Public commenters say they experienced racism at The Tool Shed; commission moves to explore education and dialogue

Honey Davenport told the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission on May 11 that she experienced "microaggressions" and what she called "flat-out racism" at the Tool Shed nearly two weeks earlier, and she urged the city to address patterns of mistreatment of Black and Brown people.

Davenport said the incident grew into an online conversation in the community and that the venue’s owner, identified in testimony as Rob, had issued a public apology and promised some payments to event organizers and Davenport herself. "He did take the time to give me my payment," Davenport said, but she added she had not seen all the promised payments. She described the episode as part of a broader pattern she and friends have experienced in Palm Springs and called for citywide conversations and tangible steps such as racial-sensitivity training and expanding hiring of people of color into managerial roles at local businesses.

"This is a conversation about Palm Springs versus discrimination," Davenport said. "What can we do about it? What are our steps to to to to fight this? To make sure that our city is truly a sanctuary for everybody…no matter what their color or gender or expression is."

Jared Johnson (also identifying himself as Jerry Johnson and Peaker Onyx), who said his nonprofit Men of Onyx Southwest Inc. produces events and fundraising in the community, described a related episode at a bar where his group was told its music made the crowd "problematic." He said house music is rooted in Black and Brown history and said his group was made to feel "less than." Johnson said the goal of his remarks was not to "cancel" the owner but to prompt dialogue and to challenge what he described as inconsistent community rhetoric about tolerance.

Commissioners responded by discussing next steps. One commissioner proposed forming an ad hoc subcommittee to develop community education materials after hearing public testimony; the commission voted to put related items on a future agenda and to invite the speakers and other stakeholders back for fuller discussion. Commissioners also instructed staff to coordinate with the council liaison about logistics and potential budget implications for city-backed displays or programming.

Staff later noted that the commission has a May 27 city council meeting where a municipal code revision (the first reading) will be considered and encouraged commissioners to provide public comment there if they wish.

The commission’s actions at the May 11 meeting were procedural: commissioners agreed to agendaize the matter and to explore creating an ad hoc education committee to examine options for community messaging, training, and outreach. No formal enforcement action against the Tool Shed or its owners was recorded in the meeting minutes; Davenport said some owner-led remedies had been promised but not fully documented in testimony.

The commission agreed to bring a more focused proposal back at a future meeting and to invite event organizers and community groups for a fuller conversation.