Kate Buckley's Palm Springs Blog

There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

The candlelit courtyard at Le Vallauris

I kept thinking of the above quote during my most recent dining experience at Le Vallauris. Jay Gatsby would have felt quite at home dining in Paul Bruggeman’s elegantly imagined tree-laced garden of a courtyard. (To call it a patio would be to do it a grave disservice.) On this perfect Palm Springs evening, lights flickered […]

John Wessman is president, founder and owner of Wessman Development, a company engaged in the development and subsequent holding and property management of shopping centers, office buildings, and residential projects in the Coachella Valley. For more than 40 years, John has been a leader and visionary for development, management and consulting for commercial, municipal and residential real estate projects within the Coachella Valley. He started as a general contractor in 1963 and formed his own development company in 1982. John has a strong affiliation with a number of local institutions, where he has served in various leadership capacities–CEO of the International Film Festival in Palm Springs, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Board member, and the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, to name a […]

Mayor Steve Pougnet has been a resident of Palm Springs since 2001, and has served as an elected official since 2003 when he was first elected to City Council. Elected Mayor of Palm Springs in 2007, Steve is currently serving his second term in office. His accomplishments include creating and launching Palm Springs’ Hotel Incentive Program, which resulted in over 1,000 jobs, $150 million in economic investment, and 1,600 new hotel rooms. Also notable is the initiation and adoption by City Council of the City’s Sustainability Master Plan which includes a report card to ensure that it is an actionable blueprint for making Palm Springs greener and more […]