Heat Wave

With the temperature rising in Palm Springs are city officials maybe losing their cool?

In the last few weeks, there have been questions raised about the design of downtown Palm Springs and later questions raised about the ethics of developer John Wessman applying for a million dollar tax rebate from Riverside County and the city as the result of lawsuit brought by the Agua Caliente Tribe. Wessman later withdrew his request when it was made public by the local newspaper.

Now as I have spoken about before, one of the great things about living in the Coachella Valley is the “small” town feel. But one of the detriments is the small town hyper sensitivity seen in local officials.

Look no further than just a few weeks ago when some members of the public complained about the design of some downtown buildings. In response, Mayor Steve Pougnet sprung into action by denouncing those who had raised questions. I think his actions surprised many.

Myself, I was more disappointed than surprised. I have known Pougnet for over a decade and felt he was above this type of behavior. For far too often in the past, Palm Springs has been led by people who were hyper sensitive to anyone questioning their decisions.

My message to city officials is as follows: If you want to be perceived as being hip and trendy, you have to be cool. If you want to be cool, learn to keep yours.