Desert Magazine:
I'd like to start with your background. I know you served as an infantry officer during the Vietnam War, and I was curious how your experiences in the service informed your decisions about your education and going into law.
Mayor Greg Sanders:
From the time I was a child, my father used to say, "My God, when you get in trouble, you can always talk your way out of it." He said, "So, you should be a lawyer someday." It kind of stuck. I've always been very interested in the law, so I had formed my intention to eventually become a lawyer before I entered the military.
But, I'll tell you what being an officer in the military did for me – it taught me a lot about leadership. It taught me how to motivate people, how to get the most out of people, [and] how to get them to do things that under normal circumstances they would never undertake unless they were crazy. So, that was an invaluable experience for me. I spent three and a half years in the big Army, the active Army, and then nine years in the Reserves after that, and about seven and a half years in the California Guard.
Desert Magazine:
And that was in the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG)?
Sanders:
Yes; I was an infantry officer in the Army. I didn't go to law school until after I left the active Army. And then in the Reserves, I was a civil affairs officer … While I was in the active Army, I had attended the Army Civil Affairs school. And then the Guard actually called me and asked me if I would join up to be a JAG officer. They had a pressing need for JAG officers, so I agreed to do that.
Desert Magazine:
When you graduated from law school, how did you decide on your specialties in law?
Sanders:
Right after I got out of the Army, I had served as the chief of staff for a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. I had an abiding interest in land use law, planning, zoning, and environmental law. At that time, Orange County was probably the fastest-growing county in the United States. And there were a lot of very interesting real estate projects coming down the pipeline that I helped deal with. So, I decided when I became a lawyer that I wanted to continue pursuing real estate, and so I became a real estate lawyer.
Desert Magazine:
When did you move to Indian Wells and what drew you to the desert?
Sanders:
I grew up in Orange County – in Anaheim. But, as a kid, I was a frequent visitor to the desert going all the way back to 1964. At that time, the Salton Sea was a really great tourist attraction. It wasn't what it is today, which is just a shrinking, slow-rolling environmental disaster. There were water-skiing activities and fishing and other water sports. Then, my wife and I, off and on, spent a considerable amount of time in the desert, and we decided finally to move here full-time in 2017.
Desert Magazine:
What drew you particularly to Indian Wells?
Sanders:
I think it's the ambiance of the community. It's very well-kept, it's small and manageable, [and it] has a very low crime rate. We bought a house with a tremendous view of the Santa Rosa Mountains, so all of that together drew us here.
Desert Magazine:
Can you tell me a little about the government structure in Indian Wells? For instance, is the mayor an elected office?
Sanders:
Well, it's what in California we call a council-manager form of government. In Indian Wells, we rotate the mayorship every year. So, each member of the council, in turn, serves a year as mayor. It's kind of a killer job – killer in the best sense and killer in the bad sense. It just really takes a lot of time.
Desert Magazine:
Really?
Sanders:
Yes. It's not just ceremonial. It involves being probably the most active member of the council in terms of moving things along, setting the agenda, [and] working with staff. So, I'm doing something on behalf of the city just about every day.
Desert Magazine:
I think some of our other communities in the desert face issues like large homeless populations (in Palm Springs) and other growth challenges. We sometimes think of Indian Wells as this perfect little spot where there are no issues. But, clearly, you must have challenges. What are some of them?
Sanders:
We do have challenges. First of all, when you become mayor, you realize that your predecessors set a very high bar. We have the lowest crime rate in the Coachella Valley – probably one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in the entire state of California. That's not by accident. We invest very heavily in police protection. On a per-capita basis, we invest more in our public safety programs than any other city in the desert. And you have to stay on top of that. You have to be innovative.
For example, … during my term as mayor, we instituted what's called CPTED. It's basically teaching homeowners how to make their homes as burglar-proof as possible. The city underwrites the cost of sending a community service officer – which is basically almost like a deputy sheriff – out to individual homes at the invitation of the homeowner to do an audit of their property and teach them how to arm their property.
By arming, I mean better locks, environmental design, which makes homes less attractive to break into, [and] exterior lighting – those kinds of things. And it's been very successful. It's very popular. I can't tell you the number of homes where we've been called out to do an audit, but it's scores and scores of homes.
Desert Magazine:
That's amazing.
Sanders:
We're always faced with the challenge of costs. Look, I'll be honest; we're very fortunate. We have one of the top five cities in California in terms of our financial well-being here. We were able to put away annually $2 million into our reserves, for example. We have many cities which don't even have any reserves in California.
Our pension fund is fully paid up. A lot of cities are having to sell bonds to finance their pension obligations. But, to do that, it doesn't happen by magic. To do that, we have to work at it. We have to work hard at it. I'm very involved in those aspects of the city government.
Our biggest challenge, I would say, is keeping our finances intact. The city is very tourist-dependent. Seventy percent of our revenues are derived from tourists in the form of transient occupancy taxes, sales taxes, and admissions taxes to events that are held here in the city. And that means we have to be very entrepreneurial. So, we work hand-in-glove with the Indian Wells tennis tournament at the Tennis Garden to help promote the tennis tournament, which is one of the premier tennis tournaments in the world.
We own two municipal golf courses at the Indian Wells Golf Resort. That brings visitors here to stay in our hotels, and visitors pay transient occupancy tax in the golf resort. For more than a decade, the golf resort was losing money. It was propped up by the general fund. General-fund money should go for traditional municipal services like road maintenance and police and fire. So, we worked very hard over the last couple of years to financially turn the golf resort around, and it is now profitable. And last fiscal year, which ended June 30, that actually made $1.6 million. So, those are the kinds of challenges we face.
Desert Magazine:
Right. Although, wouldn't you agree that COVID had a lot to do with turning around the fortunes of golf?
Sanders:
Well, it did. But, we instituted – and I think this is even more responsible for turning it around – we instituted a program called dynamic pricing, which, essentially, is a computer program that tells us what we should be charging for a round of golf almost on an hour-by-hour basis. So, it's all based upon demand. We're very fortunate [that] we have two golf courses, which are two of the premier municipal golf courses in the United States. So, lots of people want to play them. Through dynamic pricing, we're able to charge what the market will bear in terms of pricing for a round of golf.
Desert Magazine:
That's fascinating. Let's talk a little about the Tennis Garden. I understand from past articles that I've done on the BNP Paribas Open that Charlie Pasarell began private funding for the Garden in the 1990s. Can you bring me up to date on how the Garden has evolved over the last three decades?
Sanders:
First of all, the tournament originated at Mission Hills. Then, what is now the Grand Hyatt hotel in Indian Wells was originally for Indian Wells, the home of the tournament. There was a tennis stadium that was built when the hotel was built in 1987, and it was called the Grand Champions hotel. And the tournament was held at the Grand Champions for quite a few years.
Then, eventually, in the '90s, the Tennis Garden was built; the main stadium was built. And Larry Ellison bought it from the city. I can't tell you the year, but it was …
Desert Magazine:
I think it was 2009.
Sanders:
Sounds about right. Former mayor of Indian Wells, Dick Oliphant, who has been a developer his entire professional career, wound up managing the refurbishment of the main stadium. Eventually, the second stadium was built, and we're very blessed that Larry Ellison bought the Tennis Garden. And I think he now owns the tournament.
Desert Magazine:
Yes.
Sanders:
So, if you know Larry Ellison, he has a penchant for detail.
Desert Magazine:
Yeah, it's legendary.
Sanders:
It's just an incredibly beautiful facility. I've been at sports facilities all over the world, and I can't think of a better venue than the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Desert Magazine:
It's pretty magnificent.
Sanders:
It really is. So, that’s, in a nutshell, the evolution of it. We are honored and proud to be the host city for the tournament, which consistently – year after year – is voted the players' most favorite tournament.
Desert Magazine:
Tell me about use of the stadium when the BNP Paribas is not in play. How active is the use of the stadium or the facilities, in general?
Sanders:
I personally would like to see the facilities used more. But, on the other hand, I understand Larry Ellison's point of view – the stadium, the main stadium, and the second stadium exists [sic] primarily for the BNP, and he wants to keep them in the best of shape. So do we, quite frankly, because the tennis tournament is televised, and we want to have people watching and people who attend in person to see the quality of what the Tennis Garden and the tournament are all about.
There have been some events at the Tennis Garden. The Los Angeles Lakers played an exhibition game at the Tennis Garden.
Desert Magazine:
No kidding?
Sanders:
Yeah, it was quite a few years ago. But, the weather cooperated, and they played on the floor of the big stadium. There had been some concerts; {opera singer Luciano] Pavarotti performed at the big stadium.
I understand that there's a logistical problem. When the stadium was refurbished, a tunnel was created to get to the interior of the stadium from the outside underground. Unfortunately, that tunnel is not large enough to handle the equipment that is necessary for live concerts – for example, the audio equipment and the stage and so forth. So, when those kinds of events occur, the Tennis Garden has to bring in a crane and lift everything over into the stadium. So, that's an inhibiting factor.
Desert Magazine:
Yeah, that's crazy.
Sanders:
Yeah, it is. But, I think, as the years go by, we're going to see more and more – if not events within the stadium, outdoor events – because the Tennis Garden, as you know, has some very significant, very nice outdoor areas, grass areas, grassed areas. They've got – even in the courtyard, where the two stadiums are located – a very nice venue with a stage for outdoor concerts. So, Larry Ellison – he's very entrepreneurial, and I would imagine that, over time, we'll see more events there.
Desert Magazine:
Great. I want to back up a little because there's a part of the history of your city I'm curious about. Obviously, for thousands of years, Indigenous people lived on the land there because there were natural springs. Do you still draw your water from those original springs?
Sanders:
No. Those original springs were on the north side of Highway 111, just east of Miles Avenue. There was a historical marker there for a long time, but it was moved to the City Hall because too many people were stopping on Highway 111 [and] causing dangerous traffic conditions. As that property along 111 develops, the historical marker will be moved back. No; we get our water from the Coachella Valley Water District.
Desert Magazine:
Oh, okay. It occurred to me when I was writing my questions down, I thought, “I wonder if there's still a well?” But, I had no idea how big the aquifer would've been.
Sanders:
Oh, I'm sure it's the same aquifer that the Coachella Valley Water District draws its water from. Although, I'm sure [it’s] quite a bit shallower. But, yeah, [there’s] plenty of water, which is ironic, given that we're a desert.
Desert Magazine:
Right. Another question about history – I was reading up about when Indian Wells became a city, and I didn't get a lot of detail on this. But, apparently, the move to incorporate as a city was done to avoid being absorbed by the city of Palm Desert. Can you elaborate on that?
Sanders:
I know that that is true. I don't know that I can elaborate much, except that even as a developing city, not yet mature, there was a lot of civic pride. I gleaned that from folks like Dick Oliphant, who was mayor. I think he was mayor for 12 years in Indian Wells. The city, in the mid-1980s, was very near bankrupt. And Dick was elected to the City Council, and he was the brainchild behind the formation of the Indian Wells Golf Resort, the two golf courses which were developed to attract hotels, which in turn would pay out transient occupancy tax revenues to the city and bolster the city's finances.
So, people like Dick, who were around in the mid-1960s, I think just had a vision of a city that was a little bit different than Palm Desert. They wanted to take matters into their own hands and have a city where they could chart their own destiny.
Desert Magazine:
That's the perfect segue into another question I had: If I'd never been to the Coachella Valley before and we met, how would you describe Indian Wells to me?
Sanders:
I would characterize it as a city with very, very high standards in terms of maintaining its infrastructure and maintaining its ambiance. As you know, Indian Wells is very heavily landscaped. When you drive down Highway 111, you go from Palm Springs to Cathedral City to Rancho Mirage [and] Palm Desert; you know when you arrive in Indian Wells because the Highway 111 corridor is the most heavily landscaped stretch of Highway 111 in the Coachella Valley. It's beautiful.
[We have high standards for] the above-ground infrastructure, the below-ground infrastructure, the attention to detail, [and] the resident benefits that we provide for residents of Indian Wells. For example, a round of golf at the golf resort, on average, for a non-resident can run over $200 a round. It depends on the time of the year and so forth. But, during the off-season, our residents play at the golf resort for $35 a round. And during the season, it's $50. I mean, that's the best golf deal on the planet.
Desert Magazine:
Yeah, I'd say.
Sanders:
The city is the city sponsor for the Acrisure Arena. We get tickets to the Firebirds hockey games, which we share with the residents. We have two suites at the Tennis Garden, and we have outside the suite, tickets that we receive, so the residents are able to take advantage of those. So, those are examples of the kinds of resident benefits [that we offer].
There's a real sense of community in Indian Wells. We have a city-sponsored Community Activities Committee, which puts together a welcoming party when people come back to Indian Wells after leaving for the summer. We have a go-away party when a lot of people leave for the summer. And we have a lot of events in-between where the city sponsors and the residents participate. And when I say participate, the residents plan the events. They work hand-in-glove with the city on the events.
So, those are the kinds of things that I think best describe Indian Wells and what it's like living here.
Desert Magazine:
That's fantastic. You're making me envious.
Sanders:
Good.
Desert Magazine:
I appreciate your time and loved your answers.
Sanders:
Thank you. It was my pleasure.
