Here are the candidates for office in Pasadena for this May:
I wish I could give that to you in a more reader-friendly format, but online news sources for this are scant. This Patch.com story is the only post-filing deadline news I’ve seen, and it bizarrely identifies my blogging colleague Gary Denton as a candidate for Mayor. (Denton is working with Council Member Pat Van Houte on her Mayoral campaign.) This Chron story from the end of January gives a bit of background on some of the Mayoral candidates, but others have since filed. I’ll be keeping my eyes open on this and will post more if and when I find something worth posting.
In the meantime, according to Gary, the three unopposed Council candidates are all Democrats, as are Felipe Villareal in A, Steve Halvorson in B, and Oscar Del Toro in G. I don’t have particulars about other candidates as yet. I plan to keep a closer watch on these local May races than I usually do, and I welcome feedback if you know about any campaigns or candidates I should be watching.
Is that THE Robert Talton?
Yep, the very same. Gonna be an interesting election.
Of the two new candidates for mayor, David Flores went through GOP candidate training and has a post supportive of Trump on his Facebook page. Gloria Gallegos Public Data identifies her as a Republican who has also been on some of Mayor Isbell committees.
Area 5 Democrats made a contribution to Larry Peacock in 2015. Phil Cayten has been an Isbell supporter.
Still looking into others.
I wasn’t aware that Pasadena actually had mayoral elections. I thought that Isbell and Manlove just took turns doing the job.
Finally District H
Brad L Hance, one of Mayor Isbell’s guys on Second Century holding illegal meetings, CEO of oil company and Trustee at San Jac Community College.
Thomas Schoenbein, a solid Republican supporter of Pena, Cruz, Babin, etc. Started running for Pasadena City Council last May.
Keith Sargent, a retired engineer and small business owner. A Democrat concerned with neighborhood improvements and environmental issues.
http://www.sargentforpasadena.com/
April Lance, a high school social studies teachers. Two students rated her and weren’t impressed. Probable Democrat.
It’s going to be quite an interesting election season in Pasadena. Insiders claim the Isbell loyalists have purposefully chosen not to run candidates in three north-side districts in hopes it will keep turnout low on that side of town, which is typically considered Democratic territory. Those districts include the older, more historic neighborhoods that have a larger Hispanic population. The south side neighborhoods are generally Anglo Republicans who mingle well with the Clear Lake and Seabrook crowd, which is where Isbell, Hance and all those guys generally live and park their yachts.
For me, the big question for any mayoral candidate, Democrat or Republican, is whether they intend to push forward with an appeal that Isbell undertook without council approval to challenge the January ruling in a federal voting rights case that said the 2013 redistricting was discriminatory toward Hispanics.
As has been widely reported, during his testimony city spokesman Richard Scott admitted to illegal election activity during the 2013 and 2015 elections. He confessed to soliciting campaign donations from contractors who wanted or had lucrative city contracts to fund a semi-secret PAC used by the mayor to lobby for a charter change election and to help certain city council candidates get elected. Scott admitted sending emails, making calls, creating campaign materials, organizing campaign events from his city hall office, during business hours, using his work computer and often his work email account. He also confessed to directing people who worked for him to participate. Many of these people were younger folks who feared losing their job and now face potential criminal charges if the Harris County DA chooses to investigate, which is not a sure thing by any measure. The next mayor will inherit these issues and will decide whether to throw more money into fighting the ruling issued in the voting rights trial. There’s no new evidence or any improved arguments that would suggest the outcome will be any different in an appeal trial, at least as far as I can tell. But, then again who knows.
The next mayor will also have the option to investigate the illegal campaign activities and other bad things that have become normalized behavior at Pasadena City Hall. As someone who has talked with five of the candidates so far, I can report most would prefer to put their head in the sand and hope voters have a short memory. They perhaps fear alienating those who support Isbell as well as alienating Isbell himself, who is a powerful man who I suspect will remain a political force in the city even after he leaves office. Insiders claim he supports freshman councilman Jeff Wagner. But, the mayor hasn’t publicly voiced support for any candidate yet. Maybe he’s waiting until the right time. But, if he does pick someone as his choice to take over, I’d advise that candidate to tread carefully and watch their back. Isbell hasn’t given any signal he intends to retire from political life and it wouldn’t be beyond the scope of possibility that he’d secretly set the next mayor up to fail in hopes he could return to the office in four years or less. Just ask Mr. Manlove how that strategy played out the last time Isbell had to take a seat on the sidelines.
Personally, I think they are a number of good candidates in the mix and I hope the voters of Pasadena start asking questions and remind the candidates they work for tax payers and not the good old boy network that has kept the city in a chokehold of secrecy and political dysfunction for many many years.
If I were a betting man, I’d say the mayoral race will come down to Jeff Wagner, John Moon Jr. and Pat Van Houte. From there, it’s anyone’s guess who might win.
Mayor Isbell would most prefer Wagner, who was has been his choice since Cote lost to Van Houte citywide in 2015, but would prefer any other candidate to her. As she won citywide just two years ago with a similar low-budget block-walking campaign I am sure she is the favorite and may make it without a runoff. I expect a lot of mailers and ads will be thrown against her by city contractors and the local Republican/Business establishment, although she has been one of the most fiscally prudent members on the city council.
The city of Pasadena spent $2 million on defending the redistricting plan without city council approval. That is before all the appeals and doesn’t include the MALDEF expenses they will be forced to pay. Isbell’s last legacy may be wasting $5 million of the taxpayers money to defend his plan to keep political control of council and reduce the influence of North Pasadena Hispanics.
Agreed!