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MONDAY, MAY 05- MAY 11, 2025
NO. 222
VOL. 11,
Trial set for ex-Palm Springs mayor, developer accused of public corruption
San Bernardino County board OKs plans for housing, homelessness
By City News Service
By Staff
T
rial proceedings are slated to get underway next week for one-time Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet and a real estate developer, stemming from an alleged scheme that occurred more than a decade ago to buy off the mayor to ensure his support for the businessman’s projects. Pougnet, 62, and John Elroy Wessman, 86, were criminally charged for the first time in 2017. They were indicted by a Riverside County grand jury two years later, along with Coachella Valley real estate developer Richard Hugh Meaney, 59. All the felony charges against Meaney were later dismissed. However, he pleaded guilty to a reinstated misdemeanor count of financial conflict in a government contract. Meaney is free on bond and is slated for sentencing in June. During a pretrial conference at the Larson Justice Center Thursday, Superior Court Judge Kristi Hester conferred with the prosecution and defense, determining all parties were ready to proceed with a jury trial. However, with no courtroom availability at the Indio courthouse, the judge ordered that proceedings be relocated to the Banning Justice Center. Pretrial motions are set to begin on Tuesday. It was unclear whether jury selec-
Steve Pougnet. | Photo courtesy of Jayel Aheram/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
tion would be completed next week. Pougnet and Wessman are each free on bond. The case, which began as a federal corruption probe until it was turned over to county investigators in 2016, has been plagued by repeated delays, some resulting from ongoing challenges by the defense to the indictment, as well as the COVID lock-
downs, Pougnet’s relocation to another state, changes to legal counsel and related complications. A trial judge in December 2020 dismissed all counts against Wessman, characterizing them as baseless, but the charges were reinstated by the 4th District Court of Appeals in Riverside less than two years later. The defendant is charged
with nine counts of bribery of a public official and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony. Pougnet is charged with eight counts each of accepting bribes and illicit financial interest in public contracts, along with three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy. He served two terms as mayor, leaving office at the end of 2015. The influence-buying scheme that prosecutors allege the men were involved in netted Pougnet close to $400,000 between 2012 and 2014, securing his public support for projects brought before the Palm Springs City Council, specifically The Dakota, the Desert Fashion Plaza, The Morrison and Vivante. Payments to Pougnet were allegedly drawn directly from accounts maintained by Meaney’s Union Abbey Co. and Wessman Development Inc., according to the District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors told the grand jury in 2019 Pougnet planned to move to Colorado to join his husband and two children when his first term ended in 2011, but the two developers allegedly put him “on their payroll” in order to gain his votes of confidence in their projects. See Corruption trial Page 28
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he San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved plans for addressing homelessness and the county’s housing and infrastructure needs ahead of receiving an expected $9.42 million in federal funding. The Community Development and Housing Department’s 2025-30 Consolidated Plan, which includes the 2025-26 Annual Action Plan, is now set for submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The plans lay out strategic goals and identify priorities for addressing homelessness, affordable housing, community development and economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents. In addition to its unincorporated areas, the county manages federal grant funding for 13 cities — Adelanto, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Colton, Grand Terrace, Highland, Loma Linda, Montclair, Needles, Redlands, Twentynine Palms, Yucaipa and the Town of Yucca Valley.
See Homelessness Page 27
San Bernardino County board approves nearly $42M contract for Glen Helen bridge By Staff
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he San Bernardino County supervisors approved a $41.72 million contract Tuesday for Griffith Co. to construct a bridge over the Cajon Wash on the Glen Helen Parkway in the Devore area. The project calls for a new four-lane bridge over
the wash in an effort to enhance commuter connectivity to the existing grade separation that extends across the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad lines. With contingency and engineering costs added, the project will total an estimat-
See Glen Helen bridge Page 02
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