Rancho Mirage City Council Meeting, March 05,2026

Transcript text

AI transcript text.

[00:00:12] Good afternoon. It's Thursday, March
[00:00:15] 5th. It's now 1:00 and I'm calling the
[00:00:18] uh regular meeting of the Ranch Mirage
[00:00:20] City Council and Community Service
[00:00:23] District, Energy Authority, Housing
[00:00:25] Authority, Joint Powers Finance
[00:00:27] Authority, Library and Observatory and
[00:00:29] Redevelopment Successor Agency boards.
[00:00:32] We are calling this meeting to order
[00:00:35] right now. Thank you. Mayor Prom, would
[00:00:38] you lead us in the flag salute, please?
[00:00:43] Please join me in saluting our flag
[00:00:47] to the flag of the United States of
[00:00:49] America and to the republic for which it
[00:00:51] stands. One nation under God,
[00:00:54] indivisible, with liberty and justice
[00:00:56] for all.
[00:01:08] >> Madame clerk, will you take the role,
[00:01:09] please? Council member DS
[00:01:11] >> I'm here.
[00:01:12] >> Council member
[00:01:14] >> here.
[00:01:15] >> Here.
[00:01:16] >> Council member while
[00:01:17] >> here.
[00:01:17] >> Mayor Prom O'Keefe
[00:01:19] >> here.
[00:01:19] >> Mayor Molatto
[00:01:20] >> here.
[00:01:22] Next item on the agenda is
[00:01:24] presentations. And our first
[00:01:25] presentation is of the traveling 911
[00:01:29] memorial painting. And here to present
[00:01:32] this beautiful piece of art is Wendy
[00:01:36] Moldo. Did I say that correctly? Thank
[00:01:39] you.
[00:01:40] Welcome.
[00:01:42] >> Thank you. And let me say, mayor and
[00:01:44] city council, thank you so much for
[00:01:46] providing this opportunity. Um, I
[00:01:50] encourage everyone to take a moment to
[00:01:53] reflect on the sacrifices made by our
[00:01:56] first responders.
[00:01:58] Never in my wildest dreams I think I
[00:02:01] would be presenting this work of art
[00:02:03] during our own ongoing war.
[00:02:07] When there's an emergency, our first
[00:02:09] responders answer the call without
[00:02:12] hesitation.
[00:02:14] They're the ones who show up first,
[00:02:17] going towards danger when others run
[00:02:21] away.
[00:02:22] How do we, the public, thank them?
[00:02:27] Thus, the story behind the journey of
[00:02:30] the traveling 911 memorial painting.
[00:02:35] This work of art, as you can see here,
[00:02:38] has been traveling for 10 years,
[00:02:41] starting in San Diego. How it began was
[00:02:44] as a realtor. I went to an auction that
[00:02:47] was being held in my real estate office.
[00:02:50] An artist had painted this painting and
[00:02:54] she was commissioned in the beginning to
[00:02:57] do this to raise money for the families
[00:03:00] of the fallen firefighters right after
[00:03:03] 911.
[00:03:04] and it was auctioned off in Chicago. A
[00:03:08] restaurant tour bought the painting. He
[00:03:10] paid over $26,000
[00:03:12] for this painting then and he hung it in
[00:03:16] his restaurant, but it made everyone so
[00:03:20] sad that he was happy with the donation,
[00:03:24] but he returned it to the artist who
[00:03:26] then just put it in her garage and wound
[00:03:29] up moving from there to California.
[00:03:32] And then out of nowhere 10 years ago,
[00:03:34] she decided to raise money for K9
[00:03:37] Companions and um Wounded Warriors and
[00:03:42] the painting along with many others came
[00:03:44] out. I saw it, I bid on it, I bought it
[00:03:50] and I took it home and I hung it on my
[00:03:54] wall and I went, "Uh-uh. This doesn't
[00:03:57] belong to me. This belongs to the
[00:04:00] public. But how how can I do this? And
[00:04:04] somehow or other, I came up with the
[00:04:06] idea, what about our first responders?
[00:04:10] That's what it's all about. It's this
[00:04:13] bizarre painting with the twin towers
[00:04:17] falling in the background, a tattered
[00:04:19] flag,
[00:04:21] a firefighter who
[00:04:24] who knows what he's thinking. It was a
[00:04:27] horrible experience that none of us must
[00:04:30] ever ever forget. And so I started the
[00:04:34] journey of the traveling 911 memorial
[00:04:37] painting. And it began in Ensenus,
[00:04:40] California, where I lived. And it went
[00:04:43] from one fire station to the next fire
[00:04:46] station to the next and traveled
[00:04:49] throughout all the cities including El
[00:04:51] Centro in San Diego. But I'm also here
[00:04:55] in the desert.
[00:04:57] So two years ago I brought it out here
[00:05:00] and it started in Lintita and it's gone
[00:05:03] from Lintita to Palm Desert to India to
[00:05:07] Palm Springs and now it's here.
[00:05:11] And
[00:05:14] more importantly than anything is the
[00:05:17] fact that we as a public need to find
[00:05:21] ways to give back to you and you and you
[00:05:25] and you and to our dispatchers and our
[00:05:29] police departments
[00:05:31] and all the people who are there when we
[00:05:34] need them most. And so this will be with
[00:05:38] the city here for three months.
[00:05:41] And you can put it in a fire station for
[00:05:45] a while. You can put it in the city
[00:05:48] hall. You could put it at the police
[00:05:50] station. It's yours.
[00:05:52] Whatever you'd like to do with it for
[00:05:54] three months to honor our people. In
[00:05:57] addition, and I'll be putting
[00:06:00] there is a book that travels with it,
[00:06:04] and this has started from the beginning
[00:06:05] that shows all the different fire
[00:06:07] stations it's been in. And at the end of
[00:06:10] the book, there's an area for comments.
[00:06:14] So, it would be great if any of you have
[00:06:16] any comments to write them in here so I
[00:06:19] can continue to travel.
[00:06:22] Uh, I'm aging. So, it's getting a little
[00:06:26] tiresome for me. So, it's probably going
[00:06:28] to go from the desert
[00:06:30] hopefully to the New York 911 Museum.
[00:06:33] And if it doesn't, it'll probably be in
[00:06:35] San Diego's 911 museum. But I thank you
[00:06:38] so much for accepting this and for
[00:06:42] finding a way that hopefully our public
[00:06:44] can come by and say thank you to all of
[00:06:48] you.
[00:06:56] Wendy, thank you for this wonderful gift
[00:06:58] that you've shared not only with our
[00:07:01] Coachella Valley but other communities.
[00:07:03] Um we shall never forget.
[00:07:07] and we revere our public safety agencies
[00:07:11] with the highest regard and respect for
[00:07:15] the jobs that they do every day. We're
[00:07:17] now going to take a photograph with our
[00:07:20] our wonderful fire department and Wendy,
[00:07:24] please jump in there.
[00:07:25] >> Yeah, just
[00:07:26] >> Oh, you can be in the center.
[00:07:31] >> Yeah, go for it.
[00:07:31] >> No, you guys.
[00:07:32] >> Now, don't fight over her.
[00:07:36] All right. Three, two,
[00:07:39] one.
[00:07:42] >> Awesome.
[00:07:42] >> Okay. I hope that's not a call for
[00:07:44] service.
[00:07:46] >> Sounded a little friendly. Could please
[00:07:48] join us. You we'll get you in the next
[00:07:50] photo for the for the firemen that are
[00:07:52] in the back. And now if city council
[00:07:54] would step down and we're going to take
[00:07:56] a photo with Wendy. One more.
[00:07:59] >> We'll take one more.
[00:08:14] You you guys can come on in the front.
[00:08:15] Make a room behind you. We're going to
[00:08:17] bring the city.
[00:08:18] >> You want some firefighters? Maybe.
[00:08:20] >> Uh yeah, we can do that. If we want if
[00:08:23] someone want to go towards the back
[00:08:24] there, get to the top.
[00:08:26] >> Like four or five.
[00:08:27] >> We got a couple of baseball teams here.
[00:08:30] >> Full lineup.
[00:08:31] >> That's right. Please. Thank you. Thank
[00:08:34] you for your generosity. Please come
[00:08:36] back. You're front and center. Come on.
[00:08:38] Come on. We're front and center.
[00:08:40] >> Front and center.
[00:08:42] >> Let me block you here.
[00:08:43] >> Michael. Good.
[00:08:45] >> Thank you.
[00:08:51] >> Is that okay?
[00:08:52] >> Yeah, I think so.
[00:08:56] >> All righty. You ready? Three, two, one.
[00:09:02] Thank you everybody.
[00:09:03] >> Thank you so much.
[00:09:08] >> Thanks very much.
[00:09:09] >> Thank you.
[00:09:10] >> One night.
[00:09:11] >> Thank you guys.
[00:09:12] >> I think so. Great idea.
[00:09:14] >> It has a great story. Great.
[00:09:16] >> No, I appreciate you guys.
[00:09:25] >> Wrong seat. I don't want to sit I don't
[00:09:27] want your
[00:09:42] And again, we can't thank our public
[00:09:44] safety, not only our fire
[00:09:48] fighters, but our sheriff's department
[00:09:50] as well. You know how much we how high
[00:09:54] we hold you in regard and respect and we
[00:09:57] are thankful for the jobs that you do
[00:09:59] day in day out. 365
[00:10:03] we can't we can't thank you enough.
[00:10:14] The next presentation
[00:10:16] is by friends of the children of the
[00:10:18] Coachella Valley.
[00:10:28] Welcome.
[00:10:30] >> Thank you,
[00:10:32] >> Mayor, City Council. Thank you very much
[00:10:33] for having us here today. I'm Randy
[00:10:35] Florence. I am the chairperson of the
[00:10:37] board of Friends of the Children,
[00:10:39] Coachella Valley. With me today in the
[00:10:42] chambers are uh board member Eric
[00:10:45] Cunningham, board member Gary Levston,
[00:10:48] and our executive director, the hardest
[00:10:50] working person in the desert, and you're
[00:10:52] just going to have to believe me on that
[00:10:53] for a little while, Carrie Shoff. Thank
[00:10:56] you.
[00:10:57] >> Yes. Thank you for having us today. Uh
[00:11:00] are we starting the presentation? There
[00:11:02] we go.
[00:11:03] Next slide, please.
[00:11:10] So, the Friends of the Children is a
[00:11:12] national organization that has been in
[00:11:14] existence for over 33 years, 45 chapters
[00:11:18] nationally. We just opened up the
[00:11:20] Coachella Valley chapter a little over a
[00:11:23] year ago. Uh up above you will see our
[00:11:26] founder Duncan Campbell who started the
[00:11:28] first uh organization in Portland. Uh
[00:11:32] and it kind of spread out from there. Uh
[00:11:34] we have been here again since December
[00:11:36] of 2024. Part of my job is to uh do
[00:11:41] everything I can to beg and conol people
[00:11:43] onto the board of uh directors for us.
[00:11:45] And one of those people I was able to
[00:11:47] rope into it was Eric Cunningham.
[00:11:49] >> Yes. Uh if we jump to the next slide
[00:11:52] here, uh we have some statistics. Oh,
[00:11:53] wait, no, sorry, that's the next next
[00:11:55] slide. Uh Friends of the Ch Oh, sorry.
[00:11:57] Friends of the Children is uh new to the
[00:11:59] Valley, but itself is uh about 30 years
[00:12:02] old. And one of our um spokespeople is
[00:12:05] Simone Biles who in the previous slide
[00:12:07] if you could see um the the kids love
[00:12:10] Simone. Uh so every uh we try to use her
[00:12:13] as much as possible but so that's just
[00:12:15] to establish that the organization's
[00:12:17] been around for a while even though we
[00:12:18] are very new here in the valley. Uh
[00:12:20] these statistics are kind of why we're
[00:12:22] here in the valley. Um I won't read
[00:12:24] through all of them. Uh um but I know
[00:12:26] one of the things that jumped out to me
[00:12:27] was 3.7% of Coachella Valley children
[00:12:29] had to go without eating an entire day
[00:12:32] due to lack of money for food. So there
[00:12:34] are a lot and these are also kind of
[00:12:36] alarming statistics as you go all the
[00:12:37] way down. Uh it sort of shows we're
[00:12:39] invited to uh well friends of the
[00:12:41] children is invited into any community
[00:12:43] that they go into. So these statistics
[00:12:45] are kind of why uh they do get invited
[00:12:48] because there is an opportunity to help
[00:12:49] out uh the children that we do help out.
[00:12:52] Um, and then on the next slide,
[00:12:55] oh yes, sorry, this is Carrie.
[00:12:58] >> So before I start, I just want to say
[00:12:59] thank you to CalFire and our
[00:13:01] firefighters. You guys mean a lot to me,
[00:13:02] so I just want to say thank you again
[00:13:04] for your service. Thank you. And we have
[00:13:06] a lot of young firefighters in our
[00:13:08] cohort. So someday we'll have to partner
[00:13:10] and let the kids meet you. Uh, so we
[00:13:12] started about a year and a half ago and
[00:13:14] we are partnered right now with Desert
[00:13:16] Sands Unified and Palm Springs Unified.
[00:13:18] Uh when we started we signedUs and we
[00:13:21] were in two dis or school two schools
[00:13:23] within each of those two districts and
[00:13:25] part of our commitment to our families
[00:13:27] is 12 years. We enroll them between the
[00:13:29] ages of four and six and we walk
[00:13:32] alongside them for 12 years. Everybody
[00:13:35] has to say this.
[00:13:36] >> 12 say it with me. How many years?
[00:13:39] >> 12 years.
[00:13:40] >> 12 years. I want to make sure everybody
[00:13:42] understands what I'm saying. 12 years.
[00:13:44] That's a commitment, right? I haven't
[00:13:45] been in a relationship for 12 months,
[00:13:46] let alone 12 years. Uh so it's a huge
[00:13:50] commitment. So one of the great things
[00:13:52] is we say no matter what. Obviously
[00:13:54] there's times where things are going to
[00:13:56] get in the way, but we had two kids who
[00:13:58] moved out of the school partners that we
[00:13:59] were with and we followed them and we
[00:14:01] added two more schools within the desert
[00:14:02] because we're committed to the children
[00:14:04] and to their families. And I'll talk a
[00:14:06] little bit more in depth about some of
[00:14:08] the great activities that we do. So if
[00:14:10] we could go to the next slide.
[00:14:13] These are a little uh um more
[00:14:15] encouraging statistics because this is
[00:14:16] the effect that friends of the children
[00:14:18] uh has uh on on the children. Again, um
[00:14:22] we talked about uh uh the what I'm going
[00:14:24] to hammer in again 12 and a half years
[00:14:26] or sorry 12 plus years uh with these
[00:14:29] children no matter what. So again 12
[00:14:31] years if you can believe it if I can. Uh
[00:14:34] so that is kind of the commitment that
[00:14:36] uh that friends of the children gives
[00:14:38] and it is also with the children who are
[00:14:40] at the most who are most at risk in the
[00:14:43] community so that there is kind of a a
[00:14:45] nomination process and we we make sure
[00:14:47] that we are helping out the kids who
[00:14:49] need it the most. Uh and it does work.
[00:14:51] Um again the statistic that I I like to
[00:14:53] highlight here is 98% of the youth uh
[00:14:55] wait to parent until after their teen
[00:14:58] years. But there are many other outcomes
[00:15:00] keeping out of the criminal justice
[00:15:01] system. Um and then staying in school or
[00:15:04] the workforce. These are the effects
[00:15:06] that we've seen in other friends of the
[00:15:07] children chapters. If we can go to the
[00:15:09] next uh slide here.
[00:15:11] >> Oh yes. Uh oh no. This is is this
[00:15:14] >> it's still you. But I'll talk about it.
[00:15:16] I like to talk about our caregivers. So
[00:15:18] we select the children but we also
[00:15:20] provide a wraparound support to the
[00:15:22] family. So these statistics are really
[00:15:24] important to show how our engagement
[00:15:26] isn't just with that child for 12 plus
[00:15:28] years. It's also with the caregivers.
[00:15:30] And part of the heavy lift that we do is
[00:15:33] we make sure that the caregivers are
[00:15:35] connected to school because if kids are
[00:15:37] struggling at school or not connected,
[00:15:39] if their parents aren't connected, if
[00:15:41] their parents aren't going to
[00:15:42] appointments, then that relationship's
[00:15:43] not going to work. So, we work really
[00:15:45] hard and the data shows from all the
[00:15:47] years, not that we've done it, only a
[00:15:48] year and a half, but all the years that
[00:15:50] uh Friends of Children has been around
[00:15:51] for just over 33 years, the stats and
[00:15:53] the data show you the work that we're
[00:15:55] doing. Next slide.
[00:15:58] That's you Randy. There was a number
[00:16:00] that Eric talked about earlier that
[00:16:02] really was one of the main reasons I
[00:16:03] joined this organization. It talked
[00:16:06] about the fact that over 35 years we
[00:16:08] have shown that 98% of the children in
[00:16:10] our organization do not experience early
[00:16:14] parenthood. So I believe that we're an
[00:16:16] organization that is not only helping
[00:16:18] today's children, but we're making
[00:16:20] generational changes. When you keep a
[00:16:23] young woman from having a child at 15,
[00:16:26] you have helped that family for
[00:16:27] generations. You know, there's a lot of
[00:16:30] fantastic organizations that that are
[00:16:32] centric to children uh in town. The Boys
[00:16:35] and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big
[00:16:37] Sisters, CASA, but I wanted to point out
[00:16:40] that there are differences to our
[00:16:42] organization that make us unlike any
[00:16:44] other that serve the children. We talked
[00:16:46] about the commitment
[00:16:48] 12 years, 12 years. But we also want to
[00:16:52] clarify and make sure you understand
[00:16:54] these are paid mentors. These are people
[00:16:57] who come out of college. They have a
[00:16:59] heart for helping children and this
[00:17:02] becomes their full-time job. We also
[00:17:05] start the children early because data
[00:17:07] has shown that most children by the age
[00:17:10] of five their path is set. So we start
[00:17:13] looking for children between the ages of
[00:17:15] four and six. And honestly, as the board
[00:17:18] chair, one of the areas where I
[00:17:20] sometimes lose sleep is knowing that we
[00:17:23] have children on our waiting list that
[00:17:25] are going to age out before we can help
[00:17:27] them. And that's just uh by nature of us
[00:17:30] gathering the funds so we can build the
[00:17:33] organization.
[00:17:35] >> Jerry,
[00:17:37] >> next slide, please.
[00:17:39] So now I get to have fun and just show
[00:17:40] you really cool pictures. So these are
[00:17:43] our cohort three mentors. So Randy
[00:17:45] talked about our mentors are not
[00:17:47] volunteers, they're paid professional
[00:17:49] mentors. So our first cohort, we have
[00:17:52] Miss Belinda, Miss Marba, and then Mr.
[00:17:54] Q. He's become our local celebrity. The
[00:17:56] kids just swarm him in public. It's
[00:17:58] amazing. He has this magnetic
[00:18:00] personality, and we have what I call
[00:18:02] three magical unicorns. They are
[00:18:04] incredible, and they're doing really
[00:18:06] impactful work. Next slide.
[00:18:10] So this is the fun stuff. So, I want to
[00:18:12] share just a few pictures of the smiles
[00:18:14] and the outings and the activities. Um,
[00:18:17] one of our commitments is to find out
[00:18:19] what that child's spark is. It what are
[00:18:21] they passionate about? We expose them to
[00:18:23] opportunities they may never have had
[00:18:25] the opportunity to experience. Um, and I
[00:18:27] almost gave away a secret. I'll show you
[00:18:29] on another picture um what one of those
[00:18:30] are. But the the gal in the middle, I
[00:18:33] had the honor of doing child
[00:18:34] observation. So, we get referrals from
[00:18:36] classroom teachers, school therapists,
[00:18:38] parents, community members, um,
[00:18:40] Riverside County Child Protective
[00:18:41] Services. Then, we go through an intake
[00:18:44] form. We see what kind of risk factors
[00:18:46] they have. So, are is it a single parent
[00:18:48] household? Uh, do they live um below
[00:18:51] poverty line? What are the risk factors?
[00:18:52] And we also look at protective factors.
[00:18:54] What do they have going for them? And
[00:18:56] see how we can set proper goals. So,
[00:18:58] then we go into the classroom and we
[00:19:00] observe the child. Is it just a
[00:19:01] classroom management thing or are they
[00:19:03] struggling? Is there social, emotional,
[00:19:04] are they being bullied on the
[00:19:06] playground? What's happening? And this
[00:19:08] little girl in the middle will just
[00:19:09] always have a special place in my heart.
[00:19:11] She was one of the first kiddos we
[00:19:12] observed. And she did not smile. My
[00:19:15] heart just melted. Every time I saw her,
[00:19:16] I just saw sadness in her. And I'm not
[00:19:18] going to cry today. I promise. Um, but
[00:19:20] to see her smile is more than I could
[00:19:24] ever expect from this job because it
[00:19:25] shows that we're doing something great
[00:19:28] with her. And uh it was an honor because
[00:19:30] Miss Marba was invited to her princess
[00:19:33] party at her house. So we work with them
[00:19:35] in school. We go out into the community
[00:19:37] and do fun things, but we become family.
[00:19:39] So they invited um Tia Marba to come to
[00:19:42] her birthday party. And that's the
[00:19:44] special princess party uh that you see
[00:19:46] in the middle. And then we do really fun
[00:19:47] outings like go to the date festival.
[00:19:49] Next slide.
[00:19:52] So Oh, we have Miss Sassy Pants here.
[00:19:54] All of our kids have different stories,
[00:19:57] different strengths, and she is the sass
[00:19:59] of our crew. Uh we had a great outing at
[00:20:02] the park, did a lot of team building
[00:20:03] activities, and on this day, we actually
[00:20:05] had families there, and that was where
[00:20:06] we got to meet one another. And that's a
[00:20:08] really strong part of our program, too,
[00:20:10] is the families get to connect. They get
[00:20:12] to lean on each other, learn from each
[00:20:13] other. And I'm excited to bring our next
[00:20:15] cohort in because then we've had
[00:20:17] families who've been in this program for
[00:20:18] a year, and they'll get to learn from
[00:20:19] them. And we do outings, um community
[00:20:22] festivals. We also do a lot in our
[00:20:24] libraries. Literacy is one of our main
[00:20:26] focuses right now. We look at the
[00:20:27] literacy scores and they're not great.
[00:20:30] And we're committed and we partner with
[00:20:31] the schools to make sure that we invest
[00:20:33] in the same curriculum. We have tablets
[00:20:35] for our kids during the summer. And we
[00:20:37] do a lot of work around literacy. And
[00:20:40] those hours are four hours a week. So we
[00:20:42] do two in the classroom and then two
[00:20:44] hours in the community. So, every week,
[00:20:46] each of these children on the roster get
[00:20:48] four hours of intentional support every
[00:20:51] single week. Next slide.
[00:20:56] Uh, this is a fun one. I don't know if
[00:20:57] you've ever heard of Cakes for Kids, but
[00:20:59] we partner with Cakes for Kids for
[00:21:01] graduation from kindergarten, birthday
[00:21:03] parties. Some of our kids have never
[00:21:05] ever had a birthday party, and that was
[00:21:07] really hard for me to understand. Um, so
[00:21:10] now we really make sure when we know
[00:21:12] birthdays are coming up, we work with
[00:21:13] the caregivers and talk about what are
[00:21:15] you doing for their birthday. We've gone
[00:21:16] to Pizza Hut, we've had things at our
[00:21:18] clubhouse. Um, we've had kids come to
[00:21:20] other kids' birthday parties sick and
[00:21:23] I'm like, what are you doing here? You
[00:21:24] have a temperature and he's like, I've
[00:21:25] never been invited to a birthday party.
[00:21:27] He didn't want to miss it. This was the
[00:21:28] first birthday he'd ever been invited
[00:21:30] to. So, we're really creating special
[00:21:33] moments. And there's that smile of that
[00:21:35] precious little girl again. um on every
[00:21:37] outing you get to see her smile. And
[00:21:39] then this young man um he was very shy,
[00:21:42] was not speaking, was not engaging, and
[00:21:44] now he is so outgoing. And this is
[00:21:47] called the Eagle's Nest at his school.
[00:21:48] If you do great things in the classroom,
[00:21:50] you earn points and you get to go play a
[00:21:52] little air hockey. And I grew up on air
[00:21:53] hockey. So I think that's pretty cool
[00:21:55] that they have air hockey. Next slide.
[00:21:59] Uh this was a fun one that I was going
[00:22:01] to talk about. The first one with the
[00:22:02] cupcake. Um special moments ice. So this
[00:22:06] young man had never seen ice or snow
[00:22:08] before and he was so fascinated when he
[00:22:10] was touching his skate. He's like, "What
[00:22:12] is this?" He could not understand what
[00:22:14] was happening with the ice. So these are
[00:22:16] experiences our kids have never had and
[00:22:18] we get the opportunity to walk alongside
[00:22:20] them and their families. Uh the second
[00:22:22] picture, we have great community
[00:22:24] partners that offer um support with
[00:22:27] meals because some of our kids if it's
[00:22:29] summertime or winter break, they don't
[00:22:30] have the meals because school's out of
[00:22:32] session. So, we really try to commit to
[00:22:34] healthy um food options when they're out
[00:22:36] of school. And this one was really
[00:22:38] special. Uh this young man, his mom had
[00:22:40] just given birth and had a baby three
[00:22:42] days prior to the start of first grade.
[00:22:44] And you know, you know, bringing your
[00:22:46] child to school in the first day of
[00:22:47] school is kind of that right of passage.
[00:22:49] Mom couldn't do it. She had this newborn
[00:22:50] baby. She had just gotten home from the
[00:22:52] hospital. So, she asked Mr. Q, "Would
[00:22:54] you do the honor and bring my child to
[00:22:56] the first day of school?" So, we thought
[00:22:57] that was pretty special that she
[00:22:58] entrusted us to do that. Next slide.
[00:23:03] So obviously this work costs money. So I
[00:23:06] just want to highlight we have our next
[00:23:08] cohort coming in. The unique thing about
[00:23:10] our model is we grow exponentially every
[00:23:13] year. So we have the three mentors right
[00:23:15] now. And we just made three job offers
[00:23:17] to three more mentors, two males and one
[00:23:19] female. And we're waiting for all the
[00:23:21] fun paperwork to come back. So Randy
[00:23:24] mentioned this weight list. We have a
[00:23:25] wait list of over 40 children right now.
[00:23:27] and we don't even need to go into the
[00:23:29] schools and recruit anymore because now
[00:23:30] people know about us and they're putting
[00:23:32] u referrals in before we even ask. So
[00:23:34] with the three mentors that we're
[00:23:36] hiring, that's eight kids on their
[00:23:38] roster. So we will be able to move 24
[00:23:40] children off of our 40 deep weight list.
[00:23:42] We just had our inaugural fundraiser.
[00:23:44] Hopefully you're all following us on
[00:23:46] social media and you'll see the great
[00:23:47] pictures. We had a super fun event at
[00:23:49] the Shag House and we raised about
[00:23:51] 150,000, so half of our goal. Next
[00:23:54] slide.
[00:23:56] That's you.
[00:23:58] >> So, these are the rest of the people
[00:23:59] that I roped onto the board uh in my
[00:24:02] time here. Uh but this is the board of
[00:24:04] directors. We are actively looking for
[00:24:06] more people who have this same heart for
[00:24:08] the children that would like to get
[00:24:10] involved with us and help us drive this
[00:24:13] organization even further. I joined this
[00:24:17] organization several years ago. I was
[00:24:19] the chairperson of the Coachella Valley
[00:24:20] Economic Partnership and I had been
[00:24:23] asked to do a little bit of consulting
[00:24:25] for Friends of the Children as they
[00:24:26] looked at coming into the uh area, the
[00:24:30] Valley. The longer that I talked to him,
[00:24:32] the more I realized that something
[00:24:34] inside of my heart was opening and that
[00:24:36] I believed totally in this program of
[00:24:38] surprising providing support for 12
[00:24:42] years. 12 years. I just want to make
[00:24:44] sure that was the number for 12 years.
[00:24:46] Um that's why I joined this
[00:24:48] organization. My heart get just kept
[00:24:50] growing bigger and bigger and bigger and
[00:24:52] understanding that there there's no
[00:24:54] geography in this country that needs
[00:24:57] this more than this one does right now.
[00:25:01] Eric.
[00:25:03] Oh, and then I think our last slide I
[00:25:05] believe.
[00:25:07] Yes. So thank you guys so much for for
[00:25:09] hearing us out. to uh please do the ask
[00:25:11] today is to follow us on social media to
[00:25:14] get you can use the QR code or you can
[00:25:15] just find us on Facebook and Instagram u
[00:25:18] but is a great way to kind of see the
[00:25:19] work that we are doing uh um at friends
[00:25:22] of the children here in the Coachella
[00:25:23] Valley uh and again thank you so much
[00:25:25] for your time.
[00:25:26] >> Thank you.
[00:25:27] >> Any questions?
[00:25:27] >> Oh yes, any questions?
[00:25:31] >> Any questions from the council?
[00:25:33] >> No.
[00:25:33] >> How many years?
[00:25:35] >> Oh yes, we have a question. 12 years.
[00:25:36] Okay, good.
[00:25:38] >> All right. Thank you. Thank you very
[00:25:40] much.
[00:25:49] >> Next item on the agenda is council
[00:25:51] member comments or reports and we'll
[00:25:54] start off with council member uh
[00:25:56] Ephrostein.
[00:25:58] Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um two things
[00:26:01] today. Uh yesterday we attended uh a
[00:26:04] state of the healthc care lunchon that
[00:26:06] was sponsored by the chamber and I'm
[00:26:08] sure other council members are going to
[00:26:10] talk about it. I just wanted to talk
[00:26:11] about my takeaways. Um it was an
[00:26:14] excellent presentation on the bridge
[00:26:18] between um technology and AI use and um
[00:26:24] and and healthcare. And I have to
[00:26:27] commend the chief uhformational officer
[00:26:30] and the chief medical officer of
[00:26:32] Eisenhower about illuminating
[00:26:35] Eisenhower's approach to incorporating
[00:26:37] AI into medical care. And I thought that
[00:26:40] it was just an incredibly
[00:26:43] um illustrative explanation of where AI
[00:26:47] is a helpful tool in in changing the
[00:26:51] outcomes in healthcare. I think a lot of
[00:26:52] us uh hear so much negative about AI and
[00:26:55] fear about will I not see a doctor
[00:26:58] because now I will talk to a screen or a
[00:27:00] robot or a phone. And it was really
[00:27:04] impressive um how much they emphasized
[00:27:07] that this would actually enhance the
[00:27:10] human the humanity in healthcare rather
[00:27:12] than detract from it by taking so much
[00:27:15] of the procedure away from healthcare to
[00:27:18] allow more of the connection between um
[00:27:22] physicians and health care staff and a
[00:27:25] patient. uh it was just uh eyeopening as
[00:27:30] to what AI and and in technology can do
[00:27:36] I think bring health care back to what
[00:27:38] we think healthcare should be and not
[00:27:40] dramatically change it so that it is a
[00:27:42] more remote experience and it gave me uh
[00:27:46] probably the best feeling I've had about
[00:27:48] the use of AI in the world since this
[00:27:51] whole avalanche and revolution has
[00:27:52] started. So, I just wanted to commend uh
[00:27:55] Eisenhower on the messaging yesterday.
[00:27:58] Um, in transparency, I had a mammogram
[00:28:00] and and when my report came back, it
[00:28:02] said enabled read by AI and it gave me
[00:28:05] pause. Was this looked at by the
[00:28:06] radiologist at all? And when he they
[00:28:09] went through the explanation, I said,
[00:28:10] "Oh, that just quelled all my concerns
[00:28:13] that nobody human looked at my reports,
[00:28:16] but that actually it was reviewed by AI,
[00:28:18] which is a more uh comprehensive way to
[00:28:21] look at your reporting and brought would
[00:28:24] have brought points forward to a
[00:28:25] radiologist they may not have caught
[00:28:28] based on even all of their experience in
[00:28:30] time." And it immediately calmed my
[00:28:32] fears about how AI is going to change my
[00:28:34] personal care. So I thought if I'm
[00:28:36] having that there must be other people
[00:28:37] having those concerns as well. Uh the
[00:28:40] second point that I wanted to talk about
[00:28:42] was um this weekend the confidence
[00:28:45] summit was held at the Ritz Carlton. Uh
[00:28:48] this was an event near and dear to my
[00:28:50] heart and the mayors. Uh Lynn and Mayor
[00:28:53] Milatto and I have been involved in this
[00:28:56] um summit's creation for this year's
[00:28:59] iteration for over about the last year
[00:29:02] with our marketing department. Number
[00:29:04] one, I have to commend our marketing
[00:29:05] department for all the great work they
[00:29:06] did. I'd also like to commend um Fu and
[00:29:11] Sha and Robert Shine and his team on
[00:29:13] throwing uh a summit that I've heard was
[00:29:16] an incredible experience for so many
[00:29:17] people. I unfortunately was at the end
[00:29:20] of having COVID but I was able to appear
[00:29:24] uh remotely which was very 2020 for a
[00:29:27] minute um at the summit because uh in
[00:29:31] and amongst all the things that are
[00:29:32] featured and to go back this summit
[00:29:35] focuses on women learning to balance
[00:29:38] financial literacy leadership and
[00:29:41] wellness and self-care in a modern world
[00:29:44] when those things feel fleeting and
[00:29:46] harder and harder to reach. And so that
[00:29:48] is what the dedication of the summit is.
[00:29:51] But we uh specifically were featured on
[00:29:53] a panel. It was Minina our our planning
[00:29:56] officer uh our mayor and myself uh that
[00:30:00] was um moderated by Sheila and I'm going
[00:30:03] to butcher her name. Bumman.
[00:30:07] >> Yes.
[00:30:07] >> I think you did pretty well.
[00:30:08] >> Okay.
[00:30:10] um who's the new general manager for the
[00:30:11] Ritz Carlton talking about the roles of
[00:30:14] women in government and leadership and
[00:30:18] it was uh I even if I do say so myself I
[00:30:21] will give it a fivestar review that we
[00:30:22] did a really really good job um but um
[00:30:25] >> a tall bar for to get a fivestar review.
[00:30:28] Yeah, I'm not easy to even about myself
[00:30:31] and so um it was a really great day and
[00:30:33] I have heard from other participants how
[00:30:36] great the other sessions were and how
[00:30:39] much people got out of the day. The good
[00:30:41] news is this was the third year of the
[00:30:42] summit. The good news is there are at
[00:30:44] least two to three more years of the
[00:30:46] summit already uh committed to at the
[00:30:48] Ritz. Um this is a a really great
[00:30:52] endeavor for the city. We are really
[00:30:54] honored to be included as a partner in
[00:30:56] this and to have this occur in our city.
[00:30:59] And I want to thank again the team at
[00:31:01] the confidence summit for everything
[00:31:02] they did. Our marketing team for their
[00:31:05] heavy lift and also for allowing me to
[00:31:07] participate even and I didn't think I
[00:31:08] was going to be able to be in the room
[00:31:10] and not become a super spreader. So that
[00:31:12] was a really nice bonus. And um I will
[00:31:15] now defer if Lyn Wen and Lina have other
[00:31:17] comments.
[00:31:18] >> Just an additional comment. Uh Rob Shine
[00:31:20] and High Tower uh financial uh Rob
[00:31:24] created this
[00:31:26] few financially empowered women as a
[00:31:30] result of his own mother uh after his
[00:31:34] father passed away um her lack of
[00:31:37] financial literacy.
[00:31:40] Fast forward, he's opened this as an
[00:31:43] opportunity and it's been well
[00:31:44] publicized on CNBC
[00:31:47] um over the years, the phenomenal
[00:31:50] speakers. Yes, there were speakers on
[00:31:53] financial literacy in and and and how to
[00:31:56] gain financial security, but it's not
[00:31:59] just about the finance. It's is about
[00:32:01] the whole person and how health and
[00:32:05] wellness fit into it and how you can be
[00:32:08] productive and share this information
[00:32:09] with your community. As you know, we're
[00:32:12] we we toss around ideas. You know, no
[00:32:15] one teaches you economics and how to run
[00:32:18] a household in school. They used to have
[00:32:21] economics home and and what have you
[00:32:24] back in the day. And I know I've just
[00:32:25] aged myself, but um you know those are
[00:32:29] those are life those are life tools that
[00:32:32] are that are lacking. So at any rate
[00:32:34] it's it's interesting that the two
[00:32:36] topics that you spoke of they're getting
[00:32:38] back to the whole person which
[00:32:40] Eisenhower is doing as well and I know
[00:32:43] there's been frustration in with the
[00:32:46] medical community for years. You know,
[00:32:49] there's as someone who was an X-ray tech
[00:32:52] for several years, you spend so much
[00:32:54] time documenting. Back then, we didn't
[00:32:56] have the computers to document. We had
[00:32:58] to document and chart by hand. And then
[00:33:01] a doctor or a a ner member of the staff,
[00:33:04] uh, medical staff would have would have
[00:33:06] a laptop or a computer access, but still
[00:33:09] you're constantly moving. Um, and the
[00:33:13] patient wonders if in fact you're paying
[00:33:15] attention to them because you're
[00:33:16] focusing on the charting
[00:33:19] as Eve had mentioned this AI and I had
[00:33:23] the same reservations as everyone else.
[00:33:26] There is a tool that um you mount on the
[00:33:30] wall and basically it's a recorder and a
[00:33:32] transcriber. So you can have the doctor
[00:33:34] can have that one-on-one conversation
[00:33:37] with you wanting to know what ails you,
[00:33:41] what improvements you're having, what
[00:33:43] the next steps are and it is all
[00:33:45] recorded, transcribed so that the doctor
[00:33:47] or whoever the health care uh
[00:33:50] professional is can interact, get you to
[00:33:52] the next steps and then move forward
[00:33:55] appropriately.
[00:33:56] Um doctors have complained over the
[00:33:59] years that they spend more time
[00:34:01] documenting than taking care of the
[00:34:03] patient. So uh it was very intensive uh
[00:34:08] yesterday and and I'd like to bring
[00:34:10] Eisenhower in to describe their eight
[00:34:13] pillars.
[00:34:14] Um
[00:34:16] you know when people are forming just
[00:34:18] like any other program it's a process.
[00:34:21] It takes time um to unveil that process,
[00:34:25] but I think the public will have a
[00:34:29] um reassurance and a reaffirmation that
[00:34:32] the health care is there. I know
[00:34:33] everybody complains about having to wait
[00:34:35] in the ER for 4 and a half, 5 hours, but
[00:34:38] people don't understand when somebody
[00:34:40] comes into an ER and the the staff is
[00:34:42] triaging and that's where I used to work
[00:34:44] was ER and surgery for radiology. The
[00:34:47] thing is is you have to dispatch that
[00:34:49] lab tech or maybe respiratory therapy
[00:34:51] for the blood gases or to get a chest
[00:34:53] X-ray or what have you. It would take an
[00:34:56] extraordinary amount of time to process
[00:34:58] those tests so that you can get the
[00:35:01] results to make a bonafideed
[00:35:04] diagnosis.
[00:35:05] It doesn't happen quickly. It's
[00:35:07] frustrating. I know it. I mean, when I
[00:35:09] left the medical field um 20 years ago,
[00:35:11] I'd say four and a half hour wait in the
[00:35:13] ER and I'd been on that side and it it
[00:35:17] it can be challenging and lengthier now.
[00:35:20] So, at any rate, Eisenhower and the
[00:35:22] other medical institutions that
[00:35:24] participated yesterday um are addressing
[00:35:27] those factors and it'll be nice to be
[00:35:30] able to have a public um unveiling, if
[00:35:34] you will.
[00:35:37] Thank you, Eve. Thank you. That was the
[00:35:39] end of my comment.
[00:35:40] >> I'm sorry. I I I I'm not I'm going to
[00:35:42] try to minimize my comments when it's my
[00:35:44] turn. Sorry about that. Uh Council
[00:35:46] Member Steve Dans.
[00:35:49] >> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good afternoon,
[00:35:50] everyone. And I too want to talk about
[00:35:53] the state of healthc care that our
[00:35:55] chamber put on yesterday at the Omni and
[00:35:58] comments from Eisenhower executives
[00:36:01] about uh current and future conditions
[00:36:03] in healthcare in our city and their
[00:36:05] plans for the future. Some highlights
[00:36:06] that stood out to me were number one,
[00:36:09] Ken Wheat, the chief operating officer,
[00:36:11] told us about patient visits to
[00:36:13] Eisenhower's clinics over the past 5
[00:36:16] years. 5 years ago, the number of
[00:36:18] patient visits to Eisenhower clinics was
[00:36:20] 800,000. This year, it's 1.2
[00:36:25] million. 1.2 million patient visits this
[00:36:28] year. That's a 50% increase in the past
[00:36:31] 5 years. Now, I don't think that the
[00:36:33] population of the city of Ranch Mirage
[00:36:34] has increased 50% in the last 5 years. I
[00:36:36] don't think the population of the
[00:36:38] Coachella Valley has increased by 50% in
[00:36:40] the past 5 years, but it's pretty clear
[00:36:42] that there has been a significant
[00:36:44] increase in the population of this
[00:36:46] valley who want to go to Eisenhower for
[00:36:49] their healthcare. And it seems to me
[00:36:51] that there are a couple of uh reasons
[00:36:52] why Eisenhower is consistently rated
[00:36:54] highly. Uh, for example, according to
[00:36:57] the US News and World Report, it's rated
[00:36:59] number two, the number two hospital in
[00:37:01] the Inland Empire, number 13 in the
[00:37:04] state of California, and among the top
[00:37:05] 13% of hospitals nationwide. Eisenhower
[00:37:09] also uh has a five-star rated, the top
[00:37:12] rating from the Centers for Medicare and
[00:37:15] Medicaid.
[00:37:16] So, what's Eisenhower doing to keep pace
[00:37:19] to this um immense growth in uh the
[00:37:23] population count of those visiting
[00:37:25] Eisenhower's clinics? Well, over the
[00:37:27] next three years, Eisenhower will spend
[00:37:29] $100 million per year, more than $100
[00:37:31] million per year in capital
[00:37:34] improvements. And just this year alone,
[00:37:36] this next year alone, Eisenhower will
[00:37:38] develop $110,000 square feet of new
[00:37:41] clinic space. Now, I also want to speak
[00:37:44] to some social media comments that many
[00:37:47] of us noticed in the past week or so
[00:37:49] leading up to uh the state of healthcare
[00:37:52] yesterday. Most of those social media
[00:37:54] comments were pretty pretty good and
[00:37:56] pretty positive about Eisenhower, but
[00:37:58] there were a few negative comments as
[00:38:00] well. Most of the those negative
[00:38:02] comments had to do with things like, "I
[00:38:04] just had to wait too long to see my
[00:38:06] doctor and I don't like it and I blame
[00:38:08] Eisenhower for it." Well, it doesn't
[00:38:11] take much of an internet research to
[00:38:13] figure out that this problem of fewer
[00:38:16] doctors than we need is not a ranch
[00:38:18] mirage problem. It is not an Eisenhower
[00:38:20] problem. It is not a Coachella Valley
[00:38:23] problem. It is a systemic nationwide
[00:38:27] And most of the articles that I've read
[00:38:29] recently suggest that over the coming
[00:38:31] years there is about the shortage in in
[00:38:33] not just doctors but in medical service
[00:38:35] professionals will be a will measure in
[00:38:38] the tens of thousands. So residents of
[00:38:40] this city often ask us what can we do
[00:38:43] and we ask ourselves what can we do to
[00:38:46] help improve the situation for
[00:38:47] Eisenhower to help them hire more
[00:38:50] medical professionals. There are a
[00:38:51] couple of things that Mayor Matto
[00:38:53] mentioned yesterday. I'll mention them
[00:38:54] again today. She mentioned them
[00:38:55] yesterday in her comments at the state
[00:38:57] of the healthc care event. So first, we
[00:39:00] can help Eisenhower recruit and retain
[00:39:04] employees. A good many of the employees
[00:39:06] at Eisenhower are of child rearing years
[00:39:09] and they have children. So what
[00:39:11] Eisenhower asked us to do what we did
[00:39:13] last year, we made a $2 million grant to
[00:39:15] help Eisenhower build a child care
[00:39:17] center on campus at Eisenhower Health.
[00:39:20] That's going to help Eisenhower recruit
[00:39:22] and retain more medical professionals.
[00:39:26] By recruiting and retaining more medical
[00:39:27] profession professionals, they're going
[00:39:29] to do a better job of make of providing
[00:39:32] great health care to every one of us in
[00:39:34] this room and in this city. Here's a
[00:39:36] second thing that we've done over the
[00:39:37] last couple of years to try to help
[00:39:38] Eisenhower as well as other employers in
[00:39:40] our city. It has to do with affordable
[00:39:42] housing and workforce housing.
[00:39:45] Today we're building uh about four or
[00:39:47] five new community. were helping to
[00:39:49] build about four or five new affordable
[00:39:52] housing communities around the city.
[00:39:53] Ground has been broken up near a dog
[00:39:55] park uh and affordable housing is being
[00:39:57] built in the city today and that will
[00:40:00] help Eisenhower by providing workforce
[00:40:03] close by as opposed to having to attract
[00:40:06] uh workforce from miles and miles away.
[00:40:08] Eisenhower and our other employers will
[00:40:11] have access to workforce through
[00:40:13] workforce housing here in the city. So
[00:40:15] those two things we are accomplishing.
[00:40:16] We're doing a great job of it. Thank
[00:40:18] you, mayor, for mentioning that
[00:40:19] yesterday. Um, I think that uh I I'm
[00:40:23] sometimes reminded of something that
[00:40:25] President Kennedy said some years ago.
[00:40:26] He said, "Ask not what your country can
[00:40:28] do for you. Ask what you can do for your
[00:40:30] country." Maybe we ought to ask what we
[00:40:31] can do to help Eisenhower do a better
[00:40:32] job of providing healthcare for all of
[00:40:34] us. Thank you, Madame Mayor.
[00:40:36] >> Thank you. And I I be remiss in um not
[00:40:40] mentioning that in addition to
[00:40:42] Eisenhower, there was uh Desert
[00:40:44] Healthcare or Oasis and also uh the uh
[00:40:47] Desert um
[00:40:50] Desert Hospital and Kaiser that all
[00:40:54] attended this event yesterday. So it was
[00:40:56] very well represented as it should be
[00:40:58] because not everyone gets their health
[00:41:00] care at Eisenhower Medical Center and
[00:41:04] all of those institutions uh provide um
[00:41:08] do their best to pursue pursue
[00:41:11] excellence in healthc care delivery. Uh
[00:41:13] Mayor Prom.
[00:41:16] >> Thank you Madam Mayor. Uh good afternoon
[00:41:18] everyone. Um, I'd like to begin my
[00:41:20] remarks by expressing my uh deep
[00:41:24] gratitude
[00:41:26] uh and thanks to the women and men in
[00:41:30] our military for their service.
[00:41:33] And I'd like to honor those who have
[00:41:35] made the ultimate sacrifice during this
[00:41:37] difficult time. I'm also grateful to our
[00:41:40] local law enforcement officers and to
[00:41:44] Cal Fire personnel for helping keep our
[00:41:46] city safe. Thank you.
[00:41:50] We live in an exceptional city that is
[00:41:53] well-run and it's prosperous. But we
[00:41:55] also realize there are folks in our city
[00:41:58] that need assistance. And that's why I
[00:42:01] am proud that we help people who are in
[00:42:03] need. Just this past month, we helped
[00:42:07] find food bank, which is crucial for our
[00:42:09] residents who have food insecurity.
[00:42:12] We helped DAP Health, which provides
[00:42:16] health care for thousands of people who
[00:42:18] have healthc care insecurity.
[00:42:22] We worked with Tools for Tomorrow, which
[00:42:25] provides free afterchool arts and
[00:42:27] literacy programs for young children who
[00:42:30] would otherwise have no exposure to the
[00:42:33] arts.
[00:42:35] Mission Hills hosted the Tunnel to
[00:42:37] Towers golf tournament and that
[00:42:39] organization provides mortgage free
[00:42:42] homes to homeless veterans and gold star
[00:42:46] and fallen first responder families with
[00:42:49] young children.
[00:42:51] And of course, as Steve DS just said,
[00:42:54] our city has approved more than 800
[00:42:57] affordable housing units to be built for
[00:43:00] workforce housing and also for people
[00:43:03] who have housing insecurity.
[00:43:07] And yet, Rancho Mirage is also the
[00:43:09] cultural center of the Coachella Valley.
[00:43:12] We offer opportunities that are
[00:43:13] available nowhere else. our famous
[00:43:16] library and observatory and the
[00:43:18] wonderful writers festival which is now
[00:43:21] available to watch for free on YouTube.
[00:43:24] We have Sunnylands. We have the rhy uh
[00:43:27] preservation mirage programs,
[00:43:30] the children's discovery museum, the
[00:43:33] tolerance education center, and soon we
[00:43:36] will have the global wildlife discovery
[00:43:38] museum.
[00:43:40] And our wonderful chamber of commerce
[00:43:42] presented as everyone has mentioned the
[00:43:45] superb medical summit yesterday which
[00:43:47] pre presented cuttingedge medical
[00:43:50] information and that's appropriate here
[00:43:53] because Rancho Mirage is also the center
[00:43:56] for outstanding medical care in the
[00:43:58] Coachella Valley.
[00:44:01] And there's more. So, circle your
[00:44:03] calendars because coming up, I hope to
[00:44:05] see everyone at Acrasure Arena this
[00:44:08] Sunday for Rancho Mirage Day with the
[00:44:11] Firebirds.
[00:44:12] And you don't want to miss Desert
[00:44:14] theatrical production of Chicago, which
[00:44:16] is a wonderful production beginning next
[00:44:19] Friday running through Sunday at the
[00:44:21] beautiful Rancho Mirage Amphitheater.
[00:44:24] And finally, something close to my
[00:44:26] heart. On Friday, March 13th, we will
[00:44:30] help our furry friends in the shelters.
[00:44:33] They will find new loving homes. So,
[00:44:36] please join us at the community park and
[00:44:38] farmers market where we will have the
[00:44:41] second Rancho Mirage rescue rally and
[00:44:44] adoption fair. There will be a lot of
[00:44:47] wonderful dogs to adopt. There will be
[00:44:50] free vaccinations and free medical
[00:44:52] treatments and free microchipping.
[00:44:56] Then the following Friday, March 20th,
[00:44:59] we will have free spaying and neutering
[00:45:01] services also at the community park.
[00:45:04] Look, we all know that having a pet
[00:45:08] makes you a better human being. We also
[00:45:11] know that the New York Times this week
[00:45:13] just reported it also makes you a
[00:45:16] healthier human being. So, if you're
[00:45:18] ready for a new lifelong friend, please
[00:45:21] join me at the Ranch Mirage Rescue Rally
[00:45:23] next Friday. It will be a lot of fun.
[00:45:26] Ranch Mirage is a great place to be.
[00:45:29] Thank you, Madame Mayor.
[00:45:30] >> You're welcome. I bet you thought I
[00:45:32] forgot about you,
[00:45:33] >> Council Member Ted While.
[00:45:36] >> Thank you, Madam Mayor.
[00:45:38] Uh, I too want to comment about the
[00:45:42] Eisenhower presentation yesterday. I
[00:45:45] thought it was phenomenal.
[00:45:47] Anyone that attended had to be
[00:45:50] impressed.
[00:45:53] I want to mention in particular that
[00:45:56] over the past year, Eisenhower has
[00:45:58] recruited 47 new physicians to serve the
[00:46:03] growing te needs of the Coachella
[00:46:06] Valley.
[00:46:08] 16 of these graduates
[00:46:10] of their own medical education programs
[00:46:15] who are choosing to begin their career
[00:46:18] here. a powerful investment in the
[00:46:21] future of health care in our own
[00:46:24] community.
[00:46:25] They have strengthened several key
[00:46:28] specialties
[00:46:30] including orthopedics, cardiology,
[00:46:33] neurology,
[00:46:34] dermatology,
[00:46:36] urology, oncology,
[00:46:39] psychiatry,
[00:46:40] opthalmology,
[00:46:42] and primary care.
[00:46:45] In particular, the expansion of
[00:46:48] behavioral health services and the
[00:46:51] continued focus on primary care ensure
[00:46:56] patients have access to both specialized
[00:47:00] and preventative care close to home.
[00:47:04] This progress reflects strong
[00:47:06] leadership, thoughtful planning, and a
[00:47:10] clear commitment to becoming a
[00:47:13] worldclass health system.
[00:47:17] On behalf of the council, I want to
[00:47:19] commend Eisenhower Health for its
[00:47:21] dedication
[00:47:23] dedication to expanding access to
[00:47:26] highquality care for our residents and
[00:47:29] to thank the physician, staff, and
[00:47:32] generous donors who make this growth
[00:47:35] possible.
[00:47:36] One other important note that I'd like
[00:47:39] to talk about is that in the last week,
[00:47:43] Visit Greater Palm Springs updated us as
[00:47:47] to the activities that are going on in
[00:47:50] tourism,
[00:47:52] which the
[00:47:55] VGPS
[00:47:56] continues to deliver real measurable
[00:47:59] benefits for Rancho Mirage, generating
[00:48:03] roughly $1 billion dollar in local
[00:48:07] economic impact with visitors spending
[00:48:11] about 2.2 million per day in our city
[00:48:15] supporting thousands of local jobs and
[00:48:19] increasing
[00:48:20] spending by nearly 7% year-over-year.
[00:48:25] Obviously, this is the reason that we
[00:48:27] need affordable housing because we need
[00:48:31] the staff to be able to
[00:48:35] take advantage of this great influx
[00:48:38] that's occurring in our in our city.
[00:48:42] VGPS is sharpening its focus on growing
[00:48:45] off- peak visitation
[00:48:48] through targeted marketing, expanded air
[00:48:50] service, group business and sports
[00:48:54] tourism
[00:48:55] supported by strong regional air service
[00:48:59] and load factors that keep our
[00:49:02] destination
[00:49:03] competitive.
[00:49:05] We also heard how these efforts connect
[00:49:08] to broader economic development goals,
[00:49:11] including regional collaboration to
[00:49:14] divers to diversify the economy, advance
[00:49:19] workforce development and support
[00:49:22] projects like the indoor sports facility
[00:49:26] and the valleywide economic development
[00:49:30] strategy.
[00:49:32] I want to highlight that ranch continue
[00:49:35] continually invests to help our resorts
[00:49:39] and restaurants participate in regional
[00:49:42] programs like the summer chill co-op
[00:49:45] media buy and restaurant week. My
[00:49:49] congratulations to our marketing
[00:49:51] department who make a significant
[00:49:54] contribution to this area.
[00:49:58] We have de deliver delivered a strong
[00:50:02] return for our community and it's our
[00:50:05] objective to continue that. Thank you,
[00:50:09] Madame Mayor.
[00:50:10] >> Thank you, council member. Uh in
[00:50:13] addition to our bi-weekly uh council
[00:50:16] meetings, city council members sit on
[00:50:21] five outside agencies as a direct
[00:50:23] delegate and five other agencies as an
[00:50:26] alternate. And uh one of the agencies
[00:50:29] that I sit on is Sunline, Sunline
[00:50:31] Transit. And when I joined the council,
[00:50:35] I had uh comments and grateful for those
[00:50:38] comments uh from members of the public
[00:50:40] saying, why don't we have uh bus routes
[00:50:43] connecting date palm drive down Gerald
[00:50:46] Ford to Bob Hope or Monterey
[00:50:49] and why is it that uh wrership is
[00:50:52] limited and available in ranch? So, I
[00:50:55] took those comments to Sunline and um
[00:50:59] I'm very very pleased that over the last
[00:51:02] couple of years with a new CEO who's
[00:51:05] very proactive, very preemptive, listens
[00:51:08] to the public's comments, listens to her
[00:51:11] board of directors, Sunline launched in
[00:51:14] January.
[00:51:16] It's called Sunline Rides Imagined. It
[00:51:20] is a survey and you can find that survey
[00:51:23] on sunline.org
[00:51:26] back rides re-imagined and you can
[00:51:29] complete the survey online. If you need
[00:51:32] a survey, they have them available at
[00:51:35] Sunline. We also have them available
[00:51:37] here at Rancher Mirage. But let me share
[00:51:40] with you what the board and operations
[00:51:44] are doing right now. They're responding
[00:51:46] to a shifting population um and its
[00:51:49] patterns and new development because
[00:51:51] during co
[00:51:53] ridership of course diminished but the
[00:51:57] population also grew. So we were hearing
[00:52:00] from the public that wrership was not
[00:52:03] getting to where the people needed to
[00:52:04] be. And so what they're doing is they're
[00:52:07] pro they want to improve access to jobs,
[00:52:10] schools, health care in everyday
[00:52:11] destinations using available resources
[00:52:14] more effectively to provide reliable
[00:52:17] services creating a more convenient and
[00:52:19] userfriendly uh experience for riders.
[00:52:23] And like many transit systems, not just
[00:52:25] here in the Riverside County or Inland
[00:52:29] Empire, but nationwide,
[00:52:32] uh, transit systems are re-evaluating
[00:52:35] how they help people get from one place
[00:52:37] to another, um, how they can get to work
[00:52:41] on time, how they can make their
[00:52:43] appointments. So, what we're what we're
[00:52:46] doing is we're asking the public's uh,
[00:52:49] input. To date, we have 1,600 surveys, a
[00:52:52] little over 1,600 surveys that have been
[00:52:54] returned uh by the members of the
[00:52:56] public. The CEO of Sunline, Mona Baba,
[00:53:01] and her staff have gone to every city
[00:53:03] council chamber. They've met with the
[00:53:06] city council and with their
[00:53:08] presentations. They've gone to Joselyn
[00:53:10] Senior Center and they will continue
[00:53:12] meeting going to mobile home parks
[00:53:14] gathering this uh this input so that the
[00:53:18] board can make important decisions
[00:53:22] to enable and to assist our staff at
[00:53:26] Sunrise Sunline, excuse me, to provide
[00:53:29] the writership that's needed. So, if in
[00:53:31] fact you'd like to have uh input, you
[00:53:34] have until March 11th to complete that
[00:53:38] survey. Maybe if you don't have access
[00:53:41] to get to city halls to Sunline or even
[00:53:44] have a computer, maybe give Sunline a
[00:53:46] call and someone can help you with
[00:53:48] filling out that writership uh survey.
[00:53:51] To those that have given comments and to
[00:53:54] help us to get to this point, I'm most
[00:53:56] grateful.
[00:53:57] All right, moving on. Uh, city manager's
[00:54:00] comments?
[00:54:02] >> None today. Thank you, Madam Mayor.
[00:54:04] >> Very good. So, we'll move right on to
[00:54:05] the consent agenda, and I'll let you
[00:54:07] lead that charge.
[00:54:09] >> Thank you. Uh, the council has seven
[00:54:11] items on the consent calendar for
[00:54:13] consideration, items 5A through 5G. Item
[00:54:16] 5 A is to wave the full reading of all
[00:54:18] ordinances introduced or adopted. Uh,
[00:54:21] item 5B is to approve the February 19th,
[00:54:25] 2026 regular city council meeting
[00:54:27] minutes. Items 5 C is the February 20th,
[00:54:31] 2026 special city council meeting
[00:54:33] minutes. Item 5D is the February 24th,
[00:54:37] 2026 special city council study session
[00:54:40] meeting minutes. Item 5E is to adopt
[00:54:43] resolution number 2026 next in order
[00:54:46] establishing the electrify ranch mirage
[00:54:49] program. Item 5F our contracts and 5G
[00:54:52] our demands. Before we go to council
[00:54:54] comments or questions, I will ask the
[00:54:55] city clerk to take any public comment on
[00:54:57] the consent calendar.
[00:54:59] >> Thank you. I did not receive any speaker
[00:55:00] cards. Is there anyone who would like to
[00:55:02] speak on something on the consent
[00:55:03] calendar?
[00:55:04] >> No speakers. Are there any council
[00:55:07] comments?
[00:55:09] >> I'll move to approve the consent
[00:55:10] calendar.
[00:55:11] >> Second.
[00:55:26] Motion carries 5-0. Thank you. Next item
[00:55:30] on the agenda is item six, public
[00:55:33] hearings. And I'm going to call on the
[00:55:34] city attorney.
[00:55:36] >> Thank you, Mayor. Council member
[00:55:39] Frankberg Edelstein will be recusing
[00:55:40] herself from this item due to a
[00:55:42] potential conflict of interest due to
[00:55:43] her firm's business relationship with
[00:55:45] Lineia. As such, she'll step away from
[00:55:47] the dis and leave the chambers until
[00:55:49] council takes final action in which time
[00:55:51] she'll be asked to resume for the next
[00:55:53] item on the agenda.
[00:55:56] >> Very good. And Joy Sai, our senior
[00:55:59] planner, is reporting on this item.
[00:56:08] >> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Good afternoon,
[00:56:09] mayors, members of the city council. for
[00:56:12] your consideration today is a
[00:56:14] preliminary development plan and a
[00:56:15] street name change request for the
[00:56:17] Lineia North project.
[00:56:21] The applicant is seeking approval for
[00:56:23] the construction of nine semi-custom
[00:56:25] single family dwellings and a street
[00:56:27] name change from uh Bellia Court North
[00:56:31] to Via Linia. This street name change
[00:56:34] will not affect addresses outside of the
[00:56:36] project boundaries.
[00:56:40] The project site is approximately 4.4
[00:56:43] acres and is located on the north side
[00:56:45] of Ginger Rogers Road east of Bob Ho
[00:56:48] Drive. It is surrounded by existing
[00:56:51] single family dwellings. Uh Lineia North
[00:56:54] is proposed to be an extension of the
[00:56:56] original Lineia project located opposite
[00:56:58] Ginger Rogers Road with a similar tone
[00:57:00] and concept.
[00:57:05] So the original 18 lot subdivision dates
[00:57:08] back to 2008. Uh the state extensions
[00:57:11] kept the map active until its rec
[00:57:14] recordation in 2018. The subdivision is
[00:57:17] separated by Ginger Rogers Road and the
[00:57:19] two halves were sold to different
[00:57:21] entities. The developer acquired and
[00:57:24] began development of the south half in
[00:57:26] 2023
[00:57:28] and a different entity completed the
[00:57:30] subdivision improvements for the north
[00:57:32] half in June of 2024. The developer
[00:57:36] acquired the north half of last year and
[00:57:38] is proposing to construct the extension.
[00:57:44] On this slide, you can see the completed
[00:57:46] entry to the north. All essential
[00:57:49] utilities including electrical services
[00:57:51] are confirmed ready.
[00:57:55] This slide here shows illustrates the
[00:57:58] overall site plan uh which features
[00:58:00] seven distinct residential concepts
[00:58:02] ranging from 5,000 to 6,300
[00:58:06] square ft over nine lots uh to provide
[00:58:10] architectural variety across those nine
[00:58:12] lots. The applicant utilized mirrored
[00:58:14] floor plans and varying elevations for
[00:58:17] lots 2, 3, 8, and 9. along the western
[00:58:21] edge of the project, lots six through
[00:58:24] eight. These designs include detached
[00:58:27] guest house. The site is compliant uh
[00:58:30] compliance with the city development
[00:58:31] standards, adhering to the 25 ft front
[00:58:34] and rear setbacks and remaining well
[00:58:37] under the 30% lock lot lock coverage
[00:58:39] limit.
[00:58:42] Uh the exterior pallet is designed to
[00:58:44] create a cohesive yet varied
[00:58:46] streetscape. As this slide illustrates,
[00:58:49] through several front elevations, the
[00:58:51] designs utilize a range of neutral tones
[00:58:54] and textured masonry, ensuring that no
[00:58:56] two adjacent homes share the same
[00:58:59] combination of materials.
[00:59:01] The colors range from a soft white, soft
[00:59:03] off-whites and taes to midtone grays and
[00:59:07] are anchored by dark brown frames and
[00:59:10] light tone roofing to re reduce visual
[00:59:12] heaviness. While these materials are
[00:59:15] unified, the non-re repeating
[00:59:16] combinations provide distinct visual
[00:59:18] interest for each residents.
[00:59:21] Finally, all the homes are singlestory
[00:59:23] with a maximum height of 17 1/2 ft,
[00:59:26] which is well below the city's 20 foot
[00:59:28] height limit.
[00:59:33] Well, there are seven residential
[00:59:34] concepts available. Uh we're going to be
[00:59:37] highlighting two plans today um for
[00:59:39] today's presentation.
[00:59:41] Generally, these homes feature expansive
[00:59:44] open concept living areas designed to
[00:59:46] emphasize the indoor and outdoor
[00:59:48] connection with private private master
[00:59:51] suite and flexible media and office
[00:59:53] rooms. On the side you see is uh lot one
[00:59:56] which is tailored to capture the
[00:59:58] southern mountain views. To maximize the
[01:00:00] lot's orientation, the pool is
[01:00:02] positioned in the front yard area and is
[01:00:05] complemented by a covered outdoor space
[01:00:08] in the rear. This plan maintains a low
[01:00:11] profile with a maximum height of 16 ft
[01:00:13] from grade.
[01:00:17] on this uh on this slide is lot nine
[01:00:19] which is situated adjacent to the
[01:00:22] landscape retention basin along Ginger
[01:00:24] Rogers Road and across from lot one.
[01:00:27] This concept utilizes an integrated
[01:00:29] 12-ft tall architectural wall to screen
[01:00:32] the private outdoor areas.
[01:00:37] In terms of scale, lot nine on all the
[01:00:39] homes along the western edge uh is
[01:00:41] adjacent to the echo development and
[01:00:43] these homes are capped at a maximum
[01:00:45] height of 14 1/2 ft which ensures a
[01:00:48] compatible transition to those existing
[01:00:51] residents.
[01:00:55] As part of this middle front yard
[01:00:57] landscaping is provided. Uh the
[01:00:59] landscaping carries the lineal
[01:01:01] architectural theme forward and utilizes
[01:01:04] drought tolerant plantings like mga
[01:01:06] olive and palivverie trees. Each pallet
[01:01:09] will also have alternative selections to
[01:01:11] choose from for digital diversity.
[01:01:17] The project has been fully reviewed for
[01:01:19] SQL compliance. Um a mitigated negative
[01:01:22] declaration or M&D was approved
[01:01:24] originally approved um and adopted in
[01:01:27] 2008 for both the the tenative trackm
[01:01:30] and the preliminary development plan.
[01:01:32] While the tenative map's expiration was
[01:01:35] automatically extended by the state, the
[01:01:37] original uh preliminary development plan
[01:01:39] approval was expired.
[01:01:41] This current proposal remains consistent
[01:01:44] with the previously adopted M&D. The
[01:01:46] updates presented today, specifically
[01:01:49] refreshed architecture and landscaping
[01:01:51] represent minor revisions that do not
[01:01:53] trigger new environmental impacts. In
[01:01:56] addition, this proposed street name
[01:01:57] change is exempt from SQA under the
[01:02:00] common sense exemption. Therefore, no
[01:02:02] further environmental review is
[01:02:04] required.
[01:02:07] As a part of the project review, staff
[01:02:09] routed the project for comments to city
[01:02:11] departments and responsible agencies and
[01:02:13] any applicable comments we received have
[01:02:16] been incorporated into conditions
[01:02:18] approval. All utilities are expected to
[01:02:20] provide service to the project. Uh staff
[01:02:23] did not receive any comments for the
[01:02:25] city council. Uh the public comments
[01:02:28] that were received for the planning
[01:02:29] commission have already been included in
[01:02:31] the agenda packet. Uh on February 12th,
[01:02:34] the planning commission recommended
[01:02:36] approval of the project, recommending
[01:02:38] that the city council approved the
[01:02:40] elicit actions on the slide.
[01:02:45] This concludes staff presentation and
[01:02:47] I'd be happy to address any questions
[01:02:48] the council may have. Thank you.
[01:02:55] >> Are there any questions from council?
[01:03:00] >> Any public comments? I did not receive
[01:03:02] any speaker cards. Is there anyone in
[01:03:03] the audience who would like to provide
[01:03:04] public testimony on public hearing item
[01:03:07] 6A?
[01:03:08] No speakers. Thank you. Do we have a
[01:03:11] motion?
[01:03:17] >> Uh I move that the council one find the
[01:03:19] preliminary development plan case number
[01:03:21] PDP25-00004.
[01:03:25] 00004 is within the scope of the
[01:03:27] previously adopted mitigated negative
[01:03:30] declaration pursuant to the California
[01:03:32] Environmental Environmental Quality Act
[01:03:35] SQA guidelines section 15162. find that
[01:03:39] the street name change case number ST
[01:03:43] N25-00001
[01:03:46] is exempt pursuant to SQA guidelines
[01:03:48] section 15061
[01:03:51] B3
[01:03:53] and authorize the filing of a notice of
[01:03:55] determination and two approve the street
[01:03:58] name change case number STN25-00001
[01:04:03] to change the private street name from
[01:04:05] Bolavia Court North to Venia based on
[01:04:08] the content and findings in the sta
[01:04:10] staff report and three approve
[01:04:13] preliminary development plan case number
[01:04:15] PDP25-00004
[01:04:19] subject to the conditions of approval
[01:04:21] and based on the content and findings in
[01:04:23] the staff report.
[01:04:24] >> I'll second that.
[01:04:26] >> Please vote.
[01:04:36] Motion carries 40 with council member
[01:04:38] Framberg Edelstein recused.
[01:04:57] Next item on the agenda on our action
[01:04:59] calendar, intention to annex territory
[01:05:02] comprising 5.06 06 acres to community
[01:05:05] facilities district number one in
[01:05:07] connection with tenative parcel map
[01:05:09] number 38979
[01:05:12] assessor parcel number 68528
[01:05:16] 00007 and 685280000008
[01:05:20] we have Jacob de la Cruz financial
[01:05:22] analyst reporting on this item
[01:05:25] >> thank you mayor and good afternoon
[01:05:26] council this item is the first step in
[01:05:29] the city's annexation process for
[01:05:30] developments within the city's
[01:05:31] jurisdiction the second and final step
[01:05:33] is planned to be considered at the April
[01:05:35] 16th council meeting. The territory
[01:05:37] proposed for annexation is located
[01:05:38] approximately 1,450 ft north of Country
[01:05:41] Club Drive on the east side of Vistad
[01:05:43] del Soul is comprised of two parcels
[01:05:45] totaling approximately 5.06 acres.
[01:05:48] Tenative parcel map TPM 38978 was
[01:05:51] originally approved by the planning
[01:05:52] commission on September 12th, 2024 with
[01:05:55] condition of approval number 14
[01:05:56] requiring that the territory be annexed
[01:05:58] into community facilities district
[01:05:59] number one. In accordance with the
[01:06:01] condition of approval, the owner of the
[01:06:03] annex territory submitted a petition for
[01:06:04] annexation, requesting that the city
[01:06:06] council initiate proceedings to annex
[01:06:08] the territory into CFD1 and provide for
[01:06:10] expedited approval of the annexation and
[01:06:12] the levy of the special tax. Upon
[01:06:14] approval of the resolution, the city
[01:06:16] will be able to accept the petition
[01:06:17] submitted by the owner for annexation,
[01:06:19] consent to the levy upon the annex
[01:06:21] territory, allow for the shortening of
[01:06:23] the time for the special election to
[01:06:24] expedite the annexation, accept and
[01:06:26] preliminarily approve the annexation
[01:06:28] map, and direct the city clerk to record
[01:06:29] the map, and establish the date and time
[01:06:31] of the public hearing of the annexation
[01:06:33] of the territory. That concludes my
[01:06:35] presentation. I'd be happy to answer any
[01:06:36] questions.
[01:06:38] >> Does council have any questions?
[01:06:41] Are there any public comments? I did not
[01:06:43] receive any speaker cards. Is there
[01:06:45] anyone in the audience who would like to
[01:06:46] speak on this item? No speakers.
[01:06:51] Do we have a motion?
[01:06:56] >> Go ahead.
[01:06:57] >> I'll do the motion uh that uh we adopt
[01:06:59] resolution number 2026 next in order
[01:07:01] declaring the city's intention to enex
[01:07:03] territory to community facilities
[01:07:05] district number one and to levy a
[01:07:07] special tax therein for additional
[01:07:09] police and fire services. Preliminarial
[01:07:12] prelim Preliminarily approve a map of
[01:07:14] the area proposed to be annexed and
[01:07:17] schedule a public hearing to consider
[01:07:18] the annexation and the levy of the
[01:07:20] special tax for annexation number 205.
[01:07:26] >> Please vote.
[01:07:30] >> Motion carries 50.
[01:07:34] >> Next item 7B intention to annex
[01:07:37] territory comprising
[01:07:39] 5.06 06 acres to community facilities
[01:07:42] district number one in connection with
[01:07:43] tenative parcel map number 39233.
[01:07:47] That's the address. Physical address is
[01:07:49] 72 1111 Clansancy Lane. And Jacob de la
[01:07:53] Cruz will be also reporting on this.
[01:07:56] >> Thank you again, mayor. This item is the
[01:07:59] first step in the city's annexation
[01:08:00] process for developments within the
[01:08:01] city's juris jurisdiction. The second
[01:08:04] and final step is planned to be
[01:08:05] considered at the April 16th council
[01:08:07] meeting. The territory proposed for
[01:08:09] annexation is located at 72111 Clansancy
[01:08:11] Lane and is comprised of one parcel
[01:08:13] totaling approximately 5.06 acres.
[01:08:16] Tenative parcel map TPM 39233 was
[01:08:19] originally approved by the planning
[01:08:20] commission on December 12th, 2025 with
[01:08:22] condition of approval number 15
[01:08:24] requiring that the territory be annexed
[01:08:26] into CFD1. In accordance with the
[01:08:28] condition of approval, the owner of the
[01:08:29] annex territory submitted a petition for
[01:08:31] annexation, requesting that the city
[01:08:32] council initiate proceedings to annex
[01:08:34] the territory into CFD1 and provide for
[01:08:36] expedited approval of the annexation and
[01:08:38] the levy of the special tax. Upon
[01:08:40] approval of the resolution, the city
[01:08:41] will be able to accept the owner's
[01:08:43] petition for annexation, consent to the
[01:08:44] levy upon the annex territory, allow for
[01:08:47] the shortening of the time for the
[01:08:48] special election to expedite the
[01:08:49] annexation, accept and preliminarily
[01:08:51] approve the annexation map, and direct
[01:08:53] the city clerk to record the map, and
[01:08:56] establish a date and time of the public
[01:08:57] hearing on the annexation of the
[01:08:59] territory. That includes my
[01:09:00] presentation.
[01:09:02] >> Madam clerk, are there any public
[01:09:04] comments?
[01:09:04] >> No, I did not receive any speaker cards.
[01:09:06] Is there anyone in the audience who
[01:09:07] would like to speak on this item? No
[01:09:09] speakers. Are there any council
[01:09:12] comments?
[01:09:14] >> Do we have a motion?
[01:09:15] >> I'll make this motion to This is so
[01:09:17] exciting today, these annexations.
[01:09:20] >> So, uh, that we I move that we adopt
[01:09:23] resolution number 2026 next in order,
[01:09:25] declaring the city's intention to annex
[01:09:27] territory to community facilities
[01:09:28] district number one and to levy a
[01:09:30] special tax therein for additional
[01:09:31] police and fire services. preliminarily
[01:09:34] approve a map of the area proposed to be
[01:09:36] annexed and schedule a public hearing to
[01:09:38] consider the annexation of the levy of
[01:09:40] special tax for annexation number 206.
[01:09:44] >> I'll second that.
[01:09:45] >> Please vote.
[01:09:49] >> Motion carries 5-0.
[01:09:51] >> Great.
[01:09:54] >> Next item on the agenda is non-aggenda
[01:09:57] public comments. This is an opportunity
[01:09:59] for the public to speak on issues that
[01:10:01] are not on the agenda for a maximum of 3
[01:10:04] minutes per speaker. Madame clerk, thank
[01:10:07] you. The first speaker is Christian
[01:10:09] Donovan.
[01:10:16] >> Good afternoon, Christian Donovan,
[01:10:18] president. Um, I'd like to revisit the
[01:10:20] city's continued use of the Flock safety
[01:10:23] automated license plate reader system
[01:10:25] and raise concerns about technological
[01:10:27] capability oversight and documented
[01:10:29] misuse. It's often presented as a tool
[01:10:32] that reads license plates to assist
[01:10:35] investigations. But if you review
[01:10:37] Flock's own US patent number 11,416,545,
[01:10:42] you see that the platform is is designed
[01:10:45] to do much more than plate reading. The
[01:10:48] patent describes systems that use
[01:10:50] machine learning and neural networks to
[01:10:53] identify and classify people and
[01:10:56] vehicles, extract attributes s such as
[01:10:59] clothing, height, gate, and other visual
[01:11:02] markers, and create searchable records
[01:11:04] that associate those observations across
[01:11:07] multiple camera locations and over time.
[01:11:10] I am not asserting that these advanced
[01:11:12] features are currently enabled here, but
[01:11:13] I am asserting that when this technology
[01:11:15] is adopted. It is important to
[01:11:18] understand not just what it does today,
[01:11:20] but what it is capable of doing and what
[01:11:22] guard rails are in place before that
[01:11:24] capability expands. This matters because
[01:11:27] data collection without clear
[01:11:28] oversightes invites misuse. In Riverside
[01:11:31] County, for example, reporting has shown
[01:11:33] that deputies maintained hundreds of
[01:11:35] custom license plate tracking lists with
[01:11:37] vague or missing justifications.
[01:11:39] contrary to policy. And there was a
[01:11:41] documented case last year in which
[01:11:43] Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Eric
[01:11:45] Piscatella pleaded guilty to misusing
[01:11:48] law enforcement databases after
[01:11:49] accessing records to stalk a woman he
[01:11:52] met socially in Coachella. While a
[01:11:54] department spokesperson declined to
[01:11:56] answer whether ALPR was used to stalk
[01:11:58] the victim, Piscatella did repeatedly
[01:12:00] run her plates through RCSD and state
[01:12:03] databases without legal cause. This
[01:12:06] incident illustrates how access to law
[01:12:08] enforcement data systems lay law
[01:12:10] enforcement data systems can be misused
[01:12:12] when documentation, audit controls, and
[01:12:14] oversight are insufficient. This is not
[01:12:16] an abstract concern. California law
[01:12:19] already requires transparency around
[01:12:21] these systems.
[01:12:23] Agencies operating, excuse me, agencies
[01:12:26] operating ALPR must publish usage and
[01:12:29] privacy privacy policies, define
[01:12:32] retention and deletion timelines, and
[01:12:34] disclose data sharing practices. But
[01:12:37] transparency policies alone do not
[01:12:38] ensure compliance or safeguard against
[01:12:41] misuse unless there are clear
[01:12:43] enforcement mechanisms and public
[01:12:44] accountability. So, I respectfully
[01:12:46] request clarity on key governance
[01:12:48] questions. Is Rancho Mirage the ALPR
[01:12:51] operator or is the system operated by
[01:12:53] the county sheriff on the city's behalf?
[01:12:56] Does Rancho Mirage participate in any
[01:12:58] shared or national ALPR data lookup
[01:13:01] network? What specific features of the
[01:13:03] system are enabled here and which are
[01:13:05] contractually prohibited? What are the
[01:13:07] retention and deletion rules and how are
[01:13:09] they verified? Are all searches logged
[01:13:11] and subject to periodic independent
[01:13:13] audit and can any federal agencies
[01:13:14] directly or indirectly access this data?
[01:13:17] Thank you for your time. Thank you for
[01:13:19] your comments,
[01:13:20] >> Patrick Lowry.
[01:13:29] I'm going to stand here just for a
[01:13:30] minute. I'm going to see if I can reach
[01:13:31] you. I have a gift
[01:13:38] see.
[01:13:48] Thank you, Mr. Lowry.
[01:13:57] >> When you watch a game, you see the
[01:13:58] referee is always bring
[01:14:05] I do look forward to see and proud of
[01:14:08] the fact that Rancho Garage no matter
[01:14:10] what I say to you.
[01:14:12] brought you this as well. Left five
[01:14:14] copies with Miss Ramos. This will give
[01:14:17] you some insight into the desert
[01:14:18] healthcare. It's important and it's well
[01:14:21] done. Now, let me talk for a minute
[01:14:23] about uh Mr. D's comments which I think
[01:14:26] you directed toward me
[01:14:29] last meeting in regard to
[01:14:31] accountability, having a mayor and so
[01:14:34] forth. I believe in accountability. We
[01:14:36] need a mayor. I don't think we need a
[01:14:38] four-year mayor, but we need a two-year
[01:14:40] mayor. We need someone to hold
[01:14:42] accountable for what goes on in this
[01:14:43] city. Now, for some fun news, Mr. Wild,
[01:14:47] this will make you happy.
[01:14:50] March is a great month for animals.
[01:14:53] Cuddly your kitten day is in March.
[01:14:56] Not that cat I've got. Respect your cat
[01:14:58] day is in March.
[01:15:01] National Puppy Day is in March. But what
[01:15:05] is the most important thing about March?
[01:15:09] Women's History Month.
[01:15:12] >> Incredibly important. Okay. Now, I want
[01:15:15] to read something here. I don't know
[01:15:17] that we disagree about Kaiser, but we
[01:15:19] see Kaiser differently. And I think my
[01:15:21] views better than yours because I look
[01:15:23] at things critically.
[01:15:25] I've told you before there's only one
[01:15:27] God somewhere
[01:15:30] and they're not at Kaiser, excuse me, at
[01:15:33] Eisenhower. I want to read the judge's
[01:15:36] notes from the settlement with Loftess
[01:15:39] in June of 2025.
[01:15:44] Conduct in this case is replete with
[01:15:47] examples of actions it took for years
[01:15:48] that run directly contrary to quality
[01:15:51] patient care
[01:15:54] should bother you. Now, why has Kaiser
[01:15:56] gotten better? I'm going to take a wild
[01:15:58] guess. First of all, Newsweek rates them
[01:16:00] a lot differently than US News and World
[01:16:02] Report. Take a look. That's what I'm
[01:16:04] saying to you folks. Look around. Think
[01:16:06] about things. Be critical. Okay? I think
[01:16:09] it's because of the relationship with
[01:16:11] Kaiser.
[01:16:13] Kaiser uses them as their hospital out
[01:16:15] here. And Kaiser is demanding.
[01:16:19] Kaiser sends out questionnaires to me.
[01:16:21] I'm a Kaiser uh patient, client,
[01:16:24] whatever you would call me all the time
[01:16:25] asking what mare was like at Eisenhower.
[01:16:28] I think that's the improvement.
[01:16:30] Culture, culture, culture. I don't know
[01:16:33] if the right culture is there. Now,
[01:16:34] let's talk just for a minute. Oh gosh, a
[01:16:36] second.
[01:16:38] Children's care center at to Eisen. You
[01:16:41] know how much I oppose that? Because
[01:16:42] they should have paid for it. Not that
[01:16:43] they shouldn't have it. How's it going?
[01:16:45] Anybody know?
[01:16:47] I didn't think so. Okay. Love you guys.
[01:16:52] Take care. See you at the hockey game.
[01:16:53] Remember, it's frozen. hurts like hell
[01:16:55] no matter what you have on when you
[01:16:57] block it. Okay,
[01:16:59] >> thank you Wally Melendez.
[01:17:29] Yeah. Good afternoon everybody.
[01:17:42] So,
[01:17:48] so we're attacking Iran and
[01:17:52] Iran is attacking
[01:17:56] US military bases
[01:17:59] in the Middle East and they're attacking
[01:18:02] Israel.
[01:18:05] Everything's going to hell.
[01:18:08] Okay. So,
[01:18:12] be careful
[01:18:14] with
[01:18:16] mice and rats and insects,
[01:18:21] feces and urine.
[01:18:24] They contain
[01:18:27] bacterias
[01:18:29] and v viruses.
[01:18:35] I believe that we pretty soon we're
[01:18:39] going to have um the sand blowing out
[01:18:43] out in this
[01:18:45] region
[01:18:47] and u people catch coals.
[01:18:51] People catch coals and they don't know
[01:18:55] what it is.
[01:18:57] They will say coals
[01:19:00] coals are caused
[01:19:03] by bacterias and viruses
[01:19:06] and like I'm saying mouse and rats and
[01:19:10] insects feces and urines mix with the
[01:19:14] sand and when the wind blows the people
[01:19:16] that are susceptible catch colds.
[01:19:22] Okay,
[01:19:24] that's one lesson.
[01:19:30] And I am susceptible
[01:19:34] to bacteras and viruses
[01:19:40] and insects, feces
[01:19:44] and viruses.
[01:19:47] people that have
[01:19:55] renitis.
[01:19:58] I don't guess you all know what renitis
[01:20:00] is.
[01:20:01] Renitis is when the nose
[01:20:06] passes
[01:20:09] whatever that's renitis.
[01:20:12] Some people have perennial renitis.
[01:20:17] In case you all don't know what
[01:20:18] perennial means, that means year round.
[01:20:23] So be careful.
[01:20:26] >> Thank you. Javier Enriquez.
[01:20:34] >> Good afternoon, honorable mayor, uh,
[01:20:36] council members, city council, and
[01:20:38] staff. My name is Javen Enriquez. I'm a
[01:20:40] senior public affairs specialist for
[01:20:42] South Coast Air Quality Management
[01:20:43] District. On behalf of South Coast AQMD,
[01:20:46] I have the following announcement. South
[01:20:48] Coast Air Quality Management District
[01:20:50] offers the commercial electric lawn and
[01:20:52] garden equipment exchange program which
[01:20:55] provides up to 85% off new zero emission
[01:21:00] battery electric commercial lawn and
[01:21:01] garden equipment when older gasoline or
[01:21:04] diesel powered equipment is exchanged.
[01:21:06] This program is available to commercial
[01:21:08] gardeners and landscapers as well as
[01:21:11] local government agencies, school
[01:21:13] districts and colleges and nonprofit
[01:21:16] organizations operating within Los
[01:21:18] Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Marino
[01:21:20] counties to include Coachella Valley.
[01:21:23] The purpose of this program is to
[01:21:24] improve local air quality and reduce
[01:21:26] harmful emissions by replacing older
[01:21:28] polluting equipment with clean electric
[01:21:31] alternatives. Gas and diesel powered
[01:21:34] lawn equipment contributes to air
[01:21:36] pollution and noise in our
[01:21:38] neighborhoods. And transitioning to
[01:21:40] electric equipment helps protect public
[01:21:42] health while creating quieter, cleaner
[01:21:45] communities. The program operates
[01:21:47] through a voucherbased system, meaning
[01:21:49] the incentive is applied directly at the
[01:21:52] point of sale through participating
[01:21:53] retailers. For each new battery electric
[01:21:56] piece of equipment, participants
[01:21:58] exchange one operable gasoline or
[01:22:01] diesel-powered commercial unit. All
[01:22:03] equipment must be new and refurbished or
[01:22:06] reconditioned equipment is not eligible.
[01:22:08] Eligible eligible equipment includes
[01:22:10] trimmers, leaf blowers, chainsaws,
[01:22:13] walkbehind lawnmowers, and right-on
[01:22:15] standon mowers. Incentive amounts can be
[01:22:18] significant. Up to $700 for small
[01:22:21] handheld equipment, $1,400 for leaf
[01:22:24] blowers, $1,500 for walkbehind mowers,
[01:22:27] and up to 15,000 for ride-on or standout
[01:22:31] moss depending on the equipment. Getting
[01:22:33] started is simple. Interested
[01:22:36] participants can visit a participant
[01:22:38] retailer, bring in their old gasoline or
[01:22:40] diesel powered commercial equipment for
[01:22:42] exchange, and receive the discount
[01:22:44] instantly at the checkout. For full
[01:22:47] program details, required equipment
[01:22:50] documents, and a list of participant
[01:22:52] retailers, please visit wwmd.gov/lawn
[01:22:57] and garden. I will be I will be
[01:23:00] providing this information and fly to
[01:23:02] the city clerk. Honorable mayor, council
[01:23:04] members, thank you for your time and
[01:23:05] opportunity to speak.
[01:23:07] >> Thank you, Mr. Enriquez.
[01:23:12] Alejandro Cruz.
[01:23:26] Um, can I hand off some material or have
[01:23:29] I would love for um to pass this down
[01:23:32] like this way and then have it end up at
[01:23:33] the traffic manager. If you guys can
[01:23:36] take a look.
[01:23:40] It's just one set, I think.
[01:23:49] >> Um, are we able to restart the time or
[01:23:51] cuz it's
[01:23:53] Good afternoon, Alex Cruz, resident of
[01:23:55] Coachella Valley for 22 years. Here to
[01:23:58] talk about the most deadly intersection
[01:23:59] in your city, right outside of this
[01:24:01] building, Fred Waring and 111. Again, I
[01:24:04] ask, how many more people have to die
[01:24:06] here for you to do something?
[01:24:09] There is so much that I can say about
[01:24:10] the most recent death and the way this
[01:24:12] problem has been handled by the people
[01:24:13] who have been on this dice the longest,
[01:24:15] but I'm going to give it time because
[01:24:17] I'm hoping that you guys are working on
[01:24:18] something. Hopefully, you see now how
[01:24:20] many people agree this must be fixed.
[01:24:23] All eyes are on you right now to see if
[01:24:25] you're going to do something besides
[01:24:26] enforcement because the road design has
[01:24:29] already been called out on the news and
[01:24:32] enforcement is not going to do anything
[01:24:33] for us. It's not preventing deaths. It's
[01:24:36] just not a solution to this problem.
[01:24:39] Please don't keep passing this issue
[01:24:40] down to your predecessors.
[01:24:43] I already offered solutions that are
[01:24:45] very cost-effective, like a road diet on
[01:24:47] the 111. But instead of major
[01:24:49] reconstruction, removing that
[01:24:50] unnecessary third lane, all we need is a
[01:24:53] paint to make it a bus lane. That still
[01:24:56] counts as a road diet, even though we
[01:24:57] are keeping the infrastructure of that
[01:24:59] lane. And this is a good thing because
[01:25:02] paint is super cheap. That's literally
[01:25:04] all you need to save lives right now.
[01:25:06] So, when the traffic engineer says, "We
[01:25:08] have no money for traffic safety
[01:25:09] projects," I'm confused because I
[01:25:11] offered that cheap solution many times.
[01:25:13] I've said it before and I'll say it
[01:25:15] again. You guys have jurisdiction over
[01:25:17] this highway. Do you realize how lucky
[01:25:20] we are for that? Cities like Malibu and
[01:25:22] other coastal communities with denser
[01:25:24] populations do not have this authority
[01:25:26] and they would seize the opportunity you
[01:25:28] have right now to fulfill their public
[01:25:31] safety commitments. So again, what we
[01:25:33] must do is complete the other two
[01:25:35] crosswalks, get rid of the turning slip
[01:25:37] lanes. That's how we fix that
[01:25:38] intersection. And a road diet is how we
[01:25:41] fix the 111. We can make the bus lanes
[01:25:43] green or blue. They would look beautiful
[01:25:46] and they will make your city look like a
[01:25:48] utopia. That's what we call ourselves,
[01:25:50] right? The news even mentioned it. The
[01:25:52] fact that all of this is just steps away
[01:25:54] from city hall is the crazy part about
[01:25:56] this. It's almost as if you're watching
[01:25:58] the crashes out your office window
[01:26:00] window and just shrugging it off. We're
[01:26:03] not saying it's your fault, but you guys
[01:26:05] have a duty to undo the mistakes of your
[01:26:07] predecessors. And the way that
[01:26:09] intersection was designed was a mistake.
[01:26:11] So, I really hope you guys can do the
[01:26:13] right thing and take public safety more
[01:26:14] seriously, keeping your campaign
[01:26:16] promises on public safety and take
[01:26:18] preventative measures for traffic
[01:26:20] safety. Let's save lives now. Please, it
[01:26:23] is the time for this. I handed you out a
[01:26:25] rendering of what this intersection can
[01:26:27] look like. Please take a look at it. I
[01:26:29] also handed you a rendering of what the
[01:26:31] bus links can look like. Thank you and
[01:26:33] rest in peace to Alicia Miller.
[01:26:37] Susan Ragsdale. Thank you for your
[01:26:39] comments.
[01:26:48] >> Well, happy March to everybody. I'm
[01:26:51] really pleased to see you. I want to say
[01:26:54] before I begin that I would never be in
[01:26:57] this position if it weren't I would call
[01:26:59] it an unwelcome unwelcome position which
[01:27:03] unfortunately
[01:27:04] the people right here I'm speaking to
[01:27:07] have put me in. I would have much
[01:27:10] preferred to have done something
[01:27:12] beautiful for the city council for sure.
[01:27:15] Um, yeah, it's not my thing, but I don't
[01:27:18] know. Somehow I got chosen for this.
[01:27:21] Since March 2019, for six years, I've
[01:27:24] endured Rancho Mirage Hill across the
[01:27:27] board. From psychotic tenants to the
[01:27:29] criminal property manager to the
[01:27:31] recklessly incompetent and obscenely
[01:27:35] cruel city manager to the reprehensible
[01:27:39] city council. I have been sadistically
[01:27:41] persecuted, brutally abused, ruthlessly
[01:27:45] scapegoed and punished, defraed of my
[01:27:48] home, quote tored and feathered, and
[01:27:50] quote burned at the stake by the city
[01:27:53] council, the city of Rancho Mirage.
[01:27:56] Hello, the city. You represent this
[01:28:00] city. All right. These self-righteous
[01:28:03] public servants, in quotes, have
[01:28:05] cluelessly laughed about all their
[01:28:08] intentional, punishing, heinous crimes
[01:28:10] against me. An innocent elderly woman
[01:28:13] for whom you all have a duty of care for
[01:28:17] sure. At city hall, I have not
[01:28:19] experienced empathy or compassion. They
[01:28:23] illegally slander me on the dis. You'll
[01:28:27] remember that three minutes of slander.
[01:28:32] Anyway,
[01:28:34] all right. That was hard. Without
[01:28:38] justification, I have
[01:28:41] they have ordered the police Chris over
[01:28:44] here to forcibly remove me from the
[01:28:47] chamber. These hypocrites salute the
[01:28:50] flag all the time.
[01:28:52] repeating with liberty and justice for
[01:28:55] all. I have not received justice for me
[01:28:57] from any of you. Character assassination
[01:29:00] is the means by which I have been
[01:29:02] murdered in slow motion. This is not an
[01:29:05] exaggeration at all. You can see you
[01:29:07] might have watched my decline since I've
[01:29:09] been coming here against me. The city
[01:29:12] council is guilty of three long-term
[01:29:15] federal crimes. This includes two counts
[01:29:18] of fraud. One is for gross negligence
[01:29:21] because koopa latto oipar I I practice
[01:29:26] this gross neglect can be equivalent to
[01:29:29] fraud. This is you're totally grossly
[01:29:31] neglecting me and what I'm telling you
[01:29:34] which is extremely serious. The second
[01:29:36] count of fraud is for the malicious
[01:29:38] prosecution of my wrongful eviction
[01:29:41] regarding the serious offense. I was
[01:29:44] framed with 14 false allegations of
[01:29:47] harassment when in fact I was the victim
[01:29:51] being abused for almost four years
[01:29:53] continually. I was victimized.
[01:29:56] >> Ragdale, your time is expired.
[01:29:57] >> I am done. You don't have to interrupt
[01:29:59] me. I'm watching the time. Please be
[01:30:01] kind. Look,
[01:30:03] >> you don't need to interrupt me.
[01:30:05] Honestly, that's terribly rude.
[01:30:08] >> That was the last speaker card. Is there
[01:30:09] anyone else in the audience who would
[01:30:11] like to speak on something that is not
[01:30:12] on today's agenda?
[01:30:14] That was the last speaker.
[01:30:25] >> We will now adjourn to close session.
[01:30:29] Uh before we do, mayor, if I may, we'll
[01:30:31] be convening into close session for the
[01:30:32] item before it listed before you on the
[01:30:34] agenda as 9A, conference with legal
[01:30:36] council, potential initiation of
[01:30:38] litigation pursuant to government code
[01:30:40] section 54956.9D4,
[01:30:44] one potential case.
[01:30:49] >> And we will recess to close session.
[01:31:02] All right, we have returned from close
[01:31:06] session. I will let the city attorney
[01:31:08] report.
[01:31:10] >> Thank you, mayor. No reportable action
[01:31:12] taken today.
[01:31:13] >> Very good. We will adjourn this meeting
[01:31:15] at 1544 hours.
[01:31:18] 3:44.