Reader Shares Concerns Over Management of Pasadena Finances

Reader writes his concerns about the City of Pasadena’s finance management. – Courtesy photo

How wonderful the management of Pasadena financial resources has become?

Management has enlarged the city with excessive development; reaping millions in new money to the city coffer from increased property values on all these new buildings as well as permit fees.

Our streets have been torn up everywhere you look where this development has occurred. Now the city wants all of us to fix the streets even those who come and visit. Maybe the developers making profits on our city should be the first ones to pony up the money to fix the streets they broke up, leaving neighborhood streets the responsibility of existing budgets and time tables. To mention: Where has the money gone when property is sold and side walk repair money has been collected to fix those sidewalks? Sometimes those same properties are sold twice and charged twice and still no repairs made. Where did that money go?

Management today says they have cut back on employee numbers to save money. What they forgot to tell us is those still employed all got raises starting from the top. Those same people who make up the budget and make no sacrifices for themselves. All legal so they say.

The police and fire departments gobble up a great share of the budget money and never do we hear or see the amount of the pension liability on the budget process while asking for the sales tax increase. Will any part of the increased sales tax money go to pay down obligations to any city pensions?

How will the homelessness issue be addressed? How much money can this issue rely on to solve the problem or will that money encourage even more homelessness? After all union station has been around a long time and only seems to grow more needs.

How can we improve our public school system when most families in Pasadena who have children have one chance to get their kids the best education possible? There are some 44 private schools in our area and the city helps those schools to grow even further. These schools must have good outcomes or they wouldn’t exist. Our local paper (Pasadena Outlook) is always promoting these schools and seldom do I see articles on the public system. Those same families still pay property school taxes as well as high tuition fees to the private schools. So how do we get back a public school system when families have only one chance and many choices for their kids best education?

Why have an open forever tax if the city can’t give us real numbers to solve the problems? Why should we trust their budgeting process going into the future? They have given us areas of need that have been neglected in the past and 3/4 of a cent tax will fix the problems if we give them the chance? I’ll bet that nothing will be done except for pay increases that have already started, knowing that a budget problem exists now.

It’s time to slow down and give the citizens back their city without raising taxes and providing a better quality of life for everyone.

–Richard L 

PASADENA

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