 |
 |
|
Return to Friends Of Desert Hot Springs Home Page Updated:
March 12, 2006 Website Hits 09/05-85,827, 10/05-178,482 11/05-174,413 12/05- 228,894 01/06- 380,232 02/06- 329,935 " POLITICIANS WILL ONLY START SEEING THE LIGHT WHEN THEY BEGIN TO FEEL THE HEAT" |
||||||
|
Development Issues Page |
||||||
|
03/15/08 Code Enforcement Suit Settled
We don't have the amount the city had to pay but we do have word that one of the many claims against Desert Hot Springs has been resolved. This one stemmed from a "code enforcement" action that was just a bit short of stealing and had nothing to do with a code violation.
Here is how the story was told to FODHS by the person involved very near the time of the incident. We agreed not to user her name.
She was in the process of moving out of a home and part of that move was to remove some cars from the house located in Desert Hot Springs. Code enforcement got there first and started removing the cars that were planned to be moved.
One car, a classic early 1970's Ford Mustang with a built motor was not outside but inside a locked garage. Code enforcement peered through the windows of the garage door and then went to work.
To get to the car in the garage, city code enforcement used a bolt cutter to cut the lock on the garage door and then hauled the car away.
When the owner of the car found out what had happened, she called Desert Hot Springs city hall. She told them they had no right to take her cars. City Hall told her that they did. She said, "Oh yea, well I happen to be a code enforcement officer in Temecula California in charge of vehicle abatement. Return my cars."
The city returned the cars. Someone had tried to start the Mustang and in the process did a reported $3,500 damage to the engine - the engine was a non-stock racing engine.
11/22/06 At last nights council meeting, someone who admits they have spent no time studying the issue, took to the microphone to offer public comment on the Mayor’s proposal for repealing the large fee increase merchants must pay now for signs. This Empty Potato Head ("Empty" because he did not study the issue and "Potato Head" because, well you get the idea from the graphic), questioned whether or not the cost figures detailed by the Mayor were correct. He did not bother to take the time to study the issue. His only purpose was to cast aspersions on the Mayor. The sign issue is a real life example of what a new shop keeper faces when they are starting a business and want a sign. They must contract with a sign company for a nice sign that costs $600. Now they go to the planning department. They now must pay $970 for the planning department to review each sign and they must pay for a professionally drawn plan showing where the sign will be located, how it will be constructed and other details. That cost to have the drawing done professionally is at least $400 or more. The merchant must pay $1,200 to the city before it can put up a $1000 ($600 plus $400) sign on their storefront. Some Retail store owners have actually taken down their signs to save money on city fees or refuse to put up a new sign. This is the last thing we need to happen if we want to increase our retail sales tax revenue to give to our grossly under-funded police department (crime at 500% national average), fire department and other safety related issues. We wonder what Mr. Empty Potato Head thinks of that. Mr. I-don’t- like- the- Mayor- and- anything- he- proposes- so- I- am- going- to- disagree- with- him- no- matter- what- Empty- Potato- Head, also questioned the audacity of the Mayor to go around to local businesses to see what they think. He said he wants an investigation to see if any laws have been violated!!! Do we really need to point out the absurdity of his statement for you. Imagine, a politician actually taking time to visit with the people in town to find out what their views are and to let them know what his views are – in writing. We sarcastically agree. How dare you Mayor Bias! You should be ashamed. My gosh. You should resign. Don’t you know you are supposed to stay quiet on every issue and ignore the peoples wishes and desires!!!!! per the Mr. Empty Potato Head Hate Filled Group. Dear Mr. Empty Potato Head Leader; Please quite embarrassing yourself and the rest of your fellow sore- looser- because- Mary- didn't- become- mayor- tomato- throwing- empty- potato- heads. Please do the rest of us who are trying to make the city a better place a big favor by sitting down and remaining quiet until you have something constructive, positive and informative – to offer to the intellectual discussion.
10/11/07
We ran across this story from 2005 and it reminds us that Desert Hot Springs truly is a city of vision. What that view will be as the months ahead unfold remains to be seen but for now its great to reminisce. We do hope Tuscan Hills will not remain in an un-graded state for much longer. We look forward to this "billion dollar project" moving forward. Evolving
reputation By
KIMBERLY PIERCEALL / The Press-Enterprise Walter Luce, a local developer, said that reputation is changing. His newest project
with Mayer-Luce Development is Tuscan Hills, a $1 billion
development, and it would bring the city its first golf course,
high-end hotel and million-dollar homes.
06/23/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
The
location selected by a Palm Springs blue ribbon
commission at the intersections of the I-10 and Indian
Avenue is one of the most uninhabitable areas in
the Coachella Valley. It is a windy, parched area with
little or no cover from the searing desert sun. With
nothing in that area except a small business park and
truck-stop style businesses catering to passing
motorists passing, it is not a place for people. It is a
place you get rescued from when your car breaks down.
Not a place for a homeless rescue center.
Anyone advocating this site should first be ashamed of themselves and then made to spend an entire day there, no shelter, no sitting in a restaurant, no car, just them, the wind, the dust, the heat and nowhere to escape it. Best
Regards, A
Friend Of Desert |
||||||
|
06/23/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
A jointly operated resource
center could offer a less expensive way for the three
cities to tackle their homeless issues than going it
alone. They share a serious problem that has thus far
gone largely unaddressed. Palm Springs has about 336
homeless residents, Desert Hot Springs has about 139 and
Cathedral City about 86 - and those numbers are growing.
"It deals not only with the homeless population in Palm Springs but with our own homeless situation here in Desert Hot Springs," said Gary Bosworth, that city's mayor pro tem who will be one his city's representatives meeting with Palm Springs. Homeless
Grant Awards Link, 2006, How to Apply, availability, etc |
||||||
|
||||||
|
06/19/06
Should the developer sign be moved or should we just move the library? Or maybe we just should throw up our hands, say forget it, let the developers do whatever they want. Dear Fred Bell, did you authorize this placement of your sign in this location so our residents can not see the sign directing them to the library? Are you spending any time whatsoever monitoring the placement of your signs? What thinking person would place a sign in this manner? It is quite obvious no thinking person is monitoring their placement.
Dear FODHS:
Concerning your commentaries regarding the
BIA new development signs which are expanding throughout
the City, I would like to share some additional
concerns.
Currently in the City of DHS - including
Mission Lakes- there are almost 800 residential listings
on the MLS. Additionally, there are almost 600
expired listings in the same area (presumably some of
these may have been picked up by another broker or
extended.) A quick search revealed that most of
the expired were not listed again and are now either
owner occupied or rentals.
Given the abundance of Real Estate available
throughout our City - why is the BIA the only group
allowed to post signs in City Right of Way? Would
it not also be fair to have similar signs for each of
the Real Estate offices and brokers in DHS. Or, is
the City so interested in selling out the new so that
more new homes will be built? In the mean time is
the core of the City with almost 800 homes for sale
being allowed to rot and decay?
What's good for the BIA should also be good
for the MLS Realtors!
Karl Baker, Jr.
|
||||||
|
06/12/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
FODHS and
Our Readers Get Results First, way to go
Readers. Keep those tips coming in. Second, why does it
take a reader and this site to see a sign that is not
being properly maintained. If you give the builders the
right to put up signs - tell them, you keep them
maintained or they all come down! |
||||||
|
06/07/06 |
||||||
|
It should not take a citizen report or FODHS to bring the
condition of these signs to the attention of the city or the
BIA. The BIA needs a regular and proactive sign
maintenance program to keep its signs graffiti free. No more
than 24 hours should pass before graffiti on these signs is
covered over. It should not take days and even months as
documented by FODHS. It really is this simple: Mr. Fred Bell of the BIA, if we see graffiti on one of your signs for more than 24 hours, that sign will be taken down by the city and your organization will not be allowed to be put that sign back up. Maintain your signs or lose them.
|
||||||
|
05/26/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
As
we reported at the time the employees were fired, it was a bad
move. Now that move by the Weyuker council has come back to
haunt our city - at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Looking
ahead, it is about a city manager position that should not have
the ability to fire employees without the matter first going to
either a Citizen's Personnel Review Committee or to the city
council for review. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
| File
Under: We
Get Some More
Results |
||||||
 |
It was not long ago – three weeks to be exact – that we featured a blighted building on Indian Avenue, a building in front of which Supervisor Marion Ashley had placed one of his campaign signs and was obviously aware of. We took Marion Ashley to task for not doing something about this building in all the years that he has been supervisor. File another one under, FODHS Gets some more Results. The graffiti that had covered nearly every square inch of this building (see before and after photos) has been covered over with a neutralizing beige paint. Certainly this building is still blight. But at least is it blending in blight and looks a whole lot better. |
|||||
 |
||||||
|
So
Who should Get
The Credit? We make the case that just as in other areas where FODHS has focused a spotlight and corrective measures soon followed it was FODHS the brought about this positive change. However, our dear friend, community activists and political commentator Karl Baker wrote to us shortly after we put up the story about the blighted building and our holding Marion Ashley accountable for doing nothing about it that Mario Ashley was way ahead of us.. Karl wrote to tell us that Marion Ashley had been working on this problem long before FODHS every pointed it out. We will leave it to our readers to decide. Was it merely coincidence that we spotlighted an incumbents campaign sign in front of a building that had been blighted for years, that the incumbent in the middle of an election made no mention of his efforts on this issue? Or did that incumbent candidate in the middle of an election find himself confronted with a very obvious problem in his district, one that had been going on for years? If Marion Ashley wants the credit for it, fine. We’ll turn to another blighted building. And not to take anything away from any efforts Marion Ashley may be making at this very moment, we will ask what is being done about the dilapidated eyesore of a building at that has been at the corner of Indian and Pierson for many, many years? Karl, get back to us on this one if you would. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
They
See It. Why Don't We? (Yes, Mary, It IS Neglected!)
|
||||||
|
06/19/06 |
||||||
|
Link
to DHS Council Session Agenda Steimer v. Desert Hot Springs, et al.; Riverside
County Superior Court Case No. INC 058312 to be heard in
closed session tomorrow FODHS has just learned of another employee suit involving the city’s alleged improper handling of personnel matters. This time it is a single Desert Hot Springs police officer alleging extra-ordinary punishment in violation of city code, specifically naming then Acting City Manager John Soullier as the cause. Here are the details. A member of the Desert Hot Springs Police Department was fired for allegedly not following city policy and procedures. The officer filed an administrative appeal. At that appear hearing, the hearing officer said the officer should not be fired but instead recommended that the officer be demoted from the rank of Lieutenant to Sergeant and receive a 30 day suspension. The officer agreed with the hearing officer's decision and complied with the recommendation. Court documents obtained by FODHS reveal that a complaint has now been filed by the office through his attorney states that the city exacted extra punishment against the officer against city policy and beyond the disciplinary action the hearing officer handed down. According to the complaint, then acting City Manager John Soullier ordered that the officer be reinstated per the hearing officer’s recommendations but Soullier unilaterally added additional personal punitive actions against the officer that included suspending him without back pay and with no benefits for 30 days. FODHS has also learned that the City Council will be addressing this issue in closed council session on Tuesday, June 20. What has brought about the officer’s ability to sue in this matter is the additional punitive personal actions the complaint alleges Soullier enacted, giving grounds for the officer to request a court review per (CCCP) California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6 of Soullier's personal punitive actions against the officer. The officer alleges in the court documents that Soullier acted beyond his authority by adding the additional punitive actions. Per pleadings, prior to trial, the officer’s attorney’s will file with the courts, Points and Authority (legislative and case law) to support their claim that Soullier acted beyond his legal authority by denying the officer wages and benefits beyond the prior agreed upon recommendations of the hearing officer in violation of DHS's own administrative code. The officer alleges that he has been given no other choice but sue to have his rights upheld per said CCCP section. The officer is asking for court attorney's fees per CCCP 1021.5 and also requesting that the original hearing officer's order be set aside to punish Soullier and the city of DHS for Soullier's illegal punitive actions against the officer.. |
||||||
|
05/25/06
REVISED
|
||||||
|
. 05/25/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
06/15/06
All of us have been inconvenienced by the construction on Pierson Boulevard. But some in our community are more than inconvenienced. They have taken a big hit in the pocket book. We can all do something to help out. We can all make a difference. We want you to join us in going just a bit out of your way to visit - and buy something you need - from the stores along Pierson Boulevard in the downtown section. Alex, Gary, Mary, Hank, Yvonne! You are our city leaders. We expect you to lead the charge. We will be right behind you!
Whatever store it is you used to visit along Pierson but have not, this weekend is the time to make up for lost time. You don't have to spend a lot. But if we all spend some, we can help out this businesses and our neighbor and our friends a lot. Is there good in Desert Hot Springs? We shall see.
|
||||||
|
06/14/06 |
||||||
|
FODHS has confirmation
of 25 (also 327 foot height) windmills moving in very
close to our downtown area. See map below of area
located on the south/west corner of Two Bunch Palms and
Indian Avenue.
With application maps we have confirmed through two different sources. Windmills planned for the corner of Two Bunch Palms and Indian Avenue are the closest we have confirmed so far. 51 Wind turbines
are planned in these three areas near our center of
town. See Map Below. All of these areas are
located in the County of Riverside jurisdiction. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Our
DHS city manager and city council should be urged to
direct city staff to respond to county requests for
comments on these proposed Windmills and for a public
hearing pertaining to new windmill farms going up within
the DHS sphere of influence, replying that the city is
opposed to them, then citing the bonafide reasons that
we are already aware.
There
is absolutely no way under the sun that the county
can ever possibly objectively conclude that windmills
within close proximity to DHS can do nothing
other than hurt relative property values, not to
mention the poisonous, carcinogenic petroleum oil
distillates that contaminate our precious ground water. |
||||||
|
05/31/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
FODHS was the first to report the
evidence that Marion Ashley was aware of the burned out,
dilapidated, graffiti ridden building in his district on Indian
Avenue near Dillon Road. We figured when Ashley put his campaign
sign so near this blight that he had plans to finally clean up
this eyesore that has been there for the many years of Ashley's
term as a county supervisor. Now again FODHS is first to report that Marion Ashley has solved the problem. In response to our article and calls from our readers, he has removed his campaign sign from in front of this building. Way to Go Marion! Way to solve a problem! How many more years will you ignore this blight Marion Ashley? |
||||||
|
05/25/06 Desert Hot Springs Nicest, Newest Blvd is open for business! For our
readers scratching their heads saying, "wait a minute,
what is FODHS talking about. I just drove down Pierson and it is
still torn up and I can't get to my favorite stores." We
are not talking about the downtown section where business is. We
are talking about the section of Pierson out in the middle of
the desert where certain council persons and their campaign
contributing developer friends projects are located.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Do you want a new bridge? It would come
as no surprise to anyone that our City Council is lobbying the
county for just that. But, you may be surprised to learn that
the new bridge the city is lobbying for sees very little
traffic. We have just received information that the city is pushing the county for matching funds to replace the two lane bridge on Pierson. Turning Pierson into a main boulevard into the city has long been talked about. And the paving and widening has begun. But the quiet little secret is the millions the city council is getter ready to pour into turning a two-lane bridge into a four-lane bridge. Actually, the plan calls for building a new second two-lane bridge. If we are going to spend millions on a new bridge, the people of this city need to know about it. And it will cost the city. The city will have to provide matching funds - our source says many hundreds of thousands and for the entire project it price tag could go over $1 million of direct city outlay. Do we need a new bridge? Not before our citizens have a chance to debate it and the expenditure. And by our view, not ahead of other far more pressing needs. |
||||||
|
05/10/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Regarding
graffiti damage, as you have correctly pointed out, the
current drab design along the bare north elevation provides
minimal opportunities to prevent it. It is embarrassing
that with nearly a fully-staffed planning department that the
city staff did not recommend/require facade enhancement along
the side street exterior elevation. This is a big
mistake that could have easily been prevented. This is
"Basic Planning 101" that we're talking about, and
it raises legitimate questions about the qualifications and
commitment of the people employed within the planning
department as well as the competence of the new planning
commission members. Obviously, the Planning Commission
dropped the ball, and should have directed the city planning
staff to have the project proponent bring the project back
only after comparable facade improvements were made along the
north street side elevation. Providing facade
enhancements along the north side would not have been asking
the applicant too much to do. Instead, it makes the
building and the city look cheap, and makes you wonder who at
city hall is getting paid-off in dropping the ball on such an
obvious issue. Looking at the big city-sponsored mess as exemplified in this most recent building design blunder makes you wonder if anyone in charge knows what they are doing, or much less if they really have concerns for the city. It is a well-understood fact that most city employees do not reside within the city, so therefore they have no vested interest in the city, which leads to messes and mistakes like this. Looking back about a year ago, it is most unfortunate for the city that the politically motivated city council unceremoniously dismissed all very well qualified and experienced members of the city planning commission in exchange for appointing new, inexperienced, but "politically correct" members. The dismissive actions of the city council hurt the city bad and demonstrates that the city council members acted wrongly and that they really do not have the city's genuine best interests at heart. As long as the city continues voting-in irresponsible and immature city council members that do not demand more from its municipal employees and appointed commissioners, we can only expect more of the same mediocre mud-pie mentality that keeps DHS in such an unfavorable light. |
||||||
|
05/08/06
REVISED |
||||||
|
||||||
|
But
we care. Not only has the City created an eyesore for the city,
one that we will all be looking at for many, many years to come,
but they might as well put in flashing lights a sign that reads,
paint graffiti here! That wall to the side street has just
become a big mural. The video we have prepared and the pictures are right show the difference smart city planning - and qualified planning commission members would make in our city. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Series
of bureaucratic missteps left tourism agency surrounded Hasty campaign dealt death knell to proposed slogan The Desert Sun May 7, 2006 Since unveiling its proposed new pitch, "Give in to the Desert You're Surrounded," the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors has been besieged with criticism. The slogan was negative, critics said, and not particularly catchy. So the CVA recently gave in to public dislike and cut "You're Surrounded" from its overall marketing message. The slogan now is just "Give in to the Desert." But if things had been done a little differently, the CVA wouldn't have had to take so many critical shots and make such a red-faced change. Elevating the mishap's importance is that it comes on the heels of last year's departure of the chief executive following allegations involving financial misconduct. Meanwhile, Palm Desert has given notice that it may withdraw from the agency. Another controversy just isn't what the CVA or new president and chief executive Jeff Beckelman needed. |
||||||
|
04/26/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
| Beyond the spas, however, unrestrained development looms. “The only problem with Desert Hot Springs,” Dailey said, “is the city itself.” The spas don’t interest the Chamber of Commerce, he said. “This place is a boomtown, and all they care about is turning the place into subdivisions, while turning a huge profit.” Over at the Water District offices, a map on the wall showed the spreading skein of main lines that are turning the desert into one-, two- and three-thousand-tract-home communities. “And that map is outdated,” Dailey said. In Desert Hot Springs, the usual cycle of gentrification-beachhead followed by big developers is accelerated, almost simultaneous. Soon, the town’s first Starbucks will shine its beacon over Palm Drive, the main drag. Get to Desert Hot Springs soon. | ||||||
|
04/24/06 |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Gasoline
prices may be boon to area attractions "People are
always looking for entertainment, and the bottom line is they
aren't going to deny their kids during the summer," said
Ken Kowalski, spokesman for Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom.
"People are going to make choices about how they spend
their money, and we're more affordable. So we think we're
going to be attractive to families." "But as for the price of gas, we aren't really concerned about it because most of our patrons are local, so we don't think it's going to affect us." "If our attendance is down, we won't cut our prices," Fritzges said. "We'll just advertise our discount coupons more. But as of now, we aren't going to market more this year than we usually do."
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
04/14/06
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
| ||||||
