May 25 2016 THIS WEEK! The official guide to Gay Palm Springs for 21 years.

THE LAST WORD by Greg Pettis
Children and teenagers. The desert has
turned its attention to its young.
This week the Palm Springs School Superintendent
Christine Anderson retired.
She led the district for a number of years,
increasing test scores, expanding learning
academies, building many new campuses
and most important to me, oversaw
the expansion of Gay Straight Alliance
groups into every high school in the district.
She also drafted the full inclusion
policy for Transgendered students.
The Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
board of directors met in Cathedral
City and highlighted their scholarship
efforts.
There was a major roll out of a new app
allowing for reporting of human trafficking
at SafeHouse of the Desert. Elected
officials from Cathedral City and Palm
Desert were in attendance. SafeHouse
does tremendous work and provided
valuable information to those at the event
about how prevalent a problem that this is
in the valley. Coincidentally this was held
the same day as sentencing was issued for
the Desert Hot Springs child pornography
ring.
The Harvey Milk Diversity breakfast took
place with a sold out crowd. Again, focus
on kids. Wonderful stories of our young
people and the struggles and celebrations
they are experiencing. Sen. Mark Leno
and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta
spoke as well.
Bernie Sanders rolled into town for a rest
stop, eating at Las Casuelas and popping
in at Village Fest. He held a rally with
over 5,000 people in San Diego continuing
his message of economic revolution,
but also focused on youth and the need to
get them involved and engaged.
I was encouraged with the emphasis this
week on our young people, but am concerned
about us grownups not maintaining
the focus. Let’s face it folks, with the
median age in Palm Springs being 62, we
have to develop the next crop of leaders
educated, engaged and excited. We must
do it. This is too important to allow others
to do the job. Our work hasn’t ended.
Greg Pettis is a 22 year city councilman in Cathedral
City. He has made his name in governmental circles
as an expert in transportation issues and is very active
in working on bringing passenger rail service to the
COACHELLA Valley. Greg was the first openly gay
elected city council members In Riverside County. He
has served on the boards of the National League of
Cities and the League of California Cities and as President
of the Southern CA Association of Governments.
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