Pasadena City Councilmember-elect Rick Cole has announced a series of monthly issue forums, with the inaugural event focusing on “Affordable Housing” on May 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the Jefferson School Auditorium in Pasadena.
Cole, a former Pasadena Mayor and current Planning Commissioner, was elected in March to represent District 2. His term begins in December.
In a statement, Cole said he will moderate a panel of experts to discuss the city’s housing affordability challenges and potential solutions. The panel will include Sarah Letts, Executive Director at Hollywood Community Housing Corporation; Phil Burns, Principal at the Arroyo Group and past member of Mayor’s Housing Task Force; Margaret Muñoz, Planner at the Arroyo Group, formerly with Abundant Housing LA; and Phlunte Riddle, State Commissioner and past member of Mayor’s Housing Task Force.
“Few topics evoke such passionate debate as the issue of housing affordability,” Cole said. “This is obviously not just a Pasadena concern – but our city is under State mandate to provide our share of the solution, particularly because as a major job center, we face the dual dilemma of longtime residents being priced out and essential workers forced to commute long distances.”
Last year, the Pasadena City Council unanimously adopted a new Housing Element of the General Plan, which outlines plans for up to 9,500 additional housing units to be built by 2020, with nearly two-thirds designated as affordable for low and moderate income households.
Like many cities in Southern California, Pasadena has consistently fallen short of State-mandated affordable housing targets, Cole said.
The monthly forums will be held on the third Tuesday of each month at Jefferson School Auditorium, 1500 E. Villa Street, and will address topics such as public safety, climate change, supporting local businesses, and groundwater supply.
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