Mayor Frames Pasadena’s Future Through Years of Crisis and Recovery

Mayor Victor Gordo stood before the Rotary Club of Pasadena membedrship on Wednesday and, despite a billed theme of “Pasadena’s Future,” spent much of his remarks looking back, recounting a tenure shaped by overlapping crises that tested the city’s stability and resolve.

Introduced by Pasadena Media CEO and Rotary member George Falardeau, Gordo described his time in office as defined less by any single challenge than by their accumulation.

“My mayorship has been one of crisis,” he said, recalling how he was elected in 2020 “and the world shut down,” with the onset of COVID-19.

Gordo moved chronologically through a series of events that followed: the pandemic’s economic and public health impacts, the nationwide social justice movement sparked by the killing of George Floyd, internal turnover across city leadership, and the more recent devastation of the Eaton Fire.

“It’s not one issue,” Gordo said. “It’s the number and the intensity of issues … all of them breaking the surface nearly simultaneously.”

During the pandemic, he said, Pasadena faced not only external pressures but internal instability, cycling through multiple interim leaders. 

“The goal for me at the time was for no one to know that in my first two years, I worked with three different department heads, four fire chiefs, and five police chiefs, because of the acting positions,” he noted.

Gordo pointed to additional challenges, including uncertainty over the Rose Bowl Game’s location, disputes with the state over land-use authority, and evolving federal immigration enforcement policies — each arriving in rapid succession.

Despite that turbulence, he said, Pasadena has emerged in a strong position.

“The city’s doing well,” he said, citing increased activity at the Rose Bowl and Convention Center, along with a surge in investment in medical technology companies, with more than 300 firms arriving in recent years.

He also highlighted the city’s financial standing, noting the general fund has grown from about $265 million in 2020 to an anticipated $365 million, while reserves now exceed pre-pandemic levels.

Still, Gordo warned of potential economic headwinds.

Sales tax revenue is beginning to flatten, he said, and broader fiscal pressures at the state level could have downstream effects.

“We are anticipating revenue losses in the next year,” he said, adding that the city is working to prepare in advance rather than react during a downturn.

Looking ahead, he outlined priorities including enhanced fire prevention, infrastructure improvements, homelessness services and a transition to carbon-free energy, while urging caution on major long-term decisions such as redevelopment of the 710 corridor.

“We cannot rush this effort for political short-term expedience,” Gordo said.

He closed with a broader reflection, tying Pasadena’s future to a sense of shared responsibility.

“What’s important,” he said, “is our common humanity.”