Pasadena mayor Victor Gordo scuttled the city’s popular ethics ordinance to reduce the power of big money in city campaigns. Gordo’s vote brought a dramatic end to the Pasadena City Council meeting on Monday, September 16, and deadlocked the Council, in a 4-4 vote.
Gordo’s action killed the proposed fix to campaign contribution limits until at least the first meeting of the seven-member Council in December. That’s when newly elected member Rick Cole will replace Felicia Williams. But since Williams joined Council colleagues Jess Rivas, Jason Lyon, and Steve Madison in voting for the ethics ordinance, Cole’s arrival is unlikely to change the math for the ordinance in the short term. Councilmembers Tyron Hampton, Justin Jones, and Gene Masuda joined Gordo in rejecting the lower limits on campaign donations to city candidates.
More than 30 leaders and organizations, including East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), called on Gordo and Councilmembers to enact the measure. EAPD members Hans Johnson and Kathy Patterson, a Pasadena resident, addressed the Council and urged them “to take action tonight and not kick the can down the road.”
The ordinance would have lowered the maximum contribution to campaigns of city politicians from the current level of $5,500 down to $1,000 for Council candidates and $2,500 for mayoral candidates. The ordinance reflected three years of work through a city task force to review vulnerabilities and needed revisions in the city charter. The task force generated extensive community input and revealed concern by Pasadena residents and other stakeholders about the influence of wealthy donors and well-connected interests in city government.
Onlookers in Pasadena Council chamber at the Sept. 16 meeting expressed shock at the outcome. Gordo’s conspicuous defense of collecting bigger checks from campaign donors and defiance of public outcry to curb their influence on city officials sparked muted outcries of “Shame!” from the audience following the vote.
“I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Council has again refused to enact the will of the people who have been calling for reasonable campaign contribution limits for years,” said Councilmember Jess Rivas. “This is a commonsense reform that is badly needed to promote a more level playing field between candidates and to help minimize the influence, and appearance of influence, of big money in our local elections.”
“Gordo’s conspicuous defense” – well, what was his defense? It would have been good to include at least a few of his remarks in the article. The headline asks the question “Why?” but doesn’t provide much of an answer. We can all guess, and the guesses will likely be correct, but still.