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.
City Repurposes Grant Money for Traffic Work
The City Council on Wednesday approved spending $65,000 for a traffic study of Mission St. and Meridian Ave. It also authorized spending up to...
Teresa Highsmith Steps Aside | South Pasadena City Attorney Changes
After nearly two years of controversy surrounding its City Attorney, South Pasadena’s City Council on Wednesday is set to re-designate Teresa L. Highsmith to...
Caltrans Housing Bill | SB-381 Heads to Assembly Floor for Approval
The city of South Pasadena’s bill to encourage the sale of up to 68 Caltrans properties in town was unanimously approved without amendment Thursday...
City’s Legal Billings Significantly Increased | Invoices Reviewed
South Pasadena Council Member Jon Primuth during Wednesday’s Council meeting expressed confidence the city is getting good value for the money it is spending...
New Stop Signs on Oak & Meridian Intersection | Neighbors Rejoice Over Installation
After lobbying for two decades, neighbors celebrated Tuesday, August 10, when the city at last installed stop signs for both north and southbound traffic...
UPDATE: ‘Clean Power Alliance’ Battle Ongoing | Disagreement Over Millions in Electric Rates
Originally published on August 6, 2021. Updated to include statements from Mayor Diana Mahmud.
South Pasadena’s electric ratepayers, its mayor, state senator and assembly member...
Police Dog Incident | SPPD Chief Solinksy Addresses the Issue
A legally blind, 5-year boy was bitten in the face by a police narcotics dog Tuesday evening just before a SouthPasadena Police Department canine...
South Pasadena City Attorney Highsmith Absent from Council Meetings
Over the past few months, South Pasadena City Attorney Teresa L. Highsmith has been conspicuously absent from the City Council’s regular meetings. Her last...
20 Years in The Making | A Stop Sign on Oak & Meridian
Audience applause broke out when the South Pasadena City Council voted unanimously Wednesday evening to install stop signs at the three-way intersection of Meridian...
City Finances | Auditor Finds Fewer Material Weakness, Significant Deficiencies for South Pasadena
There were three “material weaknesses” and two “significant deficiencies” in the City of South Pasadena’s fiscal 2019-20 financial documents, the city’s auditor said in...
City Council Plans Next Step in $6.3 Million Caltrans Property Takeover
Anticipating success in its ambitious strategy to take control over the future of up to 68 Caltrans properties in South Pasadena, the City Council...
Caltrans Properties | 350 Agencies Contacted: “Request for Interest” in Purchasing
UDPATED 7-19-2021:
After nearly six months, Caltrans has yet to respond to a dozen public and private housing developers who answered the agency’s request for...
South Pasadena Planning Department Gets Some Crucial Attention
The South Pasadena City Council approved multiple actions last Wednesday to help address chokepoints in the processing of Planning Department procedures that have become...
626 Prospect Ave Sale | Court Blocks Caltrans Sale to Pasadena Church
The City of South Pasadena on Thursday won a preliminary injunction preventing Caltrans from selling its 12-unit residential property at 626 Prospect Avenue to...
626 Prospect Ave Sale | Caltrans’ ‘Misleading’ of Transportation Commission Draws Rebuke
South Pasadena’s push to claw back the right to purchase Caltrans’ 12-unit residential property at 626 Prospect gained momentum June 24 when state Transportation...
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;...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel | After Nine Month Investigation, Fire is Deemed Arson
John David Corey Jr., 57, of San Gabriel, was arrested Tuesday for setting the fire which destroyed the roof and caused other damage to...
Caltrans Surplus Properties Bill | Transportation Committee OK’s SB-381 for South Pasadena
The state Senate Transportation Committee voted Tuesday to approve SB-381, a South Pasadena-sponsored bill to promote sales of dozens of Caltrans-owned properties for low-...
626 Prospect Ave | City Prods Caltrans over Loss of Development Bid in South...
Stung from having lost a hard-fought effort to purchase and redevelop a 12-unit Caltrans-owned property to a Pasadena church, the city of South Pasadena...
City Manager Nomination for Jordan Withdrawn | Council to Vet Second Choice Candidate
Slammed by an onslaught of universal opposition, the South Pasadena City Council on Tuesday evening withdrew plans to appoint Christopher A. Jordan as the...
South Pasadena New City Manager Search | Prospective Candidate Has Experience, Baggage
The South Pasadena City Council on Wednesday is set to vote on the appointment of Christopher A. Jordan as the new City Manager.
Jordan, who...
