A Message from Your New Mayor

I am looking forward to being your mayor for the next 12 months. It's an honor to serve our community.

Our new Christmas tree in front of city hall sets a warm and illustrious tone for the holidays.

At the December City Council meeting, the city council discussed a couple of important issues I want to highlight for you.

The city council adapted a code of ethics for residence benefit cardholders which includes penalties for anyone abusing city personnel, illegally reselling BNP Paribas tickets, and misnaming nonresident guests at the Golf Resort, among others. Residents are to treat each other with respect and dignity, return BNP Paribas tickets to city hall if unable to use them, and have nonresident guests pay the appropriate green fees at the golf resort. Unfortunately, there have been some abuses and violations by residents which required council to establish a framework for adherence to the rules.

City staff presented data showing the average speed of cars on Fairway, Cook, and Rancho Palmeras. Eldorado had the most speeders, Fairway, then Cook. Few cars traveled above the speed limit on Rancho Palmeras. This research was done as a step in the overall safer streets initiative. In the spring, council will receive estimates on the cost of adding sidewalks two Cook and Fairway while restriping Eldorado and Rancho Las Palmas. The speed study data is available upon request.

Council approved seeking out proposals for a new putting course to replace the existing putting course at the Indian Wells Golf Resort in the spirit of Puttery and Popstroke putting course concepts. This new attraction is exciting for year-round family fun and our guests who stay at Indian Wells hotels.

Council also created two new ad hoc committees, one for the 60th Anniversary of the City of Indian Wells in 2027 and the other to prepare for a professional golf tournament, such as the LPGA, to be hosted by the Indian Wells Golf Resort.

There are some other important topics being discussed in our community so let me address each one individually.

Indian Wells Golf Resort. Every year the city reviews and approves a budget with Troon. The agreement with Troon includes the golf course performance, the golf shop, Kestrel, the food truck, and catering. Each year that budget is adjusted to reflect any positive or negative impacts on the forecast. In 2025, the approved budget included a reduction in overall revenue and performance because one golf course was closed for eight months, which has a trickle-down impact throughout the resort. Expenses were also adjusted down. Troon delivered the redesigned golf course on time and under budget while continuing to achieve the projected profitability of the golf resort’s overall budgeted revenue and expense targets. Over a twelve-month period of time, there are normally around six months where the Indian Wells Golf Resort loses money, due to summer months and golf course closures, and six months where it makes money, due to peak conditions, increased residency, and tourism. The net result is Indian Wells Golf Resort is profitable. I look forward to evaluating the performance of the Indian Wells Golf Resort in a normal, uninterrupted year.  

Senior Housing Facilities. The city of Indian Wells owns two affordable senior housing facilities, Mountain View Villas and Indian Wells Villas. The city has engaged Abode Communities to manage and operate these two facilities which house over 200 people. These two facilities are gorgeous and the waiting list to get in is many years long. Both projects were built over 20 years ago and require maintenance. Before Thanksgiving I visited both Villas to engage with the residents. A number of important maintenance issues were raised at that time, one including lighting. Since my visit, every key maintenance issue raised at my meeting has been addressed. Because some 60-90 work orders come in every month from residents, the city is currently reviewing the addition of another handyman. Every work order is addressed and repaired within 90 days. Both facilities are cashflowing as per our forecast budget and agreement with Abode. I can tell you with great confidence that these two facilities are some of the best low-income senior living facilities in the entire Coachella Valley and the overall feedback from residents is gratitude to live in Indian Wells.

Nighttime Patrol Officer. Indian Wells is one of the safest cities in California. The priority of the City Council is to ensure the city remains safe. Each month the city and council receives data on all the events our police and fire are called to take action on. We carefully review the data and our police and fire chief come to council meetings once per quarter to make presentations about their activities. After reviewing the data, a clear pattern emerged that the vast majority of activities occur during the day. Working closely with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office to provide the best service to our city, we agreed with the Sheriff’s recommendation to shift resources from night to day. We will continue to review the data every month to ensure public safety and if the trends change, we will address those concerns immediately.

Agendizing an Issue. The city council voted that an item can be placed on the agenda for discussion and research with a majority vote of 3:2 at a city council meeting. Any council member is welcome and encouraged to ask for an item to be agendized in a public meeting which complies with the Brown Act; if three or more councilmembers concur, the item advances to a future agenda. The purpose of this motion is to eliminate wasted time and money for the city staff to research and prepare for a single council member’s unsupported request to agendize an item when a majority of council do not believe the matter is a priority.

Brown Act Training. When we are elected as officials, we must undergo training as required by the state of California. This is a requirement for all newly elected officials. One of the key topics is the Brown Act. Another is conflicts of interest and receipts of financial benefits. Whereas additional Brown Act training was voted down by a majority of council, the council is reviewing language which requires elected officials to sign an agreement that explicitly states they have read and understand the Brown Act and Government Codes 87100 and 1090 which deal with ethic rules, financial conflicts, and self-dealing in contracts.

Epson Tour. The city invests $160,000 for the Epson Tour to play their final round of the year at the Indian Wells Golf Resort.  In return the city receives around $950,000 in positive economic impact coming from golf course revenues, food and beverage, admission taxes, room nights rented, etc. This return does not include the significant marketing value we receive by having our city’s name affiliated with the Epson Tour Championship event itself. We are very pleased with relationship with the Epson Tour and look forward to these budding star athletes tackling the new Players Course this fall.

Pickleball IWCC. The city council voted down the request for IWCC to build pickleball courts because certain council members did not believe the club had communicated effectively with its members, especially those homeowners closest in proximity to the planned pickleball courts. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a revised plan for pickleball courts to come to the city in the future.

Congratulations on the opening of the Players Course at the Indian Wells Golf Resort. I have a single digit handicap and have played the game since I was 9 years old. This newly reimagined course by John Fought is truly exceptional and a challenge for golfers at every level. 

Congratulations to the Champions of Hospitality Award winners at the Indian Wells Golf Resort, Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort and Villas, Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa, and Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort and Spa.

Your Neighborhood Mayor,
Dr. Toper Taylor