In the 1970s, Palm Springs was but a façade of its former self. The glitz and glamour of decades of celebrity had all but vanished. Fashionable shops, art galleries and upscale restaurants had vacated downtown Palm Springs, moving to the newer “in” towns of Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage. Many spaces on Palm Canyon Drive were relegated to being souvenir and T-shirt shops, and inexpensive restaurants catering to less-discriminating tourists.
By this time, “spring break” had invaded Palm Springs in the form of thousands of students, some of them hell-bent on partying with a no-holds-barred mentality—and the town’s image suffered even more. Each year brought progressively more of the young people who cruised Palm Canyon Drive until traffic was at a standstill. One Palm Springs police officer said it took two hours to go 2 miles.
The crowds eventually got out of control. In 1986, 80 people were arrested for attacking the Palm Springs police and looting during a riot. The spring bacchanal had cast an ugly eye on the village of Palm Springs. It reminded some longtime residents of what had happened in 1969, when the city had to enlist the aid of four other law-enforcement agencies to go into Tahquitz Canyon to rid the canyon of hippies who had encamped there and proceeded to trash the place.
Up until this time, Sonny Bono was known as the “other” half of the popular singing team Sonny and Cher. Divorced from Cher for years, he and his new wife, Mary, ran an Italian restaurant on North Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. Bono encountered problems with the city over a proposed sign for the restaurant, as well as permit and inspection problems with their home in the city’s Mesa area.
In his 1991 autobiography And the Beat Goes On, the entertainer revealed, “I began to see City Hall as a tired complex of unfair contradictions. … The town was a sleeper. … Palm Springs relied on tourism, yet, as far as I could tell, the stodgy old guard had driven the once-glittery desert oasis straight into economic torpor.”
Sonny decided to run for mayor. With the election set for April 12, 1988, Sonny went on the attack, stating, “All the city’s growth had gone ‘down valley,’ into neighboring resort communities like Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert; the city was suffering from a $2.8 million deficit, resulting in cuts for city services, including the police and fire departments.”
On Election Day eve, Sonny, apprehensive over the next day’s voting, watched television to see his ex-wife Cher win the Academy Award for Moonstruck. The momentum of the former famous team was on the upswing.
Surprising many who thought his candidacy was a joke, a confident and upbeat Sonny Bono won by a landslide. To continue his natural high, a few days after the election, Mary delivered their first child, a boy they named Chesare.
As mayor, Sonny’s objective was to make Palm Springs a family-friendly destination. With the help and support of the merchants, Palm Springs effectively closed off Palm Canyon Drive for spring break. The Palm Springs police got strict about enforcing drinking laws, and one of Mayor Bono’s decrees—which brought him perhaps unwanted national attention—was his ban on thong bikinis in public places.
Even though he initially received a lot of criticism—called Mayor Bonehead and worse—Mayor Bono accomplished much of what he set out to do. While small in stature, he had a large presence. He envisioned Palm Springs as getting rid of the cowboy culture of previous decades, and becoming a motion-picture industry showplace. Even though he and his predecessor, Mayor Frank Bogert, were publicly friendly, the two differed greatly. That 1988 changing of the guard between Bogert and Bono signified a dramatic change in direction and created a source of friction.
He served until Jan. 5, 1998, when he was tragically killed in a skiing accident. The world watched the touching services televised from St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Palm Springs.
Bono brought a major film festival to town, the Nortel Networks Film Festival. Headed into its 34th year (after two years off due to the pandemic), what is now called the Palm Springs International Film Festival is a showcase for many eventual Academy Award winners. The success of that prestigious event has brought other festivals to town.
Buoyed by Bono’s enthusiasm, the city began to respond, and soon there was a marathon, a vintage-car race, a grand prix bicycle race and much more.
A lot of things happened during Mayor Bono’s tenure from 1988 to 1992. The Plaza Theatre downtown had been vacant, but in 1990, Riff Markowitz put together the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, which brought in busloads of adult tourists until going dark in 2014. The Desert Sun newspaper once said, “The Palm Springs Fabulous Follies helped the city discover its glitzy roots.”
Then there is the popular VillageFest. It began in 1991, and VillageFest is now a Thursday night tradition all year long (except for Thanksgiving). Palm Canyon Drive downtown is closed to traffic, and up to 160 venders set up booths selling produce, handicrafts, art, jewelry and food.
Buoyed by his run as mayor, and fired up with a renewed confidence, Sonny Bono successfully ran in 1994 for the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California’s 44th District. He was re-elected in 1996. A centrist Republican, he opposed big government, but supported legislation that benefited the local Indian tribes. He also supported extending tax credits for producing energy from the wind.
While his political career began with people thinking he was a joke, Bono became a respected congressman. He served until Jan. 5, 1998, when he was tragically killed in a skiing accident. The world watched the touching services televised from St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Palm Springs.
Mary Bono, widowed with two children, ran for his congressional seat, won and was re-elected multiple times, serving nearly 15 years before losing the seat to Dr. Raul Ruiz in the 2012 election.
Sonny Bono left a legacy. The terminal at the Palm Springs International Airport was named in his honor. The Salton Sea wildlife sanctuary, which he supported, has been renamed the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. Interstate 10 through the Coachella Valley is now called the Sonny Bono Memorial Highway, and a life-size bronze sculpture of Mayor Bono has been placed at 155 S. Palm Canyon Drive at the entrance to Plaza Mercado.
Bono is buried at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City. His tombstone reads: “And the beat goes on.”
Sources for this article include And the Beat Goes On by Sonny Bono, Pocket Books, 1991; Palm Springs Confidential by Howard Johns, Barricade Books, 2004; and Palm Springs Babylon by Ray Mungo, St. Martin’s Press, 1991.
Fyi, the “permit and inspection problems” he had were a result of him not securing a permit before doing major structural work on his house. I was the building inspector simply trying to enforce minimum standard building codes.
Thanks for clarifying, and thanks for doing a thankless job by enforcing codes that are in place for a reason. We’re having a similar problem in our new HOA. Some residents don’t want to get required city permits for construction, then act indignant and blame everyone but themselves when they’re held accountable for their imagined entitlement. I’m sure Sonny Bono did a lot of great things for Palm Springs, but we’re all a mixed bag (cf. Frank Bogert).