Section 14 group's attorney calling for Palm Springs to pay $42M in latest counteroffer

The attorney for a group of former residents and others with ties to Palm Springs' Section 14 area submitted a new offer to the city this week that would have the city provide compensation with a total value of $42 million to settle the ongoing claim over what the group says was the city's wrongful role in destroying homes there decades ago .

The new offer, which was submitted to the city in a letter date July 2 and shared with The Desert Sun, would see the city pay about 60% less than it would have under a previous offer previously made by the group in May.

More: Palm Springs says $105 million request from Section 14 group would ‘bankrupt the city’

The attorney, Areva Martin, explains in the letter that the $42 million offer would cover both cash payments to those "who can demonstrate direct impacts from the displacement" as well as funding for several programs and efforts that the group says would rectify the harm done. Those programs and efforts could include:

• The city providing land to the Section 14 survivors group that it could develop into affordable and mixed-use housing, retail and other uses.
• Renaming a city park to recognize the Section 14 survivors.
• Dedicating a city “Day of Remembrance” for the Section 14 survivors.
• The city designating two seats on its Human Rights Commission or a similar city commission to members of the group.
• The city working with the survivors group to develop monuments and markers acknowledging the contributions of those who lived on Section 14.
• The city committing to a public/private partnership to develop, fund and erect a cultural or racial healing center in Palm Springs.

The letter states that the group would be open to the money being paid over 10 years. The letter does not state how much of the money would go to each purpose or detail the number of households that would receive direct payments or the size of those payments.

Martin told The Desert Sun Wednesday that those details would be refined once the parties have an agreement in principle.

"The more important issue at this stage is reaching an agreement that reflects the totality of what has been presented by the survivors and mirrors many of the same points that the city has itself advanced," she said.

The Desert Sun reached out to city officials regarding the counteroffer but did not immediately receive a response. City Councilmembers Christy Holstege, Lisa Middleton and Ron deHarte declined to make any comment and instead directed The Desert Sun to city spokesperson Amy Blaisdell, with deHarte explaining he had not seen the counteroffer. Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein and Councilmember Grace Garner also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Desert Sun.

Gulf remains between what the city and survivors have proposed

The counteroffer comes about two-and-half months after the city made a settlement offer to the group that would see the city make a total of $4.3 million in direct payments to the survivors. The city said that offer was based on records that showed city resources and staff members had been involved in the destruction of 145 homes and calculation that showed that the 2024 value of those homes and the personal belongings contained in them was about $30,000 each.

During the same week the city made that proposal, the city also pledged to take several actions to address the harms that resulted from the clearing of Section 14. Many of those steps resembled initiatives included in Martin’s latest proposal, including providing land for affordable housing and exploring the feasibility of building a “historic park” or “healing center” dedicated to Section 14.

On May 22, Martin sent a letter to the city stating that her clients were rejecting that offer and proposing that the city instead make $105 million in direct payments. Blaisdell, the city spokesperson, later blasted that proposal, which she said “could easily bankrupt the city.”

Blaisdell told The Desert Sun earlier this month that the $105 million was never brought to city council because a formal proposal was never made. Martin writes in her letter that the city responded to her letter by asking for an “exact monetary settlement offer with any additional terms,” which she said her letter constitutes.

Martin writes in the letter that the $42 million figure “constitutes a fair and reasonable compromise” but does not reflect the total harm inflicted on the Section 14 survivors by the city. The letter also criticizes Blaisdell’s statement that a $105 million settlement would’ve bankrupted the city, which it calls “hyperbole and utterly false.” Martin goes on to argue that the settlement would save the city money by preventing “prolonged litigation and ongoing reputational damage” and “a potential judgement that is far higher than our settlement offer.”

Martin goes on to write that “we are more than prepared to take this matter to court” and believe a nine-figure jury verdict could “easily result.”

The counteroffer comes days after the city council announced it was

This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Section 14 group's attorney calling for Palm Springs to pay $42M in latest counteroffer