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Mayor Bogaard Delivers His Final State of the City; Calls the Moment “Bittersweet”

Published on Friday, January 16, 2015 | 6:00 am
 

At the speech’s closing Mayor Bill Bogaard reflected for a moment on his years as Mayor

 

Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard delivered his final “State of the City” address Thursday night before an audience of about 650 city officials, civic leaders and community members in the Pasadena Playhouse, calling the moment “bittersweet” and saying that he feels “extreme regret” over the recent revelation a city employee may have embezzled as much as $6.4 million from a city fund.

Bogaard’s address caps 16 years as Pasadena’s first directly elected Mayor. The goodwill felt towards the Mayor erupted in a standing ovation after the speech as he made his way off the stage towards his wife, Claire, who has attended every address.

The speech covered, in the customary style perfected over his career, a list of city accomplishments over the past 12 months, but began with Bogaard reviewing the financial scandal which has rocked City Hall since the December 30 arrest of three for multiple felony counts of misappropriation of public funds.

“We intend to pursue our responsibilities in the weeks and months ahead aggressively, thoughtfully and thoroughly,” Bogaard said. “We will do everything reasonably possible to assure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

His review of the event was factual, but at its conclusion Bogaard said that he “and all the Councilmembers feel extreme regret that this breach of trust has occurred, as does the City Manager.”

Bogaard next pointed to Pasadena’s economy and said there are reported increases in retail and travel revenues, lower unemployment and an upswing in local residential and commercial markets. He highlighted major development projects, listing the Shriners Hospital plan to build a state-of-the-art pediatric care facility on South Fair Oaks Avenue and five hotel projects.

The Julia Morgan YWCA Kimpton Hotel project, he said, should begin construction this year “if all goes smoothly.”

The Mayor addressed technology by focusing on the Innovate Pasadena non-profit organization, crediting that group with propelling Pasadena to the forefront of “the new, high-tech world.”

In his other remarks, Bogaard reviewed the status of the city’s relationship with the Pasadena Unified School District, the status of the Rose Bowl, public safety and the Gold Line.

“There still remain many challenges, however,” Bogaard said, and warned that increased costs for the city’s employee pension program could grow to $8 million annually by 2017.

Understandably, the address concluded with Bogaard’s personal thoughts.

“Tonight caps a remarkable and rewarding period in my life: 16 years as Pasadena’s first directly elected Mayor,” he said.

“In 1999, I promised to be a catalyst for positive change, to bring our community together and build a greater city. I urged all of us to ‘Go For It!’ in a quest for improvement, and we did just that,” Bogaard said.

“During the ensuing years, our journey saw good times and bad, yet we ‘Went For it!’ and we accomplished what many might have considered impossible — in a short span of time, Pasadena emerged as one of the nation’s leading cities.”

“We took the best of Pasadena,” Bogaard said, “and made it better.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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