Pasadena council adopts federal and state legislative platforms with language tweaks

The Pasadena City Council on Feb. 9 adopted updated federal and state legislative platforms, approving edits to wording and adding several policy priorities the council said better reflect local goals.

Councilmembers agreed to replace the phrase “federal assistance” with language such as “federal funding” or “federal investment,” and to trade the politically loaded term “local control” for formulations that preserve local decision-making authority. Council members also asked staff to add explicit support for renewed federal incentives for municipal solar and electric vehicles and to include language addressing Raymond Basin replenishment.

Councilmember John Lion, who proposed the wording change on local authority, said the edits were meant to preserve the city’s ability to govern planning, zoning, public safety and finance while avoiding language now associated with exclusionary politics. “Local decision-making authority preserves the authority of local agencies,” Lion said during debate.

Several speakers during public comment urged stronger language on environmental and investment policy. Vice Mayor Jess Rivas and other council members said the committee that drafted the platforms already planned more collaborative language with the state and that staff would present the final, edited texts for the record.

The council’s action implements the legislative policy committee’s recommendations with the agreed-upon tweaks and referral language. Staff will incorporate the edits into the final documents used by the city’s legislative advocates in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., and will distribute the updated platforms as council direction to the city’s advocacy partners.

The vote to adopt the platforms followed public comment and extended council discussion about phrasing; the platforms were adopted by the council (motion and final adoption recorded in the meeting minutes).