Public input sought on City Manager selection
The Pasadena City Council invites residents to provide input about the qualities they would like to see in a new City Manager on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The address to City Hall is 100 N. Garfield Ave.. The event takes place on the second floor.
Pasadena City Manager Michael J. Beck has accepted a new position as Administrative Vice Chancellor at UCLA and his last day is scheduled to be Feb. 14, 2016.
Mayor Terry Tornek appointed a City Council Ad Hoc Search Committee to search for a new City Manager. The Search Committee includes the Mayor and Council Members Margaret McAustin, Victor Gordo and Tyron Hampton. This upcoming meeting will provide Pasadena residents a chance to be involved in the process to find a new City Manager.
For more information regarding current events and updates in the City of Pasadena.
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ARROYO SECO MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL
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PASADENA, Calif.—The Pasadena Police Department is seeking public comment from non-profits entities, community stalk holders and citizens to provide input for usage considerations pertaining to the development of a new policy for the forthcoming body worn cameras to be implemented by the Pasadena Police Department in late 2016.
Input from community stakeholders may include the handling, storage, and retention length of video recordings, when body worn cameras should be activated or de-activated, viewing of recorded media files, public access to videos (Public Records Act), and privacy concerns.
Public comments will be heard during a Special Public Safety Meeting on Tuesday, February 2, 2016 at 6:30 PM in the City Council Chamber, second floor City Hall, at 100 N. Garfield Avenue, Pasadena, CA.
Please contact Lt. Tracey Ibarra at (626) 744-7875 if you have questions.
EARTHQUAKE EXPERT LUCY JONES SPEAKS AT COMMUNITY FORUM JAN. 28, 2016
PASADENA, Calif.—Vice Mayor Gene Masuda invites the public to hear from one of the world’s preeminent earthquake scientists, Lucy Jones, Ph.D., about earthquake preparedness at a Council District 4 Community Forum, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, at the Victory Park Community Center, 2575 Paloma St. Parking is free.
The theme for the event is “Are We Earthquake Ready?”
Jones is one of the world’s leading seismologists and a public voice for earthquake science and earthquake safety. For years, Jones has been the “go-to” on-camera expert interviewed by the news media to explain earthquake activity. Among her many accomplishments, academic degrees, and dozens of published research papers, Jones also has a doctorate in geophysics from MIT.
She has been a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and a Visiting Research Associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech in Pasadena since 1983. She is also a science advisor for seismic safety to the City of Los Angeles.
CITY RECEIVES $5 MILLION FROM INSURANCE CARRIER FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
PASADENA, Calif.—Pasadena officials today announced the City has received a $5 million payment from its insurance carrier to settle a claim filed by the City regarding the theft of public money from the Utility Underground Program fund.
"While it is important to recover the funds that were lost, it is equally important to ensure that the City makes the necessary changes to prevent another embezzlement from happening in the future and to also recover the public’s trust,” Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek said.
In addition to the insurance claim, the City has undergone a comprehensive internal financial and personnel audit; changed or increased oversight for many of its financial processes and initiated most of the recommendations announced last year by a citizen advisory task force on financial administration and internal controls, posted online at www.cityofpasadena.net/invoiceinvestigation .
The payment represents the maximum amount of money that could be paid on the insurance claim. It is also about 85 percent of the nearly $6 million allegedly embezzled by a former City employee who is now currently facing both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit in connection to the theft.
City Manager Michael J. Beck said “we are pleased that our insurance carrier has paid the maximum amount on the claim, but in no way does this minimize the importance of our internal efforts to strengthen our financial administration and internal controls.”
A portion of the settlement money will be deposited into the City’s General Fund to offset the cost of investigating the embezzlement and the rest will be deposited into the Utility Underground fund that was impacted by the theft, Beck said.
“The City will continue to pursue legal means necessary to obtain a full recovery of the monies stolen,” City Attorney/City Prosecutor Michele Beal Bagneris said.
A City audit completed in November 2014 documented that a former employee used fraudulent invoices to steal money from the fund that pays for moving overhead power and communications lines underground.
The former employee, Danny Wooten, was arrested in December 2014 and is due in Superior Court March 9 for a preliminary hearing in the criminal case against him. A civil suit filed against him by the City is set for a jury trial in October 2016.