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South Pasadena Library on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020 (Photo – Margaret Prietto)
Renewal of South Pasadena’s 7.5 percent utility tax easily sailed to victory Nov. 3, with support from 77 percent of city voters.
By William J. Kelly
Backers of the tax measure, which now will continue on a permanent basis, say passage will renew South Pasadena by bringing in about $3.4 million a year. That amounts to about 12 percent of the city’s general fund budget.
School Board
In the South Pasadena Unified School District election, incumbent Suzie Abajian handily won re-election in a four-person race for two seats on the school board. She garnered 39 percent of the vote. Veteran educational administrator Pat Martinez-Miller also won a seat on the School Board—with support from 35 percent of the voters. She replaces attorney John Primuth.
Primuth left the school board to run for South Pasadena City Council in District 3. He gained 42 percent of the votes in a four-way race, with progressive and environmentalist Michelle Hammond coming in second with 35 percent. Under state law, Primuth will take a seat on the City Council based on his plurality vote. In his platform, Primuth pledges to improve the city’s financial management, weigh police reform, including shifting some police money to social services, and tackle the city’s grid lock and increasingly dangerous traffic in residential neighborhoods.
City Council
Meanwhile, the outcome of other city council races in South Pasadena remained unclear Wednesday morning.
In District 1, challenger Evelyn Zneimer led incumbent Bob Joe by just 17 votes. Joe, currently the city’s mayor, has served on the council since 2011. The outcome in his bid for re-election remains uncertain until outstanding mail-in ballots are fully counted.
Zneimer, an attorney and judge, pledges to tame traffic, improve fiscal accountability at city hall, and champion environmental improvements, including city action on climate change. She also envisions working with youth to counter systematic racism in the increasingly diverse city.
The outcome in the District 2 remains uncertain too. Jack Donovan, the only candidate on the ballot, won 1,183 votes, but election officials had yet to tally votes for Steve Rossi, who ran an aggressive write-in campaign. In the council district race, Rossi used his platform as a recent appointee to the City Council to fill the seat of Marina Khubesrian, who resigned earlier this fall.
Donovan, a retired businessman, favors limited development aimed at preserving South Pasadena’s neighborhoods, improving administration and transparency at city hall, and bolstering the role and independence of the city’s more than 20 volunteer commissions. Rossi, a finance industry executive, has spearheaded an effort to improve financial accounting and management at city hall. His key message in the campaign was the need for more transparency at city hall.
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