Mayor Gordo Claps Back at People Critical of Council For Claiming to Speak for the Community

Just days after several City Council members attended a community meeting to discuss shootings in Northwest Pasadena, Mayor Victor Gordo fired back against several people who claimed the council does not address the concerns of its constituents.

Gordo challenged callers to Monday night’s City Council meeting after they accused the council of being unresponsive.

Another caller accused council members of adopting a controversial technology that uses sensors to detect gunshots without doing any research on the matter.

City staff provided a report on the ShotSpotter system when it came before the City Council in September.

Through the use of the ShotSpotter system, which the council approved and police plan to implement next month, once a loud, impulsive sound is detected, it is recorded and sent to ShotSpotter’s Incident Review Center. There it undergoes two phases of review to determine if it is a legitimate gunfire or from another source.

Once confirmed, Pasadena police will be notified of the gunfire through a digital app on their smartphones. The entire process occurs within 60 seconds or less.

Besides its potential life-saving benefits, staff claimed ShotSpotter would deter shootings and would prevent the need to investigate non-gunfire related incidents, allowing officers to remain available in the field.

The information provided by the ShotSpotter system can also assist detectives in solving criminal activity, according to the staff report.

“When things happen that should be startling and urgent matters, you all drag your feet. It’s a shame it takes people shaming you all, publicly embarrassing you all for you all to do anything that is what people want to see done in this city,” the caller said. “Stop kowtowing to the police all the time and actually listen to what the community wants.”

That’s when Gordo decided to speak out.

“None of the speakers that you heard today or that you hear every week had the courage to stand up at Jackie Robinson Center and say to our community and our constituents ‘I am going to speak for you,’” Gordo said.

Gordo, along with Councilmember John Kennedy, attended a meeting at the Jackie Robinson Community Center (JRC) to address 200 community members after shootings spiked near La Pintoresca Park, at the corner of North Fair Oaks Avenue and East Washington Boulevard.

On Monday, a man’s car was struck by gunfire in the 500 block of East Washington Boulevard.

On Oct. 27, the fourth shooting in three days occurred when car-to-car gunfire erupted on the same street near Los Robles leaving one man injured.

On Oct. 26 a man was shot and seriously wounded at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Robinson Park close to where kids were playing.

Earlier that day, gunfire erupted in a parking lot at Fair Oaks Avenue and Washington Boulevard about 10:45 a.m.

On Oct. 25, a shooting left two men critically wounded shortly before 10 p.m. in the 100 block of North Summit Avenue. A 24-year old man who was shot in the head during that incident died last weekend.

“… Frankly, I don’t need people coming and telling me that they speak for the people I represent. The people that I represent I speak to directly,” Gordo said.

“We showed up (at the JRC) along with the Police Department and spoke directly to our constituents, to the people that we represent, and I would invite any of these speakers to attend these meetings where people are in pain about what’s happening in their neighborhoods and their parks and say to them directly I will speak for you.”