Pasadena to Consider Commission Reform : Government: Large number of panels--and a high number of vacancies--prompt calls for cutbacks that could save the city money. Supporters say boards provide vital community input.

The City of Pasadena’s Relocation Appeals Board doesn’t meet these days. It doesn’t have any members to bring together.

Board vacancies are not unusual in Pasadena government. More than three dozen spots are unfilled on the city’s 30 council-appointed commissions and boards, and some city leaders are questioning whether they need all those groups, which cost the city more than $1 million a year in supplies and staff time.

City-appointed commissions range from those serving important functions, such as the Planning Commission, which oversees zoning and construction, to obscure panels in charge of Old Pasadena’s parking meters and the Hahamongna wilderness area.

“Most cities don’t have as many commissions as we do, but you have to understand this city has a commitment to community participation, and this is one of the ways we do it,” Mayor Kathryn Nack said. Together, the more than 250 city commissioners--if every commission were full--wouldn’t squeeze into the city’s substantial council chamber.

Last week the City Council, which was not satisfied with the Human Resources Commission’s work for senior citizens, re-established the dozen-strong Seniors Commission, less than two years after disbanding it. In doing so, the council went against the advice of City Manager Philip Hawkey.

Hawkey says that with a $6-million budget shortfall anticipated for next year, the city cannot afford to devote as much staff time to commissions without cutting services. “We need to put limits on the number of meetings and staff time, and look at the possibility of merging commissions,” he said.

Hawkey plans to make a formal proposal on the subject later this month in his budget presentation for the 1995-96 financial year that begins July 1. He would like to limit commission meetings to once a month and have them hire their own staff rather than use more-expensive city staffers. A part-timer for a commission would cost less than $10,000 a year, compared with as much as $53,000 for a staff member, Hawkey said.

Some candidates for the three open council seats agree. “We should be paring back the commissions. We should be consolidating and sunsetting,” said Ann-Marie Villicana, a candidate to succeed the Nack, who is retiring, in the April 18 city election. “We could use this money to do away with the library tax.”

But city commissioners don’t plan to stand idle under the ax.

“City staff say it costs too much for commissions. Well, I say they’re the best check and balance. Even at $50,000 (per commission each year), they save money,” said James Plotkin, who argues that the commission he serves on, overseeing Old Pasadena parking, has generated money through parking meters.

Commissioners might be appointed by the mayor or a council member to represent a particular district, by the city manager, or even by a neighborhood. One of the problems in filling openings has been the lack of public interest. But in other cases, council members have let openings drift for months.

Although commissioners are unpaid, each panel has its own staffer and a secretary who spend a part of their workweek handling agendas, minutes and reports. Many reports are also presented by staffers from various departments. At the March meeting of the Northwest Commission, which monitors all city projects in low-income and largely minority Northwest Pasadena, a dozen staffers attended.

Another voice for reform is Councilman Rick Cole. “If you have a commission for everything, the left-handed, lesbian cat-lovers will want a commission,” said Cole, who is leaving the council after 12 years.

In the present tangled web of commissions, boards and task forces, some projects are forced to jump through half a dozen different hoops.

For example, David and Lucy Brown’s proposal last year to lease city water and power land for an auto auction is one that left Cole scratching his head. The eventually successful project went before the commissions for planning, utilities, endowment advisory, the Northwest, community development, the council subcommittee on business enterprise and the council itself.

“It went to these commissions two or three times,” Cole said.

Even though the project was planned for Glenarm Avenue in the south part of the city, Northwest commissioners became involved because the Browns were promising to hire minority youths, many of whom come from that area. And the Endowment Advisory Commission, which handles long-range financial planning and city assets, discussed the auction twice.

One of the overall questions to be resolved is how much the commissions accomplish. The various panels submit annual reports each October, but the ones from last year were never read or approved by the council. “They were overlooked,” Nack said.

Many commissions share common interests, such as the panels on the status of women and affirmative action, or the cultural heritage and design review commissions. And at least one panel has been divided by severe internal disagreements.

The 11-member Arts Commission is split between those who favor popular art for the masses and those who favor investing in art for those with a developed interest.

“The Arts Commission is in a state of civil war,” Cole said.

Some commissions never meet, including the memberless Relocation Appeals Board, which hasn’t gotten together in at least seven years. The board is appointed by the mayor to hear from landowners forced to make way for redevelopment projects. The city pays them a relocation sum, but the commission in intended as a place for amounts to be appealed. In February, the Community Development Committee suggested that it absorb the body, but the council has yet to approve the idea.

Another body, the Board of Appeals, appointed by Hawkey and ratified by the council, also has no members. It is supposed to determine the suitability of using various materials on projects and interpret the building code.

Although most commissioners attend meetings regularly, a few don’t. District 1 council candidate Saundra L. Knox, a Northwest commissioner, was excused from eight of 23 meetings last year and was late for 14 more.

Commissions mostly consist of representatives chosen by the council member in each of the city’s seven council districts. But in many cases, council members have let vacant seats sit for months or even years.

Councilman Isaac Richard, who represents Northwest Pasadena, has failed to fill the District 1 Library Commission seat since it became open in June, 1992. The problem, he said, is that although there are many able people who could fill the post, few are willing to make the time for it.

This week, the council rejected Richard’s efforts to appoint Harold L. James to the Rose Bowl Operating Company, a city-appointed board that oversees use of the Rose Bowl. His colleagues gave no reason for the rejection. The seat has been vacant since Richard himself was removed from the board by the council in the fall of 1993.

“This was an extremely petty action,” said Richard of the council’s rejection of James. Richard did not seek reelection to his seat and will leave office later this year.

Councilman William E. Thomson Jr. filled his district’s empty seat on the same board Monday, after nearly two years of vacancy, by appointing himself.

“The chair and vice chair of the board asked me to put myself on because they feel a very strong need for a council member to serve as a direct liaison to the council,” Thomson said. He didn’t make the move earlier because he thought the selection process would change, he said.

“The response is not swift; it definitely takes longer than it should to fill a position,” Nack said.

Councilman Bill Crowfoot has six seats on various panels awaiting his appointments; he also has not reappointed two incumbents. These incumbents can continue to serve but technically don’t have a vote.

In response to Times inquiries, he reappointed Katherine Perez, who recently married Cole, to the Commission on the Status of Women this week.

When Crowfoot was elected in 1993, he dismissed Human Services Commissioner Tom Miller to free the seat for his own appointee, then never filled it.

“In one case I vacated a seat I should not have. I’ll take this opportunity to publicly apologize to that very capable person,” Crowfoot said.

Crowfoot said it’s not easy to find appointees willing to devote the time who have similar political views to his and reflect the district’s diversity. “Some commissions attract a lot of applications, but on others you have to pull teeth.”

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Pasadena’s City Commissions Pasadena has 30 commissions and boards to advise the City Council. The panels cost the city more than $1 million a year in supplies and staff time. Name: Accessibility and Disability Number of seats: 11 Vacancies: 2 Purpose: Studies inequities in access for the disabled and recommends policies Name: Affirmative Action Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Examines past and present effects of discrimination, monitors the city’s affirmative action plans and makes recommendations on such issues to the council Name: Arts Number of seats: 11 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Advises City Council on matters of the arts Name: Board of Appeals Number of seats: 5 Vacancies: 5 Purpose: Determines the suitability of alternative construction methods and materials Name: Burbank, Glendale Pasadena Number of seats: 8 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: A joint powers authority that runs Burbank airport (three Pasadena members) Name: Central Park Area Advisory Panel Number of seats: 12 Vacancies: 3 Purpose: Oversees permit for Union Station homeless shelter Name: Code Enforcement Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Holds hearings and rules on uncorrected housing code violations before prosecution Name: Community Access Number of seats: 11 Vacancies: 3 Purpose: Operates public-access TV channel Name: Community Development Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Reviews and makes recommendations on development Name: Conference Center Corp. Number of seats: 5 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Meets annually on the repayment of Pasadena Center bonds Name: Cultural Heritage Number of seats: 7 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Advises council on protection of city’s cultural resources Name: Design Number of seats: 8 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Advises the council on design standards and reviews projects Name: Endowment Advisory Number of seats: 8 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Identifies assets and revenue sources Name: Fire & Police Retirement Number of seats: 5 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Administers retirement system Name: Hahamongna Operating Co. Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 2 Purpose: Operates wilderness area near JPL Name: Human Relations Number of seats: 11 Vacancies: 2 Purpose: Engages in activities designed to eliminate prejudice, intolerance and discrimination Name: Human Services Number of seats: 15 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Advises council on human service needs in Pasadena Name: Library Number of seats: 7 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Advises council on public library system Name: Northwest Number of seats: 11 Vacancies: 2 Purpose: Advises council on policy and planning in Northwest part of the city Name: Old Pasadena Parking Meter Number of seats: 7 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Oversees parking in Old Pasadena Name: Pasadena Center Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Oversees running of Pasadena Center Name: Planning Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Reviews construction projects Name: Recreation & Parks Number of seats: 11 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Advises council on parks and recreation, Rose Bowl, Arroyo Seco and Brookside Golf Course Name: Relocations Appeals Number of seats: 5 Vacancies: 5 Purpose: Hears appeals on compensation paid to business to relocate from a site where a city redevelopment project is planned Name: Rose Bowl Aquatic Center Number of seats: 18 Vacancies: 3 Purpose: Operates swimming center in Arroyo Seco (not all members are appointed by city) Name: Rose Bowl Operating Co. Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Operates Rose Bowl stadium Name: Status of Women Number of seats: 11 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Advises council on the needs of women Name: South Lake Parking Place Number of seats: 5 Vacancies: 0 Purpose: Manages and controls parking and parking enforcement in South Lake Avenue commercial area Name: Transportation Advisory Number of seats: 7 Vacancies: 1 Purpose: Advises council on transportation policy Name: Utility Advisory Number of seats: 9 Vacancies: 2 Purpose: Advises council on city-owned water and power utilities Other city task forces and committees: Bicycle Task Force; Citywide Voting Task Force; Light Rail Station Review Committee; Maternal Child Adolescent Health Advisory Council; North Lake Specific Plan Coordinating Committee; Sister Cities Committee; Streetscape Master Committee; Urban Forestry Advisory Committee