1 Juan Guerra
From:David Koslow
Sent:Wednesday, April 16, 2025 7:52 AM
To:City Clerk
Subject:Public Comment for Thursday, April 17, 2025 Regular Session Attachments:20250417 AS SENT Rancho Mirage Public Comment.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside The City of Rancho Mirage. DO NOT CLICK links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Please REPLY to confirm receipt and acceptance of the attached Public Comment for inclusion in the Public Comments agenda item of Thursday, April 17, 2025 Regular Session of the Rancho Mirage City Council Meeting.
David
David Koslow
[email protected]
Home telephone (voice, messages, no text): (760) 202-6838 Cell telephone (voice, messages, text): (760) 660-6131
TITLE
PUBLIC COMMENT OF DAVID S. KOSLOW
FOR THE APRIL 17, 2025 REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THE RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA.
INTRODUCTION.
My name is David S. Koslow. I am a resident, home property owner, registered voter, and taxpayer of Cathedral City. I am also a taxpayer of retail sales in the City of Rancho Mirage, California, and therefore I would have standing under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 526a to bring a "taxpayer lawsuit" for Rancho Mirage’s fiscal waste through illegal or wasteful expenditure of public funds.
My home address is 30309 Keith Avenue. My landline (not cell) phone number is (760) 202-6838. My email address is [email protected]. I ran for the City of Cathedral City’s District 4 City Council position in 2022, and therefore my contact information, supplied above, is a matter of public record. By posting this Public Comment on social media in the exercise of my First Amendment rights, I invite members of the public to contact me regarding this Public Comment.
The following Public Comment is submitted for inclusion in the Public Comment portion of the Regular Session of Rancho Mirage City Council of Thursday, April 17, 2025. This Public Comment is submitted in writing by email to the City Clerk at [email protected] on April 16, 2025, for inclusion in the official records of the Rancho Mirage City Council April 17, 2025 Regular Session and for delivery in writing to each City Councilperson .
TEXT OF PUBLIC COMMENT OF DAVID S. KOSLOW
Nothing contained in this Public Comment is legal advice. Anyone seeking legal advice concerning the subjects of this Public Comment are requested to confer with an attorney licensed by the State Bar of California. The information contained in this Public Comment is found in the court records as noted.
In 2023, Alessandra Montanaro, the owner of a residential property in Cathedral City, received a citation from a Cathedral City Code Enforcement Officer alleging (only) her ADVERTISING a Short-Term Vacation Rental (STVR) without first having obtained a permit. The Citation stated a first-time fine of $5,000. After the Citation was upheld at a non-judicial hearing before a hearing officer supplied by the fines-collection company Data Ticket, Inc., dba Citation Processing Center, Ms.
Montanaro appealed to the Palm Springs Superior Court on the grounds that the $5,000 was an Excessive Fine prohibited by the federal and state Con stitutions.
After the $5,000 fine was upheld by the then-Commissioner Arthur Cleveland Hester, III, Ms. Montanaro appealed to the Riverside County Superior Court Appellate Division. Alessandra Montanaro v. City of Cathedral City, Riverside County Superior Court Appellate Division, Case No. APRI2300078. The Appellate Division agreed with Ms. Montanaro that the $5,000 first -time fine violated the Excessive Fines provisions of the federal and state Constitutions. On petition for t ransfer by Ms.
Montanaro and joined by Cathedral City, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 2, ordered the appeal transferred from the Appellate Division to the Court of Appeal.
Alessandra Montanaro v. City of Cathedral City, Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 2, Case No. E084343. The Court of Appeal agreed to hear two issues: whether the administrative citation forum for Cathedral City’s enforcement of the municipal code prohibition deprived Ms. Montanaro of her right to trial by jury, and whether the administrative citation first time fine of $5,000 violated the Excessive Fines prohibition of the federal and state Constitutions. Briefing has concluded in E084343.
In 2024, Richard S. Levik, the owner of a residential property in Cathedral City, received a citation from a Cathedral City Code Enforcement Officer alleging (only) his ADVERTISING a Short-Term Vacation Rental (STVR) without first having obtained a permit. The Citation stated a first-time fine of $5,000. After the Citation was sustained at a non-judicial hearing before a hearing officer supplied by the fines - collection company Data Ticket, Inc., dba Citation Processing Center, Mr. Levik appealed to the Palm Springs Superior Court on various grounds including that the $5,000 was an Excessive Fine prohibited by the federal and state Constitutions. Mr.
Levik’s appeal was heard by Superior Court Judge Manuel Bustamante, who agreed with Mr. Levik that the $5,000 fine was unconstitutional as an Excessive Fine and ordered, instead, a $750 fine. Richard S. Levik v. City of Cathedral City, Riverside County Superior Court, Case No. CVPS2403242. Cathedral City appealed to the Riverside County Superior Court Appellate Division on the grounds that the City was entitled to the unreduced $5,000 fine. In the appeal, the Appellate Division issued its order staying (stopping) the appeal until such time as there is a final decision in
the Montanaro appeal. Richard S. Levik v. City of Cathedral City, Riverside County Superior Court Appellate Division, Case No. APRI2400126.
Respectfully submitted,
David S. Koslow