Monday Morning Bullpen: Don’t Sleep on This Week’s Public Safety Meeting

With just five items on the consent calendar requiring attention and possible, this should be the shortest City Council meeting of the year. Most of the time spent by local lawmakers will likely be on matters not on the agenda, so expect the usual demands. 

Some of the speakers will probably include calls for Mayor Victor Gordo to apologize for his statements last week. 

Gordo pointed out last week that the callers, some of them from Altadena, don’t speak for his constituents and pointed out that none of them attended a recent community meeting on gun violence. 

In an op/ed that appeared in Pasadena Now, Jane Ward said many of the people Gordo was addressing attended virtually and that Pasadena impacts Altadena.

 

All sides in the matter have a point to some degree. Whether or not you agree with Gordo and the City Council, those are the only eight people that have been legally elected by the people to speak for the community.

Those who fill out a public speaker card are equally important. The callers are making their voices heard on important issues.

Yes, that includes speakers from Altadena, the greatest small town in the world, and the place where I grew up.

No matter what happens, the City Council legally still won’t be able to deliberate on matters not on the agenda, or agendize firing police officers. 

An apology won’t change that. Neither will cussing on the phone. 

Other items in city government this week:

Be sure to watch the City Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting this week. The PSC will hear an information item on reconfiguring police service areas. Under the plan, the service areas would be reduced from five to four with more officers in each service area, with one area in Northwest Pasadena divided. 

According to a presentation included with the committee’s agenda, the change would allow for more discretionary time for community policing, prevention, intervention and enforcement. 

Wasn’t the leaf blowers ordinance supposed to go to Public Safety or Municipal Services committees? It’s not on either board’s agenda.

The PSC meets at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. 

Municipal Services will hear  a Planning Department proposal to end the use of natural gas in all new buildings.

The electrification ordinance, which aims to combat climate change by prohibiting gas lines in new buildings and requiring gas appliances to be replaced by electric alternatives, goes before the committee Tuesday.

The potential bus route to Huntington Library is the other action item. That meeting starts at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and can be viewed at http://pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9

The Monday Morning Bullpen, which highlights important issues related to city government, appears every Monday in Pasadena Now.