Survey Residents on Issues Affecting South Pasadena

During South Pasadena’s recent City Council meeting of Aug. 16, the council members and representatives from SPRIG (South Pasadenans for Responsible, Intelligent Growth) discussed implementation of design guidelines and design review to launch the development of a general plan for our city.

Councilman Hodge suggested that there be a broad meeting that included all appropriate groups in South Pasadena, such as SPRIG, South Pasadena Beautiful and South Pasadena Preservation Foundation, along with the City Council in order to reach a consensus on acceptable design. I would like to see this proposal go further.

I truly believe that the future of our city should not be left solely to the input of organized groups and the City Council but to a polled consensus of all citizens. This can be effectively accomplished by developing a survey that could be mailed with the utility bill. In that way, each household would have an opportunity to express an opinion. Our organized groups in town, who are at the forefront of the issues, could create the survey with input from the City Council so that taxpayer dollars are not expended.

This type of survey could be conducted whenever an important issue arises that impacts our city. I feel it is crucial for our elected officials, the ultimate decision makers, to be in touch with the citizens. The only way to find out what the citizens want is to ask them. Additionally, further input from a survey would enhance brainstorming.

MAVIS MINJARES

South Pasadena