Judge: Palm Springs can remove Frank Bogert statue from City Hall
The city of Palm Springs can now move forward with removing the statue of Mayor Frank Bogert from City Hall after a Riverside County judge finalized a tentative ruling published Thursday.
Judge Carol A. Greene explained Friday that she finalized her ruling denying the issuance of an injunction that would've kept the statue in place until she could consider the issue more because the attorney who had requested the injunction had not shown that his clients would suffer "irreparable harm" if the statue were to be removed.
Such irreparable harm is a condition for issuing such an injunction, she said. Greene also dissolved another temporary order she issued in late May requiring that the statue be left in place through Friday's hearing.
While Greene opted not to issue the injunction, an attorney for a group of defenders of Bogert and the statue has also filed a request that the court issue a writ of mandate stating that the statue must be left in place because its removal would violate Palm Springs laws governing when and how historic resources can be removed.
That attorney, Rod Pacheco, has argued that a 2012 City Council resolution indicates the entire City Hall site and everything but the landscaping on it is a protected historic site. An attorney for the city argued Friday that language in the resolutions making City Hall a historic site applies that designation only to the building, not the statue.
A status conference on that request is set for June 24. If the judge were to ultimately rule in favor of issuing a writ, the city would be required to put the statue back at City Hall.
An attorney for the city of Palm Springs argued Friday that the city would not suffer harm if the statue were to be removed because the statue could later be put back if the court ruled later that it should be put back after it was removed.
Pacheco has argued his clients would be harmed because the statue could be damaged during the removal process. He also argued that the city would not be harmed if the statue were left in place until Greene ultimately ruled on his request for a writ of mandate.
Palm Springs City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger confirmed that the statue would not be removed on Friday.
"City staff is working with the Art Collective to carry out the council directive, as now has been upheld by the trial court," he said. "It is our hope that the Friends group will respect the trial court's decision, and allow the process to move forward in an orderly fashion."
The Art Collective is a Palm Desert-based company that specializes in handling art and other fragile objects hired by the city to move the statue.
Lengthy process began last year
The Palm Springs City Council first directed that the city staff begin the process of removing the statue during a meeting last August. The statue, which was placed in front of City Hall in 1990, had become a subject of increasing controversy because 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 council's meeting was followed by a months-long process in which Palm Springs Historic Site Preservation Board considered whether to grant a certificate of appropriateness signifying that the city was complying with its own rules in removing the statue. The board voted to issue the certificate in February.
Later that month, the Palm Springs City Council denied an appeal of the preservation board's decision and directed city staff to work with stakeholders to find a mutually agreeable new location for the statue. They said that if a new location was not found within 60 days, the statue would be removed from city hall and placed in storage.
Last month, the city announced it would be moving the statue to storage on May 17. However, protestors held a sit-in around the statue and the city said it would not move forward with the planned removal until after a hearing scheduled for the following day in which Greene was set to rule on whether the removal could continue.
During that hearing, Greene ordered that the statue would temporarily stay in place until Friday's hearing, when she would consider whether to grant an injunction that would keep the statue in place for longer. She said she was keeping it in place because she wanted more time to consider the issue and was worried that the statue could be damaged if it were allowed to be moved in the meantime.
However, Mayor Lisa Middleton told The Desert Sun Wednesday that the Village Green location had not "won broad acceptance in the community."
Ballinger also said the city has not received any proposals from the group about where to relocate the statue.
"Other than what we saw in the press, the city has not received any formal or even informal proposals from the Friends group, since before the February city council meeting," he said in an email.
Section 14 group leader calls decision 'a victory'
Pearl Devers, the founder of the Section 14 survivors group that has advocated for the removal of the statue along with the payment of reparations to survivors and their families, said she applauded the court's decision, which she called "a victory."
Devers said several members of the survivors group were present along with the group's attorney in the courtroom Friday, including Betty Mayfield-Taylor, Norbert McDaniel, Gloria Holland-Thompson and An-g Smith.
"We are looking forward to seeing the statue moved to a storage facility, until a decision can be made to house it in a museum-like facility," she said.
She also said she felt that Friday's outcome was even more credible given that it was rendered by a judge in Riverside rather than Palm Springs and she hoped that showed the supporters of the statue remaining at City Hall that "there is absolutely no justification and they should allow the city officials to do their job."
Devers added that the group plans to continue fighting for reparations for those evicted from Section 14 and their families, and supporting a statewide effort to seek the payment of reparations in the state to Black residents who were descended from slaves and have faced other injustices. The City Council recently discussed providing reparations and agreed to continue that conversation.
Bogert supporters disappointed
A small crowd of Bogert statue defenders gathered at City Hall Friday morning to await the ruling, which Greene announced just after 9:30 a.m.
Cathedral City resident Margie St. Anthony had an immediate frown on her face when she learned of the judge's decision.
“He was one of the builders and this is our history,” she said.
David Christian, a board member for the Friends of Frank Bogert group, believes the basis for the ruling “goes back to a massive number of lies perpetrated by the city.”
"The city has continued to move the goalpost on any sort of acceptable location, and an unacceptable location is going to be the next thing to be done. We can only hope that the city moving it this time doesn’t do irreparable damage to the statue itself.”
Doug Evans, executive director of the Friends of Frank Bogert group, again said the Village Green location is the most “reasonable, acceptable and respectable” site for the statue. It meets many criteria, such as the statue would be setback from the sidewalk, it’s blocked by buildings and a fountain, and a pedestrian would have to leave the public sidewalk to view it.
“It’s old Palm Springs history,” he said of the site. “The Frank Bogert sculpture fits.”
Irene and Gary Gillespie, members of the group, were the first two people to arrive at the statue around 9 a.m. Friday. Both were wearing white t-shirts adorned with an image of the former mayor and the message “Friends of Frank Bogert Mayor/Navy Veteran His Statue is Palm Springs history” printed on the back.
Irene Gillespie knew Bogert when she was a young girl growing up in Palm Springs and said she has many happy memories with him. He was “very friendly” and was very involved in the community. Bogert even gave her a few equestrian pointers.
“He’s done so much for the city. There was never, ever a complaint, it was like a Hallmark city,” she said. “Now I don’t even recognize it at all. The lies being told about this man are unreal.”
Some of those lies, she said, are regarding Section 14. Irene Gillespie said he did everything he could to help those residents, including helping them find new land.
“He did everything possible, and no one complained until the last few years,” she said. “It boggles our mind that they can do this to a man who is a Navy veteran.“
Gary Gillespie added that Bogert “wasn’t prejudiced” or “a bad guy.”
“He was friends with everybody,” he said.
The goal for Friday was to “support the family” and “history of our beloved mayor,” Irene Gillespie said. Palm Springs City Hall is closed on Fridays.
Devers said she and her group would fight any continued effort to put the statue on Village Green.
"We are in total opposition of that," she said. "They keep talking about that it's an art piece, then it should go somewhere where people can go and gawk at it and find out the history of it. I don't want to take away from what good they say he did, but with the good always comes the bad and you can't leave out the harm he did to others. So let's be fair and put the statue in a storage facility and talk about a proper place for it later."
Desert Sun reporters Erin Rode and Ema Sasic contributed to this report.
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.