The ranger for Joshua Tree National Park was worried. So was the city manager of the City of Twentynine Palms.
If budget cuts from the Trump administration forced the closure of a park visitor center in Twentynine Palms, the small California city would suffer financially, and park visitors could be put in harm’s way.
“That visitor center brings thousands of people every week into our downtown, and they go to our businesses,” said Stone James, Twentynine Palms’ city manager and a graduate of the USC Price School of Public Policy.
Equally important, the visitor center provides vital safety information to tourists who trek through the beautiful but unforgiving desert landscape of Joshua Tree National Park.
“The desert’s a hostile environment,” James said, “it can get awfully hot out there, and there are animals that if they get ahold of you, namely rattlesnakes, it’s not a good day if you’re bitten.”
The solution, James realized, was to transfer the visitor center’s lease from the national park to a local nonprofit organization with the experience to keep the facility open regardless of federal budget cuts.
“I got it before council, and they said, ‘Absolutely.’ And now I have the authority to sign the lease,” James said.
It’s one of a string of examples of how James — like many other city managers — needs to think on his feet to keep his city functioning. From unexpected floods to building proposals — some helpful, some not — James encounters a relentless stream of challenges.
“Oftentimes you’re building the plane as you’re flying the plane,” James said, referring to his role. “How do you navigate situations that maybe you’ve never contemplated before? Success in these situations, I think it comes down to having high integrity, a sound moral compass.”
It doesn’t hurt that James is also highly educated, with a Dollinger Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) and a Doctor of Policy, Planning, and Development (DPPD) — both earned at the USC Price School.
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Find Out More“I did the real estate development program because I wanted to improve my level of thinking, and I hoped it would open doors,” he said. “It opened doors that were previously closed and also opened doors that I didn’t know existed. The doctoral program was the same thing.”
Tall and lean from hiking — he once completed an Ironman triathlon — James was raised in Sierra Madre, in the foothills just east of Pasadena. It was there he got his first taste of public service as a volunteer fire prevention ranger in the mountains above Altadena. When fires swept through the hillside community earlier this year, James packed his Landcruiser with emergency response gear and headed toward the flames.
James spent the early part of his career conducting land acquisitions for private developers. But while working in the private sector had its rewards — and provided lessons he applies in his current role — James kept feeling the tug of public service.
His grandfather, uncle, and father had served in the military and/or law enforcement, “so public service was just something that was part of my DNA.”
Leaving the private sector, he began his public-sector career as a planning commissioner with the City of Indio, followed by a role in Cathedral City as director of economic development, before becoming city manager of Twentynine Palms last year.
City managers often succeed or fail based on their city councils. James said he is fortunate to work with a good one.
“The City of Twentynine Palms is very lucky to have the people on the council that they do,” James said. “They have varied backgrounds. They may not agree on everything — which is just fine — but they work through issues collaboratively. They work through them respectfully. And that’s huge.”
James is not the only Trojan who serves Twentynine Palms. The city’s mayor, Steven Bilderain, earned his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business.
I met James and Bilderain for breakfast at 29 Palms Beer Company on Palms Highway. It’s one of several businesses mentioned in a glowing Los Angeles Times article titled “This desert town near Joshua Tree is brimming with new energy thanks to these 9 hip businesses.” Although 29 Palms Beer wasn’t one of the nine, Bilderain and I agreed it served an outstanding breakfast burrito.
“It opened doors that were previously closed and also opened doors that I didn’t know existed.”
Stone James on the USC Price School’s MRED and DPPD programs
Twentynine Palms has a population of just under 27,000 and is located about 140 miles east of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert. As well as being a gateway to Joshua Tree National Park, the city hosts the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center — the world’s largest Marine Corps training base.
Bilderain knows the base well, having been stationed there between seven tours of duty in the Marine Corps that took him from combat missions in Afghanistan to tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia, and points in between.
At loose ends after retiring from the Marine Corps, Bilderain — like James — still felt the call of duty. So, despite having no prior elected experience, he ran for city council — and won.
“I think I was honest and real,” Bilderain said. “I wouldn’t promise I’ll get rid of the homeless in a week and pave all the roads. I’m not going to lie. So, I just said, ‘I’m going to be your ear, your voice, and I’ll give you the energy the city needs to move forward.’”
James added: “The leadership, forged by 20 years in the Marine Corps, seven tours of duty, and a USC education makes Mayor Bilderain a huge asset to the community. He is a person I both like and have a great deal of personal and professional respect for.”
As well as mutual respect, James and Bilderain share a deep affection for their small city, its diversity, and its surrounding beauty. James said he planned to take advantage of its remote location that coming weekend by indulging in one of his favorite pastimes: hiking and camping.
Bilderain, not so much.
“Coming from Fontana, California, and then being in the Marine Corps, we were always outside,” the mayor said. “Yeah, always on deployments, living in tents and all that. So, I don’t want to be outside anymore.”
