Jan 18 to Jan 24, 2017! DDG THIS WEEK Hot in Gay Palm Springs.

THE LAST WORD by Greg Pettis
Just leaving the Democratic National Committee
Future Forum meeting in Phoenix.
This was the first opportunity to hear from
the 7 candidates for DNC chair. The election
will be held in Atlanta in February.
It was very interesting. Full bore campaigns
with hosted lunches and receptions. The
most important was getting one in one time
with several of the candidates; including Secretary
of Labor Tom Perez and Congressman
Keith Ellison. 7 candidates. Of them 2 are
gay, 2 are women, 2 are African American,
one Latino and one Muslim. Quite the
breadth of our nation!
I was able to have face time with 4 of them
and am hopeful for at least a call with the
other 3 prior to my vote. This person will
lead the Party for next four years. All the
other positions are being voted on as well, but
this will be the most critical.
Everyone had some good ideas. We would be
fortunate to have any of them in a leadership
role. I must admit being a tad intimidated
when I left the hotel suite to walk down to the
conference with Secretary Perez and being
enveloped by Secret Service!
Locally this week saw lawsuits and Counter-suits
being filed in Palm Springs by various
land developers and a couple auto dealers
threatening city council members over marijuana.
Sigh. Drama still lives amongst the
straight folk!
Waiting to see if College of the Desert is
finally able to take possession of the old mall
for their expansion. In Cathedral City, COD
is looking at moving their automotive trade
school programs over. This would be a big
support for our expansion
What are you doing? How was your summer?
Enjoying the rain? Speaking of, no more
drought!!! Northern CA is now officially out
of the drought, we here in the South need one
more good storm. It has been nice but I’m
tire of being cold - HA!
It has shown the need for needed road work.
Cathedral Canyon was closed again. That
new bridge will start construction by end of
year as well as the Date Palm bridge. It will be
so nice having those done. Even better is they
are fully funded and paid for!
The 2nd annual Taste of Jalisco is coming to
Cathedral City in early February. You know
what means ---- Tequila! Check out www.
discovercathedralcity.com for details
That’s it for this week - let me know your
thoughts at greg@gregpettis.com
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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