Tempers Flare at Public Meeting About Hiring New City Manager

Emotions flared at a community town hall in Crevier Lounge at Pasadena City College Thursday held by the city to share opinions regarding the hiring of a new city manager to replace Steve Mermell, who retired late last year.

Former Pasadena City Manager Cynthia Kurtz is currently filling the position on an interim basis but is not applying for the permanent position. The position is appointed by the City Council, not elected.

Wendi Brown of WBCP Inc., an Oregon-based recruiting firm hired by the city, officiated at the event.

“The city manager is not an elected position,” Brown said. “The city manager is the person that actually helps the council, the elected officials, achieve their goals. So, the council is the one that sets the direction of the city, and sets the policy for the city.”

“The city manager’s responsibility is to make sure that those goals are happening through the processes of the department and the over 2,000 employees that work for the city.”

Brown began the meeting by asking residents to talk about Pasadena’s unique qualities that a new manager should be aware of.

While a number of residents talked about climate change and the City’s adaptation to it, as well as government transparency, local resident Adriana Bautista spoke about two Pasadena police officers fatally shooting Kendreck McDade, an unarmed 19-year-old Pasadena Black man, on March 24, 2012. Thursday was the tenth anniversary.

Bautista complained that the officers involved have not been fired and were still actively patrolling Pasadena neighborhoods. (The pair were cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.)

A shouting match among audience members ensued as Brown attempted to redirect Bautista’s comments back to focusing on what qualities the  new city manager should possess.

“The family of Kendrec McDade deserves accountability..” began one participant, who was then overwhelmed by more shouting.

Audience members yelled over each other and tempers flared. Brown was able to calm the situation.

Bautista returned to speak twice more, with more comments about government transparency and militarization of the police.

Various audience members also returned more than once to the subject of racism. One participant, a middle-aged white man who would not give his name, told Brown, “Don’t hire a white male!”

Another participant said that it was “very important that we get to 100 percent clean energy in a very short amount of time.”

A woman who identified herself only as “Cynthia,” a District 6 resident told Brown, “This is a tremendously important moment in our history. The next several years are going to make a difference to, really, all of our lives. Every summer we’re burning up…We’re going to have to make the transition away from fossil fuels. And there is no strategy to do that. Really, there’s no vision.”

Among a list of five hiring points, Cynthia also said that the new city manager “needs to lead a new greenhouse strategy for the city’s many departments, and understand energy generation and distribution enough so that he can work confidently and oversee the direction of PWP.”

Brown told the meeting that the application process would begin April 1 and run through April 28, and she expected to receive anywhere from 50 to 60 resumes. She would then talk personally to perhaps half that number., she said.

A much smaller number would then be interviewed over the weekend of June 3-4, before the final selected applicants are presented to the full city council.

A survey for residents to share concerns and interest they may have in the hiring of the next City Manager is available in English  here,

A Spanish-language survey is available  here.