NFL Ballot Initiative Sought in Pasadena

Determined to keep alive the Rose Bowl’s chances to land an NFL team, a Pasadena city councilman is putting the finishing touches on a ballot initiative that would allow voters to decide whether the city should move forward with a proposal.

Councilman Chris Holden said he planned to submit the paperwork this week that would allow him to begin collecting the 10,700 signatures necessary to put an NFL deal on the ballot.

“We’re working on the best way to make it legally bulletproof,” Holden said Tuesday. “We’re getting close.”

Such an initiative could circumvent the City Council, which in June was unwilling to move forward in courting the NFL. As a result, the Rose Bowl essentially bowed out of the NFL stadium derby, leaving the Coliseum and Anaheim as the two remaining sites competing for a team.

Because it’s to the NFL’s benefit to keep more sites in the bidding process, the league has steadfastly refused to rule out Pasadena as an option.

A league spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the NFL was aware of Holden’s initiative and was monitoring the situation.