City Council Meeting: October 20, 2026 (Audio Description)

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AGENDA

CITY COUNCIL AND

THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE

PASADENA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

OCTOBER 20, 2026

Closed Session: 5:00 P.M.

Public Meeting: 6:00 P.M.

Council Chamber, Pasadena City Hall

100 North Garfield Avenue, Room S249

The City Council may take action on any item listed on this agenda as it deems appropriate following consideration and discussion of the matter.

CLOSED SESSION – 5:00 P.M.

A.

AUDIT BY CALIFORNIA STATE AUDITOR’S OFFICE pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.75(a)

B. CITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATORS P ursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8

Property Location: 360 North Arroyo Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91103

Agency Negotiator: Matthew Hawkesworth, Interim City Manager

Negotiating Party: Melanie Sauer of Rose Bowl Aquatics Center; Olivier Mourneau, Event General Manager - Rose Bowl Aquatics Center &

Sport Manager – Diving, Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028

Under negotiation: Price and Terms of Payment

C.

CONSIDERATION OF INITIATION OF LITIGATION pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(4): One potential case

D.

CITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL regarding significant exposure to potential litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2): One potential case

PUBLIC MEETING – 6:00 P.M.

ROLL CALL, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, AND CEREMONIAL MATTERS

[AD] City Council members sit at a curved dais. [CC] Mayor and council, we are live. Okay. Thank you everyone. Welcome to the October 20th, 26 meeting of the Pasadena City Council. And we'll start with the calling of the roll. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Cole. Present. Council Member Hampen. Blessed and honored to be here. Council Member Jones. Here. Council Member Lyon. Here. Council Member Madison. Here. Council Member Masuda. Here. Vice Mayor Rivas. Here. Mayor Gordo. Here. there's a quorum in the council present okay um mr madison will you lead us in the pledge of [CC] allegiance please one time i forget my jacket in the car i have to but i'd be honored thank you [AD] Council members and audience rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. [CC] allegiance please one time i forget my jacket in the car i have to but i'd be honored thank you [AD] Council members and audience rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. [CC] please uh rise if you're able and place your hand over your heart ready begin i pledge allegiance [CC] please uh rise if you're able and place your hand over your heart ready begin i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God, in his will, with liberty and justice for all. [CC] Thank you. [AD] Council members and audience sit down. [CC] Thank you. [AD] Council members and audience sit down. [CC] Closed session report. Okay, yes, with apologies, the council did meet in closed session and we ran a little bit behind on some very important issues. So I'm sorry that we've, we're getting a little bit of a late start and I'll turn to the city attorney for a report out on closed session. Yes, thank you, Mayor. The Council met in closed session and discussed items A and B, and there is no reportable action. However, I'll turn to Council Member Lyon for his statement. I did not participate in item B because my law firm represents one of the parties in that action. So I'm conflicted out on all sides. So I recuse myself in that item. Okay, thank you. With that, we will proceed to public comment for matters public comment for matters not on the agenda sure we have right now we have seven speaker cards I will call them in the order of receipt Anthony Manusos Anthony Manusos great Loretta Parks Danny clash less hammer Cynthia Kennedy and then Yadi and Renee Gonzalez are online a minute and a half so we do have a long agenda and so I'm going to ask that we do a minute and a half if you wish to use your time for public comments for matters not on the agenda now otherwise you if you'd like your full time we invite you to stay once we complete our agenda and we'll give you the full time so if your is called and you wish to go now. Mr. Mnusis? [AD] Public Speaker Anthony Mnusis approaches the podium. [CC] I'm trying to speak real fast because I was [CC] I'm trying to speak real fast because I was planning on two minutes. My name is Anthony Mnusis. I'm a proud resident of district one. I want to thank the council for approving the community's recommendation to the North Pharoah specific plan and especially for recognizing that public art must be a funding priority. The community is already moving with the Black History Parade approaching. We have Begun work on Black Legacy District banners. Parade organizers are eager partners. They've agreed to cover the fees and installation for eight banners. Local artists are preparing designs. Churches are stepping up to fund the banners themselves. The community is doing its part. What we need to know is what can we expect from you all, from the city. We reached out to the Arts and Cultural Commission and were told that any public art Would require at least two meetings for approval and there is likely no funding available Meaning the community would have to cover all costs This is deeply discouraging These are not large expenses utility boxes maybe 600 each the banners a few thousand dollars decorative cost walks 4,000 at 20,000 sidewalk Hall of Fame roughly 50,000 as councilmember Cole noted the city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing the North specific plan the question for us now is simple how much is a city willing to invest implement the plan it approved and well when these funds be identified and allocated the community stepped up sir your time is expired thank you mr. Moussos okay thank you so much I hope thank you you can hear our concern thank you sir Loretta Parks if you've heard your name and you wish to take advantage of the earlier speak in time versus end of the meeting please [CC] step forward and form a line. [AD] Public Speaker Loretta Parks approaches the podium. [CC] step forward and form a line. [AD] Public Speaker Loretta Parks approaches the podium. [CC] Danny Clash is to follow and then let's hammer. [CC] Danny Clash is to follow and then let's hammer. Go ahead, Ms. Parks. Hello, my name is Loretta Parks and I wanna thank the council for- Could you pick up the microphone? Sorry, could you pick up the microphone so we can hear you? I'll start your time over again. This one here? Yes. Okay, my name is Loretta Parks and I wanna thank the council for naming North Fair Oaks the Black Legacy District. It was also promised we'd get funding for the vision we had. we have been reaching out to some officials of the city and But they're they're not any funds. They blocked it one city official said we probably couldn't give funds for the for this vision and If this plan isn't implemented people will lose faith in us as a community As you know many people came here to express support for our vision plan and if there aren't results they will not believe us again you know this is that type of community that does it because it never comes through please help us with the funding I want to share with you the article that appears in by black a national a national online publication promoting black business. This article quotes the story that I shared with you when I was let when I last spoke. This means that what we are doing in Pasadena is being watched across our nation. By naming North Fair Oaks the black legacies district we have done something historic, something we can all be proud of. We are showing that we are willing to make amends for the past. Ms. Parks, your time is expired. Thank you, bye-bye. Thank you. Danny Clash, Mr. Clash here. Mr. Clash, are you present and just waiting to the end of the meeting or okay? Okay, Mr. Hammer, I see you in the back. Why don't you have one, have you come forward? Mr. Hammer, welcome. Followed by Cynthia Kennedy, I see Cynthia as well. [CC] And then the next two speakers are online. [AD] Public Speaker Les Hammer approaches the podium. [CC] And then the next two speakers are online. Go ahead, Mr. Hammer. Les Hammer, Pasadena. Property owners pay outrageous taxes and expect to basic services like police and fire, but police and fire are not priorities here in Pasadena. Progressives have other ideas, like making sure you have money that ICE agents never set foot in our sanctuary city, money to file lawsuits against the Trump administration, money for overpriced subsidized housing, and money to tear up every major intersection for road diets. Meanwhile, I scroll through YouTube and what do I see? YouTube star Victor Gordo shilling for the fire department and measure PFD knowing that unions, the union rather, will kick back campaign contributions to elected officials. Independent and Republican candidates need not apply. That said, I demand that the city stop running these ads for measure PFD and refund the cost to taxpayers. Thank you, Mr. Hammer. [AD] Public Speaker Cynthia Kennedy approaches the podium. [CC] Cynthia Kennedy. [AD] Public Speaker Cynthia Kennedy approaches the podium. [CC] Ms. Kennedy, welcome. [CC] Ms. Kennedy, welcome. Good evening. Thank you. Every year, every California utility must publish a document called the Power Content Label, which sets out in a very uniform format how electric power is generated in that jurisdiction. The document has to be in the same format, which means it's easy to see the facts, so there's no spin. It's just the facts. The 2025 power content label for Pasadena was just published. It shows that Pasadena's power mix is 51% fossil fuels, while the California average is 33%. 23% of our power comes from burning natural gas, while California's average is 11%. We realize that this bad showing is probably Temporary, we hope it's temporary. It's probably attributable to the Intermountain Power Contract, which is going to come to an end next year. It may also be because of the Magnolia Gas Plant and use of Glenarm. We call upon you to require clarification of why the figures are so high. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Gatti. [CC] Yadi, followed by Renee Gonzalez. [AD] Public Speaker Yadi participates remotely. [CC] Yadi, followed by Renee Gonzalez. Hi, while more cities across the country have moved forward with canceling their FLOC contracts, Pasadena still lags behind. Now the council has probably received over 1,000 pieces of communication from Pasadena residents, calling on you to cancel FLOC. This week, we submitted a letter and spoke at today's RIPA board meeting outlining the concerns about the use of stationary ALPR and their use of Pasadena. The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board operates under the direction of the California attorney general and staffed by DOJ attorneys under the civil rights enforcement section. The 19-member RIPA board works to eliminate racial and identity profiling in law enforcement. We shared our concerns about the concentration of FLOC and other stationary ALPR cameras in already over-policed communities, as is the case in Pasadena. Due to camera placement, this means that residents of Districts three, and five have a higher propensity of being stopped and profiled by police. This is speculation but very well founded. However, we can easily obtain the data to confirm or disprove this theory. It is easily technologically feasible to track the outcomes of FLOC alerts, responses, and answer questions like how many alerts are PPD responding to. At the very least, in the interim if we're not going to cancel the flock contract and stop using alpr then you should be collecting data and directing working with ppd to find out how we're using these flock systems but again i urge you to cancel the contract or figure it out thank you thank you uh renee gonzalez [AD] Public Speaker Renee Gonzalez participates remotely. uh renee you're muted there you go yes go ahead honorable members of the city council My name is Rene Gonzalez. I'm the founder and chair of the Guanajuato sister city affiliation proposal and president of the only sister city entity in good standing with the national sister city organization Pasadena International Sister City Association. Last week a public request to recognize national sister cities day led to a discussion about the mayor's authority over what the mayor described as a friendship relationship. That response raises a serious concern about the public's understanding of our work. The Guanajuato proposed affiliation process has always been a formal sister city affiliation, not a friendly affiliation. Reclassifying it as a friendship relationship by the mayor misrepresents the citizen diplomacy work that our citizens have completed. It is deeply disappointing and an embarrassment and for Pasadena within the national and international sister city community and the Pasadena Mexican community that the citizens who fulfill the responsibilities continue to face this institutional roadblock by the first mayor with Latin heritage. Mayor Gordo's authority over a friendship city relationship should never become as a substitute for the council's consideration of a formal sister city proposal process. I have to see the council to value and respect the integrity of a formal sir. Your time has expired Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Gonzales That completes public Thank you everyone for your patience that completes public comment and now we'll move on to Consent calendar and I'll entertain a sweet motion on the consent calendar Mr. Cole followed by mr. Masuda seconds Are there any objections to the consent calendar? Seeing none, the consent calendar is approved. Now with the council's permission, we'll move on to item nine, then 10, and then return. We'll take those items out of order because we do have some... Oh, there was, yeah, there was a public comment for, sorry, Mayor, we moved too fast. Item one and two, Mr. Ramos, is Mr. Ramos here? for item one and two. Mr. Ramos. Okay. Sorry about that. Okay, so we'll move on to item nine and 10 and then return to item seven. Nine. So this is an ordinance of the city of Pasadena, California amending the water waste prohibitions and water supply shortage plans title 13, chapter 13.10 of the Pasadena Municipal Code. It was introduced by Council Member Cole. Okay, roll call. Let me just make sure there are no, okay. Are there any speaker cards on nine? No, I don't think so, right. Okay, Council Member Cole to conduct first reading. Council Member Hampton? Yes. Council Member Jones? Yes. Council Member Lyon? Yes. Council Member Madison? Yes. Council Member Masuda? Yes. Vice Mayor Rivas? Yes. Mayor Gordo? Yes. The ordinance was unanimously introduced. okay with regard to item 10 that is the information informational item I think that's the police department okay and we do have speaker cards on that chief [AD] Police Chief Eugene Harris approaches the podium. I know it was in the packet one second as we pull up the yeah I'm sorry okay mr. mayor madam vice mayor and members of council good evening tonight we've before you an informational item that is in connection with our AB 481 report. We are coming to you with our desire to acquire an armored personnel carrier through the law enforcement support office or LESO. To give a quick program overview the LESO program or 1033 program as it's known allows eligible law enforcement agencies to acquire surplus military equipment for public safety practices. This has been most familiar with us when for our program. We've acquired helicopters and many other pieces of equipment through the military assistance program. The reason we are engaged in this program is because it offers us cost-effective methods to acquire equipment that we believe that we need in the public safety mission, provides eligible agencies access to surplus equipment at little or no cost. And Generally, the cost to purchase or acquire is zero, but we have to take on the cost of upfitting and getting it ready for deployment. In this case, we are pursuing an armored vehicle that I will discuss a little bit here as we get deep in the presentation, but wanna make sure that we are aware that the purpose of bringing it to council is to maintain the transparency and have this discussion in the open. Public notice. PPD has maintained its required notice of intent to acquire on its military equipment webpage since May of 2024. What that means to the people is that we, because we don't know when these things will become available through military surplus, we have to maintain a request or an intent form available to the public so that we people know what it is that we're asking for even if a year or two in advance. The AB-4141 compliance in June of 2022 City Council approved PPD's military equipment use policy authorizing qualifying equipment categories including armored vehicles. We've also had this policy gone through CPOC and members of public safety. The policy has I'm sorry the policy has been renewed annually in accordance with the California Government code 7071. For this particular piece of equipment that we're asking to acquire, certainly with the authorization of the council, became available on October 7th. So on October 7th, 2026, we were notified by a Northern California agency who has the piece of equipment that an APC or armored personnel carrier was available through the LESO. We want to make sure that the nomenclature is understood by everyone. There is a military nomenclature called MRAP, which stands for mine resistant ambush protection. That is a military nomenclature that is given to military vehicles, but that is certainly just the military version of that. When, and let me pull it up here. Generally they're known depending on who it is that the manufacturer that makes it. So as an example, through force protection, it would be called the Cougar. Through MaxPro or International, which is the version that we would like to acquire. It's built through Navistar Defense. and a Kalman was built by BA Systems, an MATV or MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle is through Oshkosh Defense, and then there's the Buffalo built by Force Protection. So these are the actual nomenclature or names that will come from the manufacturer, but the military provides its own military nomenclature based on the mission of the equipment. For us, our mission will be as an armored personnel carrier to get people into and out of situations that require protection that can protect people from IEDs, small arms fire, including 50 caliber rounds. It will also certainly be used for rescue, but that's the main intent of what we are trying to acquire this piece of equipment for. On the annual report, the PPD's 25-26 military equipment report was posted in July, 2026 and presented to city council on September 29th of 2026 during the annual policy renewal process. and so it needs to be noted that we got notification of the availability of this piece of equipment in October so we would normally have included it on our military or 481 report but we didn't get notice until after that report was done so we immediately put on the council agenda to bring it before you the City Council notification the PPD is today notifying the City Council of the intent to acquire the APC certainly with your authorization it be noted that CPOC's next meeting is scheduled for December 26. Waiting on this particular item in our estimation could delay the transfer and jeopardize the acquisition of the equipment. But it should also be noted that we have run our military equipment policy through CPOC. Well, the next page is a picture of what it actually, the actual vehicles on the left and on the right is an AI rendering, excuse me, of what it will look like once It is painted, and we get it geared up for Pasadena service. As it looks right now on that right picture, the cost of getting that outfit we estimate to be in the area of about $15,000 to $20,000 will require the painting and certainly the installation of a police radio. But that amount is we're not asking for any additional funding to upfit this particular vehicle. We will use existing contracts with regard to how we manage our fleet. The vehicle condition, it is a 2008 International Max Pro Rescue APC with no known mechanical issues and is available through this LESO program. The operational benefits, it enables safer personal transport, emergency evacuations and rescue operations during critical or tactical incidents. As you may note, we have several CER1 events that will be coming up within the next two years, happening three of them in one year as a matter of fact. And so ideally, we're trying to really get ourselves prepped to deal with these international events. Enhanced response improves PPD's response to active shooters, terrorist threats, and other high-risk incidents. Certainly, it will enhance our ability for community and personnel safety and personal safety, provide secure transportation during evacuations and rescue operations, as it were. Operational readiness supports simultaneous emergencies while maintaining critical response capabilities As it stands now, we have one vehicle that we use, and when we need to, we have to borrow them from other agencies, and certainly the shared resources are wonderful, but having the ability to deploy hours, especially given the events that we're gonna have in Pasadena is prudent. We discussed regional support, certainly through mutual aid we share resources and enhance public safety, and provides additional armored resources to assist neighboring agencies, and for us to have neighboring agencies assist us. Certainly the upcoming events, LA 28 preparedness, that group which I'm a part of, we discuss at length the anticipated threats coming through during that timeframe. This will certainly strengthen PPD's readiness for high risk incidents and emergency evacuations during the Olympic games and the Paralympic games is certainly in connection with international threat profiles. The cost effective acquisition, as I said, provides a low to no cost acquisition for us, the upfitting is the only cost that we anticipate. And as said, it was a time sensitive opportunity. When we get these things available to us, we try to take action on acquiring them as soon as we can. But we certainly we put in for this one back in 2024, and it finally became available. So that is why we are here hoping to get your authorization today. Transparency is important. So we're having this discussion. PPD is providing City Council with available information in with our 481 protocol we did discuss the existing authorization for the city to approve the military equipment the use policy and authorizes available equipment including armored vehicles annual reporting will continue because PPD will include this ABC in future annual military equipment reports as required by AB 481 including the acquisition and the use on a regular basis and finally the vehicle transfer we intend to promptly transfer and possession of the APC is subject to applicable legal and administrative requirements and certainly based on on your authorization. With that. Chief I just wanted to comment before we got into questions the council understands this was an informational item because the council is not required to act on this item but we are required to bring it forward and we will certainly take direction if the council chooses to give direction on this item tonight but there is no action required from the council. Thank you. Let's start with Mr. Hampton, followed by Mr. Masuda, the Mr. Cole. City manager and chief, thank you so much for the transparency. I understand that there's, you said a little to no cost for this equipment. [AD] Councilmember Tyron Hampton speaking [CC] Yes, sir. [AD] Councilmember Tyron Hampton speaking [CC] So over the past, you know, four or five years, [CC] So over the past, you know, four or five years, we've really been trying to work on bridging a connection to our community. And you guys, as I say, you guys, I'm talking about police in general. You are ambassadors when you're out on the streets and you talk to our neighbors, you smile, you know, you shake hands, you have coffees with them, donuts, et cetera. You're our ambassadors. When I think of our policing and our police department, you know, we're leaps and bounds ahead of where we were seven, eight years ago, and we're getting better. I don't know, the cost may not be a cost, but it would be a major cost to the reputation that you're building. The reputation that you're building is one of the community and one that you're opening the doors and you want people to come in and this truck, if someone pulled up to my house with this or, I mean, this is a residential neighborhood. I mean, these are neighborhoods, right? And we have some commercial corridors, but a truck of this size and this magnitude is purely military and it should stay that way. So, I understand that this is an informational item, and we have a bear cat, so I don't understand what the need for another piece of equipment of this size, in this magnitude on our streets. I get it, we're gonna have LA 28, that's a two week thing. We have a reputation that we're trying to build and you as a chief have been doi