Monday’s Council Meeting Begins at 5 p.m.

Monday’s City Council meeting will begin at 5 p.m. according to Monday’s agenda due to two closed session items that need to be heard earlier in the day.

During the closed session, which begins at 4 p.m., a conference will be held with negotiators from the Pasadena Management Association, (PMA).

(PMA) is the bargaining unit for 500 City of Pasadena management employees, representing top, middle, and professional managers. Managers in the executive tier, confidential managers, and sworn members of the Police and Fire departments are not represented.

A city council conference with legal counsel is also scheduled on the city’s continued legal battle with the Tournament of Roses.

The Tournament of Roses asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to revive its claims against the city in a lawsuit.

That has done significant damage to the relationship between the city and the Tournament but could also pave the way for the Tournament to become part of the expanded College Football Playoffs and control where and when the game is held.

In July, Judge Andre Birotte sided with the city in dismissing all but one of the counts filed by the Tournament in its February lawsuit claiming trademark infringement, unfair competition, false association, slander and false advertising.

The Tournament has filed for an appeal in the Ninth Circuit.

The problems started when COVID-19 restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancelation of the annual Rose Parade and barred fans from attending the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena. The game was ultimately moved to Arlington, Texas, marking the first time since 1942 that the Rose Bowl game was played outside of Pasadena.

A federal court lawsuit claimed that the Tournament invoked the “force majeure” clause of its contract, maintaining that the pandemic was out of its control, so the association had the right to move the game out of Pasadena to AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The College Football Playoffs is looking to expand its tournament and wants the new format to focus more on the matchups instead of past traditions.

Under that format, the Rose Bowl could be forced to abandon the traditional Pac-12 vs. Big 12 game Jan 1 game and hold the game in early December.

The television rights for a proposed 12-team playoff could be worth about $1.9 billion annually.