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Speakers at Pasadena meeting urge audits, raise bullying and legal‑system concerns during public comment
Summary
Multiple public commenters at the July 1 Pasadena council meeting asked for financial audits, criticized councilmember behavior, and described grievances with police and prosecutors; the council did not take formal action on those requests during the meeting.
Several residents used the July 1 public-comment period to urge a financial audit, to criticize council-member conduct and to describe alleged misconduct in the criminal-justice system.
Why it matters: Public comments identified community concerns about the conduct of elected officials, calls for accountability in city finances, and complaints about law‑enforcement and prosecutorial handling of individual cases — topics that elected officials can choose to address administratively or by agenda item at future meetings.
Christine Womack, representing the Pasadena Chamber, congratulated the newly elected officials and invited the public to a mayoral welcome reception. "The Pasadena Chamber looks forward to working alongside you to build pro-business policies," Womack said.
Several other speakers raised grievances. Steven Alvarez urged a full audit, saying, "If you're a taxpayer and you're concerned about your funds... we can use another visit from him and do a full audit." Leslie Melton said a council member had called her racist at an earlier meeting and asked the mayor to "get this three-ring circus under control." Ray P. Thompson praised the mayor's accessibility and 40 years of public-service recognition for a retiring official.
Robert Jeter notified the council of a local homicide victim and offered condolences; his remarks also referenced community concerns about public discourse. Alan Fowler and other commentators criticized what they described as bullying by a council member and urged better conduct. Eric Sanchez described a longstanding criminal conviction he says resulted from prosecutorial or policing misconduct and said he still carries a conviction he believes is false. "You can't preach about God and just ignore this," Sanchez told the council.
Council members read the city code's rules of conduct (Code of Ordinances adopted by Ordinance 02/1957, section 2.27) aloud during the meeting, emphasizing speaker relevance and decorum. The council did not take formal action on audit calls or the other complaints during the meeting; speakers asked the council to take up those matters in follow-up actions.
