Saxony Group CEO’s letter about pulling CV Wind-Up

Dear Mr Gabriel Perez / City of La Quinta,

I would like to first of all say thank you Mr Perez for all of your efforts in attempting to achieve a Temporary Use Permit for our Coachella Valley Wind Up events. In our opinion, the factor that made your job extremely difficult was that so many other departments were involved and you had to wait, as we did for clarity/answers. With all of the co -mingling of departments that at times seemed to be trying to do the jobs of each others departments that did not fall under their responsibility, this in our opinion caused huge delays in achieving our required building permit.

Inaccurate statements and representations were made to our company about our building that caused a great amount of confusion for all City departments. The list is long, however I will site one example that occurred in our first meeting with all departments – Mr Griesinger telling all that we had wood ceilings in our building and then continuing to make other statements that turned out to be incorrect. For the record our ceilings are 18 gauge metal. It was clear to us after we heard the comments of your City manager who was conversing with your City Attorney and Council Members, at the council meeting held on January 19, 2016 at La Quinta City Hall that in our opinion it was a demonstration of the huge paranoia of doing something wrong in the approval process that would cause the City to be sued. Again the City on their own accord elected to go over and over all items, trying to cross every ” T” and dot every ” I” several times, causing complication and confusion. It was the City that caused many of the delays by telling us in essence – run this way…. no stop, run the other way. Many of all the delays in achieving a building permit in order to be able to meet our timing to host our proposed events were caused by the City and then blamed on our company.

I personally felt that there was a huge disconnect between the City Council Members and all other departments involved.
Due to the City of La Quinta’s inability to provide us with a building permit sooner and there for allowing for our company to complete our renovations on time for our planned events, we regret that we are unable to host the first three weekends of events at the Convention Center and as of today our company is forced to cancel the Coachella Valley Wind Up events.

In my opinion, I feel that Council Member Kristy Franklin & Lee Osborne really seemed to have missed the “Big Picture” here by focusing on and criticizing the three weekends of events that would have been merely the “Kick Off” of the Convention & Event Center in La Quinta. There are simple write – ups that can easily be found on the internet indicating that Convention and Visitor bureaus are the MOST IMPORTANT TOURISM MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE TOURISM DESTINATIONS. In fact a number of states have passed legislation enabling public funding to be used for Convention Centers in an effort to attract tourism and businesses to local economy.

In the last council meeting, Mayor Evans touched on the importance of having Convention Center, in general. There could have been Conventions hosting large company functions, charity events, events for children, trade shows, ETC …. the list goes on and on. WOW – this really appears to be a great depiction of the importance and massive benefit not only to local businesses of La Quinta, but all of the citizens of La Quinta. In fact, it would have been a great addition to the entire Valley.

Here is a question for Kristy Franklin & Lee Osborne, do you think that this Convention Center could have generated a sizable amount of income for the City of La Quinta via attracting tourists and bringing the local market into La Quinta that would have spent money (Sales TAX & TOT TAX)? I believe that there is not an economist that would tell you that a Convention Center is not a good thing for a City. Mr Osborne indicates on the City of La Quinta website that he is a partner in an accounting firm. It appears that he is well qualified to give an opinion on a Convention Center and all of the spin off revenue that it could create for the CITY OF LA QUINTA.

Take another look at the La Quinta’s financial reality and please factor this Convention Center into the mix and see if it might have helped in creating a stronger financial situation for the City. This would be more productive in my opinion for Mr Osborne, than sitting in his chair in chambers, in his nice suit and not once but twice telling all, in camera that I have no respect for the City of La Quinta. The truth is that La Quinta is what brought my family to the Valley in the first place and I greatly respect the City of La Quinta and its citizens. The only thing about the City of La Quinta that has caused me to lose respect is the unwarranted and unprofessional comments from two of the elected leaders of La Quinta, being Mr Osborne and Ms Franklin.

In my opinion, great leaders are apart of getting involved and going on the front foot and letting the people that they represent know what ventures will enhance the City that they live in and what businesses that are needed. Hotels are at a shortage in La Quinta and are needed money generators for a City. Why do the leaders of the City of La Quinta not let potential developers know this? In the beginning I told the City that if we were going to have a problem fitting round pegs into round holes, sort to speak, to benefit the City as a whole, that I was not interested in being a politician and we would spend our money in other Cities. I have invested millions into your City ….. What do I get in return – insults from Council Members for all to hear.

I am selling my 22 acre parcel that I own in La Quinta – and now I will be selling the building that would have been The SAXONY CONVENTION CENTER OF LA QUINTA. Going forward, I would like to only be a visitor of my many friends that live in La Quinta and I will leave the POLITICS TO YOU.

Sincerely,

Martin Dolemo
CEO