Pasadena City Council preview: no city manager deliberations

For this week's meeting, the most newsworthy item is something that is not on the agenda: no meetings about the city manager's position.

Mayor Bill Bogaard told Janette Williams this week that a decision would be made on candidate Michael Beck within 10 days. Has the Council reached on impasse on him? Perhaps, they are just planning to meet later in the week on it.

The other question is if the criticism of Beck by preservationists that is mentioned in Janette's article is affecting the Council's decision. It seems like they are not 100 percent sold on Beck (or he would have already received an offer), so a little bad publicity, however minor, is surely not welcome.

On the agenda, are a few relatively minor issues. There are a few maintenance contracts to be doled out. The city is also set to approve its Parks Facility Needs Matrix, which maps out the time table for Pasadena to deal with its needs for park improvements. The top priorities are more open space in the city's urban areas, more parks in general, and more sports fields. The only thing the city really has no shortage of is undeveloped open space in the form of chaparral-covered hills. Which, I am very grateful for.

There is also a public hearing on an appeal to a city decision to give a Hooters franchise on Colorado a license to serve hard alcohol. The city initially was set to give them them permit last fall, but some citizens objected. City staff is now recommending the permit not be granted since it would lead to too high a concentration of liquor-selling establishments in one block on Colorado (in the opinion of the police).