One PS - June 2022 Meeting
Vista Las Palmas Neighborhood Organization One PS Meeting
June 14, 2022
Hello neighbors,
The One PS meeting was held last Tuesday afternoon May 10th at the Palm Springs Pavilion.
Below are the highlights from the meeting so that you can be informed about important issues.
Brown bags events at City Hall will return this fall. Previously the City mentioned brown bag events for Crime and Homelessness. If you are interested in attending one of these brown bag events please contact Denise Goolsby @ Denise.Goolsby@palmspringsca.gov (Please note the “dot” between Denise’s first and last names in her e-mail address.)
Dennis Woods - City Councilman, stood in for Mayor Lisa Middleton who, with over 200 other LGBTQ leaders throughout the country, were in Washington DC meeting with President Biden for a Pride Month ceremony. Coincidentally the visit coincided with Mayor Middleton’s birthday. Councilman Woods said that new funds from Measure J will be discussed at the upcoming City Hall meeting to determine which projects to fund with higher than anticipated revenues. Options include hiring back staff who were laid off during the Covid pandemic lockdown and re-funding programs like recreation. The City Council will be discussing the FY23 Annual Budget which must be approved by June 30th. (The City’s fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30th of the following calendar year. So FY23 is July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.) City Manager Justin Clifton said the City’s rainy day fund was fully funded. Reserves are solid.
Discussion of trash rates are also on the docket for the City Council meeting. This is to cover the increased costs associated with collecting organic waste. Collection of organic waste was enacted into law, state-wide (SB1383) effective 2022.
Dennis also said that Palm Springs will have fireworks on Monday the 4th of July (after a hiatus), followed by a drum show the day after, Tuesday July 5th.
Lt Hutchinson PSPD. Palm Springs continues to experience a homeless problem. The city, as mentioned previously, has partnered with Martha’s Village to build the Navigation Center — the property has been purchased and they are working to get it permitted and opened. The current, projected targeted completion date is late 2023. PSPD recently carried out Operation Clean Streets after listening to community and business input. The initiative targeted low level crime like shop lifting, vandalism, open drug use, defecating in public, and outstanding warrants. PSPD partnered with the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission and the Riverside County Response Unit to help homeless get appropriate services such as housing, mental health support and/or substance abuse treatment.
The city has allocated $250,000 for traffic enforcement. The new traffic budget has been increased to $1.5 million and includes traffic calming. Sunmor Estates Board Member Richard Bowman asked Police Lieutenant Hutchinson when was the City was going to enforce new lower speed limits. Richard felt that speeding in Palm Springs was a problem.
Desert Water We are officially in a drought situation with Level 2 water restrictions in place as of June 7th.
Level 1: (Always in effect): no runoffs, restrictions around no watering lawns within 48hrs of rain, restrictions against washing sidewalks, driveways and of washing vehicles.
Level 2: Water restrictions went into effect on 6/7/22: no daylight watering (lawn and plants etc) and restaurants only serve water upon request.
Specific information on water restrictions from Desert Water can be found on their website:
https://dwa.org/conservation/water-use/restrictions/
Overall, it was a more limited meeting owing to the absences of Mayor Middleton and several city departments; however, we hope you find this informative.
See you all next month, in the meantime, stay cool!
Steve Orr and Gustav Swanson