The Pasadena City Council member for District 3 will face questions of balancing the budget and how to use roughly 50 acres of land along an abandoned 710 Freeway extension.
Pasadena’s District 5 spans from two blocks north of Washington Park, down past Villa Parke and Raymond-Summit to the Southwest and to the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Chester Avenue in the Southeast. The district currently is represented in the City Council by Vice Mayor Jess Rivas, who is running unopposed in this year’s election.
What’s at stake in this race
The City of Pasadena is going to have some difficult choices ahead, including how to balance a budget with a growing structural deficit and how to use roughly 50 acres of land along an abandoned 710 Freeway extension.
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The three City Council members to be elected this year will join four incumbent council members and the mayor to make these policy decisions and much more over their four-year terms.
What does a City Council member do in Pasadena?
Sets policies and passes ordinances: think local rules, regulations and fees
Decides where to spend about $1.5 billion and how to pay for it by approving the city budget
Appoints members to committees and hires the city manager, city attorney and city clerk
Authorizes city contracts with labor partners and vendors
Decides how city property (such as the Rose Bowl) can be used or renovated
Here are some of the things Pasadena City Council members don’t do:
Decide who leads the Pasadena Police Department — the city manager does that
Choose who leads the Pasadena Unified School District — that’s the Pasadena Unified School District Board, and they’re directly elected by voters
The Pasadena City Council member for District 3 will face questions of balancing the budget and how to use roughly 50 acres of land along an abandoned 710 Freeway extension.
As voters prepare for the June 2 primary, AirTalk host Larry Mantle speaks with candidates in longform, one-on-one conversations.
Fast facts about the Pasadena City Council:
After Measure PC was approved by voters in 2024, councilmembers are now limited to serving a total of five four-year terms
In Pasadena, the maximum salary for a City Council member as of June 2025 was $23,290.02
You will see a Pasadena City Council race on your ballot only if you live in Pasadena Districts 3, 5 or 7.
What’s on the agenda for next term:
Balancing the budget: The most recent city budget summary (for fiscal year 2026) highlighted that the city’s finances are “stable but strained” and that “growing deficits are forecast for the foreseeable future.”
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The 710 Freeway “stub”: In 2022, Caltrans returned about 50 acres of land to the city after a planned extension of the 710 was cancelled. The City Council will decide how to use the land and properties it owns there. The city has sold some homes on the land and the City Council will weigh a number of uses for the remaining property, including creating open space, building affordable housing or focusing on business uses.
Appointing a new city manager: The city manager has a lot of responsibility in Pasadena, and Miguel Márquez is retiring later this year once a replacement is chosen. The city manager oversees the city’s $1.5 billion budget, 15 city departments and about 2,200 staffers.
Negotiating major contracts: Not only is Pasadena in an ongoing lawsuit to keep UCLA football at the Rose Bowl beyond the 2026 season, but the city also is about to start a new round of negotiations with its 11 union labor partners. The City Council will give the final say on what can be approved in any new or amended contracts, and those decisions could change the services residents receive.
What it takes to win:
A candidate will win the election if they receive more than 50% of their district’s votes in the June primary. If no candidate breaks 50% in June, the top two finishers compete in a runoff election in the fall. With no competitors, this candidate has a clear path to victory.
The California gubernatorial candidate and former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services discussed healthcare costs, gas prices and more.
The candidatefor Pasadena City Council District 5
Jess Rivas, vice mayor/attorney
Jess Rivas
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Courtesy Jess Rivas
)
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Jess Rivas is an attorney for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association and also has worked as a lawyer in the California Attorney General’s Office, L.A. County’s Office of County Counsel and in the U.S. Army Reserve. She told LAist she comes from a family of immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil and she has dedicated her career to public service to give back for the opportunities she has been given in the U.S.
She first decided to get involved in politics in 2016 after President Donald Trump was elected for his first term, she said, then realizing decent people needed to step up to lead or else “not so great” people might fill those roles. In the following years, she volunteered for local election campaigns and served on Pasadena’s Commission on the Status of Women.
Rivas was first appointed to the City Council in February 2021 after Victor Gordo’s mayoral election win left the seat open the previous December. She was elected by voters in an uncontested race in 2022 and selected by the council to be vice mayor in 2024.
She told LAist she’s proud to have worked with residents to pass a 2022 ballot initiative bringing rent controls to Pasadena and for leading the charge to end unlimited campaign contributions in city elections. She also helped pass term limits for the City Council and a resolution for the city to switch entirely to carbon-free energy by 2030.
Rivas chairs the City Council’s Public Safety Committee and sits on the Legislative Policy and Economic Development committees. In the coming term, she is focused on bringing more affordable housing to Pasadena, transitioning the city to renewable energy and keeping residents safe — from things like gun violence and traffic accidents, but also from state violence at the hands of the federal government.
Independent or outside committees can raise and spend without limits — but they're barred from coordinating with a candidate. A chart will appear above when any outside committees have spent money to support or oppose a candidate in this race. Updated every Tuesday and Thursday.
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How to get involved:
The City Council has scheduled meetings 5 p.m. every Monday at Pasadena City Hall — 100 N. Garfield Ave., Room S249.
Members of the public who attend City Council meetings in person or virtually are allowed up to three minutes to speak during a public comment period, starting near the beginning of each meeting — instructions can be found here.
The city generally posts agendas for City Council meetings by 6 p.m. the Thursday before each meeting — you can find them on this calendar.
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The Pasadena City Council member for District 3 will face questions of balancing the budget and how to use roughly 50 acres of land along an abandoned 710 Freeway extension.
As voters prepare for the June 2 primary, AirTalk host Larry Mantle speaks with candidates in longform, one-on-one conversations.
