Pasadena Council Votes to Put Vice Mayor Rotation Tradition in Writing

The Pasadena City Council on Tuesday approved a guideline for choosing its vice mayor that names the longest-serving member who has not yet held the post as next in line and gives consideration to the tradition of two consecutive one-year terms.

The vote was unanimous, with Councilmember Steve Madison absent; he had left the meeting earlier in the evening. City Clerk Mark Jomsky said he would add the language to the Council’s meeting policy, which he said needs other changes, and that the revised policy would probably come back to the Council.

Members said the guideline is not binding. The City Charter requires the Council to elect a vice mayor every December at its organizational meeting, and no Council action is valid without five affirmative votes. Under the guideline, if a nominee does not receive five votes, the Council may elect another member.

The next selection is set for the Council’s organizational meeting on Monday, Dec. 7, according to Jomsky’s report to the Council. The report identifies Councilmember Justin Jones as the longest-serving member who has not yet been vice mayor. Jones joined the Council by appointment on Sept. 29, 2022, was elected in 2024 and was reelected June 2, the report says.

Under the City Charter, the vice mayor exercises the powers and duties of the mayor when the mayor is absent or disabled. Since a November 2024 City Charter amendment, the Council elects an acting mayor from among its members if the mayor’s office becomes vacant, a duty that previously fell to the vice mayor, the report says.

The proposal went through the Council’s Legislative Policy Committee on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. Vice Mayor Jess Rivas said the committee did not reach a recommendation and that she thought it was mostly because Madison, its chair, made “the very correct and astute point that it’s in our charter that we have an election.”

“I think it’s just easier if we all know who’s next or the next several council members who are coming up and it’s not a surprise,” Rivas said.

Jomsky’s draft ended with a sentence saying nothing in the policy would prevent the Council from electing the same person to a second one-year term. Councilmember Jason Lyon moved to adopt the draft with that sentence changed to allow “consecutive one-year terms.” Lyon said the change meant the Council would not be limited to two.

“If we love somebody and we all want to do it, five of us want to do it, we can elect someone to three,” Lyon said. He also said he would support “not thinking of or treating the vice mayor position as ceremonial,” and said it is important “that each of us steps up for a time to sort of second the mayor and give wise counsel.”

Councilmember Rick Cole declined to second the motion. “I’m not going to second it because I agree with my colleague about the potential importance of the job,” Cole said, but he said the Council should memorialize a two-year term as the practice or presumption. Lyon’s motion died for lack of a second.

Cole then moved to replace the draft’s final sentence with language that “consideration will be given to honoring the tradition of two one-year terms to give all members equal opportunity to serve,” and agreed to add the word “consecutive.” Councilmember Tyron Hampton seconded. Cole said the language is “not legally binding.”

Cole said it has been the practice since 1965 for the vice mayor to be the next member who had not yet served and to serve two one-year terms, apart from changes in election timing, deaths in office, election defeats and members not running again. He said the Council had departed from that practice, “and it was messy.” Cole also said that in 1965 Clarence Oakley was denied a second year.

“This is not high school. It’s not a popularity contest. This is not something that we decide in the back room at the last minute,” Cole said. He also called the post “largely an honorary role” and said “we cannot bind future councils in a legal way.”

Mayor Victor Gordo said he “would only add political opportunism to the list” Cole had outlined. Gordo said the departure from the practice “was a mess” and had the effect of denying “an African American woman” a second year. He did not name her.

Jomsky’s report lists vice mayors since 1999; most served two years. Felicia Williams served from 2022 to 2023. Madison, who had been vice mayor from 2005 to 2007, followed for 2023 to 2024. Rivas has held the post since 2024.

“It may not be important to future city councils and they certainly under the charter would have the right to change it,” Gordo said of the practice. For the current Council, he said, “it’s important to have stability. It’s important to have certainty. And it’s also important to have civility.”