Pasadena Committee Set to Review Proposed Restorative Justice Policy Framework

The newly formed Restorative Justice Standing Committee of Pasadena’s Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group will hold its inaugural meeting Wednesday, April 2 to consider a proposed Restorative Justice Framework and Policy initially for use in connection with the City’s SR-710 Master Plan.

The seven-person standing committee will review documentation prepared by Estolano Advisors, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm that developed the framework to address historical harms caused by the construction of the SR-710 interchange.

According to the draft policy, “Restorative Justice takes action to address past harm caused by construction of the 710 freeway in Pasadena. It seeks to identify, acknowledge, remedy, and respond to these harms through open and responsive engagement with impacted communities with the goal of developing meaningful community-identified solutions for City Council’s consideration.”

The draft framework includes 12 restorative justice elements categorized into four areas: past, process, outcomes, and tools. These elements include Historical Acknowledgement, Open Dialogue, Clear Feedback Process, Co-Creation Planning, Support Community Oversight, Impacted Communities Wealth Generation, Legislative Action, Community Benefits Agreement, Affordable Housing, Procurement Intervention, Small Business/Workforce Investment, and Hard Infrastructure.

The framework draws from case studies in other cities, including Portland, Oregon’s Broadway Corridor Community Benefits Agreement and St. Paul, Minnesota’s Reconnect Rondo project. Both initiatives address displacement and harm caused by past highway construction.

Current utilization of these elements in Pasadena includes the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance requiring 20 percent of residential dwelling units in a project be sold or rented at an affordable rate, a historic report on SR-710 displacement being conducted by three consultants (ARG, Allegra, and UCLA), the Our Pasadena planning initiative launched in 2018, and the existing Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group mechanism for community feedback.

Committee members Jose Luis Correa, Adriana Lim, Charles Loveman, Blair Miller, Jasmin Shupper, Bryan Takeda, and Tina Williams will meet at 6 p.m. at Robinson Park Recreation Center, 1081 North Fair Oaks Avenue in Northwest Pasadena.

The public can attend in person or join electronically via the city’s website at https://www.cityofpasadena.net/cczoom or by telephone at 1-669-444-9171, Meeting ID: 161 482 44.

The Reconnecting Pasadena SR-710 Master Plan is funded by $2 million from the United States Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, which aims to address the displacement that the SR-710 interchange construction created in the 1960s. The program seeks to “enhance connectivity, mobility and quality of life” in and around the 710 Stub through “transportation infrastructure, economic opportunities, cultural attractions and green space.”