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Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo denied accusations that the city has violated California Senate Bill 9.
Mayor Gordo hits back at attorney general’s notice
By Luke Netzley Pasadena Weekly Deputy Editor
The housing shortage crisis has devastated communities across California as an estimated 160,000 people throughout the state will sleep either outside or in cars or shelters tonight, according to reports.
Communities across LA County, including Pasadena, have seen the impacts of this crisis firsthand, though in a recent letter to the city of Pasadena, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has accused the city of violating California Senate Bill 9, which looks to combat the statewide housing crisis by promoting supply and affordability.
It’s an accusation that Mayor Victor Gordo denied in a letter to both the state attorney general and Pasadena residents on April 1.
“Pasadena is entitled to be proud of its many accomplishments, including its record of creating much-needed housing, and as your Mayor, I cannot allow this unfounded criticism to go unanswered,” Gordo said.
The law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, allows homeowners to build up to four residential units on a single-family lot.
On Dec. 6, 2021, Pasadena adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 7384, allowing the city to exempt “landmark districts” from SB 9 requirements to maintain historically and culturally significant sections of the city while restricting overdevelopment in those certain areas.
Although Pasadena extended its ordinance on Jan.10, the state attorney general said he believes that the ordinance is invalid and must be repealed.
“Pasadena’s urgency ordinance undermines SB 9 and denies residents the opportunity to create sorely needed additional housing, under the guise of protecting ‘landmark districts,’” Bonta said.
“Right now, California is facing a housing crisis of epic proportions, and it’s going to take all of us, doing our part, to alleviate its worst effects. At the California Department of Justice, we’re in this fight for the long haul. I urge cities to take seriously their obligations under state housing laws. If you don’t, we will hold you accountable.”
According to Bonta, the qualifications for an SB 9 exemption require that an individual site is part of either a landmark, historic property or historic district; that there must be evidence of that site’s historical importance; and that the exemption does not apply to entire districts.
While Bonta asserted that the city of Pasadena is in violation of state law by claiming exemptions for broad districts, Gordo has fervently defended the city’s position.
“The idea is to protect Pasadena’s unique architecture, the character of its neighborhoods, and the educational and cultural resources that our unique community holds,” Gordo said.
“The city made a determination that we could not allow the destruction of these important elements of our city. These valued or irreplaceable resources in our city have been, and must continue to be, protected from overdevelopment and, importantly, remain available for study by planners, historians, architects, students and others around the world.”
In 1983, the city of Pasadena adopted a “historic preservation ordinance” and, as a certified local government, can use the certification to designate historically significant neighborhoods as local landmark districts as well as register them on the National Register of Historic Places if they are determined to be of national significance.
While the city will look to protect historical and cultural landmarks, Gordo has acknowledged the severity of the housing shortage across the state and strongly agrees that every city should do their part to help.
The city of Pasadena recently built and retained 3,000 units of affordable housing and currently has 1,021 affordable units awaiting development with an additional 2,200 units under review. The city has also permitted and entitled just under 5,000 new residential units in the last housing element cycle.
“We will not allow Sacramento officials or media opinion makers to attack and mis-define us, as they do not know our city — the Pasadena that we all cherish,” Gordo said. “Going forward, I respectfully encourage our attorney general to get to know us before taking to Twitter to wrongfully and unfairly tarnish Pasadena’s good name.”
Gordo insisted that, though the city’s interpretation of SB 9 may differ from the attorney general’s in regard to landmark districts, Pasadena has complied with the letter and intent of SB 9 and remains committed to addressing the state’s housing crisis.
Virtual screening, discussion focuses on ‘Manzanar’
By Pasadena Weekly Staff
The “Movies That Matter” series continues this spring with a virtual screening of the climate crisis documentary “Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust,” directed and produced by Ann Kaneko and produced by Jin Yoo-Kim, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20.
The virtual screening (84 minutes) is followed by a panel discussion of the film and its impact, featuring director/ producer Kaneko and Maximilian Christman, Caltech sustainability manager. While the screening is free, reservations are required. For more information about the film and to reserve a spot, visit https://bit.ly/ MoviesThatMatterPasadena.
Sustainability is defined by the three pillars of environmental conservation, economic prosperity and social equity.
This last pillar often receives little attention compared to the first two despite environmental justice, diversity and equity being key considerations for a truly sustainable world. Caltech Sustainability aims to tackle this from a campus operations perspective by tackling energy, water, and waste produced from activities on campus but also by collaborating with other groups to engage students, faculty and staff in crafting and executing on these projects.
The filmmakers hope that the audience can gain an appreciation of water and land management and a clearer grasp of their impacts on distant communities where water has been extracted for their consumption.
Sitting at the foot of the majestic snow-capped Sierras, Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp, becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the nowparched “land of flowing water.” Intergenerational women from Native American, Japanese American and rancher communities come together to form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from Los Angeles.
“Through my research, I was stunned and fascinated by the implications of what seemed like minor footnotes in American history,” Kaneko said.
“During the scare of Trump’s Muslim ban, many pointed to Executive Order 9066, but I realized that the real precedence for this racist mentality in the United States was not Japanese American incarceration. It was the violent forced removal and confinement of Indigenous people and the unfathomable trafficking of enslaved Africans to this continent, all in the name of colonization and racism.
“Previously on the same land as the World War II Japanese concentration camp, Native Americans had the land taken from them. The film shows the repeated and shared histories of what happens when entire groups are scapegoated. Audiences will have greater understanding of how forced removals of communities are motivated by racism and colonialist desires to control land and resources.”
The film won the Best Documentary Award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, and it was nominated for the Best Music Score at the IDA Documentary Awards in 2021.
Earth Day, held annually since 1970, has offered a continuing opportunity to recognize the human role in environmental protection. Caltech Sustainability Programs hopes that collaboration with other Caltech groups with seemingly distinct missions will illustrate the interdisciplinary nature with which the world’s greatest sustainability problems must be addressed. Environmental justice must be a leading theme as we look to address the climate crisis and other sustainability challenges.
“Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust” WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 WHERE: Virtual COST: Free, reservations required INFO: https://bit.ly/MoviesThatMatterPasadena
