Madison vs. McAustin

Monday's council meeting had sort of a rough moment during a debate on whether to search for new funding for the El Centro group. Chris Holden and Victor Gordo had suggested that the city look for $13,000 in funding for the group, which had lost out on tens of thousands in federal CDBG grants.

The Council had debated the measure for about an hour when a frustrated Steve Madison burst in and said the council ought not to waste any more talking about it.

Minutes later, after a council measure was amended for the umpteenth time, Margaret McAustin asked the clerk to re-read the motion and Madison got testy. The exchange went something like this.

MMA: I don't understand what we are voting on... can we read that again?

SM: We're getting to the point where we we're spending $13,000 in electricity just to have this meeting. (muted snickering among some staff and/or council members)

MMA: That's great Steve. I'd like to understand what I am voting on.

You can watch the whole exchange here, starting at around 2:22:00

I know I am new to Pasadena, but I never really considered a 2 1/2 hour meeting to be that long, nor for the council to spend an hour on one issue. I'd like to say that is the longest time I have spent listening to a council in those circumstances but it is far from true.

In my experience, a long meeting is more like 5 hours, with 4 hours spent focused on one issue (I am looking at you Glendora and Covina senior home projects).