EDUCATION

College of the Desert proposes 'Citizens Advisory Group' for Palm Springs campus

James B. Cutchin
Palm Springs Desert Sun
A large plot of land intended for a College of the Desert campus sits vacant and fenced off at South Farrell Drive and East Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs, Calif., on Feb. 16, 2022.  The land at one time was home to the Palm Springs Mall.

College of the Desert’s Board of Trustees will vote Friday on whether to establish a “Citizens Advisory Group” to inform design elements of its planned Palm Springs campus. 

The proposed body would be made up of 7 to 10 members appointed by the Board of Trustees. Members would be drawn from constituencies such as students and business leaders. The panel would, according to college representatives, focus on recommendations for “Phase I” components of the Palm Springs campus, as laid out during the college’s early August “community forum” event. 

That phase includes the development of a portion of the campus buildings, mainly near the intersection of Farrell Drive and Baristo Road, according to college spokesperson Nicholas Robles. It includes areas such as student commons, faculty offices, mock hotel rooms, kitchens and other facilities detailed in a presentation at the early August event and is based on a 114,000 total square-foot campus design, rather than the 330,000 square-foot design previously discussed for the site. 

Robles said the advisory group would be consulted on “schematic design” elements that focus on what the planned buildings and other spaces will look like.

“When you're trying to prepare students, you want to be able to say, ‘Well, here's what we're using in real kitchens, like they're going to need a wok; they're going to need access to a barbecue,” Robles said. “And then like when you have that wok, you'd typically have like a sink that's like five feet away, not 20 feet away. So you got to make sure that the sink is five feet away from all these different cooking things.”

The college spokesperson said the proposed advisory group would not be consulted on more fundamental details such as the size or location of a particular facility.

The detailed makeup of the proposed advisory group would include:

  • One Coachella Valley elected official
  • One member of a local community organization, “preferably in the City of Palm Springs”
  • One or two students enrolled at College of the Desert, “from a program closely related to one of those programmed” at the Palm Springs campus
  • Two business representatives from industries related to those in focus at the Palm Springs campus
  • Two to four “members of the community at-large”

Robles confirmed that the elected official in the proposed advisory group could come from anywhere in the Coachella Valley, not just Palm Springs or the western Coachella Valley. 

The college envisions making applications available via its website. Applicants would be reviewed by COD Superintendent/President Martha Garcia before being recommended to the board for a final decision. The group is expected to meet roughly two times per month from September through December, according to the school. Meetings are planned to be held online. 

Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton said that, while she agreed more dialogue was needed between the college and the west valley community, the purpose of the proposed advisory group appeared rather vague.

“It’s very good language,” she said of the board meeting agenda item describing the proposed group. “But it’s also pretty imprecise on what the responsibility of the advisory committee is going to be and why, at this stage in the process, they believe an advisory committee is something that they need.”

Palm Springs City Council member Lisa Middleton

“We’ve attempted at the city to engage with the COD on multiple occasions and when the president and the (board) chairman came to city council months ago, there was to be ongoing dialogue between the president and the city manager,” she added. “(The city manager) reached out on multiple occasions to engage with Dr. Garcia and we never got so far as a conversation about possible dates.”

When asked if she was interested in the elected official position on the advisory group, Middleton said she had yet to decide but had already been called by “multiple folks in the Palm Springs area” urging her to apply.

“I’m not in a position yet to make a decision as to whether I will apply, but it’s certainly something I will think about and am being encouraged to think about,” she said.

Bruce Hoban, spokesperson for Promises Made–Promises Broken, an activist group that has engaged in media campaigns critical of College of the Desert’s policies, said the proposed advisory group was likely a reaction to what he called the “disastrous” community forum event. During that event, members of the public who attended the Zoom session were hidden and the chat feature was disabled. Questions were submitted for review in a private chat that other attendees could not see.

“It was so locked down and moderated it really was not a community forum,” Hoban said. “So I think this is another attempt.”

A billboard reads "College of the Desert leadership:  Millions of dollars for vacant lots Build the campuses you promised.  Paid for by PromisesMadePromisesBroken.org" near the Dinah Shore Bridge in Palm Springs, Calif., July 5, 2022.

Hoban said the proposed group’s focus on reviewing the schematic design was inappropriate since a feasibility study for the new campus’ design had not been disclosed or discussed.

“This group should be looking and saying, ‘What did that study say?’” he said. “There’s nothing in here about that. It’s like you’re saying ‘Hey, approve these designs but we’re not going to show you the part where it says what we need.’”

Hoban said he was also concerned about the transparency of the group’s virtual meetings and an apparent lack of community input in its composition.

“We should at least be able to follow the meetings,” Hoban said. “And you can make it a point, no public comments. So we're not saying you know, go have a one-hour meeting and 30 minutes of people calling in. Just let us listen.”

Hoban said the college should have contacted relevant Palm Springs community and business leaders such as Middleton or Visit Greater Palm Springs CEO Scott White to get their input about the group’s makeup before putting it to a vote.

When asked about the feasibility study, Robles said it was “in the process of being completed.”

“One of the elements needed to finish the study is the community input from the survey that is closing today, Aug. 18,” he wrote in an email. “A feasibility study presentation is estimated to go before the board during the September board meeting. That study will be available to the community via the College’s BoardDocs agenda management software.”

In response to questions about community input in the group’s makeup, he said that the school’s administration “communicated with the City of Palm Springs and other West Valley stakeholders” and that the advisory group was an idea “brought on by West Valley stakeholders.”  

James B. Cutchin covers business in the Coachella Valley. Reach him at james.cutchin@desertsun.com.