The City Council voted to hold two meetings on Tuesdays in September as part of a trial run to see if moving meetings would provide staff and Councilmembers more time to do the city’s business more efficiently.
In correspondence, local residents expressed frustration not just with the late start to council meetings, but also frequently canceled City Council committee meetings.
The council agreed Monday to hold special meetings on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Tuesday, Sept. 29, in place of its regularly scheduled Monday meetings on Sept. 14 and Sept. 28.
“The City Council has been failing to conduct its duties with repeated and habitual cancellation of public meetings and grossly late starts,” one letter read. “This conduct is disrupting the city’s ability to act on a wide range of matters and is wildly disrespectful to the public that the council is formed to serve.”
The same letter was sent by several local residents.
Pasadena City Council meetings are traditionally held Mondays. The city’s website lists council meetings as beginning at 5 p.m., with a closed session. An open session meeting, which can be attended by the public, is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. public meeting.
Litigation, employment and other matters permitted under state law are discussed in closed session before the council begins its public meeting.
Although closed session meetings do not allow for public comment, some of the city’s most important matters are discussed in those sessions including the search for a new City Manager and the city’s lawsuit against the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
According to the letter, council meetings over the past 20 months have started an average of 30 minutes late. The letter also compared the delays to Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) attendance standards, noting that students can be considered truant under state law after repeated absences or tardiness of more than 30 minutes.
The complaints extend beyond the council itself to its committees.
Last year, eight of 14 scheduled Public Safety Committee meetings were canceled. Some of those cancellations coincided with holidays, the emergency caused by the Eaton Fire or canceled City Council meetings.
So far this year, three of nine Public Safety Committee meetings have been canceled.
Although there is no set rule, council committees generally do not hold meetings during weeks when the full City Council does not meet.
Council committees cannot conduct business without a quorum, the minimum number of members required for a legal vote. Several Councilmembers work outside of Los Angeles County which can cause committees to lose their quorums.
“Please honor your commitments and our time, and figure out a way to start City Council meetings on time and to stop cancelling Committee meetings,” District 5 resident Jennifer Collins wrote in a separate letter.
The letters also cited the cancellation of a Municipal Services Committee meeting shortly before its scheduled start and the cancellation of a July Housing, Homelessness and Planning Committee meeting only hours before it was scheduled to begin.
The correspondence did not provide documentation establishing the claimed 30-minute average delay over the past 20 months.
“This is a pattern that has pervaded for far too long.”
The September experiment could give the council an opportunity to determine whether Tuesday meetings alleviate some of the scheduling pressures contributing to the problem.
“This is abysmal,” the letter wrote. “Our elected Councilmembers must actually show up to do the work they have been elected to do. And community members should not be left waiting way past the start time for meetings to begin.”
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