Guest Opinion | Councilmember Rick Cole: One Click Politics Won’t Solve SB 79 Challenge

This week, Pasadena Councilmembers have been receiving nearly identical emails from residents with the subject: “Urgent Action Needed: Protecting Pasadena’s Historic Neighborhoods.”

These urge the Council to urgently act to change a new state housing law — and to take full advantage of its provisions to delay its implementation.

The emails are generated through a software platform called “One Click Politics.” If solving Pasadena’s housing and historic preservation challenges were really that simple, we could solve all our tough problems with one click.

Under the provisions of SB 79, passed last year, areas around transit stops like Pasadena’s A Line stations must allow for high-density apartments and condos. SB 79 establishes varying density requirements around transit stations, while also allowing cities limited flexibility to phase implementation and propose alternative ways to achieve comparable housing capacity.

That’s what the Pasadena City Council is now poised to do, with a looming deadline of the law going into effect on July 1.

Taking advantage of every opportunity of the bill’s delaying provision is what those behind this campaign are seeking. Ironically, doing so could produce the opposite of what many residents intend: redirecting high-density housing into some of Pasadena’s lowest-density neighborhoods.

Here’s why: many of the areas around the stations where delay is allowed under the bill are already zoned for multi-family development. If you understand the purpose of the bill, that makes sense — lawmakers gave more flexibility to cities that had previously allowed for more housing near transit. But here’s the kicker — where the areas around stations are predominantly single-family, the bill does not allow delays — buildings up to five and six stories are allowed by right — starting in a month.

Obviously the Council must carefully weigh the nuances involved in calibrating how to implement the law or risk severe unintended consequences, including massive changes to areas previously zoned for low-density homes. But that gets lost in the “one click politics” messages — some of which are paradoxically coming from the very neighborhoods most likely to be on the receiving end of the development pressures the messages are seeking to redirect.

The “one click politics” message also asks the Council to “advocate for substantial improvements to the law itself.” Here it gets even more complicated. Opponents of the bill, which included most cities around the state, vehemently opposed its passage. Their opposition failed to persuade the Legislature and the Governor then — and there is little indication implacable opposition will be any more effective now that the bill is law.

Last year, when the bill was being debated, I talked directly to both our Assemblymember John Harabedian and our State Senator Sasha Rene Perez. Both had run on tackling our state’s dire affordable housing crisis that puts unsustainable burdens on renters — and prices young families out of the California Dream of home ownership.

They were open-minded and sympathetic to the historic preservation concerns about SB 79 — and actually helped ensure the inclusion of the provisions that opponents now insist on fully exploiting. Moreover, they remain committed to common sense compromises to protect historic homes and neighborhoods.

It’s unrealistic to imagine that those who demand a return “local control” to allow cities to keep out new housing near transit will get any better hearing in Sacramento now than they did last year. Pushing for drastic changes won’t fly — but working collaboratively with the law’s supporters for fine tuning improvements could.

Citizen engagement in the important planning decisions facing Pasadena is vital. Careful planning is the bedrock of Pasadena’s unique character and diversity. It’s equally crucial that engagement goes beyond the fantasy of “one click politics.”

Two years ago, when as a Planning Commissioner I ran for City Council, I knocked on more than 5,000 doors. At many of them, I was able to have substantive conversations about our community and its future. Standing on resident’s porches or sitting in their living rooms and kitchens, I found voters to be deeply thoughtful and caring. As we discussed challenges like homelessness, climate change, public education and community planning, I often told residents I didn’t have a magic wand in my pocket. Most understood that durable solutions require careful thought, collaboration, persistence and patience.

It’s the same with recalibrating city planning in the face of Sacramento’s pressure to increase housing near transit and jobs. Finding the right balance will require far more than “one click politics.” Pasadena’s “sense of place” is the result of generations of residents who engage deeply, debate thoughtfully, and ultimately find common ground to shape change rather than simply resist it. SB 79 forces difficult choices. Meeting them wisely will call on the very best of Pasadena’s traditions: thoughtful planning, informed dialogue, and a willingness to grapple honestly with change.

Rick Cole represents District 2 on the Pasadena City Council. Called “one of Southern California’s most visionary planning thinkers,” by the LA Times, he has served as a city manager in Azusa, Ventura and Santa Monica and deputy mayor and chief deputy controller in the city of Los Angeles