City of Pasadena
Mayor Bill Bogaard delivered the annual State of the City address at Pasadena City College on January 23rd. Mayor Bogaard touched on Pasadena's finances, economic outlook and initiatives that can impact the city, our public school and our economy.
You can read the full text of the 2014 State of the City address here:
On January 27th, the City Council approved an additional two concerts in the Rose Bowl for 2014. The two events, featuring artists as yet unnamed, will take place on August 7-8, 2014. Boy band One Direction has added a show to their Rose bowl dates in September. They are the first musical acto to perform for more than two nights at the Rose Bowl. Large scale musical events at the Rose Bowl can generate more than $250,000 each for the venue.
The City of Pasadena has entered into agreements with Glendale, La Canada, South Pasadena and Sierra Madre for ressearch and advococy related to METRO's proposed 710 Freeway tunnel. On January 13th, the City Council appropriated $50,000 to support that effort.
In December, the City Council approved an agreement with Norton Simon Museum taht will continue to allow the land used by Rusnak Automotive Group to be used as a car dealership. Rusnak Automotive is one of the largest sales tax generators and a tremendous asset to the City.
The Rose Bowl
The Rose Bowl hosted to very exciting and successful footbal games: the traditional Rose Bowl and the final BCS College Football Championship Game. Both were very close. Michigan State defeated Stanford in the January 1st classic and Florida State beat Auburn for the national title.
There is still time to purchase a commemorative brick and have it installed before the start of the 2014 UCLA season. For information on Rose Bowl events and activities, the renovation project and more, download the
Metro Gold Line Construction Authority
Progress continues throughout the 11.5-mile project alignment, including work at the interface with the current operating system. With Metro’s cooperation, this past weekend upgrades were made to the operational Gold Line’s electrical system, and new equipment installed for the future overhead catenary system (OSC). These activities occurred within the “Tail Track” area, located just east of the Sierra Madre Villa Station; where crews also created a safe zone for the future installation of new light rail tracks and final tie-in activities necessary to connect the Pasadena to Azusa segment with the operating system. This critical activity required a weekend closure of the Sierra Madre Villa Station (SMV) and service between Allen Station and SMV. Here is a link to a post from The Source, Metro’s on-line news blog.
County of Los Angeles
In January, Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Gloria Molina requested creation of a Sheriff’s Department Oversight Commission. The Supervisors accepted a $2.1 million grant from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to support emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation from hazards and disasters. Discussions and hearings continue related to sediment removal behind Devil's Gate Dam in Pasadena.