Shay seeks to unseat Gordo in Pasadena mayoral race
Pasadena voters will decide who will be the city’s next mayor in the March 5 primary election, as challenger Allen Shay seeks to unseat incumbent Victor Gordo after his first term as mayor and more than 20 years on the City Council.
The top two vote-getters will face off in the November presidential election, unless one candidate receives a majority (50% of ballots cast plus 1) of votes, in which case that candidate would be elected without needing to run in the general election.
Shay, a real estate broker and former commissioner on the city’s Northwest Commission, ran unsuccessfully for Pasadena mayor in 2015, for the District 5 seat on the City Council in 2011, and the District 7 seat in 2022.
Growing up in Pasadena in the ’60s gave him a front seat to history and the chance to shape it, Shay said, from being raised in the wake of the trail blazed by Jackie Robinson, to fighting for justice and police accountability during the Kendrec McDade killing, and subsequent incidents of officer-involved shootings.
He said he’s running to ensure the city he loves is represented by a mayor with their finger on the pulse of the people.
“Pasadena needs someone who cares about the city and listens to its constituents,” he said. “What they have right now is a photo-op mayor.”
Shay said apart from being more in touch with Pasadena residents, his platform will focus on economic prosperity and redevelopment, which he believes can be solved hand-in-hand with tackling the affordable housing and homelessness crisis.
The city hasn’t been aggressive enough in taking vacant commercial buildings and repurposing them as affordable housing sites or shelters over the past four years, Shay said, something he’d prioritize if elected.
“Lake Avenue is ripe with opportunities,” he said, touting his time as chair of the Lincoln Avenue Steering Committee where he helped encourage business growth since the late ’90s as an example of what voters can expect from his candidacy. “But we haven’t been moving fast enough.”
By contrast, Gordo touted the planned revitalization of the long-shuttered Kaiser Permanente building at 450 N. Lake Ave. as one the major accomplishments of his first term as mayor, with the 2.3-acre site set to house a much needed outpatient mental health facility in partnership with LosAngeles County.
He said the project would be a pillar of his plan to address mental health and homelessness if re-elected, with his campaign also focusing on ensuring economic growth and balancing the city budget, increasing affordable housing, investing in infrastructure, and partnering with PCC and PUSD on capital projects.
“The pandemic caused so many issues to break to the surface all at one time and there’s only so much bandwidth as an organization,” Gordo said of his first-term priorities. “What came with that was the fear of the unknown and a sense of instability. I think people are settling in and we’re going to see a change. People are now ready to pivot.”
Gordo, who became mayor in 2020 on a pitch of consensus building, highlighted that the city — along with the rest of the world — has gone through drastic changes and faced unprecedented uncertainty which he helped weather during his tenure through “bringing people together.”
Beyond dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, Gordo said the city has dealt with major leadership transitions across departments at the same time — pointing out that he’s worked with five police chiefs, three city managers, three Pasadena Water and Power general managers, two fire chiefs, and a whirlwind of interim directors.
“I’ve seen quite a bit my first term; in the last few years till now the city went into survival mode, there’s no other way to put it,” he said. “And now I think, we’re not done with COVID but we’re better equipped, and it’s time to start taking the next steps.”
But even given the challenge of dealing with the coronavirus over the last four years, Shay pointed to other needed improvement projects — such as cleaning up the abandoned St. Luke Medical Center site on Washington Boulevard and enhancing public safety at city parks — as proof that the city has been slow footed due to a lack of direction coming from the top.
“It’s been the same policies and issues as the last four mayors,” he said. “It’s like Pasadena hasn’t had new leadership for 20 years.”
As an outspoken advocate for increased police oversight, Shay said the city has failed to move far and fast enough to hold officers accused of misconduct accountable, despite outcry from the public and setting up city bodies to ensure oversight.
He has advocated for going as far as changing the governance structure of the city if necessary in order to give the mayor and city council more direct accountability over the police department, which in its current structure is headed by the city manager.
Gordo, on the other hand, has praised the “great progress” the city and Pasadena Police Department have made the past few years in “gaining confidence of the members of the community, pushing for a more moderate but steady approach to reform.”
Among his first-term accomplishments, Gordo listed the relinquishment of the 710 Freeway stub from the state back to the city, righting the Rose Bowl stadium’s financial situation through SB 96, and building more than 1,700 affordable housing units.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is the positive tone that I believe we’ve set in the city of Pasadena,” he said. “And I commit to residents that I, together with my colleagues on the city council, will work together to improve every aspect of our community, education, business, neighborhoods, and governance.”