Fool all the people all the time?
Palm Springs, California. Abraham Lincoln said it best in his oft-quoted maxim, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." Does that apply to residents of Palm Springs when it comes to development of John Wessman's Desert Fashion Plaza property?
In 2007 incoming Mayor Steve Pougnet and new City Council members Rick Hutcheson and Lee WeigelDesert Fashion Plaza would occur within a specified, brief time frame. It didn't!
March 2009: An editorial in The Desert Sun voiced lack of confidence in the city's approach to Desert Fashion Plaza development and called for a third-party negotiator to be brought in to mediate between owner John Wessman and city officials. The editorial request was ignored!
April 2009: Mayor Steve Pougnet announced his candidacy for the 45th Congressional District seat held by Representative Mary Bono Mack. His unfilled Desert Fashion Plaza development promises were set aside while he campaigned for the other office.
June 2009: Plans to demolish the Town and Country Center (T&CC) as part of Desert Fashion PlazaPalm Springs Preservation Foundation. Several public hearings made clear that organization's members would not be supportive of a development design that included T&CC demolition.
November 2010: Mayor Pougnet lost his bid to take the 45th Congressional District seat. Mindful of his 2007 campaign promise and facing need to insure his reelection in 2011, Desert Fashion Plaza development resurfaced as a priority.
December 2010: Mayor Pougnet announced a proposal for new taxes on residents to buy the Desert Fashion Plaza property from Wessman Development. Brief negotiations to achieve the plaza's purchase were unsuccessful - as anticipated.
January 2011: The City of Palm Springs contracted with Berkeley-based consultant MIG, Inc., to conduct a series of community workshops seeking participant's views of future plaza development by the city. A new tax measure, up to $50 million, to fund the project was planned for the June 2011 ballot. The new tax proposal was subsequently switched to the November 2011 General Election.
February 2011: The third and final community workshop ended with developer John Wessman and Mayor Pougnet announcing the two would now be working together to develop Desert Fashion Plaza. However, a new design proposal from Wessman Development that includes demolition of the Town & Country Center property, may prove controversial. A clear winner was the Berkeley-based consultant MIG, Inc. group who, though now out of the picture, appears to have pocketed a nice fee for their involvement.
Three years ago when campaign promises were made, no mention surfaced of using taxpayer funds in the development of Desert Fashion Plaza. That changed in 2010 when the city was prepared to use eminent domain proceedings in order to acquire it and $50 million in new taxes surfaced as the estimated cost to acquire the property and proceed with development. The city has now abandoned eminent domain plans in favor of a new cooperative arrangement with John Wessman, but the $50 million in new taxes didn't go away. Instead it's now proposed such funds be handed over to Wessman Development to insure the privately owned plaza property returns a profit to Mr. Wessman and his investors. The city also agreed to throw in another $200 thousand to cover half the estimated architectural and engineering fee costs.
Now for some big questions.
Is the Desert Fashion Plaza political football a case of fooling all the people all the time?
Bond Shands
Palm Springs
In 2007 incoming Mayor Steve Pougnet and new City Council members Rick Hutcheson and Lee WeigelDesert Fashion Plaza would occur within a specified, brief time frame. It didn't!
March 2009: An editorial in The Desert Sun voiced lack of confidence in the city's approach to Desert Fashion Plaza development and called for a third-party negotiator to be brought in to mediate between owner John Wessman and city officials. The editorial request was ignored!
April 2009: Mayor Steve Pougnet announced his candidacy for the 45th Congressional District seat held by Representative Mary Bono Mack. His unfilled Desert Fashion Plaza development promises were set aside while he campaigned for the other office.
June 2009: Plans to demolish the Town and Country Center (T&CC) as part of Desert Fashion PlazaPalm Springs Preservation Foundation. Several public hearings made clear that organization's members would not be supportive of a development design that included T&CC demolition.
November 2010: Mayor Pougnet lost his bid to take the 45th Congressional District seat. Mindful of his 2007 campaign promise and facing need to insure his reelection in 2011, Desert Fashion Plaza development resurfaced as a priority.
December 2010: Mayor Pougnet announced a proposal for new taxes on residents to buy the Desert Fashion Plaza property from Wessman Development. Brief negotiations to achieve the plaza's purchase were unsuccessful - as anticipated.
January 2011: The City of Palm Springs contracted with Berkeley-based consultant MIG, Inc., to conduct a series of community workshops seeking participant's views of future plaza development by the city. A new tax measure, up to $50 million, to fund the project was planned for the June 2011 ballot. The new tax proposal was subsequently switched to the November 2011 General Election.
February 2011: The third and final community workshop ended with developer John Wessman and Mayor Pougnet announcing the two would now be working together to develop Desert Fashion Plaza. However, a new design proposal from Wessman Development that includes demolition of the Town & Country Center property, may prove controversial. A clear winner was the Berkeley-based consultant MIG, Inc. group who, though now out of the picture, appears to have pocketed a nice fee for their involvement.
Three years ago when campaign promises were made, no mention surfaced of using taxpayer funds in the development of Desert Fashion Plaza. That changed in 2010 when the city was prepared to use eminent domain proceedings in order to acquire it and $50 million in new taxes surfaced as the estimated cost to acquire the property and proceed with development. The city has now abandoned eminent domain plans in favor of a new cooperative arrangement with John Wessman, but the $50 million in new taxes didn't go away. Instead it's now proposed such funds be handed over to Wessman Development to insure the privately owned plaza property returns a profit to Mr. Wessman and his investors. The city also agreed to throw in another $200 thousand to cover half the estimated architectural and engineering fee costs.
Now for some big questions.
- Are Palm Springs voters supportive of using tax dollars for private property development?
- When the new $50 million tax measure appears on the ballot will it receive the 51% approval needed from local voters?
- Will Palm Springs Preservation Foundation members support the new tax measure?
- When Mayor Steve Pougnet and Council Members Rick Hutcheson and Lee Weigel run for reelection a few months down the road, will voters remember their 2007 campaign promises and choose other candidates?
Is the Desert Fashion Plaza political football a case of fooling all the people all the time?
Bond Shands
Palm Springs
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Posted by Desert Observer at 3/4/2011 3:57 PM 
Categories: Opinion, City Council
Tags: Palm Springs City Council Desert Fashion Plaza
Categories: Opinion, City Council
Tags: Palm Springs City Council Desert Fashion Plaza
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