The Thorniness of Meshing Pasadena Present With the Past

Members of the Shakespeare Club Pasadena City Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 28, 2018 (Photo – Garrett Rowlan).

Monday night’s meeting of the Pasadena City Council was a mixture of veneration of Pasadena’s past and uncertainty about its future, and the complications of trying to legislate to mesh the two.

By Garrett Rowlan

The past was honored in the designation of the building housing the Shakespeare Club at 171 South Grand as a historical landmark.  The building sits just south of the appellate courts with its view of the Arroyo.

Also honored with a historical landmark was the Puelicher House on Laguna Road. The house was designed in 1960 by noted architect Boyd Georgi—not “Boy George” as someone quipped, bringing a moment of snickers to the small, Monday-night crowd.

A sort of sub theme to the evening was provided at the opening when, in open session, a lawyer for the Eden Garden restaurant on Holly Street asked for an exemption of the non-smoking injunction imposed against Pasadena restaurants. The lawyer cited business concerns, that the puffing of a hookah was necessary for the establishment’s casbah-like atmosphere , rocked by the regulation. The matter was taken under consideration.

Other issues showed the thorniness of meshing the present with the past, such as a simple recommendation to amend Pasadena’s Municipal code in relation to the Water and Power department. It was tabled for further legal study. “Let’s not do this on the fly,” suggested Victor Gordo, District 5.

The project list for the Measure M funds was also an issue, as Councilmembers Gordo and Margaret McAustin were more interested in improvements to the safety for the Allen and Lake Avenue Gold Line stations rather than such non-priority improvements such as fixing the “pork chop” island of concrete at the corner of Union and Lake.

Not only is fixing the future complicated, but establishing it is expensive, as a presentation of commercial Cannabis fees showed that Pasadena would charge a potential business 24-thousand dollars (a combination of the application and review fee) just to get a dispensary licensed.

The evening ended in a moment of silence for the tragic shootings in Pittsburgh.

> Watch the full Pasadena City Council meeting on Monday, Oct. 28, 2018.