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Pasadena Council Recap: Police Protests Continue for Second Straight Week
News Mar 07, 2018
Vice-Mayor John Kennedy delivered a powerful statement calling for improved police/community relations and additional transparency during the public safety committee’s latest meeting. - Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
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Vice-Mayor John Kennedy delivered a powerful statement calling for improved police/community relations and additional transparency during the public safety committee’s latest meeting. – Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
City will weigh public opinion regarding proposed sales tax measure
By Gus Herrera
For the second straight week, the council chambers were packed with citizens protesting the police department.
Representatives from various community organizations, including Pasadenans Organizing for Progress, the Coalition for Increased Civilian Oversight of the Pasadena Police, and Pasadenans and Altadenans Against Police Violence voiced their frustrations over the city’s handling of the Christopher Ballew beating and a recently-announced federal investigation of former Pasadena Police officer Kenneth Gourdikian.
According to a press release by the Department of Justice, Gourdikian has been charged with illegal sales of “off-roster” guns and several other weapons offenses. The investigation, which is being carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), alleges that Gourdikian “used his official status as a police officer to purchase firearms that were not available to the general public” and subsequently sold them through a third party.
If convicted on all charges, the former Pasadena Police spokesman, who pleaded not guilty, will face a statutory maximum sentence of 35 years in federal prison.
Frustration on the matter was only heightened when it was revealed that a second Pasadena Police officer is currently under federal investigation – news first reported by PasadenaNow.
Local attorney Skip Hickambottom, also revealed during his public testimony that the two officers who brutally beat Ballew on Nov. 9, were assigned to patrol the city’s Black History Parade, which took place on Feb. 17.
Hickambottom, who called for an independent investigation and the removal of officers Lujan and Esparza from patrol duty during last week’s council meeting, described the decision as “an insult” – a feeling echoed by Council Member Tyron Hampton.
“That outrages me … that was a horrible judgment call … to allow those officers to participate,” said Hampton.
Vice-Mayor John Kennedy, who himself delivered powerful testimony during a public safety meeting earlier in the day, urged City Manager Steve Mermell to release “whatever information lawyers will allow” to be released, regarding the ATF’s investigation of Gourdikian.
In other news, the Pasadena City Council endorsed a fiscal strategy that will explore the possibility of placing a sales tax measure on the November 2018 ballot for voter approval.
The move comes as a result of the city’s finances having reached a “crossover point,” according to Mermell, who described the situation as “getting to a place where expenses are going to be exceeding … revenues.”
Current projections predict a “mismatch over the life of the city’s current five-year forecast, with expenses outstripping revenues by $32 million,” per staff’s report.
The report also reveals that “in the last five years alone, Pasadena has lost over $130 million from Sacramento budget raids and cuts.”
Despite significant efforts to balance the budget over the past few years – efforts which included cuts exceeding $19 million annually, the elimination of 123 staff positions (including 23 sworn police officer positions), and millions of dollars’ worth of pension reform – additional cuts and service reductions will be required unless new streams of revenue are discovered.
Although property tax revenue has grown in recent years, sales tax and utility users tax revenues have remained flat – a stagnation which staff attributes to “changes in technology and shopping habits.”
Based on current projections, the city will need to reduce general fund expenditures by $3.5 million in FY2019. Additionally, the city has identified over $1 billion in needed capital improvements.
According to staff’s report, these unfunded needs include 822,000 square feet of sidewalk repairs, upgrades to five fire stations, seismic retro-fitting for the public works building, and replacement of radios for the police and fire departments.
Thus, Pasadena has reached a crossroads where it will need to be determined if the citizens would like to maintain the current service levels – a feat which will inevitably require fresh revenue (potentially in the form of a ¾ sales tax) – or accept a reduction in service levels that more appropriately match the city’s financial resources.
Council’s endorsement of the fiscal strategy (approved 7-1, Council Member Steve Madison in opposition) will now enact a “robust public outreach and informational campaign” that will begin immediately, per staff’s report.
The item will return before the city council prior to July 23, at which point a ballot measure can potentially be submitted for the November 2018 election.
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