By As Mayor in 2021, Kathleen Kelly was nearly silent promoting public health. Here, in one of the few times she provided guidance to the public, she asked angry people to be “compassionate” about “facial coverings:”
“Here in Palm Desert, we are responding differently and passionately to the pandemic. Sometimes our passions are reflecting themselves in anger. […] No matter how you might personally feel concerning facial coverings, let compassion motivate you to cover your nose and mouth whenever you’re in public.”
She did not promote guidance from experts on vaccinations the year 90% of local COVID deaths were unvaccinated.
She let hoaxes run wild without helping a community thirsty for life-saving information. Under her leadership, Palm Desert’s unsafe business environment drove a $17 million deficit while safe cities thrived.
In contrast, leaders in cities that performed well followed strict expert guidance that saved jobs and lives.