May 2009 Archives

The city last night did a first reading on a water ordinance it previously approved at a public hearing (read about it here). The plan basically pushes for Pasadena residents to cut their water use by 10 percent through a series of new restrictions, and sets up the possibility of larger savings.

Last night Margaret McAustin threw down the gauntlet (in a possible attempt to publicize the new rules) and challenged other council members to open their homes to a water audit to see what improvements could be made. Steve Madison took up the call.

We'll keep our eyes peeled on this one- presumably it will have better results than when a now-out-of-work journalist pestered the head of the Los Angeles Department Water of Power to release his water bills to the public.

I was briefly worried when I went to the polls an hour ago as we were rapidly approaching noon- I didn't want to get caught up in the lunch "rush." I figured maybe there might be a short wait- but there was no one there. Nobody came in during the entire time I voted.

Not a big surprise considering the low turnout predictions (the figures from early morning showed a 2.49 percent turnout), but it still felt strange compared to the line I waited through in the November election at the same polling station.

It is still lower than the L.A. county wide numbers and state-wide numbers, but Pasadena is beginning to catch up. This time last year, the city had a 4.7 percent unemployment rate, and was far lower than the county, state, and nation- it had barely increased from boom times.

I wrote an article last summer when the rate hit 5.7 percent. In it, county economist Jack Kyser opined that Pasadena's unemployment rate would not rise too much because it has so many employees who work at colleges (PCC, Caltech). Normally, in recessions that is a pretty safe job, because of the size of college endowments or state sponsorship.

This time, it didn't prove to be enough of a safeguard for Caltech employees- several dozen were laid off a few months back, making a contribution to the rising unemployment rate.

Still, I would imagine the bulk of the unemployment is coming from financial services, banking, and other white collar office jobs. By comparison, Claremont, another university town which I would think has a higher percentage of workers in college employ than Pasadena, is only at 5.9 percent unemployment.

Here are some of the signs I jotted down while at the May Day Tea Party event Friday:

*Howard Jarvis Lives!

*Fox News = Truth

*Obama's Budget a Man-Caused Disaster

*Born Free, Taxed to Death

*God asks 10 Percent, Gov't asks 39 Percent

*Spread Work Ethic, Not My Wealth

*Your 'fair share' is not my wallet!