Political Gumbo: Along Came Jones

The Pasadena City Council appointed Justin Jones on Thursday to fill the first vacancy left by the death of John Kennedy.

Here are some notes I have been keeping over the past 10 days or so, including Monday.

Truth to tell, based on the presentations the worst thing to happen to Lamar and Smith was Jones drew the lot to give his presentation last.

He was extremely knowledgeable, charismatic and finally he had the resume.

He was the only applicant that checked all three of the boxes in a larger than life way.

Lasting impressions count.

Smith was the most articulate of the trio, no shock there.

I think Lamar wanted it the most, again not shocked.

But it takes more than that to sit in one of the big chairs.

Expect immediate campaigning to begin for the 2024 election or maybe even the December appointment.

But here’s the question.

Will the current shenanigans continue, or will the candidates attempt to connect with voters to discuss the issues.

Sheesh.

The letter writing campaigns and thinly disguised attacks on candidates’ residency was way over the top for an appointed position.

Also, folks were campaigning citywide for endorsements like it was a mayoral election.

Not sure why the push for endorsements, the Mayor and the City Council were the only ones with a vote.

The pissy behavior was an easy reminder of what John Kennedy brought to the Council — class and decorum.

By the way, prior to Kennedy’s death the City Council had three members with presidential surnames — Kennedy, Wilson and Madison. Kind of shocked there has never been a President Williams.

However, at no time have two local candidates’ names combined for the title of a TV show. In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Newman and Redford’s characters adopted aliases after they fled to Bolivia — Smith and Jones.
Circa 1969 when the western still had a place on network TV, those aliases were used to create the TV show “Alias Smith and Jones.”

Of course that means absolutely nothing, but hey I have to stretch these columns out.

Mentioning Lucious Smith, he will perform the eulogy at Kennedy’s public memorial on Friday. Although Lucious did not get the seat, he has lived in the district longer and voted in more elections than Lamar and Jones according to voter registration records.

By the way, what’s with the two Council members calling on the City Clerk to publish the voting registration records of the candidates?

Smacks of trying to move the needle.

Either way, Jones now has all the powers of a sitting City Councilmember.

Hopefully, he takes some time to listen and meet with residents of the district, who have real concerns.

We will see.

Here are a few questions I wish the City Council asked the candidates.
“Who can the City Council hire and fire? Can the City Council fire or order the City Manager to fire a police officer?”

Get it on the record up front.

This one would have been fun.

“What are the borders of District 3?”

Also, how does the City Council-City Manager form of government work?

I would have been shocked if any of the applicants supplied the correct answers to those two.

This one would have been great also.

“Where can you find staff reports on items in the City Council agenda?”

And … “If a tree falls on the border of Altadena and Pasadena …” well that one would have been too hard.

Last point, Jason Lyon should have been briefed on the decisions by the ad-hoc committee that laid out the process.

Lyon’s first vote could be to appoint a District 3 Council member in December.

Yes, Lyon could sit down and immediately shake things up.

That’s why voting counts.