] foundation. And unfortunately
[02:09:12] uh that doesn't meet with my
[02:09:15] experiences. I've been a patient at
[02:09:19] Eisenhower for the 13 years that I've
[02:09:21] been here.
[02:09:23] Uh, I finally had to, uh, hire a
[02:09:26] concierge physician and spend $4,000 a
[02:09:30] year because I, uh, couldn't find
[02:09:34] anybody that met the standards of what I
[02:09:37] considered great
[02:09:38] care. Uh, I've been a patient in the
[02:09:42] emergency room here,
[02:09:45] uh, spending 6, 8, 12 hours in the
[02:09:48] emergency room.
[02:09:51] Um, I uh have had robotic surgery as the
[02:09:56] gentleman said earlier how good that is.
[02:09:59] But I can tell you after the robotic
[02:10:01] surgery that I had for two months, I was
[02:10:04] back in the emergency room every week
[02:10:06] and readmitted to the hospital. And
[02:10:09] finally, thank heavens, we've got it
[02:10:12] under control. And thank heavens for the
[02:10:15] physician that I hired
[02:10:17] uh because he and the surgeon that took
[02:10:20] care of me saved my life.
[02:10:24] I find that the nurses who work
[02:10:28] full-time at Eisenhower are terrific,
[02:10:31] but the problem is they can't hire a
[02:10:35] full complement of nurses. And they have
[02:10:37] a bunch of traveling nurses and they
[02:10:40] only give them a day to learn how the
[02:10:42] systems work. And there's really no
[02:10:46] supervision of those nurses. I can tell
[02:10:48] you because I've been a patient so many
[02:10:50] days in this
[02:10:52] hospital. What bothers me is that my tax
[02:10:55] dollars are used to support the
[02:10:58] hospital. And for example, I have no
[02:11:00] problem with my tax dollars being used
[02:11:03] for the hospital. I'm going to ask you
[02:11:05] to kind of conclude your comments if you
[02:11:07] want, please. Am I out of time? Yes, you
[02:11:09] are. You want me to stop? No, go ahead,
[02:11:12] but please wind it up. But we have
[02:11:14] office buildings that have physicians
[02:11:17] practices and I want to know if those if
[02:11:20] we pay city taxes on those or should
[02:11:24] taxes be charged for those buildings
[02:11:28] that or because you sign a form that
[02:11:31] says the physicians do not work for
[02:11:34] Eisenhower.
[02:11:36] I don't know if you've been a patient
[02:11:37] here, but even if you don't have your
[02:11:39] glasses on, they ask you to sign this
[02:11:41] form and the form says you the physician
[02:11:45] isn't employed by Eisenhower.
[02:11:48] So what I'm
[02:11:50] asking is that uh you consider the tax
[02:11:55] status of Eisenhower
[02:11:58] Health and if I'm correct that you use
[02:12:02] those funds to help improve the
[02:12:05] personnel that are hired at this
[02:12:07] institution.
[02:12:09] I'm going to ask ask you to wind up your
[02:12:11] comments. Pardon me? I'm going to ask
[02:12:13] you to wind up your comments now. Oh,
[02:12:16] I'm done for now. Okay. Thank you for
[02:12:18] your time. Thank you for being here
[02:12:20] today. Patrick Lori.
[02:12:33] Good afternoon. Patrick Lori, 21
[02:12:36] resident of Rancho Mirage. I'm here to
[02:12:38] speak a bit on Eisenhower. But first,
[02:12:40] let me say this. I've dealt quite a bit
[02:12:42] with staff here. It's fantastic.
[02:12:46] And the other program here that we have
[02:12:48] which is for the shop local, my son
[02:12:51] participates in that with his business.
[02:12:54] Terrific. Good work. But let me make
[02:12:57] another comment here. Back to Eisenhower
[02:12:59] and I'm going to criticize
[02:13:01] you. Praise is an
[02:13:06] addiction. Is that clear? Praise is an
[02:13:09] addiction. Once you get involved with
[02:13:11] it, you can't stop it. You can't be
[02:13:14] critical anymore. You can't be
[02:13:15] objective. You can't be caring. Stop it.
[02:13:18] Eyes now has
[02:13:20] problems. Okay. I call
[02:13:24] it uh I want to put this plainly because
[02:13:28] I know how valuable they are to us, what
[02:13:30] they mean to the community. But I know
[02:13:32] this today. Somebody went to the poorest
[02:13:34] doctor. Now, you can't refute that.
[02:13:37] Somebody went to the best. Long as that
[02:13:40] is on the table, we've got to be
[02:13:41] diligent. Watch over these facilities.
[02:13:44] this place called
[02:13:45] Eisenhower. This to me in my anger at
[02:13:48] them and the way they've taken care of
[02:13:49] me and would have had to fight to to get
[02:13:51] care I called indifferent
[02:13:55] care. Now somebody mentioned about well
[02:13:58] my goodness everybody says they're
[02:13:59] wonderful. Not true. People who use
[02:14:02] Eisenhower rated at
[02:14:04] 2.5. Is that
[02:14:06] wonderful? No. Then you talk about
[02:14:09] Newsweek doing a good job. What do you
[02:14:10] want to listen to? Newsweek who hasn't
[02:14:12] spent a day in the hospital. What do you
[02:14:14] want to listen to patients who say
[02:14:16] 2.5? Now let's get really quickly into
[02:14:19] two issues. One is the idea of
[02:14:22] uh weight weight time. Other hospitals
[02:14:25] here in the valley must have the same
[02:14:27] problems. They must but their weight
[02:14:29] times far lower. Next thing is
[02:14:32] Eisenhower got nailed on washing hands.
[02:14:34] Now that sounds silly, right? Washing
[02:14:36] hands. But do you realize that 2 million
[02:14:39] people 2 million people a year go to
[02:14:42] health care and get something in that in
[02:14:44] a hospital they didn't have when they
[02:14:47] presented themselves. They got it at the
[02:14:49] hospital. 100,000 of those people died
[02:14:53] from something they didn't walk in there
[02:14:55] with. You know what the number one cause
[02:14:56] was? Washing your
[02:14:59] hands. Now I was at the emergency room
[02:15:03] last week again with this stupid heart
[02:15:04] of mine.
[02:15:06] Uh, nobody washed their hands. You had
[02:15:08] to remind them and they get
[02:15:11] indignant. How dare you tell me a doctor
[02:15:13] to wash my hands? How dare you tell me a
[02:15:15] nurse to wash my hands? Wash your bloody
[02:15:18] hands. Let me tell you 16 seconds.
[02:15:20] That's enough. Now, I get a bit
[02:15:21] emotional about this because again, I'm
[02:15:23] telling you, stop the praise all the
[02:15:25] time. Get critical. Expect the most all
[02:15:28] the time from that
[02:15:29] hospital. Final point, go Firebirds.
[02:15:34] Thank you for your comment, Wally
[02:15:53] Melendez. U good afternoon um city
[02:15:56] council
[02:15:57] and administration.
[02:16:02] So, I'm going to focus on Rancho Mirage
[02:16:08] University.
[02:16:11] And my my clock here doesn't
[02:16:15] work. Uh anyway, so I'll be looking up
[02:16:18] at that one over there.
[02:16:21] So, so I'm going to focus on Run Marage
[02:16:25] University and I'm going to focus
[02:16:29] on the law
[02:16:32] school of Ranch
[02:16:36] University. Before I I uh before I uh
[02:16:40] continue on that, I want to strongly
[02:16:45] uh say to the city council, the mayor,
[02:16:50] that it's your responsibility to set a
[02:16:53] time limit on the
[02:16:56] presentations. The guy from the
[02:16:58] hospital, I mean, he goes on and on and
[02:17:01] I've seen it with many other
[02:17:03] presentations. The fire department also
[02:17:06] does it on and on and
[02:17:09] on. We pay for your salaries.
[02:17:14] We the
[02:17:17] people and so so so I want to uh
[02:17:22] uh focus on Ranch Mirage University
[02:17:26] because a lot of people in this area
[02:17:31] just like in DC Trump and his
[02:17:35] cabinet and I'm not saying
[02:17:38] you I'm saying Trump and his cabinet are
[02:17:41] a bunch of idiots.
[02:17:44] That's
[02:17:46] okay. So, uh I got one minute
[02:17:51] left
[02:17:54] and so I want to concentrate on the law
[02:17:58] school of the Ron
[02:18:01] University for one good
[02:18:04] reason. That man they was talking about
[02:18:07] the bad treatment he got. I used to call
[02:18:10] it the Eisenhower hospital because when
[02:18:12] you come to a town, you know, you you
[02:18:15] find out about the hospital. Eisenhower
[02:18:18] Eisenhower is not even called a
[02:18:19] hospital. I'm I'm finding that
[02:18:22] out and I got 29 seconds left.
[02:18:26] I'm going to tell
[02:18:29] you one of the things that I heard some
[02:18:32] time
[02:18:34] ago. Not against you, uh, Katrick, but
[02:18:38] I'm going to leave you with this. A
[02:18:41] lawyer will rob you. A doctor will rob
[02:18:45] you and kill
[02:18:49] you. Fred Anderson.
[02:18:56] Thank you again, Brad Anderson, City of
[02:18:58] Ranch Mirage. Uh, that is blinding. I
[02:19:01] don't know if you know, but it hurts my
[02:19:03] eyes just by sitting in the front row.
[02:19:05] Uh, maybe a double split screen might be
[02:19:07] an answer. This is all new to this city
[02:19:10] council meeting, just so everybody at
[02:19:11] home knows.
[02:19:12] Um, this is of course non-aggenda public
[02:19:15] comments item seven
[02:19:17] and I'm sorely disappointed and
[02:19:20] hopefully you're ashamed by moving
[02:19:23] public comments from the beginning of
[02:19:25] the meeting to the end of the meeting. I
[02:19:27] think this is an intenture
[02:19:29] um action by city staff I guess because
[02:19:32] there was no prior warning that I know
[02:19:34] of that the city was going to take this
[02:19:36] radical action. Of course, I submitted
[02:19:38] written comments, too. So, hopefully
[02:19:40] somebody can read my my unedited version
[02:19:43] of what I'm feeling today. Um, this is
[02:19:46] not the first time this has happened to
[02:19:47] me. This has happened at
[02:19:49] CEL Valley Association Governments. They
[02:19:52] did the same thing by limiting public
[02:19:55] participation in a hope I believe to u
[02:19:59] disenfranchise public speakers or
[02:20:01] anybody becoming involved in the
[02:20:03] people's business. And this is what this
[02:20:05] is. And the Coachella Valley Vector
[02:20:08] Control District. This is just two
[02:20:10] organizations I know of that
[02:20:13] purposely rearranged their agenda to
[02:20:17] disenfranchise the public from coming to
[02:20:19] these meetings. Of course, it just
[02:20:21] heightens my ability to come now and
[02:20:23] I'll have to stay for the whole meeting,
[02:20:24] but most people won't. And just so you
[02:20:27] know, the city of Ginella, I think you
[02:20:30] may
[02:20:32] have elements or I guess I don't know
[02:20:35] some kind of data on the YouTube of when
[02:20:37] people watch and what they watch and
[02:20:39] when they not watch it and so forth. Uh
[02:20:42] and that's maybe part of your actions
[02:20:44] today uh to change the whole agenda. Uh
[02:20:48] but the city of Coachella uh they have a
[02:20:51] outstanding video presentation of their
[02:20:53] public meetings and you can skip around
[02:20:57] and and you don't have to wade through
[02:20:59] the city council meetings like you do on
[02:21:02] YouTube I believe and just so you know I
[02:21:04] don't watch myself on YouTube. I I I
[02:21:06] always always went for the minutes, but
[02:21:08] now those are inaccurate, so I can't
[02:21:10] even read those to really know what's
[02:21:12] going on in the city and and and not
[02:21:15] just the council meeting, but the many
[02:21:16] subcommittee meetings. So, I'm just
[02:21:19] sorely disappointed that you would do
[02:21:21] this and and just just so everybody
[02:21:24] knows, Palm Springs city council
[02:21:26] meetings are the worst in the nation, if
[02:21:28] not in the state of California. Uh my
[02:21:31] opinion, uh they have 2 minutes of
[02:21:33] speaking time. This is not a
[02:21:34] recommendation to do this by the way two
[02:21:37] minutes speaking for the whole entire
[02:21:38] minute meeting and that's insane. If I
[02:21:42] live there I would probably litigate but
[02:21:43] I don't live in that city. I live in
[02:21:45] this city and this city is doing a a
[02:21:48] terrible thing to the residents myself
[02:21:51] by doing this action and I hopefully you
[02:21:53] will reverse it but I doubt that. Thank
[02:21:55] you. That was the last speaker card. Is
[02:21:58] there anyone else who would like to
[02:21:59] speak on something that is not on the
[02:22:00] agenda? Okay. Please step to the lectern
[02:22:02] and state your
[02:22:10] name. Thank you. I'll be brief. My name
[02:22:13] is Carrie. I'm a new resident. I've been
[02:22:16] here for 6 months. Uh came from the San
[02:22:18] Francisco Bay area and my husband and I
[02:22:21] moved to Mission Hills. Um I work for
[02:22:23] the city of Walnut Creek. We sold our
[02:22:25] home in Lafayette and while I was living
[02:22:27] there, I worked for the city of Walnut
[02:22:29] Creek. It's a city of about 70,000. Uh
[02:22:32] so I'm very familiar with sitting in
[02:22:34] city council meetings, but I do want to
[02:22:37] commend you. This is my first that I'm
[02:22:39] attending in Rancho Mirage. I am so
[02:22:41] impressed with the efficiency, the
[02:22:44] dialogue, the engagement that is going
[02:22:46] on in this meeting. I've learned more in
[02:22:49] the two hours I've been sitting here
[02:22:51] than I have in 6 months of living here.
[02:22:54] And I also want to commend you on the
[02:22:56] many wonderful things that I've
[02:22:57] experienced. I wasn't planning on
[02:22:59] talking about Eisenhower, but
[02:23:01] coincidentally, my very first week being
[02:23:04] here, I came down with
[02:23:05] direiculitis. What is that and how did I
[02:23:08] get it? Um, I had the most amazing
[02:23:11] experience at Eisenhower and I realize
[02:23:14] that our medical situations are very
[02:23:17] personal to us and that it's there are
[02:23:20] so many factors that go into that, the
[02:23:22] day of the week, the time, luck. Uh, but
[02:23:26] I will tell you from the moment I walked
[02:23:27] in it was like a five-star Ritz Carlton
[02:23:30] experience to the point where I actually
[02:23:32] wrote a letter. I have never done that,
[02:23:35] certainly not with Kaiser. So, um, so
[02:23:38] far that's a sidebar note, but I really
[02:23:40] wanted to just come up and thank you for
[02:23:42] your service to our community because it
[02:23:44] takes a lot of work. I know what a city
[02:23:46] manager does. I know what an assistant
[02:23:49] city manager does. it is a lot of hours
[02:23:52] on behalf of the community when not all
[02:23:55] of us are going to be pleased with the
[02:23:56] outcome. So I thank you very much for
[02:23:59] agreeing to be in the role and I never
[02:24:02] hesitated to put a few tax dollars
[02:24:04] towards uh local government because I
[02:24:07] value it and it's critical to the
[02:24:10] survival of our local communities. So
[02:24:13] thank you for your time. Lastly, I will
[02:24:16] just finish by saying my only pet peeve
[02:24:19] uh being that I've been in tech for most
[02:24:20] of my career has been the lack of uh
[02:24:24] public Wi-Fi and I have called on that.
[02:24:27] I'm very big proponent of it. I was in
[02:24:30] Iceland 6 months ago. I had the best
[02:24:33] reception of my life. We should have
[02:24:35] that here. uh it's now, you know,
[02:24:37] incumbent upon all of us with an aging
[02:24:40] population here to be sure that we have,
[02:24:43] you know, public access to Wi-Fi for
[02:24:46] visitors, for directions. I could have
[02:24:49] some kind of a complication in my car
[02:24:52] and have to p, you know, pull over and I
[02:24:55] have no way to figure out how I'm going
[02:24:56] to get somewhere. So, let's make sure
[02:24:59] that we make that a priority because
[02:25:01] there's no way in this, you know, tech
[02:25:03] and AI environment that we're in that we
[02:25:05] shouldn't have that unless I'm missing
[02:25:07] something. But I want to end again as a
[02:25:10] thank you to all of you, everyone
[02:25:12] sitting in these seats, how much I
[02:25:14] appreciate your time and effort and
[02:25:16] managing this wonderful city that I'm
[02:25:18] absolutely thrilled to be in. I can't
[02:25:21] tell you how happy I am to be out of the
[02:25:23] traffic. Thank you. Thank you. It's
[02:25:26] always nice to u to hear positive
[02:25:30] compliments uh particularly on
[02:25:33] non-aggenda public comments.
[02:25:36] Is there anyone else who would like to
[02:25:37] speak on something not on today's
[02:25:38] agenda? That was the last speaker. All
[02:25:41] right, we will now go into um close
[02:25:44] session. Is there any request for
[02:25:47] discussion regarding close session? Yes,
[02:25:49] Brad Anderson.
[02:25:56] Thank you again, Brad Anderson, uh, city
[02:25:59] of Anari. Um, I will wait for the
[02:26:03] attorney's report. Uh, uh, I think I can
[02:26:06] determine what he's going to talk about.
[02:26:08] Um,
[02:26:11] uh, it's not positive, but I have lost
[02:26:14] trust in what the city council does. And
[02:26:17] when they go to close session, I have
[02:26:19] just the city attorney and council
[02:26:22] members. And there's no other eyes on
[02:26:24] that committee on commission or not
[02:26:27] commission but uh close session items. I
[02:26:30] would like to see some public officials,
[02:26:32] maybe a fire chief or somebody else,
[02:26:34] emergency services that can sit on those
[02:26:36] meetings and maybe give me some
[02:26:40] confidence that maybe those meetings are
[02:26:42] conducted properly. I just noticed on
[02:26:45] the minutes that uh again the only thing
[02:26:47] I can look at uh it took an hour uh to
[02:26:50] go to the back room and back and uh one
[02:26:53] one potential case at the last meeting
[02:26:57] uh I'm always worried that you're going
[02:26:58] to sue me again. So uh so I'm always
[02:27:01] worried about that. So uh hopefully uh
[02:27:04] hopefully uh with time that uh I can
[02:27:08] trust maybe with new city council people
[02:27:10] maybe uh but other than that probably
[02:27:12] not. Uh
[02:27:14] so I don't know what you're talking
[02:27:16] about except for this. Hopefully you can
[02:27:17] do it in a timely manner and efficient
[02:27:20] manner and keep minutes uh the minute
[02:27:22] book and uh so potential litigation down
[02:27:26] the road can be taken if needed. Thank
[02:27:27] you.
[02:27:29] Thank you for your comments. Is there
[02:27:31] anyone else who would like to speak on
[02:27:32] close session? No further comments. All
[02:27:35] right. Uh I will now um before we go
[02:27:39] into close session, I will ask our
[02:27:41] attorney to uh summarize items under
[02:27:45] discussion.
[02:27:46] Thank you, mayor. We'll be convening
[02:27:48] into close session for the item before
[02:27:49] you on the agenda listed as 8A,
[02:27:51] conference with legal counsel, potential
[02:27:53] initiation of litigation pursuant to
[02:27:55] government code section
[02:27:59] 54956.9D4, one potential case.
[02:28:03] Is there any public comment regarding
[02:28:05] that? Very good.
[02:28:11] Okay, we are now going into close
[02:28:25] session. Do we need
[02:28:28] to All right. Uh the city council
[02:28:31] meeting is back in order. I will ask a
[02:28:34] city attorney to review items that
[02:28:36] covered in the closed session. Thank
[02:28:39] you, mayor. Let the record reflect the
[02:28:40] entire council is present and was
[02:28:42] present at the U close session and
[02:28:44] there's no reportable action taken
[02:28:45] today. Thank you. The meeting is now
[02:28:48] adjourned.