ICYMI: News headlines from the Coachella Valley July 10-16

Bogert statue removed from Palm Springs City Hall lawn

After standing for 32 years and prompting a year of controversy and litigation, the statue of former Mayor Frank Bogert was removed from its pedestal outside Palm Springs City Hall on Wednesday morning.

The statue was loaded on a truck and taken to an indoor city storage facility. A crowd of both supporters and opponents of the removal looked on as the work was done.

They included several members of the group Section 14 Survivors, who lived on the land of that name in the 1950s and 1960s. That's when about 200 residents, mostly people of color, were evicted from the land, with city help while Bogert was mayor.

The land is owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, as it was then. Whether Bogert bears blame for the removals — and how much — has been at the heart of the recent debate.

The statue controversy began in earnest in April 2021, when the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission voted to recommend its removal, citing Bogert's role in the  evictions.

In September, the city council unanimously agreed and ordered staff to begin devising a removal process. The move got the OK of the city's Historic Site Preservation Board in February.

After members of Friends of Frank Bogert sued, a Riverside County Superior Court judge temporarily blocked removal in May. But after a hearing in June, she declined to extend that order, freeing the city to take it down.

— Paul Albani-Burgio

Auditor blasts sheriff for keeping secret records of civilian complaints

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department refused to let the county's internal watchdog review how it processes civilian complaints and made millions of dollars of purchases in ways that violated county purchasing oversight policies.

These findings and others were included in a Riverside County auditor-controller report, submitted to the county's board of supervisors last week. The audit was conducted from Jan. 21 through June 9 of this year and analyzed the department's operations between July 2020 and May 2022. The audit focused on the department's management of its complaint process, purchasing processes, cash accounts, armory room inventory and software access.

Auditor-Controller Paul Angulo said he was stunned by the sheriff's department's lack of cooperation with what he described as a procedural internal controls audit.  "They are behaving like a private militia," Angulo said. "You say you're transparent? Well, show us."

Sheriff Chad Bianco and his spokespeople did not return The Desert Sun's requests for comment on the audit.

The department refused to answer questions about how it processes civilian complaints or provide records related to them to the auditor, Angulo said. California law requires law enforcement agencies to have a procedure for investigating such complaints and to keep records of complaints filed for five years.

Angulo said that the department's refusal to participate in this aspect of the inquiry was "very concerning."

"The sheriff's department belongs to the taxpayer," Angulo said. "It's the United States of America. Checks and balances are necessary to safeguard taxpayer assets."

— Christopher Damien

City council races taking shape

More candidates and incumbents announced their intentions this week to run — and not run — for office in November.

In Palm Springs, Joy Brown Meredith, a shop owner who has helped lead several civic organizations and lived in the city for over 40 years, confirmed her candidacy for the District 3 seat. That seat is currently held by Geoff Kors, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election.

Meanwhile, in Rancho Mirage, incumbent council members Iris Smotrich and Charles “Charlie” Townsend announced they will not be running for reelection in November.

The announcements open the door for three non-elected incumbents to serve for the first time in several years.

— Sherry Barkas and Paul Albani-Burgio

COD board seat race looks to be expensive one

College of the Desert Trustee Aurora Wilson officially launched her reelection campaign Monday for Trustee Area 4, which includes Rancho Mirage, most of Palm Desert and Indian Wells.

Wilson will be facing challenges from former COD Superintendent/President Joel Kinnamon and former state Assemblymember Brian Nestande. Wilson has served on the board since 2013.

According to campaign documents filed with the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, Wilson’s campaign has raised at least $40,000, including a $10,000 personal contribution, $10,000 from businessman Nachhattar Singh Chandi and $20,000 from Harold Matzner.

Kinnamon has invested over $100,000 in his campaign so far, including $50,000 in monetary contributions and $50,000 in loans, according to documents on file with the county.

Most of his campaign’s money has come from contributions he and his husband, Chris Parman, have made. However, Kinnamon has also amassed a few large contributions, including $10,000 from a financial advisor in Nashville, and many smaller donations.

Nestande said Monday he has raised $60,000 from donors, including wind farm operator Fred Noble.

— Jonathan Horwitz

L.A.-to-Coachella Valley train clears hurdle

The decades-long endeavor to bring daily passenger rail service to the Coachella Valley moved past an initial milestone on Wednesday with the approval of a key environmental study.

The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) approved the final Tier 1 environmental impact report for the Coachella Valley-San Gorgonio Pass rail project. The approval is “the largest project milestone to date,” RCTC Rail Manager Sheldon Peterson said.

The Tier 1 environmental analysis is a document focused on the broad potential effects of the project and things like train routes and needed infrastructure improvements. Staff can now move on to the Tier 2 document, which will analyze more local site-specific impacts of the rail infrastructure and station locations.

RCTC is working on securing funding for the Tier 2 document, which could cost as much as $60 million. So far, it has secured about $30 million. Once funding is secured, work on the Tier 2 document will begin. After that is approved, then RCTC could start the design process, “and then we can talk about construction,” said Aaron Hake, deputy executive director at RCTC.

Construction is still “many years away,” he said.

— Erin Rode

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Top stories from the Palm Springs area July 10-16 2022