Rivas Becomes Vice Mayor; New City Council Sworn In

A new City Council was sworn in at Monday’s organizational meeting, and a new Vice Mayor was named.

The City Council voted Jess Rivas as the new Vice Mayor. Rivas succeeds Councilmember Steve Madison in that position.

Madison nominated Rivas for the position. “She’s distinguished herself among even this group of incredible servants in her time on the Council,” Madison said. “And I know she’ll do a great job serving you and the Council, Mayor and the City by extension.”

Multiple Council members seconded the nomination, and several others said they had planned to second the motion. Rivas thanked her colleagues for their kind words. “I appreciate the opportunity to serve,” she said.

Rivas was elected at the conclusion of the evening that saw a record five Councilmembers and the Mayor sworn in. Incumbents Tyron Hampton, Justin Jones, Gene Masuda, and Steve Madison were sworn in along with Mayor Victor Gordo.

“You’ve all heard me say that. I believe Pasadena is the center of the universe,” Gordo told a packed audience. “And let me tell you something, I do believe that. And frankly, if there’s any Mayor that ever sits in this seat and doesn’t believe that, then you’ve got the wrong Mayor because I believe that the Mayor of Pasadena should believe that.”

Rick Cole was sworn in as the new District 2 Councilmember. Cole replaces Felicia Williams, who received gifts and kind words from officials around the region on Monday.

“It’s been a very interesting journey on the City Council as a lot of this is what I want to do for a very long time because I wanted to put my knowledge and education and professional experience to use, and I feel like I did that,” Williams said. She was proud of her voting record but expressed concerns about the impacts of extremism on local politics.

“… Our government is set up to provide services, and the more that we allow [national politics to infiltrate local City government], the less able our City staff will be to be able to provide services at the highest level,” Williams said.

Cole and Gordo were sworn in by Judge Bill Crowfoot. Gordo served as Crowfoot’s field rep before Gordo ran for City Council, and Cole previously served with Crowfoot on the City Council.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Cole said. “And as the junior member of this Council, I look forward to joining all of you in moving that forward. After waiting nine months for this day, I am eager to get to work.”