As the New Year approaches I penned my thoughts on what key issues would help to improve the City of Pasadena. Lets face it, we are privileged to live in a wonderful City that is exempt from many of the issues being faced by other municipalities, thanks to the leadership of our City Council, but we do have some things it would be nice to improve upon.

1. Synchronize the Traffic Lights – as obvious as this seems to improve traffic flow, logistically it has to be much more difficult. I was reminded that they are in sync, go, stop, go, stop. Traffic in the City can move at a snails pace, especially this time of year and any attempt to speed up our commute would certainly be appreciated.
2. Protected Left Turns – while we are on the subject of traffic, how about installing traffic lights that would provide a protected left turn. This traffic system as in all of LA County must have been designed 50 years ago. Personally I am tired of playing intersection roulette every time I need to make a left turn.
3. Get Serious about Water Conservation – If Pasadena is going to talk the talk, its time to begin walking the walk. Start with low flow toilets and shower heads at point of sale, just as the City of Los Angeles does. Offer incentives for property owners to Xeriscape, just as Pasadena’s power company offer’s incentives for energy conservation. It’s hard to understand why these measures have not been adopted in a City that promotes itself with a green initiative. We have to become proactive and asking the citizens to adopt volunteer conservation methods have fallen short of their desired goals.
4. Improve the Public Schools – for Pasadena to become a truly world class city, they must achieve a higher level of public education. We are surrounded by excellent public schools in Arcadia, South Pasadena and La Canada. I think improving the education of our children should be priority number one. It would be nice to hear that people choose to live in Pasadena due to the excellent public school system.
5. Eliminate the Sidewalk Ordinance – if the sidewalk in front of your house has become buckled due to underlying tree roots, there is a good possibility that it will be your responsibility to repair it when you decide to sell. The City plants and maintains many of the trees that decorate and line our streets and to me it just doesn’t seem right that the homeowner has to pay to have the sidewalk repaired. To delegate the safety and liability issue of uneven sidewalks to the homeowner, was a loud proclamation by the City saying “because we can”.

The City of Pasadena has many opportunities and challenges before it. Hopefully the decisions to be made will reflect the best interests of its citizens as well as its business interests.