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.
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel | Destruction and Renewal
The early morning fire that tore through the church of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel last July hurt the heart.
It wasn’t the most tragic event...
Moffatt St Madness | City to Set Aside, Reconsider Controversial Decision
Under legal pressure for alleged Brown Act violations, the South Pasadena City Council will set aside and reconsider one of its most unpopular decisions,...
CalTrans Housing | SB-381 Hits Another Roadblock at Council Meeting
CalTrans housing stakeholders in South Pasadena will have a little more time to consider the terms of a senate bill aimed at ending decades...
UPDATE: CalTrans Seeking to ‘Sabotage’ Property Sales to City, Attorney Claims
Original Publication on March 29, 2021. Updated on April 7 to include CalTrans statements.
CalTrans is trying to sabotage South Pasadena’s effort to inexpensively acquire...
Moffatt St Development | Opponents Sue City Over Alleged CEQA Violation
The aggrieved property owner who organized neighbors on both sides of the municipal line against plans for a controversial luxury housing development in El...
UPDATE: CalTrans Properties | South Pasadena City Council Considers Purchase
UPDATE on March 19, 2021
After an 80-minute discussion Wednesday night, the City Council voted to 4-0, with Council Member Evelyn Zneimer abstaining, to support...
Court Rules City’s Termination as Retaliation | South Pasadena Must Re-instate Fired Fire Department...
In the latest of a string of adverse legal judgments, the City of South Pasadena must reinstate the former President of its Fire Fighters’...
$59 Million South Pasadena City Budget Saved by Voter Support, Cell Tower Lease
Unexpectedly reliable levels of property and sales tax revenue, voters’ approval of tax measures, and the city’s strategic renegotiation of cell tower leases combined...
Finance Commission | Median House Price Surpasses $1.4 Million in South Pasadena, Churches Get...
The median price for a detached, single family home in South Pasadena during 2020 was $1,445,500, an increase of 9.23 percent from 2019, according...
City Council Gives Final Approval for Seven Patios
The South Pasadena City Council on Wednesday upheld the Planning Commission’s approval of the 60-unit, 6,100 square-foot residential and commercial Seven Patios development to...
Moffat St Development Gets Greenlight from City Council Despite Heavy Homeowner Opposition
Despite a universal wave of neighborhood opposition, the South Pasadena City Council on Feb. 17 upheld permits for a private extension of South Pasadena’s...
New Developments in City Lawsuit | Smith Targets Ex-Mayor in Amended Claim
South Pasadena dance teacher Alison Smith this week accused former Mayor Marina Khubesrian of “intentionally” retaliating against her for comments Smith, accompanied by her...
City Council | Speed Bumps for Seven Patios; Jan 6 Insurrection at Capitol Condemned...
Citing a last-minute request from the developer, the South Pasadena City Council on Feb. 3 postponed for one month a vote on the approval...
ER Actress Vanessa Marquez Police Shooting | Settlement Reached
Delia McElfresh, the mother of actress Vanessa Marquez, who was killed in the early afternoon of Aug. 30, 2018 by South Pasadena police during a...
A Court Ruling Against South Pasadena | Judge Urges Parties to Settle
Superior Court Judge John J. Kralik, presiding over a costly and emotional legal battle between the City of South Pasadena and its own resident...
Attorney Highsmith Under Scrutiny | Lauren Rubin Settlement is Likely
Court documents indicate there is a settlement in the retaliation lawsuit filed one year ago against the city and two South Pasadena officials by...
Interview with New Mayor Diana Mahmud | Working on Making 2021 a Better Year
In a small city such as South Pasadena, “the position of mayor is overrated,” says 5th District Council Member Diana Mahmud, who was selected...
SCAG Update | South Pasadena Appeal of Housing Allocation Denied
South Pasadena’s appeal for a 41 percent reduction in the 2,062 housing units it must plan for by 2029 under the state’s Regional Housing...
COVID UPDATE South Pasadena | 1000 Cases and Growing
UPDATED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 14
Over 1,000 South Pasadenans have been infected with the novel coronavirus. The data mean that by week’s end, one in...
Griffins of Kinsale | Owner Sentenced in Court for COVID Violation
Griffins of Kinsale owner Joseph Patrick Griffin, who on March 17, 2020 became possibly the first person to be criminally cited for violating the...
SCAG Recommends Denial of RHNA Reductions | City of South Pasadena
Saying most of their arguments are precluded by law, staff of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is recommending denial of appeals filed...
RHNA | City Joins Campaign Pressing Challenge to Massive Housing Demand
Both the Pasadena and South Pasadena City Councils in November quietly joined a movement of more than five dozen cities representing over a third...
New City Manager Search | List of Community Members Named for Input
Thirty-one South Pasadena residents have been invited to sit on one of four focus groups that will offer input on the experience, style and...
South Pasadena Resident to Serve on LA County Redistricting Commission | Priya Sridharan
South Pasadena resident Priya Sridharan has been selected to serve as one of 14 members of the LA County Redistricting Commission (CRC). After the...
$70 Million Dollar Project | New City Council Sidelines Commission’s Recommendation
The South Pasadena City Council raised eyebrows Wednesday Dec. 16 when, against the express recommendation of its five transportation commissioners, it unanimously approved a...
South Pasadena | City to Make Permanent Eviction Ban for Unpermitted Renovation
South Pasadena’s moratorium on evictions triggered by unpermitted renovation work will has been extended through mid-January, when the City Council will adopt an ordinance...
City Council Preview Dec 16 | What’s on the Agenda
The South Pasadena City Council on Wednesday evening is set to adopt its first-ever Climate Action Plan (CAP). The plan reviews the city’s 2016...
City Council | New Members Sworn In, Diana Mahmud Named Mayor
The South Pasadena City Council said goodbye Wednesday to Mayor Robert Joe and Council members Richard Schneider and Stephen Rossi, remotely swore in newly...
City of South Pasadena | Final Election Results
The LA County Registrar late Monday issued the final certified results of the Nov. 3 election, in which a record 4,338,191 voters took part....
UPDATED REPORT: Man Killed in South Pasadena After Attacking Residents
Just before 10 am Saturday morning, a white man in his 40s entered the home of his estranged girlfriend on the 500 block of...
