City Could Rejoin the SGV Council of Governments

Mayor Victor Gordo could fulfill one of his campaign promises on Monday when the City Council votes on a proposal to rejoin the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG.)

Gordo said he wants the city to rejoin the group, which serves as a unified voice representing San Gabriel Valley cities on county, regional and state issues. 

In the past, the SGVCOG has focused on transportation projects, homelessness, water resilience and legislative advocacy.

One of the biggest benefits to Pasadena could be participation in the SGV Housing Trust Fund, which would provide the city with access to state funds awarded to SGVCOG members for affordable housing.

According to Gordo, the city and its residents face myriad complicated issues, including housing, transportation and the need to sustain the local economy. Membership in the group could help the city better address its problems in these areas. 

“All of these issues are local to Pasadena, but also impact our region,” Gordo said. “More than ever, we need to work with our neighbors to address these issues.” 

Gordo called the SGVCOG an additional tool that will not solve the problems but will aid local residents and Pasadena’s neighbors in the region.

“We are not going to resolve traffic and affordable housing as one city of 140,000 but pooling our resources will help to construct affordable housing. Rejoining is the right thing to do.”

The city first joined through a City Council-approved Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) in 1994.

Currently, SGVCOG is made up of representatives from 31 cities within the San Gabriel Valley as well as the three Los Angeles County Supervisorial Districts and the three Municipal Water Districts located in the San Gabriel Valley.

In March 2018 the city formally withdrew from the group over differences regarding the extension of the 710 Freeway, according to a city staff report. The SGVCOG favored building a traffic tunnel between Alhambra and Pasadena to connect the 710 and the 210 freeways, a position that alienated cities in the western part of the valley.

Gordo voted against leaving the SGVCOG when the item came before the City Council.

Pasadena, South Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, and the San Fernando Valley cities of Glendale and Burbank opposed the 4.2-mile connector tunnel proposal. That opposition led to talk about the formation of an Arroyo Verdugo COG, but that idea never materialized.