Indian Wells’ Players Course a waste of taxpayer money
The planned redesign of the Players Course at the Indian Wells Golf Resort is unnecessary and a total waste of taxpayer money. The Player’s Course is currently rated in the top 30 public courses in the U.S. to play by Golfweek Magazine. Remember the old adage, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. One big concern is that the course will be downgraded because of shortening of the course. In a recent article, The Desert Sun stated one of the reasons for the redesign was due to the need to return the property to the Renaissance Hotel, where holes 17 and 18 are located. That information was inaccurate. The city holds a perpetual easement on the property and cannot be forced to sell or return the property. The redesign is motivated by the city manager, reasons for which nobody knows other than to deplete the city’s reserves as he did when he was city manager of West Covina. The estimated cost by the designer John Fought is $9.8 million, money that could be spent on more important projects, such as senior housing. Other estimates obtained by TROON, the manager of the golf course, were $11 to $13 million.
Douglas H. Hanson, Indian Wells
Palm Springs needs wind tunnels, not bridges
Has it finally sunk in? Building bridges on Indian Canyon Drive and Gene Autry Trail will not solve the problem! Yes – we will be able to cross the valley when the water flows; but not when the wind blows! As architecturally unsound as it might appear – tunnels on top of the bridges are needed. This practice is used in many parts of the world to keep snow from closing railroads during the winter. If we spend the money to build these two bridges and do nothing about the sand – we will have wasted a lot of money. It is entirely possible to go an entire winter without any water flowing; but the wind always blows. Include tunnels in the plans now. Waiting will not solve the wind problem and will increase the costs in the future. Solve the problem!
Richard Clapp, Cathedral City
Dealing with the dust
La Quinta and other cities east of Cathedral City have been getting more dust than usual this year due to silts put down from Tropical Storm Hilary, I hope that Cathedral City and Palm Springs will spray sealants on the dusty areas in their cities and the Whitewater channel so that those of us in the east valley can breathe clear air again.
Dori Quill, La Quinta
Saudi Crown Prince sponsoring BNP?
So now the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud or The Public Investment Fund is a Platinum Sponsor of our beloved BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament and the ATP? How sad.
L.G. Peters, La Quinta
Coachella’s new housing development? A waste of money
Congratulations to the new residents of the 56-unit, $44.2 million Placita Dolores Huerta affordable housing development in Coachella. Hopefully, they're thrilled with their new digs since that works out to $789,000 per unit! To put that in perspective, in the last 12 months, 49 three-bedroom single-family homes sold in Coachella for an average cost of $386,000 each or a total of $18.9 million. In other words, they could have purchased each and every three-bedroom house that sold last year in Coachella for less than half the total price of this project. And have about $25 million left over for the next project.
Bill Clawson, Palm Desert
Let’s lose the excess tipping culture
Restaurant workers are finally making a good, living wage in this state but I believe they should be prepared to lose our tipping culture. With the high cost of food and wage increases, business owners are passing the increase in costs onto the consumer. In the UK, because of these same high costs, tipping is neither expected or done. The U.S. will undoubtedly have to follow this same pattern in order to continue patronizing local businesses. It is either that or quit eating out and this is the lesser of two evils.
Patricia Mobley, Palm Desert
Congrats, Amistad High School investment club
Amistad High School had a remarkable year of fun and success in their investment club. Under the direction of myself and Gregory Kraus, teams were created to compete in “The Stock Market Game.” Students who participated not only became well-versed in the art of investing but also learned about financial topics and the importance of research. The yearlong competition culminated with Amistad Investment Club earning first place in the San Diego Region.
Brent Knigge, Indio
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Indian Wells’ Players Course a waste of taxpayer money
