Palm Desert mayor faces criticism after sharing Facebook post criticizing El Paseo’s Patriot Store, residents demand an apology
Hear from Palm Desert Mayor Karina Quintanilla below (Swipe right in the video player on the app):
Several dozen Palm Desert residents are raising concerns about a recent Facebook post from the city's Mayor, Karina Quintanilla. Many of them turned out at Thursday night's city council meeting to share their frustrations.
In the post, Quintanilla called out a written article featured in the El Paseo Catalog that highlighted ‘The Patriot Store' that supports Republicans.
Quintanilla shamed the writer for quote “Failing to understand that partisan views don’t appeal to a broad base of shoppers.”
She also went on to call the souvenirs' gift shop "extremist."
The majority of Thursday night's non-agenda public comments were aimed at Quintanilla with several residents demanding an apology.
"I think what I objected to, through all this, mostly, was the city council is supposed to be nonpartisan," said Palm Desert Democratic Club President, Ralph Perry who attended the council meeting.
Other attendees including, the president of the East Valley Women’s Patriot Group, Joy Miedecke also weighed in.
"Don't come and represent a city council that's nonpartisan and put your partisan views in there and put people's lives in jeopardy. That's what she did," said Miedecke.
Quintanilla admitting she should have shared her critique on her personal Facebook instead of her public professional account.
“These are absolutely my views and don’t reflect the City of Palm Desert," said Mayor Quintanilla.
I asked Miedecke, "Would the reaction have been different if she had made the post under a personal account, that didn't say 'Mayor'?"
"It relates to her, it was her, it was her mouth, she represents the city. Absolutely, it didn't really matter to me, but I think legally she made a big mistake," said Miedecke.
Quintanilla tells me she could not comment during the meeting because the issue was not listed on the agenda.
“It's not red or blue, it's about green. We want people to come to the city, we want everyone to feel included. I’ve heard from folks who've said, 'That doesn’t represent where I want to go,' added Quintanilla.
Some of the crowd even went as far as demanding that Quintanilla step down as mayor.
Mayor Quintanilla said she’d be willing to meet with the owner of the patriot store and have an open dialogue about the situation that unfolded.
