Public comments at Yucca Valley Town Council hints at road ahead for rodeo

Yucca Valley residents active on social media have probably seen the myriad of dueling posts about bringing a rodeo back to the town. At the June 16 Yucca Valley Town Council meeting, a small group of rodeo supporters used the meeting’s public comment period to discuss their wishes for the return of a rodeo, spurring online responses from residents who oppose rodeos to encourage more people to show up to the next meeting and voice their opinions, too. 

Broadly, the argument for a rodeo says that the sport has a long tradition in the region, and that people that oppose it don’t understand the culture and history of ranching cattle work. Residents who oppose it say that using animals for entertainment or sport is cruel, and they don’t want town taxes to support a rodeo.

Of course, there are a wide range of opinions on the spectrum between those two stances, and anyone who witnessed the amount of heated discussion online may have been expecting the wild west at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council. There were about 60 people in attendance, and Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Schooler prefaced the discussion with a reminder that the rodeo isn’t on the agenda and as of right now, it doesn’t require any permission or action from the Town Council to move forward.

“We are happy to hear your comments, both pro and con, but we are unable by state law to take action or to comment on those items,” he said as the public comment period began.

The last time a rodeo was held in Yucca Valley was at the 2019 Grubstake Days celebration and took place next to Hawks Landing Golf Course. In 2018 it was held in Landers. The pandemic and other factors put a pause on the rodeo, and now Gina Pasquini wants to bring it back in 2027. She was the first to speak in front of the council and calls the rodeo her “brainchild and baby.” Pasquini says that she grew up in Yucca Valley and wants to see Grubstake Days return to how she remembers it growing up.

“We can’t forget everything that we’ve done in our past. And I really do want to team with you guys. You represent the city. We’re the city. I want to work with you. So I’m just asking you to please possibly back me if you could put me on the agenda. We can work together. I would just love to see it come back in grandeur.” she told councilmembers.

Resident Sandra Hartness was next, saying that she’s lived here for 37 years and the rodeo used to be the center of Grubstake Days.

“It brings horse people together. There’s a lot of horses out here, and you just wouldn’t know anymore because there’s nothing for us to do.”

She also warned the Town Council that they would hear negativity about the rodeo that night, saying “you’ll probably have some real negative comments tonight about rodeo. So I’m for animal welfare, not for animal rights. And you have to understand that animal rights people are extreme, they’re extreme.”

Hartness told the council that animal rights activists have “poured bleach into fish tanks at Petco and shown up at dog shows and turned dogs loose, which in turn get hit by cars.” This spurred Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Schooler got on microphone and asked commenters to refrain from disparaging any other speakers in the room, which didn’t happen from members of either side for the rest of the comment period. 

Resident Allie Irwin spoke next, and she also asked the council to consider putting the rodeo on a future agenda.

“I’d like you to address town sponsorship, use of town property, and the event permitting process. Fighting over whether to have a rodeo isn’t a dispute where reasonable people can agree to disagree. And I don’t expect the council to settle that for me tonight. There are genuinely different beliefs in this room, but there is one group here with no voice and no vote.”

Irwin told the council that a rodeo ban reduces the town’s exposure to liability, code enforcement, animal control demands, and takes into account what she says is a small but substantial number of community members who believe that animals are exploited in rodeos. “What I’m asking is for the council to put a consideration of a municipal ordinance prohibiting rodeo events in Yucca Valley on an upcoming agenda. I’d like you to address town sponsorship, use of town property and the event permitting process.”

In total, there were 14 people who spoke on the rodeo, 10 in support and four in opposition. Those in favor of bringing back a rodeo pointed to the long tradition of Western heritage in Yucca Valley. Sisters Abby and Lucy Olea spoke to the bonds that they’ve formed with the animals that they care and work with.

Abby spoke first, saying “the purpose of rodeo is to celebrate Western heritage and transform essential ranching duty into competitive sports. More modern events such as bull riding and barrel racing test the speed and agility of the competitors while displaying the relationship between animal and human. Those who truly understand this sport know that it has never been about harm or exclusion.”

Her sister Lucy spoke next and shared her animal bona fides. “Though I have never been a rancher, I do have 13 chickens, two guinea fowl, two turkeys, four dogs, one lizard, and three beautiful horses. I would love to participate in rodeos right here in my own Western town.”

16-year-old Kaylin Moon is part of the California Junior Rodeo Association and says rodeo has always been a part of her life.

“Rodeo may be a rugged, tough sport, but it is not animal abuse. PRCA, Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association, has a rule book that is 250 pages long with extensive rules and regulations that protect the animals.”

Twentynine Palms resident Brenda Calvillo says that she doesn’t question the love and care that pro-rodeo people have for their animals, “but if we truly love the animals, would you put them in the way of danger? We don’t do that to those that we love. We don’t put them in unnecessary danger, and that’s what rodeos do. They put people, the public, and the animals in unnecessary danger. For what? For our entertainment,” she said.

She suggested a Western Heritage Festival that celebrates the history of the area without involving animals. Town council members didn’t have any specific comments after the public comment period at July 21st’s town council meeting. However, at June’s meeting, many shared fond memories of growing up in Yucca Valley and riding horses and attending the rodeo events.

The next Yucca Valley Town Council meeting is August 18, and the rodeo was not mentioned for consideration in future agenda items.