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 mayor do?

In Pasadena, the mayor is an at-large member of the city council, which means they represent the city as a whole while the seven other council members represent specific districts.

Because they are effectively a voting member of the council, it also means they need to get other members on board with any policies they hope to enact.

The mayor presides over Pasadena City Council meetings and has a number of ceremonial responsibilities. They also represent Pasadena on the state, national and international levels for legislative advocacy and lobbying.

Here are some of the things the mayor has a say on as a member of the city council:

• Setting city policies and passing local laws 
• Imposing and regulating city taxes
• Hiring and firing the city manager (Pasadena has what's called a council-manager form of government, in which the city manager holds a lot of power, including proposing the city budget, so appointing them is a big responsibility) 
• Hiring and firing the city attorney, city prosecutor, and city clerk
• Authorizing public improvements
• Approving city contracts
• Adopting traffic regulations 
• Appointing other council members and the mayor to city committees

The mayor, like any city council member, can be appointed to leadership roles on various committees, commissions, and boards. For example, the current mayor, Victor Gordo, is Pasadena’s representative on a tri-city housing trust with Burbank and Glendale.

Some things the city council, and therefore the mayor, do not have control over:

• 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 mayor also does not have any veto powers.

You can read more about how the Pasadena City Council works in our guide to the city council election.

Pasadena’s mayor serves a four-year term and does not currently have a term limit (although the city council is reviewing the city charter, including whether there should be term limits going forward). In Pasadena, the maximum mayoral salary was $32,933 as of June 2023.

Current mayor Victor Gordo, first elected in 2020, is running for a second term. Because there are only two candidates, this race will be decided in the March primary.

You will only see the Pasadena mayor on your ballot if you live in Pasadena. 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? 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 the next term?

Below are some of the issues that the next city council, and therefore the mayor, will have to tackle. The mayor does have a bigger podium than the other city council members, and their support or opposition to a proposal can have a big influence on the outcome.

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). 

The candidates

Victor Gordo

Mayor of Pasadena

Victor Gordo, Pasadena’s current mayor, is running for a second term. He was first elected in 2020. He began his political career in Pasadena as a field representative in City Council District 5 and was elected to the city council in 2001. He served on the City Council until he was elected mayor in 2020.

Gordo’s first term was dominated by COVID-19 and the growing housing crisis. He opposed Measure H, the 2022 ballot measure passed by Pasadena residents with 53.8 percent of the vote. In an op-ed for the Pasadena Star News, Gordo wrote, “Simply put: rent control does not work.” In April 2023 he partnered with Los Angeles County Supervisor Katheryn Barger to create an affordable housing facility and a community service site in a building that was formerly a Kaiser Permanente facility. If reelected, Gordo said he would pursue more reclamation projects like this one.

Gordo also led Pasadena through several leadership changes, working with three separate city managers, four different police chiefs, two planning directors, and several other positional changes.

Gordo, who came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, is a graduate of the Pasadena Unified School District and Pasadena City College. Gordo later transferred to Azusa Pacific University, where he studied business and finance.

Gordo’s campaign website does not include any details about his platform, but in his candidate statement he says he would:

Go deeper: Mayor Gordo talks first term, development, big issues, and the tone at City Hall (Pasadena Now)

More voter resources:

• Website: victorgordoformayor.com
• Endorsements

Allen Shay

Business Owner/Realtor

Shay is a local small business owner and realtor. Shay has held leadership positions in Pasadena’s NAACP and chaired several city committees, including the Lincoln Avenue Steering Committee for business growth, Pasadena City College’s Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee, and the Northwestern Commission, according to Shay’s candidate statement.

Shay ran for mayor in 2015 but lost with only 4.2% of the vote in a crowded primary. He also ran for City Council District 7 in 2022 but lost to current councilmember Jason Lyon.

Shay has lived in Pasadena for more than 50 years and is a graduate of John Muir High School and Pasadena City College. He later transferred to the University of Southern California, where he got his bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in business.

Shay has what he calls on his campaign website a “five step plan” if elected:

Go deeper: Shay's website includes a section called "The Campaign Trail," which has several taped interactions with Pasadena residents and individualized town halls.

More voter resources:

• Website: allenshayformayor.com
• No endorsements listed