City Hires New Planner

La Cañada Flintridge has a new city planner, to the relief of department staff faced with a growing caseload.

Patrick Johnson is familiar with many of the hillside and single-family issues he will be facing, as he formerly worked in Pasadena and South Pasadena.

“Every city’s planning issues are different,” said Johnson, who was also on staff for the city of Santa Monica.

La Cañada is still looking for an assistant planner, a recruitment effort that has gone on for awhile. Community development director Robert Stanley said in the past that the market is tight for qualified planners.

Johnson is a resident of Mt. Washington. He began Jan. 2, and reported he has a full schedule of cases already on his desk.