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Members of Pasadena City Council Question City’s Ability to Do Business Locally
News Dec 14, 2016
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The Robinson Park renovation project, which has been in the city’s books for over a decade, passed “unanimously and with glee,” according to Mayor Tornek. – Photo by Terry Miller
Final meeting of the year begins with debate, concludes with unity over robinson park project
By Gus Herrera
The Pasadena City Council’s final regular meeting of 2016 began with spirited debate, which once again concerned the city’s ability (or inability) to do business with local vendors, but concluded with a united sense of enthusiasm over the newly-approved and long-awaited Robinson Park renovation project.
As has been a common theme in recent past, a handful of items from the evening’s consent calendar, specifically related to contract awards, were pulled for further discussion. Whereas this defense of local businesses is usually championed by Council Member Tyron Hampton, this time Council Member John Kennedy also voiced his concerns.
Firstly, Kennedy took issue with Item 1, which approved the purchase of seven heavy duty trucks from the Covina-based business Reynolds Buick Inc. Out of all the companies who bid for the contract, the only Pasadena-based entity was “non-responsive,” according to city staff’s report.
“The reason I pull this is an ongoing story. I’m trying to figure out if the council is doing all that it can, from a public policy perspective, to assist our local businesses to have a real opportunity to do business with the City of Pasadena,” said Kennedy.
City Manager Steve Mermell defended the city’s bid process, which is council-approved under the Pasadena Municipal Code. Furthermore, he revealed that, although miniscule, the city does award a preference for micro-businesses and local businesses under the current system.
Mermell also warned against the potential consequences of overly-favoring local businesses, claiming that, in response, neighboring cities can erect barriers against Pasadena businesses.
Council Member Victor Gordo also defended the city’s current process, “the low-bid process is to protect the city. Dealerships in town are able to compete openly with everyone else. I’m not seeing what the issue is.”
Similar to Mermell, Gordo also cited the potential drawbacks of tinkering with the process, “I’m leery of treating the local economy as if it wasn’t part of a regional economy … if the City of Los Angeles were to start doing the same thing and preventing our local businesses, like Parsons and others … ultimately it’s the city that pays.”
Kennedy was not satisfied, “tinkering is what we do, that’s why people elect us … to make policy stronger. We’re a small city with an oversized ego. We need to have these types of discussions, even if they’re uncomfortable … I believe Pasadena businesses should come first,” he said.
Ultimately, the item was approved, but Mayor Terry Tornek suggested that the city improve its outreach, so that fewer local businesses are “non-responsive” in the future. Per the suggestion of Gordo, the matter will also be brought before the city’s economic development and technology committee sometime down the line.
Items 7 and 8, which were also contract awards, spawned a similar debate. This time Kennedy drew a “red flag” when a Pasadena-based business he is very much familiar with was not considered, partly due to a massive discrepancy between the proposal score and interview score it received from the city’s selection committee.
Once again, opposing viewpoints flew back and forth and the mayor eventually stepped in to end the discussion, saying to Kennedy, “Have you expressed your concerns? What is it you want to do now? Before us is a process that’s well-conceived. Now you’re calling it into question because you have specific knowledge of the firm and it’s hard for you to reconcile your knowledge with the result. We have two options: to accept the contract … or reject it. We’re not going to re-formulate contract at this venue, at this time.”
In the end, Items 7 and 8 were both approved.
Upon conclusion of council’s debate, which lasted for quite some time, the mood quickly lightened when it became time to approve the Robinson Park renovation, an overdue project that was met with overwhelming support.
According to staff’s report, the $7.26 million renovation will include the construction of a state-of-the-art sports fields, expansion of the park, and reconstruction of the existing recreation building. New amenities will include the city’s first synthetic turf field, additional off-street parking, new restrooms, and lighting improvements.
Construction is expected to begin in February 2017 and conclude by Spring 2018.
Council swiftly approved this project with much pride and any sense of friction exhibited throughout the evening’s prior deliberations quickly dissipated.
“I would like to thank staff … [this project] has city-wide implications, as it relates to providing quality recreational services for our community and, in some respects, even others that visit our world-class city,” said Kennedy.
Gordo was quick to agree, citing that the project had been a long time coming, “this is a great project for the entire city … it has been in the capital improvement budget for 13 years.”
“The community has been waiting for this for a long time. This is a project of city-wide pride… [it] passes unanimously and with glee,” concluded Tornek.
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