Monday Morning Bullpen: Honor John

The City Council canceled Monday’s meeting in honor of John J. Kennedy.

Kennedy was elected to a third term just last month when he defeated Brandon Lamar with nearly 60% of the vote.

The cancellation is a classy move.

I doubt anyone on Council is really about the people’s business right now after the tragedy last Thursday.

Taking a week off is the right thing to do.

Let some healing and processing take place. People need time to mourn.

Obviously that process takes far more than a week, but right now the city and the rest of the City Council need that time to understand and wrap their minds around what’s happened.

Keep in mind, everybody from the City Manager to the Mayor is in uncharted waters on this one. They are all trying to find the way forward.

Sid Tyler had been off the Council for several years when he died while bike riding in 2014. Although looking back, it seems like he had just left office when the tragedy occurred.

Of course the city will do what needs to be done in choosing a replacement by the 75 day deadline.

Still the City Council must find the proper way to honor John J. Kennedy.

If Eddie Van Halen gets a plaque at the Convention Center, and deservedly so, then how do we remember a son of Pasadena and a servant of the people.

As I said in my Political Gumbo column. John lived a life of service.

The youngest Pasadena NAACP president, class president at Blair, student senator at the University of Southern California, where he received dual degrees in International Relations and Economics, and he earned a Juris Doctor Degree from Howard University School of Law.

That’s just a small sampling of what John accomplished. He also was instrumental in setting up the city’s African Sister City, police oversight and he fought hard to make sure that the injustices of Pasadena’s past would never be forgotten or repeated.

A life like that should be honored by the PUSD and the City.

Interesting that Rick Cole talked about John having a president’s name. Although he shares the first and last name of a former president, two other council members, Madison and Wilson, share the last names of presidents.
Food for thought.