Pasadena : No Environmental Office

A plan to set up an environmental action office for the city has been put on hold.

City Manager Philip Hawkey had asked for $151,000 to hire an environmental adviser and support staff to develop strategies for such contingencies as oil embargoes and fuel shortages.

“How should the city anticipate a sudden fuel shortage?” Hawkey asked. “A tremendous increase in the price of gasoline impacts every department. But there’s no person in the (city) we can turn to for help with that.”

But some members of the Board of Directors worried that city government was becoming too cumbersome. The board voted to defer recruiting new staff for at least 60 days, until a special management committee can plan “how all the pieces fit together,” Director William Thomson said.