Pasadena council tables civilian certification pay increase after brief but contested debate

Pasadena — The Pasadena City Council on Feb. 3 voted to table an ordinance (item N) that would have created an education and certification license incentive pay for all civilian full-time city employees, delaying any final action to an indefinite date.

The motion to table was made by Councilwoman Valerio and later put to a roll-call vote after several members asked why it should be delayed. An unidentified council member summarized the council history, saying, “This civilian pay was already on the agenda November 4 as a first reading. It passed unanimously by the council.” That speaker said the administration later removed a related ordinance from the Jan. 6 agenda.

Council discussion focused on why the item was being delayed again and whether sufficient explanation had been provided to justify an indefinite tabling. During the roll call, the transcript records Councilwoman Van Howe voting “Nay,” Councilman Estrada voting “Aye,” Councilman Dowd voting “Nay,” Councilwoman Feuchler voting “Nay,” Councilwoman Styron voting “Nay,” and the presiding official saying, “I’m a nay as well.” The clerk later announced that the motion to table passed; the transcript contains an internal inconsistency between the recorded individual responses and the announced outcome.

The ordinance under consideration would have set effective pay changes for civilian incentive certification on March 2, 2026, and had been listed on the first-reading agenda at the Feb. 3 meeting. Council did not take final action on the substance of the pay increase at this meeting; the ordinance remains tabled.

The council’s action leaves unresolved when or whether the city will adopt the incentive-pay policy for civilian employees. No supplemental materials, fiscal impact analysis, or final vote tally by member (consistent across the roll call) were provided in the transcript. The council adjourned before scheduling a return date for the item.