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Last night’s meeting of the Twentynine Palms City Council featured a presentation by the fire chief, a new appointment to the Public Arts Advisory Council, and the long-awaited creation of a Youth Council.
The Twentynine Palms City Council kicked off 2024 with an overall positive meeting that began with a presentation by Fire Chief Daniel Munsey on the impact of FP-5, an annual assessment fee that helps fund fire and rescue services, as well as fire stations themselves. The March 5 ballot will include Measure W that would repeal this tax, so Munsey made a case for keeping FP-5 in place, noting that 19% of County Fire’s operating budget comes from this fee.
An item on the Consent Calendar was removed for further discussion, specifically the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s purchase of an off-road vehicle (Polaris RZR Pro R 4) to help enforce OHV laws. Captain Robert Warrick emphasized that the $46K purchase would be funded by the Twentynine Palms Local Law Enforcement Supplemental Account (LLESA) and not the General Fund.
“Our regular patrol vehicles don’t do a very good job catching up to them and it’s not safe to do so. We just trained several of our deputy sheriffs here locally, and we need vehicles to put them out, put them in, to go out and do that education and enforcement,” said Warrick. The purchase was approved by the council.
Anna Stump, chair of the Public Arts Advisory Committee (PAAC), approached the council with a recommended appointee Sara M. Lyons to replace choreographer Ryan Heffington. Lyons, an illustrator and graphic designer, is also the co-owner of Scorpion Lollipop, a craft beverage and gift shop at Corner 62. Council approved the recommendation and welcomed Lyons to the PAAC.
Recreation Division Manager Kary Minatrea presented the plan for a Youth Council, an advisory body of local youth (likely middle and high schoolers) that would provide input and ideas to the council regarding events, community service projects, and other initiatives. After swiftly approving the program, Mayor Steven Bilderain and council asked Minatrea if she could complete the first three items on the to-do list by the next council meeting on January 23, specifically, seek advice from the city attorney, appoint a city staff member as the Youth Council Advisor, and determine how many members might serve on the Youth Council. Minatrea confirmed, “I’m on it.”
