6th District / <i> Southwest Pasadena</i> : Cordiality Marks Races for Pasadena City Council Seats : Candidates Portray Themselves as Mediators in Wake of Years of Acrimony at City Hall

Four candidates are running to replace Nack, who decided not to seek reelection to her District 6 seat in order to spend more time with her family.

The district includes the Rose Bowl, and future use of the stadium is one of the key issues in the campaign.

William J. York Jr., chairman of the Planning Commission and a manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the stadium was used too much last year.

Including eight World Cup games, the Rose Bowl was host to 24 major events last year, more than ever before.

City law limits the number of major events at the bowl to 12 per year, but the City Council can vote to lift the cap as it did last year. A major event is defined as one that draws 20,000 or more people to the stadium.

“It seriously impacted the lives and property values of people who live in the vicinity,” York said. “It was a brutal year.”

York said the city should come up with a new formula to limit the impact on surrounding neighborhoods while allowing reasonable use.

Katherine H. Padilla said she also favors more strictly limiting events at the stadium.

Padilla said she supports limiting the number of major events to 12, even if it means saying no to potentially lucrative events. Padilla, former chairwoman of the Library Commission, led the successful drive in 1993 for the city’s library assessment tax, which was credited with keeping open the city’s eight branch libraries.

“The interest in making money has to be balanced with quality of life,” Padilla said.

Fred G. Zepeda, vice president of a real estate company and former member of the Rose Bowl Operating Company Board, said 24 major events probably were too many in one year. He said he doesn’t know a magic number, but the city needs to try to wring more money out of the stadium.

“It needs to be run as a business venue, to maximize revenues and minimize impact on the neighborhood,” Zepeda said.

Ann-Marie Villicana, a realtor, said the city should hire a private firm to run the Rose Bowl. The firm would be required to book “quality” shows to maximize profits and minimize community opposition.

“It’s not just that I want to use it more, but I want quality usage,” Villicana said.