CopyKatz, a local entertainment venue featuring celebrity impersonators, has filed a lawsuit against the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism.

The papers were filed on October 22, 2007 in the Riverside County Superior Court.  The lawsuit names Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism, Mary Jo Ginther, Executive Director, and SMG. 

According to the Palm Springs City Council Meeting archives dated November 3, 2004, the City of Palm Springs unanimously approved an agreement to have SMG take over tourism related services for a period of 4 years.

SMG, based out of Philadelphia, manages convention centers, exhibition halls, sport arenas, and many other public venues across the country.  They currently manage the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Breach of contract & negligence is the basis of the lawsuit CopyKatz has filed against the Tourism Bureau.  CopyKatz claims that SMG, as an "umbrella marketer" for the City of Palm Springs, has not promoted their business in print or media advertising for nearly a year.  The lawsuit claims that SMG has failed in its duties of their contract, and that CopyKatz has suffered damages due to their negligence.

What I find interesting is that the Palm Springs City Council voted on June 6th of this year to add an additional $266,000 to SMG's budget.  Why is the City giving additional money to SMG when local businesses feel they are not living up to the terms of the contract that were put in place? 

Secondly, I question why the Desert Sun has not picked up on this story of significance.  It is my understanding that the Desert Sun has a reporter who covers the Riverside County courts in Indio.  The lawsuit was filed with the courts a week ago, and there has been no mention of it their newspaper. 

One last question:  Could this have anything to do with the upcoming elections in Palm Springs next week?

To view a copy of the lawsuit, click here.

Same article is posted on Blog of the Desert

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Copywrite 2007 Blog of the Desert