Steve Madison Becomes Longest-Serving Councilmember in Pasadena History, Surpassing Record Set in 1959

Pasadena City Councilmember Steve Madison became the longest-serving councilmember in the city’s history on Sept. 1, surpassing a record that had stood for 67 years, his office said this week.

Madison, who represents District 6 — the West Pasadena neighborhoods above the Rose Bowl, Southwest Pasadena, much of Old Pasadena and most of the Arroyo Seco — was elected March 9, 1999, and sworn in May 3, 1999, according to the District 6 newsletter his office distributed Thursday.

Madison broke the record held by Milton S. Brenner, who represented West Pasadena on the Board of City Directors, as the council was then known, from Jan. 5, 1932, to May 4, 1959, the newsletter said.

A second milestone follows on Friday, Sept. 18, which will be Madison’s 10,000th day representing District 6.

Madison was first elected in 1999 and reelected in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2020, each time winning outright without a runoff, according to his official city biography. He won a seventh term in March 2024, running unopposed. He served as vice mayor from December 2023 to December 2024, according to the city.

The record he passed dates to a different form of city government. Pasadena replaced its commission structure with a Board of Directors and an appointed city manager in 1921, according to the Pasadena Public Library’s history of city officials; the board’s presiding officer was styled chairman until 1947, when the post became a rotating two-year seat carrying the courtesy title of mayor.

Over his tenure, Madison authored the council’s 2000 resolution opposing extension of the 710 Freeway through Pasadena and chaired the council’s special committee overseeing recovery of more than $5 million in embezzled city funds, according to his city biography.

Madison is a partner at the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.