Looking Back, Looking Forward: Mayor Tornek Assesses the Year, and Gazes Into the Future

Earlier this week, Pasadena Now asked Mayor Terry Tornek to look back on the year that was, and cast a gaze towards 2017, with a perspective only he might have.

The most important stories of 2016?  Tornek first mentioned the new Minimum Wage Ordinance and all of its discussion and controversy over the past year.

When the ordinance passed unanimously in March, a City staff report framed the future by saying “it is difficult to predict the level of questions, compliance issues and complaints that will be generated by the minimum wage ordinance.”

“Likewise,” the report continued, “it is difficult to predict the level of ancillary matters that will be brought to light as a result of the enforcement program; for example, wage theft other than minimum wage violations.”

And at least one business leader predicted potentially calamitous results in the city due to the new ordinance.

“The reality is only a certain amount of price increase that customers will swallow and that’s not enough to cover increased employee cost because it’s not just the minimum wage but it’s the payroll packs and it’s the worker’s compensation,” said Pasadena Chamber of Commerce President Paul Little.

“And it’s the compression with everybody at the food chain. Somebody gets a raise, everybody wants a raise. So there’s significant cost, so they’re looking at ‘how do I cut costs so I can remain profitable?’ And that includes looking at automation, looking at reducing hours, and reducing number of employees.”

The City named Jon Pollard as the code compliance chief, and established a protocol for complaints and code enforcement.

The new minimum wage will raise salaries to $15 an hour by 2020, ahead of a state law, which aims to reach that goal by 2022.

Mayor Tornek also acknowledged the still-simmering controversy over the protocol and policy for the Police Department’s body-worn cameras, which were rolled out in November, as a major issue.

The existing policy, which was ultimately developed by Police Chief Phillip Sanchez in a “meet and confer” process with the Pasadena Police Officer’s Association, has met with disapproval by civil rights groups.

The process by which the policy was created and issued also engendered debate to such a degree that Public Safety Committee Chair John Kennedy asked Mayor Tornek to allow the full City Council to re-examine the matter. Such a discussions could hold implications for city lawmaking policy, observers have said.

According to the City Charter — which overrides the municipal code, Councilmembers, with a 5-0 vote — can modify or revise policy written by the City Manager. The City, meantime, has been named in a lawsuit by the Pasadena branch of the NAACP over the body worn camera policy, and thus is not likely to re-visit the policy issue and discussion until the lawsuit is settled.

Mayor Tornek pointed a large budget cut as being particularly significant.

The City cut $2 million out of out of its budget, leaving seven positions vacant. Even so, the City still looking to close large projected budget gaps.

“In terms of the budget, we have to look at not only 2017, but the years beyond that,” said Mayor Tornek. “Everything flows from the budget, everything we do, all the programs that we have ultimately have to get financed. While the discussion might seem dry and interesting, it’s really the driver as to the future of our community.”

According to City Manager Steve Mermell, a $4.9 million gap is projected for next year, and Pasadena’s five-year forecast increases the gap by as much as $10 million by 2021.

On a more positive side, Tornek noted, plans for a new Kaiser Permanente medical school to be built at the southeast corner of South Los Robles Avenue and East Green Street were unveiled this year.

The school will train students to be physicians in communities across the country.

Edward M. Ellison, MD, executive medical director of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, explained the facility’s curriculum will be “focused on providing high-quality, patient-centered care in both traditional and nontraditional settings, with an emphasis on collaboration and teamwork. Patient engagement, shared decision-making and evidence-based practice will be core to the curriculum design.”

Though still in its early planning stages, school officials have suggested they may be ready to start accepting students as soon as fall of 2019.

Pressed about the issues that would come to the fore in 2017, Tornek said he would be discussing those and other issues during his “State of the City” address on January 18. While he was reluctant to go into any details, Tornek did allow that “Budget will be an issue,” saying that there are “Structural budget issues that we have to resolve. While the discussion might seem dry and interesting, it’s really the driver as to the future of our community.”