Friends of Frank Bogert group: Move statue to Village Green in downtown Palm Springs

Palm Springs Desert Sun

A Riverside County judge temporarily halted the removal of the Frank Bogert statue in front of Palm Springs City Hall on May 18, 2022.

A group that formed to push Palm Springs to keep the statue of former Mayor Frank Bogert at city hall is urging the city to move the controversial artwork to the Village Green downtown.

On Thursday, the Friends of Frank Bogert says it will hold an event at 9 a.m. to formally call for the statue to be moved to the Green, a collection of historic buildings including the McCallum Adobe, Miss Cornelia White’s House and Ruddy’s General Store, at 219 S. Palm Canyon Drive. The event will be at the Green, which is owned by the city.

The event comes one day before a hearing at which a Riverside County judge is set to consider whether to bar the city from moving the statue from city hall to a storage facility. Negie Bogert, widow of the former mayor, will be present at the event.

However, Palm Springs Lisa Middleton told The Desert Sun Wednesday that "this is not the first time that the Village Green has been suggested and at this time it is not a location that has won broad acceptance in the community."

In a press release, the Friends of Frank Bogert also said that "surviving family members and friends will discuss the city’s Human Rights Commission — including chairman Ron deHarte’s effort — as being central to ripping apart the community, rather than finding solutions to work together."

deHarte is now a city council candidate, running for the District 3 seat being vacated by Geoff Kors in November.

In March, the Palm Springs City Council voted unanimously to remove the statue be from city hall and placed in storage unless the city and relevant stakeholders could agree on a new location in the city where the statue could be moved within 60 days of the vote.

Amado Salinas II talks with Negie Bogert while protesting the removal of the Frank Bogert statue at Palm Springs City Hall in Palm Springs, Calif., May 17, 2022. Negie is Bogert's widow.

History of the debate over the statue

Bogert was Palm Springs mayor in the 1950s and '60s when about 200 people were removed from their homes on Section 14, a parcel of land belonging to members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. At the time, rules around how long such land could be leased for had recently changed, and the evictions, facilitated by the city, were intended to accelerate the economic development of the property.

The statue was made by the artist Raymundo Cobo Reyes and placed at City Hall in 1990.

The statue came under new scrutiny during the national movement to reconsider the place of statues associated with the Confederacy and other statues that some say depict racist figures following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Last year, the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission issued a resolution recommending that the statue be removed.

Last month, the city announced it would be moving the statue on May 17. However, the city opted to delay the removal after protestors, including leaders of the Friends of Frank Bogert group, held a sit-in in front of the statue. Then, on May 18, a judge ordered that the statue must be left in place until Friday's court hearing.

Rod Pacheco, the attorney for the group, told The Desert Sun in April that the group had suggested the Village Green to the city but that the city had indicated that would not be a suitable location because multiple members of the city council did not want the statue on public property.

"I don't know why it's so sacred, but for some reason, it can't be on public property," he said earlier this month.

Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.