Northwest Pasadena Said Shortchanged

The plan launched five years ago to revitalize the mostly minority neighborhoods of Northwest Pasadena has not been properly funded, and no substantive gains have been made, according to a report presented Tuesday to the Board of Directors by a city advisory committee.

The 13-member Northwest Task Force, which has been studying the Northwest Plan for the last eight months, stated in its report that the plan is a sound concept designed to enhance human services, housing and economic development for what long has been a neglected corner of town.

But a lack of clear priorities and the failure to come up with a proposed $35 million to implement the plan doomed it from the start, the report concluded.

“We find the Northwest Plan was undone and under-finished,” said the task force’s chairwoman, Melba Guy. “The city has failed to bring the Northwest into the mainstream of Pasadena life.”

City Manager Donald McIntyre, who task force members contended should be held accountable for the failure, said he is preparing a formal response to the report.

“It’s very critical, and perhaps, most of that is appropriate,” McIntyre said.

Although the plan originally was hailed as a $35-million infusion into Northwest Pasadena, which is home to about one-third of the city’s residents, a budget shortfall quickly trimmed that figure by about $10 million. Of the remaining $25 million, much came from grants that would have been allocated to the Northwest even if there had been no plan, said the report.

“There has to be a better sensitizing to just how important this is,” City Director Chris Holden said. “If we don’t give it that kind of commitment, what you ultimately end up with is a sham.”