Palm Springs councilman doubles down on calls for investigation into Measure J commission, political opponent

A Palm Springs city leader is doubling down after raising concerns about possible misuse of millions of dollars in city funds from the Measure J tax.

At the top of Thursday's council meeting, councilmember Dennis Woods said he's worried about a conflict of interest in how the city's Measure J commission decides what community projects will get city funding.

"I'm actually going to ask for an independent investigation as to what's going on so that we can correct it immediately," Woods said. "This is a commission that is not elected by the public. And if they're giving out money, I believe that can lead to favoritism. It can lead to open corruption."

Woods called for more transparency and a deeper dive into the criteria the commission uses to recommend projects for approval. The commission is chaired by Jeffrey Bernstein, who announced last month he's running for the district 2 council seat currently held by Woods himself.

Woods spoke for nearly 10 minutes and his comments were met with some puzzled looks from his councilmember colleagues, and an explosive response from Geoff Kors.

"I think that was one of the most outrageous things I've seen on this dias, and I've seen a lot," Kors said. "I find using our time on this council to attack a political opponent because the measure J chair is running against you to be incredibly offensive and outrageous."

News Channel 3 spoke to Bernstein Friday who said he was caught off guard by the attack and that Woods is wrong when it comes to how the commission works.

When asked if he thinks Woods' comments were a politically motivated attack, Bernstein said, "The fact that I did meet with him 2 months ago and he didn't bring it up, and it came out two weeks after I announced his campaign in his district – I think is very telling."

Speaking with News Channel 3 Friday, Woods couldn't say whether he planned to run for re-election, but he did re-assert his concerns.

"I'm just asking for: let's look at this. Let's make sure this is transparent. Let's make sure this is upfront. Let's make sure this is fair. And if it is great, but some flags were raised for me," Woods said.

Woods' call for an investigation failed to get other councilmembers' support to move onto a future meeting's agenda. Mayor Lisa Middleton said the council would consult in closed session with the city attorney and city manager about the appropriate direction to move forward.