Fire Department, Health Department, Parks and Recreation and Community Services Budget Hearings Scheduled for Public Safety Committee

The Pasadena City Council’s Public Safety Committee will host the fiscal year 2023 budget workshop for the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department on Wednesday, May 18, during its regular meeting, along with the budget workshops for the Pasadena Fire Department and Public Health Department.

The budget workshop for the Police Department which started last week will also be continued at this virtual meeting.

Budget workshops are a critical part of the budgeting process where details of each department’s budget are discussed, and where the public may also provide input.

For 2023, the Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS) Department is recommending a budget of $23.7 million, up by 3.4 percent from this year’s adopted budget.

As outlined in a preliminary report, among the significant changes in the PRCS budget are the addition of two new MASH (Municipal Assistance, Solutions, and Hiring) program employees that are necessary to run an additional 30 acres of parkland, a new Community Youth Scholarship program that aims to increase the number of participants for next year, additional funding to cover a water rate increase by Pasadena Water and Power last April and an upcoming increase by January 2023, and the replacement of park equipment such as lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

For next year, the PRCS Department will prioritize increasing youth participation in its programs at the different public parks in Pasadena, increasing City-operated activities with the goal of returning to pre-COVID-19 participation numbers, the Community Youth Scholarship Program, and working with public health officials, other local agencies and professional organizations to implement the best practices or protocols in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department will also prioritize developing a year-round aquatics program beginning in 2024 at the new Robinson Park pool, the report showed.

Wednesday’s budget workshop begins at 4 p.m. Members of the community can access it via http://pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9 and www.pasadenamedia.org.

Public comments can be sent by email to gstevenson@cityofpasadena.net prior to the meeting, or by the webpage, www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/public-comment.