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. He and his wife Karin, an arts administrator from El Sereno, live in South Pasadena.
Finance Ad Hoc Committee Recorded | A Serious Look Behind the Curtain
“Anyone who reads this needs to know how bad it got,” South Pasadena City Council Member Jon Primuth said March 9. Primuth, who is serving his first term on the council and slated to...
City Council | Budget, Union Contracts, FAHC Report, Housing Element Items on Agenda Tonight
The South Pasadena City Council tonight will consider final adoption of the 2022-23 general fund budget which totals $42.2 million--an increase of $7.4 million, or 24 percent, over the estimated 2021-22 budget, which itself...
Finance Ad Hoc Committee Report Filed | Forensic Audit Looming
Sufficient red flags exist to justify a forensic audit of South Pasadena’s finances, but it “may not be practical” to commence one at this time, according to a long overdue report from the City...
Case Settled | City Settles Another Lawsuit: Hanscom Drive
The city of South Pasadena Thursday announced it will make a $200,000 payment to city resident Alison Smith to settle her four-year-old case against the city over responsibility for a January 11-12, 2018 sewage...
City Council | Delays, Costs and Discrepancies Affecting General Plan
South Pasadena’s long and expensive struggle to produce a general plan and related housing element is creating regulatory and legal troubles for the city, and drawing critical scrutiny of the performance of its staff...
Caltrans Homes South Pasadena | Tenants Push City Not To Dismiss
Supporters of a group of South Pasadena Caltrans tenants implored city council members last week not to abandon a faltering lawsuit the City undertook in support of the tenants’ long-frustrated dreams of purchasing their...
CalTrans Homes South Pasadena | City & Caltrans to Plunge into Action
The South Pasadena City Council is set to take big steps tonight in its quest for a satisfactory final disposition for the remaining 68 properties in town that Caltrans acquired for its ill-fated 710...
Elections 2022 | Mahmud Will Not Seek 3rd Term
Diana Mahmud, the second most senior member of the South Pasadena City Council who has twice served as Mayor, announced this week she will not seek a third term this November.
The announcement came three...
Caltrans Properties | LA City Council Consider Plan to Buy 77 El Sereno Properties
The Los Angeles City Council’s Homelessness and Poverty Committee on Thursday, March 10 will consider a proposal from its chief legislative analyst (CLA) to spend at least $2.5 million to purchase 77 Caltrans properties...
South Pasadena Seeks Dismissal of BLM Protesters’ Civil Rights Complaints
The City of South Pasadena has asked federal Judge Dale S. Fischer to dismiss all seven claims filed last October by BLM protesters Fahren James and Victorian Patterson against the city and five SPPD...
