Several City Councilmembers told Pasadena Now that they believed that term limits and special elections should be a part of the Charter reform discussions.
In August, the City Council expressed interest in reviewing the City’s Charter for possible amendments, taking particular interest in topics related to the City Council’s appointment process and other election-related matters.
Currently there are no limits to the number of terms City Councilmembers can serve.
“I’d like some community input on term limits,” District 3 Councilmember Justin Jones told Pasadena Now on Monday. District 7 Councilmember Jason Lyon also expressed interest in term limits.
The City will hire a consultant to advise a task force to help with the process and vet through the issues.
Those issues would then come before the public for feedback and come back to the City Council in the summer in time for reform to make it on the 2024 ballot.
The City Charter is a unique document which defines the City’s governing system. It can only be changed by a vote of registered voters in Pasadena.
“I believe the scope of the [task force’s] review will be fairly narrow,” District 7 City Councilmember Jason Lyon told Pasadena Now.
“I don’t think anyone is proposing a wholesale restructuring of Pasadena government. There has been a fair amount of public interest in revisiting the method we use to fill vacancies of unexpired terms on the council, so I am sure that will be on the agenda. Some folks have suggested that we might also want the commission to look at how members are appointed to the new Rental Housing Board, although it may be too soon to know if we want to make any changes there. I know there is also interest in having a robust discussion about term limits. There may well be other topics that are proposed by Councilmembers or members of the public, but those are the ideas that seem to be circulating at the moment.”
Several local residents took umbrage with the City’s appointment process after the City Council appointed Justin Jones to fill the vacancy left by John J. Kennedy’s untimely death.
The City Charter currently calls on the City Council to appoint members instead of a special election.
Mayor Victor Gordo said that special elections should certainly be a part of the discussion.
“The upcoming Charter Reform discussion presents an opportunity to have an informed and comprehensive community dialogue regarding the governance of our City,” said Mayor Victor Gordo. “I invite all residents to participate in the discussion.”
District 2 Candidate Rick Cole said he’d like to see more substance to the pledge in our City’s General Plan.
“That ‘Community Participation will be a permanent part of achieving a greater city.’ That means Charter reform that provides a more substantive role for citizen Commissions; more transparency for decision-making on how the City spends money; greater accountability for delivering results; and greater opportunities for the citizens of Pasadena to participate in their government. Everyone thinks they are pursuing government ‘for the people’ but we need to revitalize government ‘by the people,'” Cole said.
The immediate next steps include review and approval of a proposed budget for Charter Study, determination of the size and composition of the Task Force, a list of topics/sections of the City Charter to be studied by the Task Force, a charge and work plan to guide the Task Force’s work, assign duties to City staff for in-house support of the Task Force’s work.
A timeline for charter reform includes a preparation of request for proposals (RFP) for consultant services.
• Preparation of an application for community appointments.
• Application period opens to serve on Task Force.
• Discussion by the City Council on Topics, Scope, and Charge.
• RFP responses due and selection of a consultant.
• City Council appointments to serve on the Task Force.
• Task Force begins meeting.
• Task Force meetings.
• Task Force final report and recommendations to Council.
• City Council consideration of proposed changes and preparation of ballot measure question(s) to amend City Charter.
• November 5, 2024 General Municipal Election
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