New Financing Board to Vote on Bylaws Making the City Manager Its Executive Director

The board overseeing Pasadena’s proposed Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District is scheduled to consider adopting bylaws on Friday, Aug. 28, that would install the City Manager as the authority’s Executive Director and reserve the board’s top officer post for a city representative.

The proposed bylaws are attached to the agenda for the board’s 9 a.m. special meeting at Pasadena City Hall. The same agenda item asks the board to direct preparation of a draft Infrastructure Financing Plan.

For residents and property owners, the document answers a threshold question: who actually runs this new district. The bylaws state that the district is a legally constituted local governmental entity separate and distinct from the City of Pasadena and the County of Los Angeles, subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act as well as the California Public Records Act and the Political Reform Act of 1974. It was established for the sole purpose of financing public facilities, remediation, affordable housing or other projects authorized by California Government Code section 53398.50 and following, and is organized exclusively to implement the Infrastructure Financing Plan prepared and adopted under Government Code sections 53398.59 through 53398.74. Adoption would require a majority vote of the board at a meeting.

Membership would consist of two members of the Pasadena City Council, one member of the County Board of Supervisors or that member’s designee, and two members of the public — one chosen by the City Council and one chosen by the County Supervisors. Public members appointed with respect to the City would be selected by a majority vote of the Council and would serve at the pleasure of the Council and until a successor assumes office.

Public members appointed with respect to the County would be selected by a majority of the County Supervisors and would serve at the pleasure of the County Supervisors. The County Supervisor would designate in writing, submitted to the Chair, a deputy or other official from that Supervisor’s district office to act in case of absence, and the City Council could designate one of its own members as an alternate for the two appointed Councilmembers.

The board would set overall policy and direction while delegating day-to-day operations to City staff. Directors would receive no compensation, though they could be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties. The City Manager of Pasadena would serve as Executive Director, with day-to-day responsibility for the district, and the Executive Director or a designee would attend all board meetings, report on the district’s progress and answer directors’ questions. The Executive Director would designate a City staff member as Staff Secretary to keep records of board actions, oversee minutes, send meeting announcements, distribute copies of minutes and the agenda to each director and ensure records are maintained in accordance with the law, and could assign other City staff to district work.

Officers would be limited to a Chair and Vice Chair elected from among the board’s own members. The bylaws specify that the Chair must be selected from among the city representatives serving on the board, while the Vice Chair may be any member. The Chair would preside over all meetings, the Vice Chair would preside in the Chair’s absence, and the board would designate a member to preside if neither could serve. Both officers would hold their positions for as long as they remain on the board and meet that definition.

On meetings, the bylaws would require notice under the Brown Act and set a floor of at least one meeting a year, held to adopt an annual report within seven months of the close of each fiscal year following a public hearing, or otherwise as required to comply with the statute governing district activities. Special meetings would be called and held under the Brown Act, and remote meetings would be permitted as provided by law. A quorum would require a majority of the total membership, and no act of the board would be valid or binding unless a majority of all directors are present, though the abstention or recusal of a director who is present would not break the quorum. Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised would govern in all cases where applicable and not inconsistent with the bylaws or with federal, state and local law, and a failure to follow those parliamentary rules would not invalidate an action.

Public comment would be handled by written request to board staff, with each speaker allowed a total of three minutes per item. The Chair could limit or expand testimony as necessary to keep business moving efficiently, subject to action by a majority of the board, and participation in remote meetings would follow whatever the law permits. Vacancies would be filled by the Chair notifying the Mayor and the Chair of the County Board of Supervisors and requesting a replacement, with public member vacancies handled under Government Code section 54974. Resignations would have to be in writing to the Executive Director. Any provision of the bylaws could be amended by majority vote of the board. City and County expenses incurred in forming and administering the district could be paid from district funds where applicable law permits.

The Pasadena Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District Public Finance Authority is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, in the Council Chamber, Room S249, at Pasadena City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-4124 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.