VLPNO Annual General Meeting Minutes - December 4, 2021

Vista Las Palmas Neighborhood Organization Board Meeting
December 4, 2021  10:00am
Virtual Call via MSTeams

Meeting Objective: VLPNO Board Updates to the VLPNO General Membership & Board Election 

Meeting Slideshow here

The following board members/attendees were present: Scott Turner, Kevin Comer, Gustav Swanson, Kermit Ferrer, Sally Hightower Lippin, Rebecca May.

Guests: Mayor Geoff Kors, City Manager Justin Clifton, PSPD Chief Andrew Mills, Other: Neighbors Households = 18

AGENDA 

  • Introductions: Board of Directors KFerrer

  • Guests Speakers: KComer

    • Councilmember Geoff Kors

    • Palm Springs City Manager Justin Clifton

    • PSPD: Chief Andrew Mills

  • 2021 Accomplishments GSwanson

  • One PS SOrr

  • Financial Report KComer

  • Modernism Week VLPNO Home Tour KFerrer

  • VLPNO Fundraising KComer

  • Membership Drive: Block Ambassador BMathews

  • 2022 Initiatives PMarino

  • Candidate Introductions & SOrr

  1. Election of Members to the Board of Directors

    • Election Results / Closing Remarks GSwanson

RECAP / NOTES

Saturday December 4th’s AGMM was held virtually via MSTeams

Sign-ins:

  • Kermit Ferrer, VLPNO Board Secretary opened the MSTeams virtual call at 9:40am

  • He welcomed participants individually as they joined the call

  • Meeting Attendance: 25 Households

  • VLPNO General Membership: 68 Households

  • 38% of the General Membership was present at the meeting. Quorum was met.

NOTE: Per the By-Laws One-fifth (20%) of the Members shall constitute a quorum at the Annual or any Special General Membership Meetings.

 General Meeting:

  • Kermit Ferrer, Board Secretary, kicked-off the call and called the meeting to order @ 10:02am

  • He welcomed the participating Neighbors

  • Kermit confirmed 38% of members were present and meeting attendance quorum was met

  • Kermit introduced the current 2021 VLPNO Board:

    • Gustav Swanson – Chairperson

    • Scott Turner – Vice-Chairperson

    • Kevin Comer – Treasurer & One-PS Representative

    • Kermit Ferrer – Secretary

    • Patsy Marino – Member at Large

    • Steve Orr – Member at Large & Alternate One-PS Representative

    • Brenda Mathews – Member at Large

  • Kermit asked that any participants who had questions for our guest to enter the questions using the chat feature of the call and the Board would relay those questions to the guests after the had all spoken. He also mentioned that questions entered into the chat during the presentations would be addressed at the end of the meeting and answered as time permits.

  • Kevin Comer introduced the guest speakers in the order that they would speak.


Guest: Councilmember – Geoff Kors

  • Kevin introduced Councilmember Kors making note of his support of our community and the repaving of several streets in our neighborhood.

  • Mayor Kors talked about the following topics:

  • Financial state of the City is strong.

  • Shared the latest COVID numbers which show an increase in new cases, hospitalizations, and COVID in our wastewater but that the numbers were still signficantly lower currently than during the August surge.

  • City Redistricting for City Council districts is in process. The staff report with the first two draft maps can be found at: 3486_2A_OCR.pdf (destinyhosted.com) D3 gained population so its area must shrink. Doesn't expect a major impact to OLP/VLP.

  • Homeless Navigation Center. I shared that the City Council voted to approve moving forward with a Navigation Center with transitional housing and services at 3589 McCarthy Rd. This is considered the best and proven way to transition homeless residents into housing. Most of the funding is from Riverside County that they receive for this purpose.

  • Climate Change. I shared that we voted on a Climate Action Plan and that thanks to the vast majority of our residents using 100% carbon free electricity from DCE, we and a 21% reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions from what we would have had absent this program

  • SB-9 & SB-10 information on how these allows for options to allows for higher density units on certain properties/communities. The planning committee is in the process of investigating how this applies to/impacts our city and respective neighborhoods.

  • Talked about the growth of tourism. He also mentioned 5 boutique hotels that had recently opened nearby. 

    • Questions from VLP neighbors:

    1. Stan Boles asked: What is the status on the unfinished construction projects, such as the Andaz?

      • Councilmember Kors responded by stating that this land/project has been purchased by a developer. Subsequently, the Tovah project was also purchased by another developer who subsequently has torn down the condemned buildings. The plans for the redevelopment of the Tovah are uncertain.

    1. Kevin Comer asked: Can you provide an update on The Agave (now called The Aloe) project?

      • Councilmember Kors stated that the project is now going through the permitting process and construction should begin within 3 months. Kors stated this was a well planned, purposeful attractive piece of architecture. He’s also visited their other projects in LA and complimented the developer’s efforts to incorporate into those communities.

    NOTE:

      • West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (WHCHC) senior affordable housing project for low-income seniors ages 62 and above

      • Location: SW corner of N. Palm Canyon Dr and W. Stevens Rd in the OLP Neighborhood, and adjacent to the VLP

    1. Question: Homeless facilities seem to be clustered on the North end of town? Is there a plan to keep all of them in this area or to expand into other parts of the city?

      • City evaluates individual projects & sites based upon needs and available resources.

    1. Stan Smith asked: With respect to road paving in the community, it appears that the effort of doing so appears less than effective, approximately 4 years ago Camino Sur west of Monte Vista and Abrigo Road were repaved with much effort and fanfare but frankly the surface is quickly approaching the state of degradation prior to the repaving. Is this the norm, is paving being done to a high enough standard?

      • Councilmember Kors stated that streets were completed by certified paving contractors and are subsequently addressed by City Engineering department when reported by the citizens and communities.


    Guest: Palm Springs City Manager – Justin Clifton

    • Justin Clifton gave an update on the following topics:

    • 8 months on the job

    • City has many positions that are vacant. Just like the entire nation is seeing, there’s a lack of qualified candidates,

    • Reviewed city finances and the strength of City's financial condition; Sales tax receipts are up; Occupancy taxes are way up. Some money is being saved by freezing vacancies

    • Wind Farm projects to benefit City of PS

  • Questions from VLP neighbors:

  1. Byron Hancock asked: Often a call to complain about NOISE after 10PM from a VRBO goes unanswered. Their reply is "we're busy". In order to protect our neighborhood from becoming a "fraternity row" (or "sorority row"), what can be done to ensure the existing regulations are adhered to and the Owners are tasked with screening and communicating to their guests appropriately such that the guests understand and the neighbors who own here are not dealing with partiers absent of concern for their location?

    • City Manager said that this is impacted by the vacant positions. He requested that neighbors continue to report issues through the proper channels and they will try to continue to address.

  1. Hank Plante asked: With vacation rentals now taking over 50-75% of some streets in PS, what will you do to limit the over-saturations of these STR’s in VLP? Will you introduce and/or support a moratorium on new STR permits until we can get the total number of vacation homes down to a more reasonable level?

    • City Manager: The city is researching options for STR’s. An equitable solution for all. Possibly placing a cap on total permits, permits by neighborhood.

  1. Michael Melancon asked: The corner of Vista Chino and 111 Palm Canyon is an accident waiting to happen. What is the potential to add a left turn l and signal there?

  2. Glenn asked: Is there any potential for getting a left turn lane and accompanying Left turn signal at the corner of Palm Canyon (111) and Vista Chino ? It is a very dangerous corner.

    • City Manager stated that he would take this concern back to City for consideration.

Guest: Palm Springs Police Department – Chief Andrew Mills

  • Kevin introduced Chief Mills referencing his participation in the PS Gay Pride Parade just days into office showing his support of the LGBT community

  • Chief Mills introduced himself

    • Noting he was recently sworn in as Chief of PSPD (early November) been in the role for 3 weeks

    • Prior to this he was Police Chief in Santa Cruz and Eureka, California

    • He stated how happy he and his family were to be in PS and how welcome they felt

  • Chief Mills said he’s in the process of interviewing all staff members to get a better sense of his team and opportunities for services. PSPD is trying to hire many police officers in various positions

  • He spoke of crime trends at a national and local level

  • Homelessness in our city and how they were trying to enforce and help behavioral trends under what was the law allowed and the willingness of those individuals. Certain behaviors

/ acts will not be tolerated however PSPD needs to balance empathy with quality of life regarding homelessness and crime

  • County responsible for funding allocations for homeless

  • Chief Mills closed by providing his personal cell number 831-212-9801 stating that we should prudently feel free to contact him at any time with any concerns or issues but to restrict calls to proper times. He also reaffirmed that if it’s an emergency the calls should be made to the proper authorities.

  • Questions from VLP neighbors:

  1. Stan Smith asked: Question of curiosity, I believe Chief Mills indicated that there are 10 officer positions dedicated to the PSP airport. Do other cities in the valley financially support this effort as they clearly benefit from their residents etc having the access? 10 positions is a significant % of the force’s resources

    • Chief Mills replied by confirming that these positions are paid for and by Airport/Airlines and don’t reduce the resource funding.


2021 Accomplishments

  • Gustav Swanson opened the Annual General meeting reporting on the VLPNO Board’s accomplishments over the past year:

  • The Board created a sub-committee to work on a Rebranding effort which created a new brand new Logo for the VLPNO and the launch of a fresh new Website

  • Worked diligently with the Councilmember Kors and City Engineers to complete a Street Slurry Repaving which addressed five (5) cul-de-sacs with premature pavement failure

  • Sponsored the first ever VLPNO Holiday Pet Parade which brought out neighbors and their pets in holiday attire

  • Hosted a wonderfully successful In Person Year End Social that was held at Birba just two weeks prior to the AGMM with an attendance over ~80 neighbors

  • Kicked off the Block Ambassador initiative to drive membership


ONE-PS

  • Steve Orr spoke of the VLPNO’s participation in One PS

  • ONE-PS is ‘Organized Neighborhoods of Palm Springs’. A local city sponsored organization comprised of representatives from the recognized neighborhood organizations in Palm Springs. Each recognized neighborhood organization is represented by one voting member. Our primary representative is Kevin Comer and Steve is the back-up.

  • Each month ONE-PS meets to discuss issues that affect citizens and other neighborhood interests. Our goal is to inform and exchange ideas in order to improve process, communications, and outcomes or to encourage new programs or services.

  • This is a great opportunity to have a voice in the city and present/support issues that are important to our community.

  • Kevin and Steve’s monthly participation is summarized monthly, sent via email to VLPNO members and published to the VLPNO website.

  • Steve commented that if there were any items that VLPNO members would like to be presented to ONE-PS to please submit these via ‘contact us’ feature of the VLPNO website

  • Steve also brought up Old Las Palmas interest in taking on VLP’s DogLeg (the section of VLP with boundaries E/W: Palm Canyon/Monte Vista and N/S: Vista Chino/Stevens). He stated that in conversations with OLP, this could only happen if the residents of the DogLeg are polled and they’re agreeable to transfer these blocks from VLP to OLP.

  • Questions from VLP neighbors:

Roberta Conroy (dogleg resident) asked: How do I get more information about the dog leg possibly joining Old Las Palmas?

    • Kevin stated that he would contact her directly to update her on this OLP proposal

 Financial Report

  • Kevin updated that the VLPNO has become financially efficient by converting all financial tracking to Quickbooks

  • Kevin also commented that the VLPNO is also now fiscally compliant by having completed the process of reporting all past missing State tax filings with no penalties to the VLPNO

  • Kevin Comer provided the financial update by reporting on 2020 and 2021 activities and 2022 Budget

2020

  • Prior Year EOY 2020 Balance = $18,213

  • Revenue = $38,334

  • Expenses = $20,120

  • Main source of 2020 funding 2020 Modernism Week Ticket Sales & Membership dues

  • Funds utilized for:

    • Charitable Donations

    • Social Events

    • IT Consulting

    • Insurance Liability

2021

  • EOY Fiscal 2021 Balance as of 11/30/21 with a deficit = ($8,194)

    • Revenue = $10,389

    • Expenses = $18,583

  • Low revenue. We didn’t host a VLPNO Modernism Week Home Tour in 2021

  • Funds utilized for:

    • Social Events

    • IT Consulting

    • Insurance Liability

2022

  • Kevin followed with Proposed 2022 Budget = $8,190

    • Revenue = $54,050

    • Expenses = $45,860

  • Main source of funding 2022 Modernism Ticket Sales & Membership dues plus a new revenue source: 2022 Modernism Week Sponsorships

  • Funds will be utilized for:

    • 2022 Modernism Week Expenses

    • Charitable Donations

    • Social Events

    • VLPNO Projects

    • IT Consulting

    • Insurance Liability

 2022

  • Tour Name: From Vista Las Palmas with Love

  • Event scheduled for Saturday February 19th, 2022

  • 6 VLP Homes to be on Tour. A blend of mid-century and contemporary homes of distinctive architectural styles.

  • Sold Out Event. Total Tickets Sold = 400

  • Big Thank You to Tour volunteer Home Owners who have graciously agreed to have their homes on the tour

  • A call out for docents to man the check-in post as well as docents to be posted throughout the homes in the tour. Docent benefits allows you to tour the homes on the off-shift and participate in an After Tour – Docent Thank you Party!

  • Docents to be organized by Steve Orr.

  • Interested in being a docent? Reach out to the VLPNO either through the website ‘contact us’ or by emailing Kermit directly at kferrer@banet.net (AGMM organizer)


VLPNO Fundraiser

  • Kevin talked about the VLPNO’s activities to create a Modernism Week sponsorship program with benefits to the VLPNO as well as event sponsors.

  • Modernism Week 2022 VLPNO Home Tour Sponsorship has raised $15,000

  • He recognized the MW 2022 Sponsors:

    • $5,000 Presenting Sponsor:

1. TTK represents

    • $2,500 Event Sponsors:

  1. H3K Home + Design

  2. Rick Distel and Kevin Comer

  3. Patsy and David Marino

    • $1,000 Patron Sponsors:

  1. Studio AR&D

  2. Brenda Mathews Homes

  3. The Twist

  4. The Creekstone in Idyllwild

    • In Kind Event Sponsors:

  1. $3,000: GBQ Partners

  2. $2,500: Bruce Frasier and Richard Nielsen

  3. $2,000: Caroline Greyshock Photography

  4. $1,000: One Las Palmas

  • Kevin spoke of the benefits of tiered membership/fundraising suggested donation levels:

    • Alexander $ 50

    • Dubois $100

    • Krisel $250

  • And how this increased our resident donations by 177%

o 2021 = $8,889 vs 2020 = $3,204

Kevin recognized the VLPNO Membership Krisel level contributors:

  • Howard Hawkes & Kevin Kemper

  • Patsy & David Marino

  • Robert Shiell & Bob Luterbach

  • Bruce Frasier & Richard Nielsen

  • Malcolm McKay & Stephen Orr

  • Brenden Martin & Allan Moore

  • Mary Jo & Tom Ohlin

  • Kermit Ferrer & John Criscuolo

  • Brenda & Michael Mathews

  • Kevin Comer & Rick Distel

  • Bill & Tiiu Jacobson

  • Mark DeAngelis & Henry Jung

  • Sameer Gopalani & Michael Millie

  • Don Zuidema, Mike McGinley & Alfredo Izaguirre

  • James & Maggi Van de Voorde

  • Darci Congrove & Patti Orzano

  • Sally & Dick Lippin

  • In 2020, funds raised were used to donate to The Palm Springs Animal Shelter, PS Modcom, AAP Food Samaritans and The Food Bank at The LGBT Center.

  • Looking towards 2022 the VLPNO is aiming to reinstitute our charitable contributions to organizations in our community. Every dollar of every donation goes either to charity or to efforts to improve and maintain our neighborhood.


Membership Drive: Block Ambassador

  • Brenda spoke of the Block Ambassador initiative to encourage more neighbors to celebrate the VLPNO and encourage neighbors to join the VLPNO

  • Brenda shared the following statistics for the VLP Neighborhood:

    • Total Households = 445

    • NextDoor Households = 273

    • VLPNO Members = 68

  • Only 15% of our neighbors are VLPNO members

  • The Board has launched a membership drive via a Block Ambassador Project whereby the neighborhood is split into ‘blocks’ and each block will have a Captain-Ambassador that will engage and recruit neighbors to join the VLP

  • The VLPNO is still looking for Block/Street Ambassadors to join the committee

 2022 Initiatives

  • Patsy spoke of the VLPNO and how it is one of the most engaged and active neighborhoods in Palm Springs. The success of our accomplishments is through participation.

  • She spoke of the activities that the VLPNO has planned for 2022 and made a call for neighbors to get involved and volunteer to work on any of these:

  • More SOCIAL events!

    • Two major events: One in the Spring and One in the Fall

    • Two minor events hosted at a local venue

  • The upcoming 2nd Annual Holiday Pet Parade to be held on Saturday, December 18th, 2021

  • Exploration of opportunities for Historical Preservation

  • Recording of Oral History to capture stories by local residents

  • Membership Drive to increase enrollment and participation

  • Modernism Week Tours:

    • Host 2022 – A call for Docents

    • Prepare for 2023 to begin planning soon after the 2022 Home Tour


Election of Directors of the Organization

  • Steve took us through the Board Candidate Elections.

  • Per the VLPNO By-Laws:

    • The Board shall consist of seven (7) members “Directors”

    • Terms shall be staggered

    • Terms for three (3) Directors shall expire at each AGMM in odd years

    • Terms for four (4) Directors shall expire at each AGMM in even years

  • Current Board members elected at the 2020 Annual General Membership Meeting will continue on the Board for the 2nd year of their terms:

  1. Kermit Ferrer

  2. Patsy Marino

  3. Brenda Mathews

  4. Steve Orr

  • Gustav thanked the outgoing Board members:

  1. Kevin Comer

  2. Gustav Swanson

  3. Scott Turner

  • He stated that three (3) two year term (2021-2023) Board positions are open for Election.

  • Gustav announced the current running candidates (alphabetically by last name):

  1. Kevin Comer (Running for re-election)

  2. Mike Marchy (not present)

  3. Open

  • The Board made a call for volunteers with a background in Finance (Treasurer position) and Social Media to assist in maintaining new website, FB and Instagram accounts.

  • Glenn Johnson volunteered to join the Board in the finance role.Gustav called for a motion to accept all four (4) candidates as the new Board members.

  • Gustave called for a motion to accept the three new Board members as presented.

  • Steve congratulated and welcomed the new VLPNO Board members.

Termination of the Meeting:

  • Gustav gave a BIG Thank you to all for participating in this new virtual format Annual General Membership Meeting. Gustav closed the meeting by wishing everyone a Happy Holidays.