Councilmember-Elect Cole Wants Changes to Capital Improvement Program

Councilmember Elect Rick Cole on Wednesday indicated that one of the things he would do after he is sworn into the City Council next month is push for changes to the City’s approach to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP).

“When I sit on this dais in a month, we are going to change the way business is done in the city on the capital program,” Cole said. “There’s $2 billion worth of unfunded capital projects in this city and we should be prioritizing them to have the biggest impact … And so we’re going to change that, because when projects like North Lake sit on the shelf for 27 years, it’s time to change the way we do business.”

The comments came during Wednesday’s Planning Commission during a discussion on a groundwater project at Washington Park and golf netting at the Brookside Golf Course.

It has been standard practice for the Planning Commission to review new capital projects for their “consistency” with the City’s General Plan. Both projects were brought forward outside the normal sequence due to staff insisting they were urgent priorities.

The commission voted to find both items are consistent with the General Plan.

Commissioners noted that funding one project can mean a delay in another. City staff could not identify which other project or if any project would be affected in order to complete the two projects discussed on Wednesday.

Cole said it is the planning authority’s responsibility under State law to assess the capital program in its entirety in relation to the implementation of the General Plan. He and his Commission colleagues have been pushing for a more comprehensive and strategic approach to capital budgeting.

The CIP budget, managed by the Department of Public Works, supports infrastructure improvements in key areas such as streets, transportation, parks, and public safety.

In July, the Commission discussed its role in the Capital Improvement Project process and made three recommendations.

At that time, the Commission asked the City Manager to schedule an annual meeting in the Fall to discuss proposed projects and priorities with representatives from Transportation and Public Works.

A subcommittee of the Commission would evaluate the projects and priorities and share them with the Commission.  The CIP budget would then come back to the Commission in the spring before it is submitted to the City Council.

On October 23, the Commission also urged the City to develop an overall plan for prioritizing and funding the $2 billion backlog of unfunded projects that include deferred maintenance to streets, sewers, storm drains, electric grid, and the Rose Bowl as well as projects outlined in the City’s various plans for improving neighborhoods, addressing climate change and improving pedestrian and bike safety. Finally, the Commission urged the City to move forward with the stalled update to the Street Tree Master Plan to enable a major increase in tree planting citywide.

City Staff responded at the earlier meeting that Public Works staff is reviewing the requests, and staff would be following up with the Commission. The Commission has not heard back as of yet.

Cole said the commission should be considering how projects fit into the City’s overall priorities and not just rubber stamping individual projects as they come up.

Although introduced as a “new” project, staff said the Washington Park project is already fully funded through Los Angeles County Measure W. It is not known how the golf course project will be funded.

City Staff has said that in some instances due to maintenance or safety concerns projects may need to be brought forward outside of the annual CIP process.

“This is the frustration,” Cole declared. “We have one project that’s coming to us to rubber stamp after it’s already been decided on and funded. Then we have another project that’s coming before us to rubber stamp where we don’t know where the funding is coming from. That’s precisely the tone and tenor of our request: not just to consider rubber stamping these (new) projects, but how they fit into the priorities.”

Residents near Washington Park who were attending the meeting to discuss the North Lake Specific Plan (also on the agenda) spoke and expressed surprise that the stormwater project was being rushed through with inadequate notice and a potentially flawed design. Public Works staff responded that the project design has not been finalized and there would be additional opportunity for public input.

Cole told Pasadena Now on Thursday that “business as usual has been to address projects one at a time in a siloed way instead of in a comprehensive way. The City has $2 billion in deferred projects that need to be prioritized and addressed. While this challenge is common for an older City, Pasadena can’t ignore it any longer. I’ll work with my Council colleagues and the City Manager to change the way we do business to ensure we maintain and enhance our City’s vital infrastructure and we do it in a way that’s affordable to our residents.”