These Pasadena voter guides for the March 5 primary election were created in partnership with The Courier, an independent publication produced and run by Pasadena City College students.

What does the Pasadena City Council do?

Pasadena has what is called a council-manager form of local government, in which the city council and the city manager share power. The Pasadena mayor is an at-large member of the council, meaning they represent the city as a whole, while the other seven members each represent a geographic district.

Think of the council as Pasadena’s legislature. They:

• Set city policies and pass local laws 
• Impose and regulate city taxes
• Hire and fire the city manager (in a council-manager form of government, the city manager holds a lot of power, including proposing the city budget, so appointing them is a big responsibility)
• Hire and fire the city attorney, city prosecutor, and city clerk
• Authorize public improvements
• Approve city contracts
• Adopt traffic regulations 
• Appoint other council members and the mayor to city committees

Councilmembers also must approve the annual budget proposed by Pasadena’s city manager. The city’s approved FY 2023-24 budget is approximately $1.2 billion. In all, Pasadena employs about 2,000 people in a city with a population of 136,988.

Here are some of the things they don’t decide:

• Who leads the Pasadena Police Department – the city manager decides that
• Who leads the Pasadena Unified School District – that’s the PUSD board, and they’re directly elected by voters 

The council is governed by a set of rules covering everything from when and how often it meets to who runs the meetings (the president, who is selected by fellow council members) and how the public can participate (“each speaker shall be limited to one minute of general public comment each regular meeting”).

In addition to regular meetings of the full council, there are numerous committee meetings focused on areas like transportation, public health, budget and finance, immigrant affairs, public safety, and information and technology. Some cover a range of topics, including the Finance Committee, the Legislative Policy Committee, the Municipal Services Committee, and the Public Safety Committee. See a full list of council committees and their meeting schedule.

A city council term is four years and councilmembers in Pasadena do not have any term limits. A city charter review task force was created to discuss the issue of term limits for both the city council and the mayor. No recommendation has been made for a formal vote, but several proposals have been shared both by council members and the public. Their terms are staggered, so not every seat is up for election this year.

In Pasadena, the maximum salary for a city council member as of June 2023 was $21,957.

You will only see the city council on your ballot if you live in Pasadena Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6. If you have a different city in your home address, such as Sierra Madre or Arcadia, you have your own city government.

If you live in unincorporated Los Angeles County, your home address will say Los Angeles, but you are only governed by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. Altadena is one nearby community that is part of unincorporated L.A. County.

Still not sure? Check the map below to see where the district boundaries lie, or punch your address into the L.A. County interactive sample ballot to find out what will be on your ballot.

What's on the agenda for next term?

Measure H and the future of housing affordability: As Pasadena’s policymakers, members of the council play a critical role in housing policy for the city. Last year the Pasadena City Council voted to create a $23 million housing trust with Burbank and Glendale to help build more affordable housing. This is the trust on which Gordo, the current mayor, is serving as a representative, and it will remain a major initiative in 2024 and beyond. 

In 2022, Pasadena voters passed Measure H, which limits rent increases and creates new eviction protections. The city council is now responsible for deciding how it will implement Measure H. For example, they have been tasked with appointing board members for the newly created Pasadena Rental Housing Board, one of the stipulations of Measure H.

Measure H was challenged in court by the California Apartment Association (CAA), a trade group representing “owners, investors, developers, managers and suppliers of rental homes and apartment communities.” The city won the lawsuit in spring 2023, but the CAA appealed the ruling, and the case is still winding its way through the courts. Wherever this appeal leads, the new city council will continue to play a critical role in determining how Pasadena addresses the housing crisis.

Becoming carbon-free by 2030: The city council voted unanimously in 2023 to declare a climate emergency and to transition Pasadena to 100% carbon-free energy by 2030. How exactly Pasadena will meet this goal is what the next city council will have to figure out. In 2022, approximately 24% of Pasadena’s power came from a coal power plant, so it will be a big push. Pasadena's lease with its coal power provider ends in 2025, but the city is planning to use methane gas in its place, which won’t get it any closer to its zero-carbon goal. 

Term limits and special elections: The city charter details how Pasadena city government works – think of it as a local constitution. In February 2023, the city council authorized a charter review process to consider a number of changes, including how to handle vacant city council seats and potential term limits for mayor and city council. The next city council will have to work with the charter review task force to come to a decision on these issues and others. Any changes they propose will have to be approved by Pasadena voters (that’s why Pasadena voters will see three charter amendments on their March 5 ballot). 

District 1

District 1 represents northwest Pasadena. It is bounded by Oak Grove, the Arroyo Seco Channel, Colorado, the 210 Freeway, Washington, Los Robles, Ladera, Howard, Lake, Woodbury and Yucca. It includes the Rose Bowl, Norton Simon Museum, and La Pintoresca Park.

Current councilmember Tyron Hampton is running unopposed.

Tyron Hampton

Pasadena City Councilmember

Hampton has been representing District 1 in Pasadena since 2015 and is running for re-election unopposed. Before being elected to the city council, he served as a board member of Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD). He also runs a commercial flooring company.

He chairs the Economic Development and Technology/ED Tech Committee, where he has led efforts to create policies and make zoning amendments with the goal of making Pasadena a bioscience hub. He is also the chair of the Pasadena Center Operating Company, a city-owned nonprofit that manages a variety of city-owned buildings, including the Pasadena Convention Center.

Hampton’s platform includes protecting home values while also keeping home ownership affordable, creating jobs, creating more green spaces where families and seniors can recreate outdoors, and maintaining the district’s lowered crime rate.

He was raised in Pasadena.

Go deeper: City Council Bio

More voter resources:

• Website: tyron.us
• No endorsements listed

District 2

District 2 is bounded by Lake, Bell, Mountain, Chester, Colorado, Vista, Villa, Palo Verde, Nelson, Craig, Casa Grande and Martelo.

Felicia Williams

Councilmember/Finance Consultant

Felicia Williams was first elected to the city council in 2020 and is running for her second term. Williams initially planned to run for the 41st District State Assembly seat, but dropped out in August 2023 in order to run for city council re-election instead, citing a need for “stability and continuity” on the city council.

Williams served as vice mayor of Pasadena from 2022 until 2023, but she cut her term short at the request of Councilmember Steve Madison, who said she had not been a councilmember long enough to be vice mayor. Williams represents Pasadena as the vice president of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority and works as a financial consultant to cities.

Prior to joining the city council she served on several city commissions and previously served on the Boards of Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel, Pasadena Educational Foundation, and Pasadena Police Foundation. She is a Citizens Police Academy graduate.

She promises to expand city services for those in need, provide opportunities for career advancement, develop a multi-faceted approach for addressing homelessness, and reduce gun violence.

She was born and raised in Pasadena.

Go deeper: City Council Bio

More voter resources:

• Website: feliciaforpasadena.com
• Endorsements

Rick Cole

Chief Deputy Controller

Cole is a Pasadena planning commissioner and the city of Los Angeles’s chief deputy controller, overseeing the accounting, payroll and audit functions for the city budget.

He has held a wide range of government roles. He served as Pasadena mayor from 1992 to 1994 and District 2 councilmember from 1983 to 1995. He went on to serve as city manager in Azusa, Ventura, and Santa Monica.

His platform includes supporting small businesses, a more transparent budget process, the creation of an affordable housing authority, a streetcar running from old Pasadena to Pasadena City College, car-free zones and bike lanes, limits on campaign contributions, and re-opening and transforming the central library into a 24/7 learning center. Cole was born and raised in Pasadena.

More voter resources:

• Website: rickcoleforcouncil.com
• Endorsements

District 3

District 3 is bounded by the 210 Freeway, Colorado, Lake, El Molino, Orange Grove, Los Robles, Fair Oaks, Marengo, Mountain, Jackson, El Molino, Ladera and Washington.

This is a special election that is being held because former councilmember John Kennedy died in office in 2022, shortly after being elected. Justin Jones was appointed interim District 3 council member until an election could be held. Whoever wins the March election will serve the remainder of Kennedy’s term, which officially expires in 2026.

Justin Jones

Appointed Councilmember/Engineer

Justin Jones, the current District 3 councilmember, was appointed by the city council after the death of Councilmember John Kennedy in 2022.

Jones leads the city’s environmental advisory commission and the human relations Commission. He is a civil engineer for the L.A. County Public Works Department, administering the Safe Clean Water Program. He previously led the Pasadena Environmental Advisory Commission and Pasadena Human Relations Commission.

On his campaign website, Jones highlights several initiatives that he set in motion after being appointed: street resurfacing, sidewalk repairs, an e-bike rebate program, sidewalk repairs in the district and an electric bike rebate pilot program.

Jones is also a member of the Municipal Service Committee and Public Safety Committee. In his platform, he promises to address the 710 stub, earthquake-retrofitting the central library, homelessness and affordable housing, retrofitting the Sunset Reservoir, and creating a pedestrian friendly city and ensuring public safety.

He was born and raised in Pasadena.

More voter resources:

• Website: justinforcitycouncil.com/
• No endorsements listed on campaign website, but Mayor Victor Gordo announced his endorsement

Brandon Lamar

Non-Profit Director

Lamar is the California director of the national nonprofit Youth Advocate Program.

He also serves on the Pasadena Rental Housing Board and chairs Pasadena’s Human Relations Commission.

He is the co-chair of Pasadenans Organizing for Progress (POP!), a grassroots organization that advocates and organizes for progressive policies in Pasadena, including Measure H, the ballot measure passed by Pasadena voters in 2022 to limit rent increases and expand eviction protections. He established the Pasadena Young Democrats in 2023 to educate and engage young community leaders.

The city council also considered Lamar for appointment to the District 3 seat after former Councilmember John Kennedy died in 2022, but ultimately chose Justin Jones, Lamar’s opponent in this race.

Lamar says he is driven by his family’s personal experience with many of the issues facing Pasadena, including gun violence and displacement due to rising housing costs. In his platform, he says he also would support economic development for local small businesses, homelessness, and tenant rights.

He was raised in Pasadena.

More voter resources:

• Website: https://www.brandonforpasadena.com/
• Endorsements

District 4

District 4 is bounded by Washington, Palo Verde, Villa, Roosevelt and Michillinda. It includes Hastings Ranch and Lamanda Park.

Because this race has three candidates, the two candidates with the most votes will head to a runoff on the November ballot unless one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the vote on the March ballot.

Gene Masuda

Pasadena City Councilmember, District 4

Masuda, a retired small business owner, was elected to city council in 2011 and is running for a fourth term. He serves on the City of Pasadena Legislative Committee, the Gold Line Construction Authority and the Joint Powers Authority.

Masuda is a former Pasadena Unified School District board member who has supported measures that provided funding for the district, and he also previously served on the board of the Pasadena Educational Foundation (PEF). He also helped organize the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, which established the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in 2015.

On his campaign website, he highlights safe neighborhoods, quality schools, and engagement with Pasadena residents as his priorities. He also highlighted his work “saving open space” by opposing high-density housing projects, supporting fiscal responsibility by rebuilding a rainy day reserve, and promoting public safety through active community policing and increasing neighborhood patrols.

More resources:

• Website: genemasuda.com
• Endorsements

John Doyle

Renewable Energy Developer

John Doyle is a renewable energy developer who works on grid-scale wind and solar power generation and storage projects.

His platform is centered on creating more affordable housing and helping people stay housed. He points to the affordable housing crisis as the root of many of Pasadena’s other challenges, such as public safety, economic development, and the growing number of people facing homelessness.

His platform also addresses the climate emergency. The next city council will have to figure out how Pasadena can reach its goal of relying on 100% carbon-free energy by 2030. Doyle believes that goal can be achieved by investing in a clean energy economy and building a battery and solar storage infrastructure.

More voter resources:

• Website: pasadenasafe.com/ 
• Endorsements

Jonathan Horton

Pasadena City Commissioner

Horton serves on the Pasadena Human Relations Commission and is a Democratic campaign manager. He previously served as a federal case worker under Congressmember Judy Chu, where he assisted families on issues ranging from housing to immigration rights.

On his campaign website he highlights housing and homelessness as a top priority. He says he would support additions to Pasadena's housing stock, the launch of housing programs such as shared housing, and investments in Pasadena's rental assistance programs.

He also identified public safety as a top priority and says he supports the police department's move toward more community-oriented policing. He advocates for more workforce housing so Pasadena police officers and their families can afford to live in the city.

He was raised in Pasadena.

More voter resources:

• Website: jonathanhorton.org/ 
• Endorsements

District 6

District 6 includes Pasadena neighborhoods above the Rose Bowl and in Southwest Pasadena, much of Old Pasadena, the Art Center College of Design, the Convention Center & Civic Auditorium.

Current Councilmember Steve Madison is running unopposed.

Steve Madison

Pasadena City Councilmember

Madison has served as the District 6 council member since 1999 and is running unopposed for his seventh term. He’s also a partner at the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP. He took over as vice mayor of Pasadena in 2023 after challenging former vice mayor Felicia Williams’ right to hold the post because she had not yet served a full term on the city council.

In his candidate statement, he writes about the importance of continuity on the council (six of the eight council seats are up for reelection, and there is a relatively new city manager).

In 2000, Madison authored a resolution opposing the extension of the 710 freeway through Pasadena and urged the rest of the city council to get on board. The extension was officially killed in 2017. In his candidate statement, he promises to continue work on the 710 stump, rebuild the central library, “prudently” manage the Rose Bowl, and address “chronic homelessness.”

More voter resources:

• Website: No campaign website, but you can read his city council bio
• No endorsements listed