Council Passes Climate Resolution

As part of Monday’s Consent Calendar, the City Council passed a carbon-free climate change resolution.

The Municipal Services Committee had voted unanimously last week to recommend the City Council adopt the resolution to declare a climate emergency.

Before the vote the committee made several amendments to the resolution. 

On March 15, 2018, the City of Pasadena adopted a Climate Action Plan (CAP) based on the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 that focuses on five specific GHG reduction strategies; energy efficiency and conservation, sustainable mobility and land use; solid waste reduction; water conservation; and urban greening. 

The City has since published updates to the CAP in 2018 and 2019 that detail progress-to-date on outlined actions, and is currently finalizing its first comprehensive GHG Emissions Inventory that evaluates actual and forecasted emissions to gauge the effectiveness of the plan.

One of the changes made by the committee was that affordability be included in the resolution. 

“We wanted to send a message to all of Pasadena that if you’re of means or not of means, we care about you,” said Municipal Services Committee Chair Felicia Williams. 

Councilmember Steve Madison said the record should reflect that the City Councilmembers “don’t want to go along to get along,” Madison said. “We want to be a leader.”

Results of the emissions inventory are expected in spring 2023. 

Here are the other items on Monday’s consent calendar which were approved:

• Authorization to enter into a contract for magazine and periodical acquisition & management with Ebsco Information Services, LLC for an amount not to exceed $210,000 for a three (3) year term. The City of Pasadena Public Library (“Library”) enhances and enriches the lives of its residents and visitors by providing library and information services and collections. This includes originating and maintaining subscriptions to magazines and periodicals throughout the year. The Library seeks to maintain a collection of 500 periodicals and newspapers distributed across all library sites. Such materials are for adult, young adult (teen), and juvenile audiences. The Library requires a periodical management vendor that can provide cost-effective processes and tools, timely and high-level customer service and delivery, and a wide-ranging collection of daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly periodical subscriptions.   

•  A $111,132 purchase order contract to La Verne Power Equipment for the purchase of two Mean Green electric mowers. The Parks Division of the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services (PRCS) Department protects, maintains, and enhances the City’s parks, open spaces, natural parklands, and other park-related areas such as sports courts, playground equipment, and athletic fields. Park maintenance includes the landscape and irrigation systems of open spaces and median islands consisting of 26 City parks, 10 libraries, and two off-leash dog areas, totaling over 1,000 acres throughout the City.

• A $1,657,621 purchase order contract to 72 Hour LLC (72 Hour) for the purchase of 16 Ford Explorer Hybrid Police Interceptor Sport Utility Vehicles (Hybrid SUVs), two Ford F-250 trucks, two Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles (EVs), and one Ford F-450. The Department of Public Works, Building Systems and Fleet Management Division (BSFMD) is tasked with providing vehicle replacement for various City departments based on a scoring system including factors such as the vehicle’s age, mileage, condition, usage, maintenance, and repair history. As part of the approved FY 2023 Operating Budget, a 3-Year Fleet Replacement Plan is being implemented to comprehensively address the City’s aging fleet. This three-year plan prioritizes the City’s vehicle replacement needs in support of each department’s operations, ensuring safe modes of transportation and vehicle equipment for staff to perform their duties and services, decreasing fleet maintenance and repair costs, and simultaneously allowing a consolidated effort to group similar vehicle types for economies of scale and efficient purchasing process.

•  A resolution adopting the Pasadena Zero Emission Bus Rollout Plan (Rollout Plan) that provides the roadmap to transition the City’s public transit fleet to a zero emission bus (ZEB) fleet. In December 2018, the California Air Resources Board (GARB) adopted the Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) rule that requires all public transit operators in California to transition to 100 percent ZEB fleets by 2040. For the City, the required transition milestones include the following:
  • July 1: Deadline to provide a “ZEB Rollout Plan”
  • 2026: 25% of new bus purchases must be ZEB
  • 2029: All buses purchased must be ZEB
  • 2040: All buses must be ZEB.

•  A resolution recognizing the City of Pasadena Local Hazard Mitigation Plan as approved by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), into the safety element of their general plan in accordance with the requirements of Assembly Bill No. 2140.