Bogert statue to remain in storage after city voids Arts Commission decision

The Frank Bogert statue will remain in storage after city leaders, acting on advice of the city attorney, determined Wednesday that a potential Brown Act violation voided the Public Arts Commission’s decision to relocate the memorial to the Village Green.

City Attorney Jeff Ballinger announced the decision during the regular City Council meeting Wednesday evening, saying the council met in a special closed session at 3:30 p.m. prior to its regularly scheduled closed session at 4 p.m. to discuss a potential violation arising from the council’s Nov. 12 discussion about the statue.

“Based on the advice of the city attorney, the City Council is of the opinion that a potential inadvertent violation of the Brown Act occurred at that November meeting,” Ballinger said. “As such, and in the interest of transparency, in the spirit of the Brown Act, the city views the … action of the Arts Commission as void, and the city will treat that action as such.”

The Brown Act is California’s open-meeting law requiring local government bodies to conduct business publicly, with advance notice and agendas, and to allow public comment, ensuring transparency and preventing secret decision-making.

The potential violation stems from an exchange at the end of the Nov. 12 council meeting when then-Mayor Ron deHarte brought up moving the statue out of storage and to the Village Green downtown during the portion of the meeting where council members suggest future agenda items.

Council members agreed to have the Arts Commission decide on the placement. However, Ballinger warned the council during that meeting that the discussion was happening outside the posted agenda.

“This is not on tonight’s agenda,” Ballinger said at the Nov. 12 meeting. “I would advise the council to stop discussing this because it’s not on the agenda and staff will take it up on a later date.”

The Arts Commission voted 5-1 with two abstentions on Jan. 8 to approve relocating the statue to the Village Green, accepting a proposal from the Palm Springs Historical Society with an amendment requiring an educational component addressing the controversy surrounding the memorial.

The commission’s vote came after emotional public testimony from both supporters and critics of the statue’s return to public display. The decision included establishing a subcommittee to work with the Historical Society to ensure an educational component that would allow for discussion about the controversy related to the sculpture.

The statue, created by Mexican sculptor Raymundo Cobo Reyes, depicts Bogert mounted on a horse and was installed at City Hall in 1990. It was removed in 2022 following a Human Rights Commission report that linked Bogert to the displacement of Section 14 residents in the late 1960s.

The Historical Society had proposed assuming full responsibility for transport, installation and ongoing maintenance of the statue at the Village Green location.

For now, Ballinger said Wednesday, the statue will remain in storage.

---