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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 &...
$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...
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....
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Caltrans Homes South Pasadena | Blow Up Over Inspection Contract: City to Seek New...
After an ugly fallout with the company hired to inspect unoccupied houses it wants to buy from Caltrans, South Pasadena in coming weeks is...
Caltrans Homes South Pasadena | City Awaits Sales Contracts, Special Closed Session Meeting Sept....
The South Pasadena City Council is still waiting for Caltrans to send purchase and sales agreements (PSAs) for the 20 unoccupied properties the City...
City Reduced to One Water Well Over Holiday Weekend
South Pasadena’s Public Works Department acted quickly over the Labor Day weekend to replace a water pump motor that failed, threatening the flow of...
Finance Ad Hoc Committee Report Update | City Council: “We Dropped The Ball”
After a conspicuous false start in June, the South Pasadena City Council at its Aug. 17 meeting took on the volatile recommendations of its...
Fired Public Works Director Files Lawsuit | South Pasadena
Former South Pasadena Public Works Director Shahid Abbas has filed a whistleblower claim against the city claiming he was fired late last year after...
Finance Update | City Council Dismisses Finance Ad Hoc Recommendations: Calls Report ‘Gratuitous,’ ‘Hearsay’
Ten minutes before 1 am on a weeknight, at the end of its third-longest public meeting in over four years and with barely a...
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...
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,...
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...
