Registrar verifies signatures from ‘Forever Marilyn’ ballot measure petition
The future of the "Forever Marilyn" statue in Palm Springs is one step closer to being up to voters in March.
The Riverside County Registrar of Voters verified the signatures of a ballot initiative petition on Nov. 2, Palm Springs spokesperson Amy Blaisdell confirmed to News Channel 3.
The petition was put together by the group “Protect Our Marilyn,” of which PS Resorts Chairman Aftab Dada serves as the co-chair. PS Resorts a nonprofit tourism organization, purchased the Marilyn statue in February 2021 for $1 million plus installation costs. Forever Marilyn has been located Museum Way in downtown Palm Springs right behind the Kimpton Rowan Hotel in downtown Palm Springs for a little over two years now.
The location of the statue has been a source of controversy since the plan was announced in late 2020.
"Protect Our Marilyn" plans to keep the statue in its current location by putting an initiative measure on the March 5th, 2024 ballot.
The measure would let the voters decide if the location on Museum Way should be made a permanent location making way for the city to amend the downtown's specific plan, which was at issue of a lawsuit that was initially dismissed before the decision was overturned earlier this year. The Court of Appeals ruled in February that Museum Way was closed illegally for the placement of the statue.
The petition needed more than 2,500 verifiable hand-written signatures by registered Palm Springs voters by October 6.
Blaisdell said a total of 4,666 signatures were received. 3,584 were verified sufficient by the Registrar of Voters office.
We've reached out to the city of Palm Springs to learn what the next steps are.
The "Committee to Relocate Marilyn," formed by a group of residents, has been at the forefront of the debate on where the statue should be located.
Trina Turk, co-founder of the committee, has previously said they are not opposed to the statue being in Palm Springs, however, its location obstructs the view of the Palm Springs Art Museum and interferes with the original 2016 downtown plan.
CReMa even held a protest in early 2021 to express “community dissent to the statue on Museum Way.”
In March 2021, the group filed a lawsuit against the city. The lawsuit was initially dismissed, however, in Feb. 2023, California's 4th District Court of Appeals overturned that decision, ruling that Museum Way was closed illegally for the placement of the statue.
"In 2022 the City of Palm Springs allowed the illegal closure of Museum Way – a public street constructed with public tax dollars – so that a statue of Marilyn Monroe (called “Forever Marilyn”) could be situated on that street. This street closure was described as “temporary.” CReMa was formed to protest this illegal street closure and provide an open dialogue with the citizens of Palm Springs about this closure. In February 2023, a Court of Appeals ruled that in fact Museum Way was closed illegally for placement of the Forever Marilyn statue."
- CReMa Statement (9/27/23)
CReMa's statement on Wednesday reaffirms its position on moving the statue.
"CReMa's goal is to urge the City of Palm Springs and PS Resorts to revert to the long-planned intended location for the Marilyn statue – IN the adjacent downtown park – or to find another suitable location in the city. The current placement co-opts the taxpayer-funded street leading to celebrated Palm Springs architect E. Stewart Williams' architecturally significant Palm Springs Art Museum, a Class 1 Historic Site. The museum is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places."
- CReMa Statement (9/27/23)
CReMa states that at this time, it does not appear the city has evaluated any other potential locations for the statue.
Palm Springs City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger said if the downtown plan is amended by the proposed ballot measure, a street vacation would need to be approved by the City Council.
The Palm Springs City Council was set to hold a special meeting revolving around Forever Marilyn on December 4.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates on this case.
The 17-ton statue crafted of steel and aluminum was first unveiled in Chicago in 2011 before moving to the corner of Palm Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs in 2012, where it was on display for about two years.
Dada has said the statue was an economic powerhouse that brought the city millions of dollars of free publicity during its first stay in Palm Springs. He noted that "Forever Marilyn" helped jumpstart the local economy during the Great Recession, and hoped the statue can work that same magic again amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"She really put Palm Springs on the worldwide map," Dada said. "She is definitely a huge draw and unbelievable magnets to tourists."
Then-City Manager David Ready previously said the statue was a "tourism phenomenon'' during its first appearance in the city.
"Forever Marilyn" was designed by artist Seward Johnson, who died in March 2020. The humongous sculpture recreates the moment in the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch'' where Monroe's white dress surges up toward her waist as she stands on a windy Manhattan subway grate.
"Marilyn has come to represent beauty, and the white dress blowing up around her is a type of teasing sensuality," Johnson once said. "There is something about her pose, the exuberance for life without inhibition, it expresses an uninhibited sense of our own vibrancy.''
