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.
City Adopts $31.9 Million Budget | What Passed for South Pasadena
The South Pasadena City Council last week adopted a $31.9 million balanced general fund budget that restores services and programs suspended due to COVID-19; sets aside $200,000 in the police budget for a “crisis...
City of South Pasadena’s Wrongful Termination of Firefighter | Supreme Court Denies Review
South Pasadena reached the end of the appeal road Wednesday when the state Supreme Court denied its petition for review of a lower court ruling under which it must reinstate fire engineer Owen Cliff...
Caltrans Properties | City Asks Court to Rescind Prospect Ave Sale
In an escalation of the battle over who should have the right to purchase a 12-unit Caltrans property in South Pasadena, the City has asked a court to rescind Caltrans’ deal to sell the...
City Council Hears Pleas to Restore Library Position
A half dozen supporters of the South Pasadena Library implored the City Council Wednesday not to go through with a plan to reject the Library’s request to retain a full-time position needed to fix...
BLM Spitter Joe Richcreek Convicted | Hate Crime Definition Disputed Over Claims
UPDATED ON JUNE 1 TO INCLUDE STATEMENT FROM DDA, CHERYL GAINES. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 28.
Joseph Luis Richcreek, who spat at Black Lives Matter protestors during a demonstration last July in South Pasadena, accepted...
Police Department Investigations | City Says Law Prevents Public Discussion
Outgoing South Pasadena City Manager Sean Joyce on Thursday put the kibosh on public demands that the City Council place on its agenda a public discussion about the results of investigations the city commissioned...
West Side Reservoir Near-Collapse | Replacement to Cost Millions of Dollars
“A ticking time-bomb.”
That’s how South Pasadena City Council Member Evelyn Zneimer described the condition of the city’s 2-million-gallon West Side Reservoir during a city council meeting May 5. It could cost over $10 million...
CalTrans Properties | Two Councilmembers to Lead New Subcommittee in South Pasadena
South Pasadena City Council Members John Primuth and Michael Cacciotti were named last week to serve on a new Council Subcommittee whose task will be to implement plans for the city’s disposition of Caltrans...
Investigation of the South Pasadena Police Department | Nine Officers Found in Violation of...
After nearly six months of investigating, the city has sustained 21 of the 53 complaints filed by nearly a dozen residents against South Pasadena police officers stemming from events starting with last summer’s Black...
New Police Chief Selected | Brian Solinsky Appointed for South Pasadena Police Department
Brian Solinsky, a 27-year veteran of the South Pasadena Police Department who is currently serving as acting chief, has been appointed to be the department’s permanent chief commanding 36 sworn officers, 15 full-time, non-sworn...
