Regular City Council Meeting, May 7, 2026

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AI transcript text.

[00:00:10] Speaker A: Good afternoon, everyone. Uh, it is 1:00 on Thursday, May 7th, 2026. I'm going to call to order the regular meeting of the Rancho Mirage City Council and Community Services District, Energy Authority, Housing Authority, Joint Powers Finance Authority, Library and Observatory, and Redevelopment Successor Agency Boards. And I'm going to ask Council Member Steve Downs to lead us in the flag salute.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Please stand, place your hands over your hearts. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, Liberty and justice for all.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Thank you, Mr. Downs. Um, City Clerk, may I have a roll call please?
[00:01:03] Speaker C: Council Member Downs?
[00:01:04] Speaker B: I'm here.
[00:01:05] Speaker C: Council Member Fromberg-Edelstein?
[00:01:07] Speaker D: Here.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: Council Member Wild?
[00:01:09] Speaker E: Here.
[00:01:09] Speaker C: Mayor Pro Tempo Keefe?
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Here.
[00:01:11] Speaker C: Mayor Mulatto?
[00:01:13] Speaker A: Uh, she is not here. And may I have a motion to approve the mayor's absence?
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Move to excuse Mayor Mulatto.
[00:01:19] Speaker E: I'll second.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Please vote. Great, thank you. So we'll move right into city man— I mean, to council member comments, and I'm going to start today with Councilman Ted Weil.
[00:01:45] Speaker E: Okay. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. It's a pleasure seeing you in that seat today.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:01:55] Speaker E: Um, I have several brief comments that I'd like to make. I want to take a moment to highlight an upcoming Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce speaker series focused on economic development taking place on May 20th at Mission Hills Country Club. This session will feature Scott White and Sean Smith from Visit Greater Palm Springs, who will be discussing the Coachella Valley's Economic Development Strategic Plan. They'll be providing insight into regional priorities, collaboration across the valley, and efforts to support business growth, workforce development, and long-term economic sustainability. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in how our local and regional economy is evolving and how Rancho Mirage fits into that bigger picture. I encourage residents, business owners, and community stakeholders. To attend and learn more, visit the Chamber's website to purchase your tickets. This is a— will be an extremely timely, informative meeting, and anybody that wants to follow the economic developments of our city should attend. I also want to remind everyone that the Rancho Mirage Certified Farmers Market is wrapping up its current season at Rancho Mirage Community Park. The final market will take place on Friday, May 29th, after which the market will pause for the summer months and return in October. There are only a few Fridays left to stop by and enjoy everything the market has to offer. Including fresh produce, locally made goods, prepared foods, and a great community atmosphere. I'd also like to highlight that the market features free yoga, offering a great way to start your morning before exploring the vendors. If you haven't had a chance to visit yet this season, I encourage you to take advantage of these Final Fridays and support our local farmers and small businesses. Thank you very much, Mayor Pro Tem.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: Thank you, Councilman Weil. I agree, the farmers market is terrific. Councilmember Fromberg-Geddesen, please.
[00:04:48] Speaker D: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I wanted to, on behalf of Mayor Mulatto and myself, Thank the communities of Mira Vista, Lake Mirage, and Del Webb for inviting us to do a city update at each of their HOA meetings. It was great energy. It was great to meet those— be behind the gates of those communities.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Those—
[00:05:10] Speaker D: some of those were new for me to be in. They were beautiful, and the openness of their HOA members and their board to invite us was really wonderful. And a couple of Comments that came out that had a common theme was around traffic and speed. And I would remind everyone, as we're getting into summer and now our roads are a little less crowded, to be mindful of the speed limits. People are racing around a little bit. And the other comment was about people not watching all traffic signals and running red lights and how dangerous that is. So if we could remind our citizens I know it's exciting to not have all the cars from Coachella and all the other events in front of us, but if we could all be mindful to slow down a little bit, the residents in those neighborhoods and the pedestrians and bikers that use our streets would appreciate that. There's been a few accidents in the last few weeks that have been rather violent and a little bit horrific around here, and I think it's because we're all just going a little fast. So if we could slow down. I think everybody would appreciate that. And on a last note, it will warm up again. I know it's been chilly and we're all thinking it's early spring, but it's late spring, early summer. So be mindful this weekend. I know there's a heat alert, and for everybody to be mindful of the sun and hydrate and, uh, watch the temperatures because it'll sneak up on you. And that's it. Thank you.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: Thank you, uh, Councilmember Bromberg-Edelstein. I agree. Two things that are important: It's too hot, it's going to get hotter, and we go too fast. We need to obey the speed limits. Councilmember Downs.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Thank you, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem, and welcome to the center seat at the dais today. I often say that we have two kinds of weather here in the desert. It's either hot or it's perfect, one or the other. And yes, we're starting to get out of the perfect season and into the hot season. So today I want to talk about a groundbreaking ceremony that we enjoyed yesterday in the city of Rancho Mirage. Mayor Mulatto is there. She's in the center of this groundbreaking. I was there with Mayor Pro Tem. It was the Braille Institute. The Braille Institute was in Rancho Mirage for some years, and then due to some space considerations, they moved to temporary space in Palm Desert a few years ago, and they are coming back to Rancho Mirage, and that was the purpose of the groundbreaking yesterday. Yesterday. So here's what the Braille Institute does. The Braille Institute helps sight-impaired people to navigate the world. They run classes and workshops to help people understand and learn about basic things like cooking and preparing food at home, and bigger things like moving around the city and running errands. Now imagine, if you will, coming to this podium to speak, for those of you who wish to speak today, and imagine finding a way to navigate your way to this podium and figuring out how to speak into that microphone. If you were sight impaired. It would be a remarkable feat for you to be able to do that. Well, that's what the Braille Institute does. It helps people who are sight impaired to navigate the world. Now, here's something that's very important about the Braille Institute. This is a nonprofit organization, so every service, every class, every workshop that they provide to the sight impaired is free. There is no charge to those who need their services. But it's also the case that they need to raise funds, so it's, it's a donor-based organization, And for those of you in this city and in the Coachella Valley who support the Braille Institute, thank you very much for what you do for that important organization. So thanks to those who support the Institute through donations. Thank you for being there yesterday, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem. I enjoyed the opportunity to turn over a spade with you and with the mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Thank you, Councilmember Downs. It was a really nice ceremony, and they anticipate they will have 5,000 clients out of that facility as soon as they open. So the, uh, the ribbon cutting will be this later this fall. I had a couple of comments I'd like to make. Uh, first of all, I wanted to thank city staff and the library staff for the excellent Earth Day celebration at the library. Um, it was terrific to see everybody involved, and they had a big crowd, and I loved seeing the mayor plant a tree in It was really a nice ceremony. And I'd also like to give a special thanks to my friend John Lacombe. His volunteers do this incredible job, not only within the Del Webb community, but that whole north section of town. They cleaned it up on Earth Day. So thank you for your participation. Also, Mayor Mulatto and I answered telephones. At the FIND Food Bank Telethon, which I believe raised around $300,000. Some people don't know, food insecurity in our valley is a real issue. More than 120,000 folks depend on food, this food bank, to help with food every single month, including residents in Rancho Mirage. So it was an honor to be there. Then finally, I'd like to also tell you that the mayor and I participated in National Crime Victims Candlelight Vigil. This is an event that honors those whose lives have been changed by violence. The evening is both sad, but it's also hopeful. There is grief, but it's tempered with commitment to do better. And when you're there, you stand beside survivors and their families You hear their stories. You see their resilience. It reinforces the responsibility that we as the city leaders carry to ensure that our cities are compassionate and accessible and effective. Communities that support victims and listen to their experiences are communities where people feel safer reporting crime and engaging with law enforcement. So each candle that was lit that night, not only a moving ceremony, but it symbolized not only remembrance of those that we've lost, but also our shared commitment to building a city where safety, justice, and healing are important. It's one of the reasons that our city's priority is public safety, is our number one responsibility. And that's why we prioritize it in our budget. All right, so let's go now to Mr. Hagerman for city manager comments and the consent calendar.
[00:11:56] Speaker F: Thank you, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem. Just one comment. Uh, this, uh, we had a pretty terrible accident, a single vehicle accident on Highway 111 at about 2:30 in the morning, uh, recently that took down a traffic signal pole and some other infrastructure in the area. And I just wanted to acknowledge the great work of our first responders. It was— they were on scene for many hours. And I also wanted to thank our Public Works staff. We had staff out there working from, you know, approximately 2:30 in the morning till 8:00 PM at night, and then they were out there the next day trying to get that signal replaced and back in operation. So thank you to our Public Works staff. that worked very hard, uh, to get that street functioning again. And, uh, that's my only comment. So we'll move into the consent calendar. Uh, the council has 5 items on the consent calendar for consideration, items 4A through 4E. Item 4A is the approval of the April 16th, 2020— 2026 regular city council meeting minutes. Item 4B is to, uh, additional annual appointments to boards and commissions. Uh, item 4C is to receive and file the quarterly Treasurer's Report for the quarter ending March 31st, 2020— 2026. Item 4D are contracts and 4E are demands. Before we go to any council comments or questions, I'll ask for public comment from the City Clerk.
[00:13:31] Speaker C: We do have a public comment. Brad Anderson.
[00:13:43] Speaker G: Good afternoon, Brad Anderson, City Ranch Mirage. Wanted to speak on the consent item today, uh, item 4A, 4B. 4A is the minutes of the, uh, April 16th meeting. I, I keep, uh, I haven't submitted any written comments this week because I'm busy with other organizations, but, uh, I just want to emphasize again, uh, that these minutes need to be accurate because they are the public record. They're the only official public record. Your video, your YouTube video, is not an official public record. This is the only official public record of the Vance-Moraz City Council meetings and subcommittees. And when you don't, uh, record verbal testimony from myself, public comments, and briefly summarize other people's, uh, you're not doing the service of, of the city. You're not You're not doing the will of the people to redo your job. And I want to just emphasize that maybe you can do better. All you have to do is just a brief comment about what was said, especially on public hearing items, because you are— that's a litigation issue eventually, because that's the only time that the public can bring up items for possible future litigation. And if it's not recorded in the public record, it's not recorded. It's like it's never happened, right? So hopefully you can improve on that. And 4B is just the additional appointments that you, the city, recommends for some of the subcommittees. I'm just concerned about, just like your other appointments, of the term limits being waived in. And I don't think somebody should just serve forever on those type of subcommittees. Thank you.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: Thank you for your comments, Mr. Anderson. All right, are there any council comments?
[00:15:31] Speaker B: Uh, one second.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Oh, sorry.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: Is there anybody else in the audience who would like to make any additional comments regarding consent calendar? I see none.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: See, I, I knew.
[00:15:44] Speaker E: I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar.
[00:15:47] Speaker B: Second.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Please vote.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: Motion passes 4-0.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: Great, thank you. Uh, we'll move on now to the action calendar. Our first item is 5A, where we're going to talk about lawn equipment, and presenting today will be Jessica, uh, Pulliam, uh, Deputy of Sustainability.
[00:16:20] Speaker H: Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. The item that is proposed today is the Residential Lawn Equipment Incentive Program under the Electrify Rancho Mirage initiative. This is designed to help residents transition from gas-powered to electric equipment by leveraging existing South Coast AQMD rebates and adding a local incentive. Why this matters: landscaping equipment powered by small off-road engines is a localized source of emissions, and a neighborhood disturbance. So one statistic that CARB has put out is that 1 hour of use of a gas-powered leaf blower is the equivalent of a car driving from Los Angeles to Denver. That's quite a bit of smog that is coming out, or smog-inducing emissions that are coming out of those pieces of equipment. So what this program is proposed to do at its core is structured to be an adder to an existing program. So residents would need to qualify through AQMD, surrender a gas-powered piece of equipment for dismantling, and purchase new electric equipment. The city's role would be to simplify the process, to help facilitate participation, and to provide an additional incentive to further reduce out-of-pocket costs and thus incentivize residents to transition to that electric equipment. This approach maximizes external funding and it minimizes local cost exposure. The program is structured currently based on funding sources, so the RMEA portion would be funded through RMEA program funds and would be limited to RMEA customers, and this provides a, um, maintaining a direct nexus. A separate $10,000 general fund allocation is proposed to ensure that IID residents can also participate. While eligibility is tied to funding sources, the program is intentionally structured as a first phase, so there would be flexibility to expand in the future as additional funding sources become available. Staff is recommending approval of this program and authorization for the city manager or designee to implement the program guidelines and administer the incentives. Uh, this is closing, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Thank you, Jessica. Thank you for that. Are there any public comments?
[00:18:47] Speaker C: Yes, Brad Anderson.
[00:18:56] Speaker G: Thank you again. Brad Anderson, City of Ansmara. I want to speak on item 5A, which is the presentation that you just had concerning lawn equipment. Uh, this is a great opportunity to, uh, for the city to maybe reduce its footprint, meaning expenses to the general public, and maybe not instrument or install some kind of sales tax or some kind of taxing method by just eliminating this type of program and eliminating this type of government intrusion, I guess. Now, there are— just like you said, this is an addition to programs that are already out there, so And especially using general fund monies for IID customers, which is my understanding, is not part of the Ransomware Outreach Industry Authority anyway. So you're really kind of choosing that customer base over like myself, was I am not a participant of the RMEA either, and I'm one of the 1 percenters. So I just, I just want to say I don't think you should use general general funds for this, even if it's only $10,000. And the, the idea is okay, but again, it's just overstepped. People can choose. I don't think there's a big call in Ransom Roads. Maybe, uh, the, the person that presented could, could give a number of how many households this would affect. I don't think there will be many. Thank you.
[00:20:29] Speaker A: Thank you for your comments. Any other—
[00:20:32] Speaker C: is there anybody else in the audience who would like to make a comment on Item 5A? I see none.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Are there any council comments?
[00:20:41] Speaker D: This was a, a, um, topic that came up at some of the HOA meetings that we attended, um, which was residents that were concerned about gas-powered leaf blowers for twofold: the economic, the environmental impact, and also the noise impact. So, um, I think that starting something like this resonates with a lot of the citizens in our, in our community, and I think it's a good place to start with a voluntary program, um, and, and to see where we head in terms of more implementation as we come as we get further down the road. So thank you.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:21:24] Speaker E: No, I would merely like to say that the benefit here is that the gardeners and others will receive some compensation for turning in the equipment and getting new equipment, so that there is now an opportunity for compensation. That was always one of my objections, is that a number of these people couldn't afford it, and now we're now in, in a situation where there is some remuneration. So it makes sense, and I think it's an excellent program. Thank you.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: Thank you, Mr. Mayor Pro Tem. So, Jessica, The AQMD also has some rebate programs available.
[00:22:18] Speaker H: Yes, they do. And so what's being proposed today is an incentive adder. So this would be on top of their rebate, which would reduce out-of-pocket costs further for our residents.
[00:22:28] Speaker G: Got it.
[00:22:28] Speaker F: Think of it like the turf rebate program, right? That was a water district program, right, that we added money into for our residents. This is the same concept.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Got it. So what though is the level of the AQMD rebates? Do we know?
[00:22:42] Speaker H: Yes. So the maximum rebate that they offer right now is $250 if you purchase a piece of electric equipment that is $401 or more.
[00:22:51] Speaker G: Okay.
[00:22:52] Speaker B: So we're offering— let me make sure I'm reading this correctly. I'm looking at the chart here. Purchase price, $250 or less. Eligible rebate amount, $150. Now, when it says eligible rebate amount, that means that we will rebate to them $150 their purchase price is $250 or less, but we won't rebate more than the cost of the equipment.
[00:23:12] Speaker H: Correct.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: So that, coupled with the AQMD rebate, conceivably could cover pretty much the whole cost.
[00:23:19] Speaker H: It could cover up to 100% depending on the piece of equipment that they select at purchase.
[00:23:25] Speaker B: Okay, so if I'm reading this correctly, if I understand you correctly about the AQMD rebates, what we're doing here is we're making it remarkably easy for those who possibly would might have difficulty affording this at all? For example, landscapers and so on.
[00:23:41] Speaker H: So at this time, we are proposing this as a residential rebate, not a commercial. There could be potential expansion later if that's desired by council, but this time it would be for residents. And staff is working with AQMD to make it as easy as possible, reducing paperwork burden and to also increase dismantler location drop-offs, even potentially having staff do some version of that here in-house.
[00:24:06] Speaker G: Okay.
[00:24:07] Speaker F: And does the AQMD program cover commercial?
[00:24:10] Speaker H: They do have a commercial program currently, yes.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Okay. And we're only talking about leaf-blowing equipment, although we're leaving open the concept that we can incorporate more expensive equipment at some point in the future?
[00:24:23] Speaker H: Yes.
[00:24:23] Speaker G: Okay.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Okay. I'm going to vote yes on this. I think this is a great idea. It certainly is the case that there is at least one other city city here in the Coachella Valley that has in the past offered these kinds of rebates for upgrading to electric lawn mower— lawn equipment. Palm Springs has been doing this for quite some time. So I'm glad to see this. I know that I get asked about it with some frequency. Councilmember Fromberg-Edelson just mentioned that she's heard about it at recent HOA meetings. So I think this is something that our residents want us to do and we should do. Thank you, Jessica. Thank you, uh, Mayor Pro Tem.
[00:24:58] Speaker A: Thank you, Jessica. Um, I also regularly get asked about this, so it seems to me like this is a, a great first step. Um, any other comments, or is there a motion?
[00:25:08] Speaker D: I'll make the motion. Am I reading 1 through 3 right?
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Please.
[00:25:14] Speaker D: Sorry, just checking.
[00:25:15] Speaker I: Yeah.
[00:25:15] Speaker D: Uh, move to approve implementation of Electrify Rancho Mirage RMEA Residential Lawn Equipment Incentive Program for eligible Rancho Mirage Energy Authority customers within the Southern California Edison service territory. 2, I move to approve implementation of Electrify Palm Rancho Mirage IID Residential Lawn Equipment Incentive Program for eligible customers within the Imperial Area Irrigation District service territory. And 3, authorize the city manager or designee to take all action— necessary actions to implement the program's program budget, including the approval and execution of associated guidelines, forms, or agreements, subject to the approval of the City Attorney.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: Second.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: Please vote.
[00:26:02] Speaker C: Motion passes 4-0.
[00:26:05] Speaker A: Terrific, thank you. Uh, let's move on to 5B, which is a crowd pleaser, the Rancho Morro gift card program. And our presentation today will be by Alex Sanchez, our digital marketing coordinator.
[00:26:18] Speaker J: Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem and members of the City Council. I'm here today to provide an update on the Shop Local Rancho Mirage gift card program and to propose a new bonus campaign in conjunction with Visit Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week. The city launched this program in November 2024 as an economic development initiative designed to keep dollars circulating within our local economy. The program operates on the EFT platform and currently includes 70 participating businesses, with 41 in the food and dining sector. Since launch, the program has delivered strong results. We've issued 3,389 gift cards totaling more than $510,000 in value. Approximately 72% of those redemptions have occurred at restaurants demonstrating the program's strong impact on our local dining establishments. Last year, Council approved a bonus campaign aligned with Visit Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week. We started with a $10,000 bonus allocation, and due to strong demand, an additional $10,000 was added. That investment generated $51,000 in total gift card value and approximately a 3-to-1 return on investment. 75% of those redemptions occurred at restaurants, and 11 Rancho Mirage businesses participated in Restaurant Week. Based on that success, staff is recommending a new bonus campaign for Restaurant Week 2026 beginning May 29th and extending through June 19th. This expanded time frame is designed to sustain customer traffic beyond Restaurant Week and support local restaurants as they transition into the slower season. We are proposing a $30,000 bonus fund with the same 50% match incentive. Also, Rancho Mirage remains one of the few cities in the Coachella Valley that sponsors participation fees for local restaurants, helping maximize participation and exposure. In summary, staff is requesting approval to utilize $30,000 from our Economic Development Fund to support the Restaurant Week campaign. This concludes my presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: Thank you, Alex. Uh, are there any public comments?
[00:28:46] Speaker C: Yes, Brad Anderson.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:28:54] Speaker G: I'm going to sit closer. Uh, Brad Anderson, City Ranch. I just wanted to speak on this. I, I, I— when you first brought that up, I guess in '24, I was opposed to it, and I I would like to see the numbers associated with what businesses are really profiting from these, just like Palm Springs did. I think there's a possibility of some type of fraud. Fraud's probably a strong word, but incentive for some businesses to incentivize themselves more than others. And I would like to see the city start out just like they did before with $10,000. Another $10,000 if needed, uh, and, and go through the council and, and let the public, uh, yeah, I guess witness that type of increase if needed. And that's all I have. Thank you.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: Thank you for your comments.
[00:29:46] Speaker C: Is there anybody else in the audience who would like to speak on Item 5B? I see none.
[00:29:52] Speaker A: Are there any council comments?
[00:29:54] Speaker E: I'll make a motion Mayor Pro Tem, to recommend that the City Council approve a new Shop Local Rancho Mirage gift card bonus campaign to coincide with Visit Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week from May 29th through June 19th, 2026, utilizing a $30,000 bonus fund with a 50% match Incentive.
[00:30:24] Speaker G: Thank you.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Is there a second?
[00:30:25] Speaker B: There is a second. This is a great way to support our local businesses, and I'm happy to second this motion.
[00:30:30] Speaker A: Great, please vote.
[00:30:35] Speaker C: Motion passes 4-0.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: Great, thank you, Alex. Uh, next is 5C, uh, which we will be talking about rent levels for the Housing Authority, and presenting today will be Marcus Solomon our housing manager. Marcus.
[00:30:50] Speaker K: Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem O'Keefe, Housing Authority Board, and staff. The City of Rancho Mirage's Housing Authority owns and maintains 4 age-restricted affordable housing properties. Those properties are Parkview Villas, Whispering Waters, Santa Rosa Villas, and San Jacinto Villas, totaling 226 units. The city contracts with National Corp Property Management to oversee the daily on-site operations. Each household's rent is established using the affordable housing formula, which is simply to calculate 30% of the household's total prior year annual gross income. Per U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development affordable housing guidelines, a recent recertification review is conducted annually to establish the new rent rates for the following year and to confirm the resident's eligibility for affordable housing. Eligibility is determined using the state income limits established by the Department of Housing and Community Development for Riverside County. As a benefit to the residents of Rancho Mirage's Housing Authority properties, in 2003, City Council approved a prescription rent credit program that covers out-of-pocket medical expenses for residents whose income is determined to be in the low-income category and below. Prescription rent credits are applied to the upcoming fiscal year and are capped at $100 per month per household. Staff recommends that the Housing Authority Board approve fiscal year 2026-2027 rent levels for Parkview Villas, San Jacinto Villas, Santa Rosa Villas, and Whispering Waters age-restricted residential complexes. This concludes my presentation. I am available for any questions. Thank you.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: Thank you, Marcus. Are there any public comments?
[00:32:27] Speaker C: I did not receive any speaker cards. Is there anybody in the audience who would like to speak? Come on, Brad.
[00:32:35] Speaker G: Thank you again. I'm sorry, I didn't do that card. Um, I was at, I think, a few of these meetings or subcommittees on the housing Commission. And I brought up an issue, and hopefully you can hear it too, is about the prescription incentive, I guess. I don't think that's really an accurate— I can't pronounce that— fair way of allocating resources. I think just because somebody happens to be sicker or have more prescriptions doesn't mean they can benefit more than somebody else. So I think that should be a broad decrease on everybody that's involved to that income lever. And that's all I have. Thank you.
[00:33:18] Speaker A: Thank you for your comments.
[00:33:20] Speaker C: Is there anybody else in the audience who would like to make a comment on Item 5C?
[00:33:26] Speaker E: Great.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: Are there any council comments? Is there a motion?
[00:33:30] Speaker B: I'll make the motion that the council approve the fiscal year 2026-2027 rent levels for Parkview Villas, San Jacinto Villas, Santa Rosa Villas and Whispering Waters age-restricted residential complexes.
[00:33:44] Speaker D: I'll second.
[00:33:45] Speaker A: Please vote.
[00:33:51] Speaker C: Motion passes 4-0.
[00:33:54] Speaker A: Thank you, Marcus. Uh, our final item on the action calendar today is about the landscaping and lighting maintenance district, and presenting will be Ian Lasley, Assistant Director of Public Works.
[00:34:09] Speaker L: Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem and City Council members. The item before you today is the initiation of the levy process for fiscal year 2026 and 2027 for the city's landscape and lighting districts. The current— the city currently maintains 5 special district zones which were established through development agreements between property developers and the city, as well as one citywide median zone under landscape and Lighting District 8701. These districts exist for the purpose of maintaining landscaping and lighting with their respective— within their respective zones. Each zone is assessed on a cost recovery basis, with parcel owners being assessed for only the maintenance cost for specific to their zone. The citywide zones, which cover all medians within the city, is assessed to all parcel owners citywide. In contrast, the 5 special benefit zones are assessed solely to the parcels that receive direct and special benefits from the improvements and maintenance. The engineer's annual levy report provides a detailed breakdown of the revenues and expenses for each zone and outlines the cost recovery estimates for each. This report is included in your presentation package. The recommendations contained in the engineer report are based on full cost recovery model for each zone. Staff recommends that City Council approve the attached resolution declaring the city's intent to levy assessments and setting the public hearing date for June 4th, 2026. This concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: Thank you, Ian. Are there any public comments?
[00:35:44] Speaker C: Yes, Mr. Brad Anderson.
[00:35:45] Speaker E: Of course.
[00:35:50] Speaker G: Uh, thank you again. This is item 5D. Has that thing just shocked me? Uh, I, I want to I did read the engineering report and it looks roughly like 3.24%, roughly, is the increase. Just so everybody's aware of what to expect when you pay your property taxes, or if you see your property taxes when they come up. So that's about it. Not that I'm opposed to this, but let's try to keep costs down. And that's all I have. Thank you.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: Thank you for your comments. Any other comments? Are there any council comments?
[00:36:31] Speaker C: Is there anybody else in the audience who would like to speak on item 5D? There's none.
[00:36:39] Speaker A: Any council comments? Is there a motion?
[00:36:41] Speaker D: I'll make the motion because I really like long motions today, apparently. Uh, move to number 1, adopt resolution number 2026, next in order, initiating proceedings for the annual levy of assessments for the ranch Rancho Mirage Consolidated Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District Number 87-01 for the fiscal year 2020— 2026-2027. 2, adopt Resolution Number 2026, next in order, declaring its intention to levy annual assessments for the Rancho Mirage Consolidated Landscaping and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District Number 87-01 for fiscal year 2026-2027. And 3, Adopt Resolution Number 2026, next in order, for preliminary approval of the engineer's annual levy report for the Rancho Mirage Consolidated Landscaping and Lightning Maintenance District, Assessment District Number 87-01, for fiscal year 2026-2027.
[00:37:36] Speaker E: I'll second that.
[00:37:38] Speaker A: Please vote.
[00:37:44] Speaker C: Motion passes 4-0.
[00:37:47] Speaker A: Thank you, Ian, and thank you, Councilmember Fromberg-Edelson. You win the prize today for longest motions.
[00:37:53] Speaker H: I can read.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: All right, that concludes our action calendar for, uh, today. Now we will move into non-agenda public comments. This is an opportunity for the public to speak on issues that are not on the agenda. Uh, please respect the 3-minute maximum, uh, allowable time to speak. And, uh, do we have any comments?
[00:38:12] Speaker C: Yes. John Montoya.
[00:38:25] Speaker M: Good afternoon, City Council members and other staff. This is more in the way of a kind of a heads up. This has to do with the effect of ICE on our communities. The LA Times had a couple of articles this past Sunday and Monday describing the impact of ICE raids on certain communities within the greater Los Angeles area, and specifically some shopping centers and other places of gathering. Apparently this has resulted in declining income, for the proprietors in these particular areas. Uh, the store owners or shop owners have had difficulty with absenteeism and recruiting new employees in these circumstances. Um, of concern in that respect is a recent, somewhat recent, Shatterdocket opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court In Nome v. Perdomo, in that opinion, the US Supreme Court stayed a California Central District Court opinion that banned ICE from using certain criteria as reasonable suspicion to detain and possibly arrest. Somebody on the street. The only opinion that was written by the majority came from Justice Kavanaugh, and he said that it was okay for ICE to use such criteria as apparent ethnicity, uh, speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent, the type of work performed, such as construction work or landscape work, and the location of the work. Uh, in my view, that's tantamount to a form of racial profiling, but it has the imprimatur of the— at least, well, I would say the majority of the Supreme Court at this point, at least temporarily. Riverside County is within the jurisdiction of the California Central District Court. In addition to that, there are some ICE memos outstanding that give ICE the authority to re-interview, re-evaluate all those persons who received green cards during the four Biden years. ICE is still maintaining its goal of deporting a million people this year. That's about double what they did in 2025. So I don't know what the city can do. Obviously working with the city attorney, uh, it seems to me— I know my time's over— it seems to me it would be helpful if the city council could somehow get the word out to particularly gated communities in our, uh, in the city of Rancho Mirage. You can imagine a small caravan of ICE agents coming up to a guard shack armed with nothing more than an administrative warrant demanding entrance. If they were to get entrance into these, our communities—
[00:41:59] Speaker A: thank you, Mr. Montoya—
[00:42:01] Speaker M: they'd have a free rein.
[00:42:02] Speaker A: Thank you for your comments.
[00:42:05] Speaker C: Mr. Patrick Laurie.
[00:42:19] Speaker I: Good afternoon. Go Firebirds! Big game tonight. You lose tonight, you're out of the playoffs. I've been in situations like that. Fantastic. Adrenaline couldn't be better. Uh, make a couple comments.
[00:42:30] Speaker M: You—
[00:42:31] Speaker I: none of you talked about the town hall meetings. I was terribly disappointed in the town hall meetings. First, we had none of you at those town hall meetings. That's not typically how town hall meetings work. The explanation was that it violated the Brown Act if you showed up. That's nonsense. And I'd be first to help your city attorney and Mr. Hageman understand the Brown Act. So city hall— excuse me. Yeah, town hall meetings. No government. That's crazy. Now, make another comment on the lighter side. When I first got my teaching credential many, many years ago, secondary, I had attached to it to work with children who struggled with education. And I taught a class for 10 weeks of blind children. I walked in the first day, rookie teacher, wrote my name on the board. Need I say more? Little girl in front row says, "Mr. Lowry, we can't see." So today too is Mental Health Day for young people, critically important, and our foundation supports that as much as we possibly can. Third point, you gave $2 million to Eisenhower. You need to give more money to this issue of food insecurity. This really rankles my nerves, this $2 million to Eisenhower. Plenty of money. They didn't need our $2 million. We need it here in the community. Now also, the issue of the town hall meeting was nothing but a sales pitch delivered by some fellow in a pair of jeans. That wasn't appreciated by me. Also, I've been told by you that we have tremendous reserves, fiduciarily responsible, couldn't be better. And now you're $7, $8 million short. What goes on here? Anyway, you'll see my notes published. And again, let me express myself in the strongest terms. Where were you for the two, at least the two meetings that we've had already? The town hall meetings. I think there's one again tonight, I believe. Now, two of you showed up at HOA meetings. For God's sake, you go to an HOA meeting and you won't come to the town hall meeting to meet with us? I don't know how you reconcile that. Again, I give you the challenge, and I hope it irritates you to the bone. Mr. Hageman, Mr. Kirkpatrick, I'll educate you on the First Amendment and Madison, and I'll educate you on the Brown Act. Thanks very much. I appreciate you, and I appreciate your staff.
[00:45:02] Speaker A: Thank you, Mr. Lowry. Just, just for clarification, I believe all city council members did attend town hall meetings. I know that I was there, Ted was there, Eve, Steve, I have 3 minutes.
[00:45:14] Speaker I: I did not see you at the first. Forgive me, I did not see you at the first, but you weren't there to be asked questions of, and that's what town hall meetings are for. Forgive me.
[00:45:22] Speaker A: All right, okay, thank you.
[00:45:25] Speaker C: Mr. Brad Anderson.
[00:45:27] Speaker A: Mr. Anderson.
[00:45:31] Speaker G: Okay, hi, uh, hopefully you'll bite back today. Uh, my name is Brad Anderson. Uh, I want to speak on non-agenda public comment. As the previous speaker said about the town hall, they all did the sales pitch for the sales tax increase of 1%, and I got a hunch that the city will try to push that this November. Again, I brought this up at the town hall, we call it a town hall meeting that I attended, that we could not elect a city council member. She was appointed because the city said it was because of the cost associated with having an election. And this would be the same issue, uh, cost of having an election for a sales tax. Not that I oppose having the city residents vote either way, but I know how it's going to turn out. I think it's just bad for the city. And speaking of town hall meetings, I, I understand there is one tonight, but Zoom only, and I don't think there's any access other than going to the city website. And, and I think if you really want participation at these meetings, you would make it phone accessible to people like me. And also the city town hall meeting— I'm wasting all my time on town hall— town hall meeting at the Ransom Ramos Library not long ago, I think it's the 5th, did it have any postings or anything on the building itself? Prior to that meeting. So, and, and wasn't that many people there. So I think, I think the city could advertise their intentions better and not be so deceitful about how, how they're doing it with contractors that are already hired, paid for by the city, to pitch this type of a increase. So anyway, I wanted to speak on the highway right out in 111 here. Worst repaving job I ever seen in my life. And the city, as a public member, I was not allowed to speak on the con— when the work is considered complete, 'cause the city manager took that away from us. And that was millions and millions of dollars. So I just wanna, just concerned that maybe we shouldn't use that company anymore. Maybe you should use the type of asphalt that you say is so great. Because it's not working out there. And just what I'm thinking on minutes, because you don't record minutes anymore of the public speakers, you just maybe state my name. Maybe you can put these into the public record like the county does, Riverside County, and, and a person can maybe briefly describe what they're talking about and, and if they're opposed or if they're in favor of, and that way it's in the public record. A little, a little something you can do. Thank you.
[00:48:26] Speaker A: Thank you, Mr. Anderson.
[00:48:29] Speaker C: Mr. Wally Meléndez.
[00:48:51] Speaker N: Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Wally Meléndez. Okay, the word of the day is normalcy. This nation, from my humble opinion, is going to the dogs. Not this group. This group is doing real good from my viewpoint. I'm talking about the nation as a whole. Since Trump came into national politics, And it keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse. Making our allies since the First World War into our enemies. That's what Trump is doing. The Democratic Party in the Congress are too chickenshit to kick him out. They can't. They're too weak. If we had somebody like Reagan, if we had somebody like— who else? That had some guts to take on the enemy within, which is the Republican Party. Last night I was watching the documentary about Francisco Franco of Spain. That took over Spain since the 1930s until he died. He also had concentration camps. I didn't know that. He also killed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. Trump is trying to do the same thing. And nobody can kick him out using the 25th Amendment. Uh, uh, uh, he's— all the weapons we have in the Congress, in the judicial system, they can't kick him out. Thank you very much.
[00:51:52] Speaker A: Thank you, Mr. Meléndez.
[00:51:56] Speaker C: Miss Susan Ragsdale.
[00:52:12] Speaker O: Happy May, everyone. I'm here to bring some sunshine and love to you. That's what I want to do. I have too much compassion to read the public comment I intended to read today, Ted Wile. I don't want to put that on a public record, except, you know, I'd rather kind of keep it to a small group. I don't want to hurt you at all. I did I do very much want you to know how much you've hurt me, though. It's serious. It's very serious. And it's long-term. And it's completely unjustified. Michael today was talking about being involved in preventing crimes in the Coachella Valley, and I don't know much about this subject, but sadly, the city council has committed very serious crimes against me, along with long-term extreme elder abuse. And unfortunately, Ted, you're in charge, and I don't feel you're making a very good judgment regarding my— me all these years. And I believe it would behoove you to kind of take a different stance, because I stand in my truth and I have a preponderance of evidence. I don't want to write a book called "Twisted in Rancho Mirage." I would much rather go back to my sacred artworks, creating that on my computer, maybe getting some prints made, having a show. I would love to continue my project of the mid-century modern textile and wallpaper and all that designs that I started in 1997. I had no idea it was gonna become such the rage, you know what I mean? And here we are, right in the Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, where it's completely adored. People come here because of that. And I don't have a computer, so I can't carry it on. And I was all over it when I was over at Betsy's house in Pintura on Araby, when I had to escape Whispering Waters because the hostility was so extreme. Once I got a fraudulent termination of tenancy, all those bullies just felt completely self-righteous about completely destroying me all the time. I suffered from 4 years of hostile bullying at Whispering Waters, jumping up and down here, writing 105 or whatever, 20-page report to you with my 65 emails saying, help me please. And the damn— I don't want to swear— the darn property manager, she was completely unprofessional. Do you have a different— I heard mention of a different property management company now by Marcus. I hope so. He wanted to get rid of Hyder Whale, you know, when I moved in in 2018, because they're no good. And unfortunately, uh, anyway, so I don't want to take too much damn— excuse my French. I just— I'm not 100%, but I have paperwork for you.
[00:55:23] Speaker A: Okay, thank you, Miss Razzak. Ragsdale for your comments.
[00:55:27] Speaker O: I hope you can help me out because—
[00:55:29] Speaker A: thank you.
[00:55:31] Speaker C: That's all the public comments cards I received. Is there anybody else in the audience who would like to make a non-agenda public comment?
[00:55:39] Speaker A: Okay, that concludes our comments today and our action items. We are now going to recess into closed session, and I will ask our City Attorney Colin Fitzpatrick, uh, to tell us what we should expect.
[00:55:50] Speaker F: Uh, Mayor Pro Tem, I do believe we have a public comment card on closed session?
[00:55:54] Speaker C: Oh yes, Brad Anderson.
[00:55:56] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:56:04] Speaker G: No, there's no reason to apologize. Uh, the city manager jumped in intentionally so I couldn't hear the report from the city, uh, from the attorney. But anyway, I will give my comments, uh, because I don't want to I will if I leave the podium. This is concerning item 7A, which is a potential initiation of litigation by the city. Of course, I don't have any further information concerning this, such as I should have, but I just want to emphasize, as the city emphasizes, my word of choice, that the city consider cuts to litigation to preserve the city budget. and future city budgets, and, and especially the city attorney's contract. I think it's 2014 was the last renewal. I think maybe we can put it out for bid and maybe save some money. Thank you.
[00:56:59] Speaker A: Thank you for your comments. Are there any other comments? All right, Mr. Fitzpatrick.
[00:57:05] Speaker C: Is there anybody else in the audience who would like to speak on Item 7A?
[00:57:11] Speaker G: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.
[00:57:12] Speaker A: We'll be convening in closed session for the item listed before you on the agenda, 7A, conference with legal counsel, potential initiation of litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9, one potential case. Thank you. We are recessed into closed session. Okay, we will reconvene to open session, and I will ask the city attorney for any reportable action. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. No reportable action taken today. We are adjourned.