Pasadena City Council preview: solar initiative bad, nutritional labels good

Will there be any excitement tonight at the city council meeting? It boils down to this: does the council make a decision on the city manager at the 5:30 closed session? As mentioned before Riverside Assistant City Manager Michael Beck is being considered for the job, and three council members did make it out to Riverside on Friday.

I'm going to refrain from making pointless predictions about what happens tonight about the city manager position: I don't know that much, and a lot of what I do know I agreed not to reveal on this blog or in the paper.

So let's talk about what else is on the agenda. The city is endorsing and rejecting some state legislation: endorsing SB 1420, a plan to require restaurants chains to post nutritional information on menus. It is also against Proposition 7, a green energy initiative that will appear on November's ballot.

Yes, the city that aspires to be the Green City is against a solar power initiative. The reason, of course, is that it mandates a certain percentage of utilities' power come from green sources. High percentages: 20% by 2010, 40% by 2020, 50% by 2025.

Is that realistic or just another pie-in-the-sky environmental goal? Should be an interesting question to consider in the next few months.

Also on the agenda, a $55,000 contract for a consultant who will carry out some very generally-worded management strategies to improve the city:

Creating systems to help managers use performance information to continuously improve results;

Provide a presentation on transformation as a context for understanding the
nature of transformational change.

What exactly does all that mean? I haven't the faintest, but I might ask my girlfriend who is soon to receive her MBA.... sounds like the language she speaks when she is talking about class work. One thing I have to ask though, does the city not have a culture of trust already? Also, I could have told you for less than $55,000 that the best way to continuous improvement is to focus on improving results.

And that the best way to understand the nature of transformational change is, in fact, a presentation on transformation.

I more clearly understand Task 4 of the consultant's contract though:

Task 4: Facilitate a retreat of key personnel to reach agreement on change strategies to
recommend to the new City Manager.

I wonder if on this retreat city employees will go out to the woods and do the "trust fall" to work on the city's culture of trust.

Also at tonight's meeting, the city will discuss altering its "living wage ordinance," which will allow companies and their workers to agree to opt-out of the living wage ordinance in exchange for greater benefits or other compensation that would make up for receiving lower pay. I don't yet know a great deal of the specific requirements of the current ordinance, so I will be keeping a close eye on this one tonight.