West Pasadena Residents’ Association

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Pasadena governance

Pertaining to political and management issues addressed by the City Council, the commissions or City Staff

Pasadena Housing Draft Element – WPRA Letter to Council

WPRA’s comments on the July 14, 2021 Draft Housing Element – WPRA considers this draft to be an overall good start to a difficult task, one that provides a platform for further engagement and revision. We list 7 key points of focus & 3 appendixes.

The WPRA Letter to Mayor Gordo about the Colorado Street Bridge Barriers

The WPRA requests that the City delay implementation of the current options for suicide-deterring Vertical Barrier Enhancements to the Colorado Street Bridge, and continue to conduct an in-depth review of alternatives, including any technologies that could replace the physical barriers, or enhance a reduced height of those barriers.

WPRA Letter to State Housing Committee Opposing SB9

SB 9 is not an equity bill. It is the exact opposite. Its emphasis on expensive market rate construction would constitute an unprecedented and destabilizing attack on 7 million California single-family households with 20 million residents—white, Black, Latino and Asian—at all income levels.

The 2021 West Pasadena Residents’ Association Annual Meeting

On May 27, 2021, the West Pasadena Residents’ Association held its virtual annual meeting and informational program. This year we took a deep dive into the current topic many people are concerned about: our state’s housing shortage and how it severely affects California’s urban centers.

Two video program versions were placed on YouTube for public viewing.

CLICK HERE for the replay of the entire annual meeting.

CLICK HERE for the housing content only without WPRA’s business segment.

We kicked off our meeting with Dan Beal’s president’s message…

Dan Beal, WPRA President

…and then we presented WPRA’s Community Service Awards to Rosa Laveaga, former Arroyo Seco Project Supervisor and to Priscilla Taylor who recently retired from our board after serving 26 years.

WPRA Board Director, Joan Hearst & Rosa Laveaga
WPRA President Dan Beal & Priscilla Taylor

We elected our 2021 to 2022 Board of Directors and moved on to our discussion topic: The Housing Crisis: How do we build our way out of the housing shortage, and especially affordable housing?  

We started our focus on our local planning challenges within Pasadena, expanding the conversation to the LA County area and then widening the analysis even further to state legislation. Moderating was Avram Gold, WPRA Vice President of Communications. WPRA Treasurer, Blaine Cavena handled the webinar engineering as Tech Director.

Avram Gold, Moderator
WPRA’s treasure Blaine Cavena
Blaine Cavena, Tech Director

Our lineup of introductory speakers were:

Mayor Victor Gordo
Council member Steve Madison
LA County Supervisor,
Cathryn Barger
State Assembly member,
Chris Holden

We then followed these four reports with a panel discussion. Our special guest panelists were:

Senator Anthony Portantino
Pasadena Planning Director,
David Reyes
Non-profit developer,
Robin Hughes
Non-profit developer,
Charles Loveman

Topics discussed were: more production vs the reach for more land, the lack of current state funding and existing county subsidies, the struggle to finance affordable housing, state vs local control, gentrification, communication breakdowns in Sacramento, developer influence and lobbying, and ending with the question: Will there really be a reduced demand for cars in the future?

WPRA Letter to State Housing Committee Supporting SB 15

The WPRA supports Senate Bill 15, which would incentivize local governments to rezone idle big-box retail and commercial shopping centers for housing by providing grants based on the sales and use tax revenue that had been generated by those sites.

2021_03_12-WPRA_Ltr-Supporting-SB-15Download