Why I'm finally putting up a 'Yes on A' sign in La Quinta: It's about more than STVRs

I was not going to put up a "Yes on A" sign.

I had spent probably thousands of hours from January 2019 until January 2022 attempting to mitigate the takeover of our communities by outside investors.  It took a toll on me. I was done.

I did not sign the petition. I did not participate in the campaign. I felt that if citizens wanted the short-term vacation rentals gone, they would need to step up to the plate. I was done.

Though I had freed myself from participating further, one grave offense never left me. On a night in January 2021, a well-respected resident spoke at a council meeting and stated, “One of the wonders of our voter-based democracy is that when our local leaders make decisions unfavorable to the voters who elected them, we, the resident voters of that city have the right to take matters into our own hands, through the ballot initiative process. Obtaining signatures for 15% of the registered voters required to get the measure on a ballot in our city would be a simple task … you guys really need to listen to the voters, not outside investors.”

After that statement, Mayor Linda Evans messaged the city attorney asking, “what’s the process for filing a safety concern from the threats made by Paul Quill?”

It has rankled me ever since.

I hold my right to vote to be sacrosanct. It was granted to me, and every other common man and woman through 200 years of civil rights activism. For someone to call my right to vote “a threat” was a transgression that won’t be put to rest.

Throughout the battle to change the legislation, I heard several times, “Marcia, you don’t speak for everyone.” I can say now, no one knew that better than I did. The number of people that signed that petition in record time is proof.

It is fair.  It is the American way.

Today we have STVR owners complaining that it isn’t fair that they own property here and pay taxes here and can’t vote — that only the residents can vote.  Just like the wealthy landowners of 250 years ago. The wealthier you are, and the more property you own, the more votes you should get.

I hold my right to vote to be sacrosanct.

When the city council threw all of its weight into combating the citizens' initiative, it became a threat to our right to vote. The council has used $40,000 in revenue that belongs to the citizens of La Quinta to have a dog and pony show report prepared to combat the initiative.

The city council and manager have directed the city staff to spend hours upon hours gathering information and creating presentations to support STVRs.  The city council and manager have directed the publication called The Gem (which is funded in large part by a grant — revenue that belongs to the citizens of the City of La Quinta), to publish a five-page campaign against the initiative.

The city council and manager have directed the finance department to use public funds to create speculative projections about the state of the city and the impending doom that will result from the citizens' initiative.

The issue here has become far graver than the interpretation over whose property rights are being infringed upon.  The issue has become about the misuse of public resources by powerful people with the intent to silence the voices of the citizens of the city of La Quinta. 

My "Yes on A" sign is going up today.

Marcia L. Cutchin lives in La Quinta. Email her at mcutchin27@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: La Quinta vacation rentals vote: Why I'm putting up a 'Yes on A' sign