GUEST OPINION
All Saints Church as soon from its parking lot (Photo – Staff)
At the Pasadena City Council’s November 17, 2025 meeting, during discussion of an agenda item to approve the Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) decision granting a Conditional Use Permit for All Saints Church to allow safe parking for people experiencing homelessness, a source observed an audience member in attendance.
By Rena Kurlander
The audience member was known to have political ties to several councilmembers and the mayor, and as someone who lives near the proposed project. The item ultimately failed to receive the five votes necessary to approve the BOZA decision.
In December 2025, Colorado Boulevard Newspaper filed a Public Records Act (PRA) request seeking copies of communications between councilmembers and any member of the public from November 10 to November 20 (from a week before the meeting to three days after it) related to items on the November 17 agenda.
On Tuesday, February 17, we finally received the City’s response to that request. We received copies of three emails dated November 19 and 20. All three emails were from Julianna Delgado, who is a member of the BOZA, the chair of the City’s Design Commission, a City Planning Commissioner, and a member of the Mayor’s Task Force. The first was sent to four Councilmembers—Jess Rivas, Rick Cole, Jason Lyon, and Gene Masuda—and the City’s Director of Planning and Community Development, Jennifer Paige. City Manager Miguel Márquez and the City’s Deputy Director of Planning and Community Development, Jason Mikaelian, were copied. It urged the council to bring the item back for review as their staff report had omitted information that they needed. The second was sent to Ms. Paige, with a copy to Mr. Mikaelian, questioning the need for a Conditional Use Permit for the project. The third was sent only to Jess Rivas and marked CONFIDENTIAL PLEASE – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION IN ANY FORM (which shows that documents people believe are confidential are still public records). In it, she wrote:
“I would propose when Steve Madison is present (in addition to you, Rick, Jason, and Gene) a “motion to reconsider the Shared Parking at All Saints at a quasi-judicial/de novo hearing at a date certain based on significant and relevant information omitted in the Staff Report of November 17, 2025, that the project is statutorily exempt from CEQA per Public Resources Code Section 21080.10 and find it will not result in any significant or unusual environmental effects.”
We also received copies of six text messages, each heavily redacted. Three were sent during the meeting. One was sent from Jason Lyon to someone saying “Except we’re an odd number tonight so it won’t be a tie.” One was sent from Rick Cole to someone asking, “Where are you on this?” One was sent to or from local State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, saying, “Good job tonight!” One, sent the day after the meeting by a Katie H to someone, says, “Hey! Heard it was a late night last night. Just checking . . . did the safe parking get shut down?” One, sent on 11/19, is from Blair M saying, “People are really pissed about the safe parking thing. Is there any hope of it going back to Council when Madison is there and getting a new vote?” Another was sent on 11/19 by Julianna Delgado to someone, saying, “Please call me when you get home. I did some research and found a new State law that applies and was not discussed in the Staff Report. The absence of this information may be a way to call this back up once Steve Madison is available to vote.”
No records were provided for communications with the councilmembers who opposed the motion.
When the item returned at the Council’s February 2, 2026 meeting, a letter opposing the reopening of the hearing was included with the agenda. The letter, from the homeowners association of the building where the audience member lives, threatened legal action against the City if the Council voted to reopen the hearing.
Despite that threat, the Council voted to reopen the hearing at its February 23, 2026 meeting and directed staff to return with an evaluation of, and recommendation on, the project. The motion passed with six votes in favor, one opposed, and one abstention.
Three councilmembers who had received campaign support from the audience member did not express clear support for the motion. Councilmember Justin Jones voted against it, Councilmember Tyron Hampton abstained, and Mayor Victor Gordo voted in favor but stated that he had intended to vote against it—an outcome that underscored the political complexity surrounding a land-use decision that had begun as a permit for safe parking.
In reviewing the City Council’s agenda for Monday, February 23, it appears that two related lawsuits — Truitt v. City of Pasadena and Maryland Homeowners Association v. City of Pasadena — discussed in closed session prompted the council to refrain from voting on this item at the meeting, despite its February 2, 2026 vote to do so. The item did not appear on the open session agenda.
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