Removing the statue of former Mayor Frank Bogert as ordered by the Palm Springs City Council did not go according to plan on Tuesday morning due to opposition that included a former veteran who stood guard.
Not only did veteran Amado Salinas protest by sitting at the base of the statue in full uniform, but an advocacy group, The Friends of Mayor Frank Bogert, had filed for a restraining order last Friday to keep the statue where it is in front of City Hall, according to News Channel 3 (KESQ).
Uprooting the statue had come at the recommendation of the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission in April 2021. The City Council concurred in a September vote, deciding to issue a public apology for the former mayor's actions, and the Historic Site Preservation Board agreed in February the statue could be removed.
"I don't think that he was perfect but he was not by any means what they portray him as being," said Negie Bogert, the former mayor's widow.
According to News Channel 3, Coachella Valley resident Salinas sat at the base of the statue in front of City Hall to protest its scheduled 8 a.m. removal. City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger said in the article there was no intention to physically remove Salinas or any other protester from the statue site.
The former mayor has been the center of controversy for nearly two years, News Channel 3 said, in regards to accusations that he played a role in the removal of hundreds of people in a one-square-mile block of property in Palm Springs known as Section 14. From 1954 to 1966, around 200 structures were demolished and burned, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of low-income residents and persons of color in order to construct hotels in the area. The city did not have plans to relocate these citizens, and as a result they were forced to disperse into other parts of the city, and in some cases to other areas of the country.
According to News Channel 3, the California Department of Justice later called it "a city-generated holocaust." Despite his alleged involvement, Bogert remained one of Palm Spring's most famous historical figures due to his "cowboy" persona and role as city mayor from 1958 to 1966, and again from 1982 to 1988.
With all of the resistance toward the removal of the statue, the council has scheduled a hearing Wednesday to deliberate the motion Pacheco filed. Palm Springs City officials have also released a notice explaining that the city is willing to work with the group to find a new appropriate location for the statue, and until then, will safely store it, according to News Channel 3.