We Interrupt Reality To Bring You Palm Springs

A few weeks ago I was telling one of our Valley leaders how shocked I was at the lack of even a hint of embarrassment in official Palm Springs over the ongoing corruption investigation and September City Hall raid. He said to me, "Steve you have lived here almost 25 years and you still haven't figured out this place is less like reality and more like Disneyland?"

Well he turned out to be a prophet at least  for the first half of the last meeting of the Palm Springs City Council. The city said farewell to Mayor Steve Pougnet and Councilmen Paul Lewin and Rick Hutcheson. It commenced with 94 year old Broadway legend Carol Channing grabbing the microphone and wishing "Mayor Steve" well. Pougnet then regaled us with the story of how Ms. Channing had given his daughter a feather boa when she got cold a few years ago. Okay.

The meeting then turned to a city produced video montage of the Mayor and departing others. Bear in mind one was departing because he lost an election and the other 2 declined to run again. It was not like they were overthrown by coup d'état. The song played during the video was by a group called 10,000 Maniacs. Enough said.

Then came the goodbye speeches. While I understand this council has done a lot, I must say their self-aggrandizing patting on the back is getting rather tiresome. I found it incredible that no one even acknowledged the investigation into the city. Instead like some group engaged in a tontine of mutual admiration, the tears flowed as each up on the council took their turn lauding their colleagues. Several of them also lauded the first responders who were in the audience. A good touch but also bear in mind the Palm Springs Police Department has paid out almost 3 million dollars in lawsuit claims in the past year.

When he spoke to the crowd, Pougnet never once addressed the issues that are currently dogging him. He was in good spirits and it was clear that he was enjoying this swansong to the point of it becoming a victory lap. If you listened to the list of accomplishments both he and the others rattled off, you wonder what the Council did on the 7th day? Did they rest?

Although despite my astonishment at how ludicrous at times it was, I couldn't help but feel sad that these people, even upon their departure failed to acknowledge that some of their actions caused shame and embarrassment to the city. And that is also part of their legacy.

Steve Kelly can be reached at skelly@rrbroadcasting.com. You can follow him on Twitter @skellynj