Pasadena City Council to Consider Process for Appointing Police Oversight Commissioners

At its Monday meeting, the Pasadena City Council is scheduled to discuss the establishment of a formal process to form a Police Oversight Commission.

The council first voted in August to establish the 11-member commission and has held several meetings to discuss a framework of how it would be formed.

The council passed an ordinance earlier this month outlining the process for selecting commission members. At Monday’s meeting, they will vote on whether to direct the city attorney to prepare a resolution that would cement the proposed process into place, as was the recommendation of Councilman and Public Safety Committee Chair John Kennedy, who authored an agenda report on the issue.

The proposed framework calls for each of the seven council members and the mayor to nominate one member of the commission, with the three remaining members to be nominated by “community-based organizations,” according to the report.

“All nominations are subject to ratification by the City Council,” the report added.

Members would be required to be city residents, and at least 50 percent of them would have to be female, “if feasible,” the report states.

Commissioners would serve three-year terms, “however, initial members shall be appointed to terms of one, two, and years, respectively in order to establish staggered terms,” the report said. “Of the initial members, four shall be appointed to serve a three-year term; four members shall be appointed to a two-year term; and the remaining three members shall be appointed to a one-year term.”

The city’s Public Safety Committee discussed the formation of the Police Oversight Commission during the Oct. 7 meeting.

Although no action was taken, the Public Safety Committee, “Given the significant level of public interest in this subject matter, the committee discussed ways to maximize community engagement in the appointment process,” according to the agenda report.

One possible approach discussed was to have the City Council conduct interviews of their nominees at a public meeting prior to making appointments.

“As to the three members of community-based organizations, the council might consider selecting a panel of community-based organization members to recommend a slate of six potential appointees for the council to consider from which the council would select three,” the report said.

Monday’s special City Council meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. and can be viewed online at cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas.