Palm Springs Community Workshop #1 - A Report
Palm Springs, California. The Palm Springs city council has decided to spend $50 million to acquire and renovate the Desert Fashion Plaza property that occupies the center of the downtown area. The plaza has existed as a near empty shell for more than a decade. In his 2007 campaign Mayor Steve Pougnet promised to "initiate the exploration of eminent domain of the property" and mentioned a 90 day time frame. In that same year City Council candidate Rick Hutcheson said "City council must set a one-year timetable to approve a replacement to the Desert Fashion Plaza .... - or find a new owner". And, council candidate Lee Weigel said "the Fashion Plaza must be cleaned up, be presentable and moved forward". Much time has passed since those 2007 campaign promises. Since the city council is a non-partisan body none should assume politics have entered into the decision to spend $50 million to buy the property at this time. Although all three candidates are up for reelection this year, other valid reasons for action at this time, though obscure, surely exist.
A series of three Community Workshops have been scheduled to receive public input in response to the council's proposal to acquire the Desert Fashion Plaza property. The first session took place Wednesday evening, January 27th, in the Palm Springs Convention Center. Another follows next week and the third and final workshop is set for the following week. The workshops are being facilitated by Chris Beynon of MIG from Berkeley, California. The first workshop's meeting agenda, following introductions, included group discussions titled:
Workshop attendance exceeded a hundred residents plus numerous city officials observing the proceedings. Most attendees remained throughout the evening. Interest groups were well represented and included Museum advocates, Historical Society folks, self-promoters, the downtown business community, Trader Joe fanatics, Architects, film festival groupies, and the youth element. Most expressed views associated with their group interests. The responses covered what they would like to see on the Desert Fashion Plaza site, open space preferences, street connections, architectural styles and how much of the existing structures to retain. Since cost, revenues and other economic factors were not put forward by facilitators as a consideration, the range of audience proposals was quite broad. About the only suggestions left off the list were an aquarium, motorcycle sales, religious facilities, x-rated businesses, and an electronic game center. A major interest group, the Silent Majority (i.e. taxpayers), if present, failed to address their concerns and the two questions of greatest interest to them were never asked nor answered.
The information collected from the three workshops will be summarized and presented to the city council. That's when they'll have to bite the bullet and decide the next step. While they've clearly decided to spend $50 million, they don't have that kind of money. So, it will require a June ballot measure in which voters will be asked to approve new taxes in order to pay for the project. That's when the two big questions of greatest concern to the Silent Majority will become the deciding factor. Those questions are:
Bond Shands
Palm Springs
A series of three Community Workshops have been scheduled to receive public input in response to the council's proposal to acquire the Desert Fashion Plaza property. The first session took place Wednesday evening, January 27th, in the Palm Springs Convention Center. Another follows next week and the third and final workshop is set for the following week. The workshops are being facilitated by Chris Beynon of MIG from Berkeley, California. The first workshop's meeting agenda, following introductions, included group discussions titled:
- Visioning for the Future of the Desert Fashion Plaza (30 minutes); followed by
- Breakout Group (audience broken into five groups) - facilitated discussions (60 minutes); and a
- Breakout Group Report Backs - to the entire audience (20 minutes).
Workshop attendance exceeded a hundred residents plus numerous city officials observing the proceedings. Most attendees remained throughout the evening. Interest groups were well represented and included Museum advocates, Historical Society folks, self-promoters, the downtown business community, Trader Joe fanatics, Architects, film festival groupies, and the youth element. Most expressed views associated with their group interests. The responses covered what they would like to see on the Desert Fashion Plaza site, open space preferences, street connections, architectural styles and how much of the existing structures to retain. Since cost, revenues and other economic factors were not put forward by facilitators as a consideration, the range of audience proposals was quite broad. About the only suggestions left off the list were an aquarium, motorcycle sales, religious facilities, x-rated businesses, and an electronic game center. A major interest group, the Silent Majority (i.e. taxpayers), if present, failed to address their concerns and the two questions of greatest interest to them were never asked nor answered.
The information collected from the three workshops will be summarized and presented to the city council. That's when they'll have to bite the bullet and decide the next step. While they've clearly decided to spend $50 million, they don't have that kind of money. So, it will require a June ballot measure in which voters will be asked to approve new taxes in order to pay for the project. That's when the two big questions of greatest concern to the Silent Majority will become the deciding factor. Those questions are:
- What benefit will taxpayers receive from the project; and
- Should taxpayers pay for it?
Bond Shands
Palm Springs
Posted by Desert Observer at 1/27/2011 11:07 AM 
Categories: Opinion, City Council, Desert Fashion Plaza
Tags: Palm Springs City Council
Categories: Opinion, City Council, Desert Fashion Plaza
Tags: Palm Springs City Council
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