The City Council is scheduled to vote on the nominations to the charter task force during Monday’s City Council meeting.
According to Monday’s agenda, Lena Kennedy has been nominated by District 1 Councilmember Tyron Hampton. In District 2, Margaret McAustin has been asked to serve on the task force. District 3 Councilmember Justin Jones has nominated Marcus D. Hatcher. District 4 Councilmember Gene Masuda has nominated Paul Novak. Liberty McCoy and Ken Chawkins have been asked to serve on the task force by Jessica Rivas and Steve Madison in Districts 5 and 6 respectively. Andy Wilson would represent District 7.
Mayor Vince Gordo has nominated Vince Farhat, and Raul Salinas would serve as the at-large nominee.
The Task Force will examine governance issues and consider changes to the City Charter.
The Task Force will assist the City Council with a review of the City Governance Charter Amendment topics and submit any recommended amendments to the City Charter as part of a Final Report due in early summer.
The Pasadena City Charter is a legal document that outlines the organization, powers, functions, and essential procedures of the City’s government. It serves as the city’s constitution and defines the relationship between the city government and its residents. The Charter establishes the framework for the city’s governance and provides the legal basis for the city’s operations.
The Charter was originally passed in 1901 and any changes to it must be submitted to Pasadena voters for approval.
In August 2022, the City Council expressed interest in reviewing the city’s Charter for possible amendments to address the City Council’s appointment process due to vacancy. In December, there was a request to review the role of the Vice Mayor.
Aside from the mentioned requests, several other topics related to the Charter were raised over the years.
According to City Clerk Mark Jomsky, the current list of possible Charter amendment topics related to City Council governance include the City Council vacancy appointment process and the ability to call a special election to fill an unanticipated Council vacancy, City Council term limits, Vice mayor appointment timing and term and timing of mayoral election in relation to Council District elections.
According to Jomsky, these amendment topics have been raised in recent years by Councilmembers.
City staff has also raised the possibility of revising the Charter language related to the annual Light and Power Fund transfer to the General Fund to use current accounting terminology, considering increases to procurement limits that do not require City Council approval and making “clean-up” corrections to the City Charter.
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