Local Leaders Need To Speak Up On Loco Sheriff Sniff

It is High Noon at the OK Corral. It is time for Coachella Valley leaders to call out one of our own. That being Indio native and son of the late La Quinta Councilman Stan Sniff, Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff Jr. He has gone plum loco.

Sniff Jr assumed office in a messy 2007 appointment by the Board Of Supervisors has been re-elected o the post twice and is up for election in 2018. Sniff was also a Colonel in the Army Reserves. Now it is time for him to go.

A quick perusal of his social media shows a man who has acquired a strange fascination with firearms. His recent postings include pictures of him at an NRA event wearing an NRA hat. He also proudly posted a picture of him with Wayne Lapierre, NRA head who is a foe of any sensible gun legislation.

.Sniff has opposed any piece of gun control legislation that makes its way in the State Assembly. He has referred to AR-15 Assault Rifle as new "American Musket." He allows the NRA usage of the county gun range to put on gun safety courses while spouting propaganda.

The fascination with firearms spills over into his personal life as he is a member of the Cowboy Action Shooting group. Picture an armed Star Trek convention. These folks go around dressed up as Annie Oakley and Billy the Kid and fire off guns. (They are a sensitive lot too because the last time I mentioned Stan Sniff and his guns, his cowboy pals sent me all sorts of vulgar emails. And since none of them lived here in the Valley, I do suspect the Sheriff was involved in getting them out of the old bunkhouse.)

Now some locals like Dori Smith of Moms Demand Action have spoken out about this, But none of the so-called progressive leaders in the Valley have said a word. (Sniff is also the head of the County Coroner's office and as such, he is involved in Valley cities. Including those who do not contract out for police services.)

The fact that someone such as Sniff holds such radical views, well outside the mainstream of American political thought should be a concern to us all. And especially if he is a senior person in law enforcement. Time to speak up.

Steve Kelly can be reached at svericker12@gmail.com

Colorful Candidates Used To Be The Rule In Palm Springs

As I sit back and watch the 2017 Palm Springs Election, I can't help but smile as I think of candidates and elections from past years. This year there has been dramatic charges of misogyny, Trumpism and the trampling of First Amendment rights. Hyperbole seems to be the norm in this election which features 2 establishment candidates vs. 4 others. The sun will rise after election day but in order to provide the reader with a smile, here are some of the funnier election moments and candiates in recent Palm Springs history.

The Cat Burglar And Campaign Signs

Back in 1995, Will Kleindienst was the frontrunner and would soon be elected Mayor. However, a Planning Commissioner did not like him. At the same time, a cat burglar was operating in Palm Springs. The police set up a stakeout. Imagine their surprise when they caught this middle aged woman tearing down signs at 1 in the morning. She was promptly arrested. (Protecting her name as she is still around.)

Airport Expansion

All the powers that be got behind a Palm Springs Airport expansion referendum.. The stated reason was to allow non-stop fights from Europe in the summer. Really. They plastered the entire town with Yes On Airport Expansion signs. Opponents went out. measured the Yes word, ordered a couple hundred No signs the same size and over night, the town was now plastered with No On Airport Expansion signs. The next morning was pretty funny. (By the way the airport expansion was approved and turned out to be needed for Canadian tourists who saved the Valley in the Great Recession. Right outcome, wrong reason.)

Kitty "Cole" Bang

This towering drag queen ran for Mayor in 1995. After the election, it turned out Kitty had a credit score of minus 400 and she disappeared.

Fred "The Hat" Ebeling

A wealthy eccentric Fred ran for Mayor in the 90s while driving a hearse!! He later filled up a hot air balloon and floated it over downtown.

George Margolis

By my count George ran for Mayor in Palm Springs twice and Desert Hot Springs once. Only problem, he lived in Rancho Mirage!! George would drive to Village Fest, set up a lawn chair and campaign without a permit.

Wayne Boyd

Wayne Boyd ran as a write-in candidate for mayor in 2003. When I asked him why he didn't gather enough signatures to get on the ballot, he told me he forgot there was an election. He got 12 votes.

Measure J Signs

The Yes on J Campaign had every city big shot and interest group behind it. To be against it one risked being branded a troublemaker. Soon Yes On J signs sprouted up all over town. There was one slight problem. They violated the campaign sign ordinance. They were too big!!! Thousands of dollars from the best and brightest in Palm Springs and that was the end result!!

There are a few more but my point is, a few moments of comedy in a municipal election is never a bad thing.

Steve Kelly hosts the Coachella Valley Report on 1450 KCOD at noon on Saturday.

New Downtown Park Should Bear Richard Milanovich’s Name

As the growth and expansion continue in downtown Palm Springs, things are finally beginning to take shape. The recent announcement by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of a new Cultural Center in the heart of Palm Strings will only add to the luster.

One of the accouterments is a new downtown park. Locals are excited as this can be an oasis away from the hustle and bustle. Community gatherings and concerts can be held there. The only thing lacking right now is a name.

While some would like to see the park named after pioneer Nellie Coffman, I would like to see consideration given to naming it after long-time Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band Of Cahuilla Indians  Richard Milanovich.

For over 3 decades, Mr. Milanovich chaired the Tribe. Through the tumultuous times of the introduction of Indian Gaming, He was at the forefront of helping to bring Native people in California out of the crushing poverty he had himself had grown u in.

Besides all that, he just was a generally great man. I interviewed him on many occasions and with deeply impressed with his generosity of spirit. He truly loved Palm Springs. Under his tutelage, the Tribe gave away vast amounts of money to help local agencies and charities. None of which they were obligated to do.

One of my favorite interactions with him involved baseball. We were planning on trying to get Palm Springs to name a baseball field after Johnny Tortes, a member of the Agua Nation, who played in the major leagues in the early 20^th century. Richard took ill and then passed away in 2012 before we could finish the project.

Naming the new park after Mr. Milanovich would go a long way to helping heal some recent rifts between some local residents and the Tribe. It would serve also as a reminder to recent arrivals that Palm Springs is also part of an Indian Reservation and the Agua Caliente people have both a spiritual and historical connection to the land.

And finally, naming the park after Richard is simply the right thing to do. He loved Palm Springs and helped so many people. In life, he never sought the limelight. Let’s do something to change that.

Steve Kelly is a longtime Coachella Broadcaster who currently serves as a broadcast consultant at College Of The Desert. He can be reached at skellykcod@gmail.com

Conventionality Big Winner In 2017 Palm Springs Council Race

Palm Springs prides itself on being on the cutting edge. Its leaders constantly tout it as a world-class getaway and an "International Brand". So why is it having such a humdrum city council election? Without disparaging any of the candidates, I think I can provide the answer.

Years ago, council candidates either came up from the commission system or were picked by the "Good Old Boys Network." (This network consisted of people such as the late Milt Jones and Joe Garcia. They were longtime business and civic leaders.) Now candidates still come from the commission systems but in Palm Springs, local and state LGTBQ organizations are filling the role of the "Good Old Boys"

Looking at the field this year, there can be no doubt that both Lisa Middleton and Christy Gilbert Holstege are the establishment candidates. The 4 others, known in the community by varying degrees have an uphill fight. The smart money at this point has to be on Middleton and Holstege who will strong organizational effort behind them.

Now this being Palm Springs, there has to be a certain amount of drama and well, just plain silliness in a council election. Charges of misogyny, Trumpism and even Neo-Nazism have flown on social media. It is both complementary and horrifying at the same time that citizens can get so passionate about a local council election.

As someone who has interviewed candidates, moderated forums and covered these elections since 2000, I can honestly say that this is a rather tame affair. There are no drag queens, frauds or candidates driving campaign hearses this time. The color of this election is beige rather than paisley. And maybe a little conventionality is a good thing.

Steve Kelly hosts The Coachella Valley Report Saturday at noon on 1450 KCOD. He can be reached at sverickr@yahoo.com

9-11-01 In The Coachella vally

It is hard to believe that 16 years have passed since that horrible day. Like millions of Americans, I will never forget what happened that day and where I was.

I was working at the old KPSI Newstalk 920 as the producer of the Morning Show with Stan Layne and also hosting my own show. I was on the phone with an old friend when the first plane hit. Ironically enough, she and I had gone to eat at Windows On The World, the restaurant at the World Trade Center.

By the time the second plane had hit, I was at the station and we switched to the network feed. For the next 16 hours, I and the team at Newstalk 920 worked hard to keep the Valley informed of many surreal moments including interviewing Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Dave Anderson of the New York Times. I also interviewed a former grammar school classmate of mine who was watching the fires from New York. The late Pat Mullaney, a local Valley official was fantastic as an analyst based on his experience with the FBI as a counter terrorism chief.

We were also giving out information for donations and the local blood banks and charities. It was completely off the cuff and when you are reporting on a story like that, one has to remember that to try and not get emotional. That is very hard to do. I grew up about 20 miles from where the carnage took place.

It has been said America changed forever that day after 9-11. I know I did.


Steve Kelly is the broadcast consultant for College Of The Desert and KCOD AM.

Socially Inept

As is my nightly custom, I decided to check my social media account. Imagine my surprise when I looked in messenger to receive a notification from someone I didn't know. I decided to read it and to my chagrin, it was full of personal attacks on me and foul language. I was perplexed because as I have noted, it was from a local who I didn't know and have never met.

I replied to the message, more curious than angry. The response back was again full of personal invective and also I think alcohol fueled. I did a little quick research on the sender's  profile and of course, blocked them. What piqued my curiosity is that with the exception of this foul-mouthed bombast, the individual seems fully respectable. I wonder if someone got access to their account and did this. 

I have been in the media for a while and am not really surprised that someone would find disagreement with me. I am perplexed though when pure hatred comes through. I guess I shouldn't be but I still wonder what causes it. 

I guess hatred has always been there but it has gone digital in this day and age. People think they know who you are and what you are about based on the illusion of an online posting or postings. Plus given the fact that they will never meet you appears to encourage behavior that they normally would not engage in. Part of modern times. One we would like to perhaps change.

Steve Kelly can be reached at svericker12@gmail.com or followed on Twitter @skellynj

Manny's The Man

Habemus Papem (We have a Pope) is the cry heard at Vatican before the introduction of a new Pontiff. Today Governor Brown, a former seminarian, shouted Habemus Perez as after 4 months, the Valley has a new Supervisor after the death of John Benoit.

The appointment of Coachella council member and former Assemblyman Manny Perez to the position of Riverside County Supervisor by Governor Jerry Brown is a victory for the Valley's local Democratic party who openly campaigned for him over Elizabeth Romero. While technically non-partisan, (with the exception of Chuck Washington from Temecula.) 3 members of the BOS (Board of Supervisors) lean far right GOP. In fact one of them, Marion Ashley was a Trump delegate in 2016.

What makes this more remarkable is the fact that the city of Coachella now can boast of being home to a Congressman, an Assemblyman, and now a Supervisor. All within the last 10 years. When I first started covering local  politics, Coachella was as dysfunctional as it got with one councilmember arrested for selling meth and another one for  trying to take a swing at a Congressman from LA. Now it stands as the ground zero of political power in the Valley

The road ahead for Mr. Perez may be rocky. He will be up for election for a full 4 year term in June 2018. He will not only have to motivate his base but also reach out to the West Valley and try and tap into the LGTBQ community in Palm Springs which sometimes forgets it is part of Riverside County.

Already, Palm Desert council member Jan Harnik, a local Republican, is raising money to challenge Perez. She is very well thought of in the Valley and has 60 grand in the bank. Also a challenge from fellow Democrat Greg Pettis can not be ruled. Pettis is the de facto political strongman of Cathedral City and applied for the job of Supervisor himself. While not a serious candidate for appointment, he could cause Perez a lot of trouble.

20 year ago, local Democrats struggled to even find a place to meet. They had to meet at the Swiss Donut Shop in Palm Desert. Today they have grown to the point where they got one of their own selected as Supervisor.

Steve Kelly can be followed on twitter @skellynj or sverickerr12@gmail.com.T

Jim Casey Another To Fall

It was a shock to many in the Valley when news came of the death of Integrated Wealth Management founder Jim Casey on Monday. Casey was well known for his philanthropic efforts in our community. Palm Springs Mayor Rob Moon even called him a Palm Springs institution. This was of course before news broke of 2 pending lawsuits against Casey involving serious allegations of fraud involving millions of dollars.

Let me make this clear, allegations are just that, allegations. I met Jim Casey on a few occasions and found him to a very nice man. He was polite and charming. It will be interesting to see if his company remains viable or if it will be shut down after his death. Local media has not shied away from the story so far, despite the prominent social circles Casey traveled in.. Having zero tolerance for white collar crime, let us see where this story goes.

Upon arrival here in 1991, it didn't take me long to find out that not all was everything it appeared to be. The Valley abounded with frauds and con artists. Fake Dukes, Counts and phony band members appeared from every corner. Hell, even Cheetah The Chimp who has a star in Palm Springs is of dubious heritage. The late Mel Haber used to delight in telling stories about these folks. Mel had me laughing to the point of tears on a few occasions.With the advent of the internet, these characters could be debunked rather easily so that out an end to them. But why would someone crave that attention?

The answer for that lies in the fact that for better or worse, our Valley is one of the few places left in the United States where the society pages and being in them seems to matter. While most of the country views this as antiquated as a VCR tape, not so some denizens of the Valley. And Mr. Casey, who it appears was experiencing huge financial problems, graced theses pages regularly.

I now know of 4 "philanthropists"  in the last 10 years who had worse personal finances than me. I know of a political activist here who drove an expensive car while bouncing a 30 dollar check. I know of one charity type who couldn't even afford a ticket to his own event while tooling around in a leased Mercedes. All of the above to perpetuate nothing more than a grandiose illusion.

If this whole sorry episode turns continues on the path where it is headed once again the age-old lesson that the truly rich person is happy with who they are, not who they are perceived to be, will be proven correct. Something to think about.

Steve Kelly can be followed on Twitter @skellynj or reached at svericker12@gmail.com

Your News My View May Day

Your News: We still have no Supervisor for the Coachella Valley.

My Views: Gov. Brown is really dragging his feet on this one. The election is only 13 months away. I am hearing the Governor wants to appoint a candidate who would be strong for re-election in 2018 and will hold the seat against Palm Desert Councilperson Jan Harnik which will be a challenge. I think Brown would like to appoint Elizabeth Romero as he thinks she will be a better candidate than Manny Perez. Problem is that most local Democrats want Perez. And the wait goes on.

Your News: Some local pols now taking part in the anti-Trump protests in the Valley.

My Views: As long as they are kept away from the microphone it is okay. These protests are much more effective when they are organic and not used by a council member or candidate as a vessel for self-promotion.

Your News: May is local TV sweeps month. That means the local news will try to boost viewership for the setting of ad rates. We will be subjected to sensationalistic promos; we will learn who is there first and who cares for us.

My Views: Most of these reports tend to be embarrassing and it 2017, not 1977. There must be a better way to set ad rates then resort to this nonsense to try and draw viewers: Tonight our 18 part special report on whether breathing air is necessary.

Your News: Cathedral City explores re-districting for council elections. Allegedly one proposal would split the Cove into 2 districts for the benefit of 2 incumbent council members.

My Views: If true and that is a big if, even I would have to tip my hat at the blatant cynicism behind such a move.

Your News: A rumor is making the rounds that Palm Springs is going to install rotaries or traffic circles.

My Views: No, No, a 1000 x no. I grew up with them back east and they are a pain in the rotary. The funniest thing about this was some of the responses on social media. As with everything involving Palm Springs, things quickly got pretentious For some reason, those who had driven in Europe felt the need to praise them all while mentioning their overseas jaunts. Those of us who learned stateside not so much.

Your News: Survived both Coachella and Stagecoach

My Views: The words cool and vibe died for this.

Steve Kelly can be followed on twitter 2skellynj or email at svericker12@gmail.com
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Taking The Initiative In Palm Springs

A Desert Sun editorial today took umbrage at 2 ballot initiatives that will take place in Palm Springs this fall citing as a reason, their objection to governance by the initiative process. I totally agree with this stance. Not on the ballot propositions per say but on the initiative process. Rife with hypocrisy in the Coachella Valley, this process has been overused by all parties whether they be citizens business or municipal governments.

For their part, municipal governments almost always oppose any citizen or business initiatives on the ballot. The first thing they cite is the cost of placing measures on the ballot. Of course when they place an item, the cost of ballot printing disappears. Plus when municipalities put issues on the ballot, they also usually start a "neutral" public information campaign. Mostly complete propaganda, these rival only the Pyonygang Times in terms of believability. The "educational" materials I saw from Palm Springs on Measure J a few years back were not exactly overwhelming in the credibility department.

The citizens initiatives usually fall into 2 categories.

1.) Those that are pushed by single issue commercial interests such as developers or the vacation rental agency. Essentially, they are seeking a veto of an unfavorable council action.

2.) Those that are pushed by good government groups when faced with a recalcitrant city council. A good of example of this is the 3rd place finisher rule in Palm Springs. There had been a lot of nonsense and games in the late 90's regarding the city council. This cleared up a lot of that. As a matter of fact Ginny Foat got her start on the Palm Springs city council via a citizen initiative passed back in 2001 which elevated her to the city council in 2003 as a 3rd place finisher.

While decrying governance by initiative, it is important to realize that the real villain is not the individual proposal but the process itself, It needs reform. It probable never happen.

Steve Kelly can be reached at sveicker12@gmail.com

Musings On Our Next Supervisor

It has been very interesting to see the jockeying for position in the race to succeed the late John Benoit in the role of 4th District Supervisor. Despite the alleged non-partisan nature of the office, the reaction among some local Coachella Valley politicos has been not exactly been something ot of the Kennedy School Of Government.

One of those seeking the appointment of Governor Jerry Brown to the office, Cathedral City Councilman Greg Pettis told the Press Enterprise, "He anticipated running for supervisor when Benoit retired. He said his time in elected office and ability to deliver strong constituent services made him a good pick for the job,"

Interesting because John Benoit had never talked about retiring and stayed in office till he passed away. Also Greg Pettis has run for the California Assembly twice losing badly in Democratic primaries . Once to Coachella Councilman and former Assembly member Manny Perez who is being backed by a majority of local Democrats for the supervisor job. While the LGBTQ block to which Pettis belongs is important in Riverside County for Democrats, it is dwarfed in size and scope by the Latino population. As I said the other day, if Brown is strictly looking at identity politics, he will pick Perez.

I am amused to hear that local Republicans suddenly are interested in gender equality and would like to see a woman appointed. What they mean by that is they want Jan Harnik a current Palm Desert Councilwoman and a Republican. Her husband managed Brian Nestande's unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2014 against Raul Ruiz.  I asked a member of the East Valley RFW (Federation of California Republican Women) if she would support a Democratic woman in the interest of the sisterhood. Her answer of course was a resounding," No!!"

As I have stated, I look for Jerry Brown to do the pragmatic thing and appoint Manny Perez. An appointment of either Pettis or any Republican would cause a multitude of problems that I believe Brown wants no part of.

Steve Kelly can be reached at svericker12@gmail.com