Pasadena : Crowley Becomes Mayor

John Crowley, first elected to the Board of City Directors in 1979, has become Pasadena’s 46th mayor. In a ceremony Monday, Crowley, 67, was handed the mayor’s gavel by Bill Bogaard, mayor for the last two years. Director Bill Thomson was named vice mayor, making him next in line for the mayoral post.

The mayor’s job is largely a ceremonial post that is rotated among the seven members of the board at two-year intervals. The mayor is chosen from board members with the most seniority who have not held the position.

Crowley said that one of his most important goals will be to address the city’s financial problems, which include the troubled pension fund for police and firefighters that city officials fear may be depleted within a few years.