District 5 Candidate Pool Grows to Six

Another applicant has pulled papers to fill the City Council’s District 5 vacancy created by former Councilmember Victor Gordo’s mayoral victory in the Nov. 3 election.

Martha Shenkenberg joins five other District 5 residents hoping to fill the vacant seat.

Shenkenberg works as a senior manager of consulting services implementing medical programs at Kaiser Permanente throughout Southern California.

Shenkenberg said she hopes to bring her business and consulting and community experience as she works to continue to make Pasadena a world-class city.

Shenkenberg listed her two major objectives to Pasadena Now.

“One is making sure that the decisions we make support a long\ term vision for Pasadena being a world-class city, so that we make decisions just not for today, but what’s best for the future,” she said.  “Long-term, I’d like to see more home ownership and I would like to see more leveling of opportunity for all residents. And I would like to see very thoughtful growth.”

According to the city’s website, Jessica Rivas, Gloria G. Medel, Michael Warner, Genevieve Clavreul, and Charlotte (Mason) Lai have also taken out the necessary papers to fill the vacant seat.

As of Monday morning there are just 10 days left to complete application papers on Jan. 14.

Rivas is an attorney and currently serves on the city’s Northwest Commission and previously served on the Commission on the Status of Women.

Warner is listed as a former La Canada Flintridge Public Works employee. There was no information immediately available on Lai.

Medel is a civil litigation attorney,

Clavreul said she works as a consultant, including a stint with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.

According to the city’s notice of intent, candidates must live in District 5 and hand-deliver 25 signatures from registered voters living in the district to City Clerk Mark Jomsky by 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14 and pay a $25 filing fee.

Postmarked, email or faxed submissions will not be accepted.

Appointments are required to personally obtain materials. And, due to COVID-19 protocols, all individuals coming to City Hall must wear facial coverings and observe social distancing.

To be considered for the position, those applicants invited to participate must also attend a special meeting of the City Council in February for the purposes of a public interview by the full council.

“The date and time of the meeting has yet to be determined and further information will be provided after all applications are received,” states the notice

Presentations by applicants at the special meeting will be limited to six minutes, followed by a question and answer period conducted by the council on each applicant’s qualifications.

The council will then vote to fill the position. The appointee will not be restricted from running for office in 2022.

The new District 5 councilmember will be sworn in immediately after the council votes.