Monday Morning Bullpen: The Big Comeback

After two weeks off, city government returns full speed ahead.

The big ticket item at Monday’s City Council meeting is the new city manager’s contract.

All the bells and whistles are there, including $330,000 a year, relocation fees and a car allowance.

The question is will Márquez make the move to Pasadena.

Truth to tell, he may be the first City Manager in a long time with no excuse for not moving to town.

His two predecessors, Steve Mermell and Michael Beck were already living in Southern California when they were hired.
No they were not in Pasadena, but they were not too far away.

But Márquez won’t be able to attend council meetings on Mondays and drive back to Santa Clara on Tuesdays, so expect a move.

In my learnéd opinion, the job takes on a whole new meaning when you have to face your neighbors in the grocery store.

Yes, that’s good and bad.

No it shouldn’t be mandatory, but top officials should live here and experience Pasadena the same way, or as much as possible, as the people who pay taxes here everyday.

We shall soon see if he opts in.

The other interesting thing in that agenda item was this line in the staff report:

“Miguel Márquez emerged as the best choice and was unanimously appointed by the City Council at the July 11, 2022 City Council meeting.”

Umm the agenda item came out on July 7.

A crystal ball perhaps?

Either way, Márquez’s contract will of course be approved on Monday. Let’s face it, he needed council support to even get an offer in the first place.

And unanimous or not, the community will get its first look at Márquez at Monday’s City Council meeting.

After that, the next big story kicks off, which is the search for a new police chief.

On an unrelated matter, I like the consent item on a resolution giving the city more power when dealing with hotels that try to cheat the city on the total occupancy tax.

According to written reports, the former Sheraton Hotel owed the city $850,000 in TOT. The owners of the hotel later filed for bankruptcy.

Slap a lien on that bad boy I say.

The Municipal Services Committee will receive an update on the Underground Utility Program.

That’s the program former city employee Danny Wooten was working on when he bilked the city out of millions of dollars in the headline making embezzlement scandal.

Should be an interesting update.