News Update

College of the Desert sued by Palm Springs over public records

The city of Palm Springs has sued the College of the Desert, accusing the community college of not complying with the California Public Records Act.

Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton said during a news conference Monday that the city has made repeated requests for records regarding land use decisions from the college, only to be met with a “slow and incomplete response,” according to the Desert Sun. 

In April, The Desert Sun reported that COD had discussed nearly 40 Coachella Valley properties during closed sessions of its previous six monthly meetings without disclosing the college’s interest in the properties or providing any details about the real estate except a parcel number.

“Instead of responding to the requests in a manner required by law, COD has continued a pattern of stonewalling, evasion and delay,” she said.

Nicholas Robles, a spokesman for the college, defended the college in a statement to the Desert Sun, saying that the college plans to comply with the requests made by the city but added that doing so is time-consuming.

“The College has received several separate letters seeking different documents. Just one of the City’s requests, for example, includes sixty-seven categories of documents, and therefore requires the College to search multiple locations for potential documents, review the documents to determine if they are responsive, assess whether they should be released pursuant to the California Government Code, and then prepare them for production,” Robles said.