We Get Letters: Concerned About City’s Use of Children’s Artwork

The Honorable Victor M. Gordo, Mayor
Members of the Pasadena City Council
Relevant City of Pasadena Department Leaders

Please add this correspondence to the public record.

Re: Use of Children’s Artwork in Environmental Justice and Transportation Outreach

I have serious concerns about the City’s use of young children’s artwork to promote a particular vision of what Pasadena’s streets should look like. I believe this should concern everyone who values transparent government, meaningful public engagement, and informed decision-making.

To be clear, I have no objection to asking children for their ideas or giving them opportunities to participate in civic life. Children should be heard. But there is an important distinction between listening to children and using their voices or artwork to advance a policy agenda.

When a government agency presents children’s drawings in support of a particular vision for our streets, it can convey a powerful emotional message: This is what our children want; this is the future we should build. When used this way, what may be presented as community engagement can also function as advocacy.

That distinction matters. Public agencies have a responsibility to maintain public trust by being transparent about the difference between gathering community input and promoting a preferred policy outcome.

If the City’s Department of Transportation or Planning and Community Development Department believes a particular approach to street design is in Pasadena’s best interest, it should make that case directly to residents. Show us the traffic and safety data. Explain the costs, benefits, and potential consequences. Acknowledge the tradeoffs and provide meaningful opportunities for residents to consider competing perspectives before decisions are made.

Children’s artwork should not become a substitute for evidence, public discussion, or informed consent.

Children should be participants in civic life—not props in government advocacy. City government should be able to explain and defend its transportation policies on their merits, with transparency, sound evidence, and an honest discussion of their implications for the community.

I urge the City to make clear how children’s artwork is being used in its environmental justice and transportation outreach, how the children’s contributions are represented, and how the City ensures that community engagement is not conflated with endorsement of a predetermined policy direction.

That is the standard of transparency, accountability, and public trust that Pasadena residents deserve.

Sincerely,

Frank Duerr
Board Member, Keep Pasadena Moving

Relevant City of Pasadena Programs
Planning for Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice Element Program – Planning & Community Development Department