HomeMy WebLinkAbout001 Non-Agenda Public CommentHonorable members of the Palm Desert City Council
My name is Charlie Ara. I first came to Palm Desert for short getaway in 1958. I was
joined with Church colleagues for R&R after we exhausted ourselves in the
Christmas & Easter activities.
In 1977, my wife & I bought property in Palm Desert Greens as a vacation second
home & future retirement location. At that time, Palm Desert Greens was in an
unincorporated area of Palm Desert with little or no services in the immediate
neighborhood.
In 2017 we moved full time to Palm Desert for our retirement. It was at that time
that I appeared before the Palm Desert City Council and requested a study of
changing the voting for City Council from at -large to a five -district system.
The recent out of court settlement resulted in a two -district system. We rejoice in
the election of Karina Quintanilla in District 1 and we congratulate the incumbents
who prevailed in District 2.
However, many of the residents still feel the time has come to move completely to a
five District system for the 2022 election.
This was a sentiment that surfaced during the Community meetings that followed
the out -of -court settlement.
I hear at least three concerns from Council members that I would like to address.
First is that the City of Palm Desert is too small in size for a five -district system. I
would opine that this is a subjective perception that has merit.
I am not sure if by size is meant square miles or population. However, several Cities
in California of similar size and population (including Palm Springs, Banning, Indio
& Cathedral City) have switched to 5 Districts.
The north with its wide open spaces still to be developed, east and west sections of
Palm Desert have their own distinct characteristics and would benefit from local
representation on the Council. At the present time, the south side of Palm Desert is
well represented.
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Some have estimated the population in Palm Desert will reach 60,000 in the near
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Second is that attempting to move to a live district system would be a time
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consuming process when dealing with the Virus and other matters are top
priorities? Also, there was an opinion that a lot of time had already been put into
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this process.
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Granted the urgency of working together with the county, state & federal
government to rein in the Virus, the amount of time involved to change to a five -
district system could be short as most of the work has been done already.
I would also opine that Council, Staff and wide community involvement was a good
thing for the City. Filling the room for the Community meetings was something to be
celebrated.
Third, I hear all the incumbents,saying in unison that we should give the new system
time to work out and revisit in 2024. This is a difficult issue as I could suggest this is
a tactical matter. Might this,be a delaying tactic hoping the issue will go away?
This is not for me to judge. Most residents I have heard from would like to go ahead
with the five -district system in 2022.
Respectfully,
Charlie Ara
Palm Desert, Ca 92260