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Ben Tansey
Ben Tansey is a journalist and author. He grew up in the South Bay and is a graduate of Evergreen State College. He worked in Washington State as a reporter in a rural timber community and for many years as an editor for a Western electric energy policy publication based in Seattle.
Important CalTrans Homes Hearing in South Pasadena: FRIDAY APRIL 26th at SPHS 5pm~8pm
As the curtain draws near on final acts in Caltrans' ill-fated, 70-year attempt to build a freeway through South Pasadena—disposition of the properties it acquired to do so—final rules are being put into place.
Caltrans...
City Finance Director Exits South Pasadena After 13 Months
Only days before the April 17 kickoff of the city's accelerated budget process and four months since formally taking over as South Pasadena's permanent Finance Director, John Downs has told the city he will...
Electric Bills South Pasadena | Clean Power Alliance (CPA) Arrangement is on The Chopping...
South Pasadena, which four years ago opted to rely solely on renewable power for city operations under the Clean Power Alliance’s (CPA) “100 percent Green Power” product, is set to reconsider that decision at...
City Finance Commission Meeting | Finance Panel Pushed for ‘Corrected’ Answers, Defined Issues, as...
With the caveat that Finance staff will provide City Council a “high level understanding” of requested budget data, the South Pasadena Finance Commission on March 28 voted 4-0 to recommend Council approval of the...
City Council South Pasadena | The Twisting 7-Hour March 20 Meeting Ended With Turmoil
In a wide-ranging and at times contentious seven-hour session, South Pasadena City Council members on Wednesday evening: killed a panel reviewing details of the city’s projected budget deficits; partially backed off a controversial new...
City Finance Issues: The Brown Act Called to Question & Finance Ad Hoc Committee...
In a de facto acknowledgment it acted illegally, the South Pasadena City Council tonight is set to rescind the finance ad hoc committee it set up during the Feb.21, 2024 fiscal review session, and...
CalTrans Homes | Newly Signed Real Estate Sales Rep. Responds to Concerns
The Keller Williams DTLA and The Dave Knight Real Estate Team, selected last week by the South Pasadena City Council to resell the 19 residential properties that the city is negotiating to purchase from...
Caltrans Homes Sales | City’s Prospective Real Estate Rep is With Keller Williams: KW...
The real estate firm the City of South Pasadena intends to hire to resell properties it is buying from Caltrans is affiliated with one of three nationwide brokerages ordered this week to pay a...
CalTrans Homes Purchases | Broker Contract Set For Council Approval
The City of South Pasadena says it intends to purchase unoccupied properties in town offered to it by Caltrans in the former SR 710 extension corridor.
Formal public acknowledgment of the long-awaited deal came in...
CalTrans Homes South Pasadena | 626 Prospect Settlement: Judge Acts on His Own Motion
Judge Curtis A. Kin has approved a settlement in South Pasadena's lawsuit challenging Caltrans' sale of the 12-unit multi-family property at 626 Prospect to the development arm of the Pasadena-based Friendship Baptist Church.
The judge...
CalTrans Homes | Deadline Set, Costs Rise in Battle to Combine CalTrans Property Settlements
Nearly 10 months after South Pasadena Mayor Jon Primuth said the City “soon will have a well-developed set of options” to purchase 19 Caltrans-owned residential properties, no plan has emerged. Meantime the city's cost...
South Pasadena Housing | General Plan Update, Housing Element Approved, Errors & Confusing Data...
The South Pasadena City Council on Sept. 27 approved major changes to its 25-year-old General Plan, along with a bevy of related zoning ordinances and an environmental document. The changes will put the city...
Development | City Moves Toward Adoption of Housing Element, General Plan Update; Confusion...
After nine years of twists and turns and about a million dollars spent, long-awaited updates to the South Pasadena General Plan and its Downtown Specific Plan, as well as related zoning changes and environmental...
Historic Garfield House South Pasadena | How Caltrans Enabled Restoration of an Important Local...
When Lori and Grant Davis-Denny purchased the historic Garfield House in South Pasadena in 2015 for $3 million, they knew they were taking on a sacred legacy.
“We look at ourselves as stewards of the...
Budget Rejected | City Council Left With Many Questions as Process Stumbles
Facing echoes of the procedural trainwreck that derailed adoption of the city budget in summer of 2020, the South Pasadena City Council on June 7 unanimously rejected a staff recommendation to approve the 2023-24...
NEW CITY ATTORNEY | City Dumps Colantuono; Rozanne M. Diaz Named City Attorney
With little affect or discussion Wednesday, South Pasadena City Council members ended the city’s tumultuous nine-year relationship with Pasadena law firm Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, unanimously voting to approve a three-year contract for city...
$500,000 BLM Settlement Report | South Pasadena Conducting “Organizational Assessments”
Black Lives Matter protesters Fahren James and Victoria Patterson have settled their civil rights lawsuit against the City of South Pasadena and five of its police officers. Terms were not made public but are...
New Lawfirm for South Pasadena | Vote to Replace Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley
South Pasadena City Council members will decide Wednesday whether to begin a search for a new firm to provide the City’s principal legal services. The long-anticipated vote constitutes a referendum on Colantuono, Highsmith &...
CITY FINANCE | Interim Director Departure Extends Finance Department Challenges
South Pasadena Interim Finance Director Maida Alcantara, who has served in that position for only three months, unexpectedly left the job late last month, the City acknowledged late Friday. Alcantara, the third interim to...
626 Prospect | City to Forego Injunction Under Tentative Settlement
Attorneys litigating Caltrans’ controversial sale of its 12-unit, multifamily residential property at 626 Prospect in South Pasadena have reached a tentative settlement. According to a document filed in LA Superior Court Tuesday, the deal...
New Councilmember | Braun to Focus on Trust, Planning and Governance
Janet Braun, slated to be sworn in tonight as the councilmember from South Pasadena’s Fifth District, told the South Pasadenan News last week she will support rebidding the city’s legal services and is prepared...
Incoming Mayor | First Time Mayor Primuth to Focus on Streets and Seniors
Streets and seniors will be top priorities for Jon Primuth, the first term District 3 South Pasadena city council member who is expected tonight to be chosen by his colleagues to serve as South...
Musk Security Guard Allegedly Rams Motorist in South Pasadena Parking Lot
South Pasadena officials today said that someone--they won't say who--believes that it was member of Elon Musk’s security team who used his vehicle on the evening of Tuesday December 13 to ram into another...
626 Prospect Ave Sale | Global Settlement Possible Topic in Long Day of Mediation
South Pasadena, Caltrans and other parties of interest are set to convene today for a mediation session over ongoing litigation between the City and Caltrans. While the case at hand is over the legality...
South Pasadena BLM Protests | Judge Restores Complaint Against City
A federal judge this month upped the ante in two BLM protesters’ civil rights claims against the City of South Pasadena, updating an earlier decision that would have spared the City from potential liability...
Caltrans Homes South Pasadena | Tensions Rise as City Holds Special Community Meeting
With debate over the future of the Caltrans-owned homes in South Pasadena heating up, the City on Thursday held a major “community meeting” in an effort to clear the air and clarify the City’s...
City Council | Firing Contractor after State Rejects Third Housing Element Draft
The City of South Pasadena on Tuesday announced it will dump Placeworks, the planning contractor it’s relied on over the past two and a half years to develop its mandatory Housing Element (HE), now...
CITY FINANCE | Latest Finance Director Recruit Declines Offer
South Pasadena’s two-year-old quest to hire a permanent finance director took another blow this month when the latest recruit ditched the City’s offer in favor of a counteroffer from her existing employer. That employer,...
Editorial | City Must Reform Public Comment Practices
Bravo.
Recognizing many stakeholders wanted to provide public comment on a closed session agenda item (the Caltrans property litigation), the South Pasadena City Council this week did something different. Instead of holding the public comment...
CalTrans Properties | Pressure Builds to Change Course in Property Acquisition
As the City moves in fits and starts to acquire the 20 unoccupied single family houses Caltrans offered to sell it under 2021’s Senate Bill 381, opponents have put increasing pressure on the city...
