Council to Consider Ratifying Resolution for CalPERS Appointment on Monday

As part of Monday’s consent calendar, the City Council could ratify an already adopted resolution to allow a CalPERS retiree to serve as interim general manager of Pasadena Water and Power.

Last year, the City Council adopted a resolution authorizing, but not requiring, City Manager Cynthia Kurtz to appoint CalPERS retirees to serve in several vacant positions.

Following the retirement of then-incumbent PWP General Manager Gurcharan Bawa.  Kurtz selected Jeff Kightlinger, a CalPERS retiree, to serve as interim PWP General Manager.

Kightlinger began his term on January 3 after active recruitment for a regular appointment began. Kightlinger will continue this role until the position is filled.

This approach was done in coordination with CalPERS to ensure compliance with both the rules applicable to the appointment of a CalPERS retiree to a vacant position.

A further condition of Cal PERS’s approval was the ratification of the city manager’s selection at a subsequent meeting of the City Council if a CalPERS retiree was selected to fill the PWP General Manager position on an interim basis.

Here are the other items on Monday’s consent calendar:

• A resolution ordering the summary vacation of three public service easements located at 951 S. Fair Oaks Ave., as recommended by the Pasadena Water and Power Department. The easements have not been utilized by the city for more than five years. These easements are for “public utility” purposes. PWP does not have any electrical lines at this location and does not foresee a need for these easements in the future. PWP has confirmed with all applicable city departments that they do not have a use for these easements nor do they foresee a need for these easements in the future.

•  Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement with W. Brown Creative Partners (WBCP) in an amount not to exceed $32,800 to conduct the recruitment process for the next city manager. A request for proposals (RFP) was posted for executive search services for a city manager recruitment process. Six executive search firms submitted proposals during the filing period. Human Resources staff subsequently reviewed the proposals to assess the proposers’ description of services, experience, qualifications and cost, as well as whether the proposers were local Pasadena businesses and/or certified with the state as a small business. Vice Mayor Andy Wilson and councilmembers John Kennedy, Gene Masuda, and Jessica Rivas interviewed the most qualified firms and recommended W. Brown Creative Partners.

• Authorize the Mayor to transmit a letter of support, and staff to work with the office of the State Senator Anthony J. Portantino on proposed legislation which would, among other things, create the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Regional Housing Trust Fund joint powers authority to generate new funding to address the need for affordable housing. While there is an affordable housing crisis statewide, the shortage of affordable housing is especially acute in the Arroyo Verdugo region of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena due to the high cost of housing in those areas. The cities of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena each operate their own respective housing programs which encompass a full spectrum of affordable housing activities including the provision of rental subsidies for very low and extremely low-income households, homeownership opportunities, and the development of large affordable housing projects. A key factor which significantly limits the city’s ability to adequately address its affordable housing crisis is the lack of new funding. However, one solution which may potentially generate significant amounts of funding is being proposed in a bill that State Senator Anthony J. Portantino is considering to introduce to the state legislature. The bill would create a regional housing trust fund that would be administered by a joint powers authority (JPA) comprised of the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

• Approve and adopt the 2021 Power Integrated Resource Plan update. Pasadena Water and Power has prepared a Power IRP or similar document to guide long-term power resource procurement strategies every three to five years since the early 1990s. Most recently, Power IRPs were developed in 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018. PWP’s 2021 Power IRP Update is a revision of Pasadena’s long-term power resource plan adopted in 2018 by City Council, with the objective of identifying a portfolio of power supply resources to provide a sustainable balance of system reliability, environmental stewardship, and competitive and stable rates.