South Pasadena Has a New Mayor

The South Pasadena City Council on Wednesday elected Councilmember Marina Khubesrian as the city’s new mayor and Councilmember Bob Joe as mayor pro tem.

The duo were elected through a unanimous 4-0 vote that members of the council took immediately after outgoing Mayor Richard Schneider stepped down following the end of his one-year term. The vote followed a nomination for Khubesrian by newly elected Councilmember Diana Mahmud, who pointed out that Khubesrian is the fifth woman ever to head the city council.

South Pasadena is a “very special place, which is why I decided to run for the city council,” Khubesrian, who was formerly mayor pro tem, said in brief, upbeat speech. “The people of this town have inspired me these past years into taking on things that I never really thought I would. It’s been quite an adventure, quite a rollercoaster,” she said.

The new mayor, who is a physician by profession, identified walkability as one of South Pasadena’s major strengths. The city, she said, is “a really healthy place to live—a walkable city, not just on the weekends but everyday.”

Khubesrian quoted a recent survey that ranked South Pasadena as the most walkable city in the San Gabriel Valley. South Pas received 95 out of a maximum of 100 points on the survey, Khubesrian said, adding that South Pas is the only city designated in the survey as “a walking paradise.”

The city needs to build on that distinction, the mayor said. “We don’t ever want that to be threatened or taken away.” South Pasadena should ensure that, “first and foremost, this is a city for pedestrians to feel safe and comfortable for kids to walk and bike to school,” the mayor said. And we need to make sure that as the [city’s] density increases, traffic is managed in a way that [walkability] continues to happen.”

The mayor identified the city’s other strengths as local control of the schools, which South Pasadena’s founding families pushed for, and water wells, “which was incredibly wise.” Pride in the culture and the arts is yet another strength, she said, adding that “we’re one of the few small cities that have their own library.”

South Pas is a place where neighbors look out for each other and tend to treat each other like family as their children go to the same schools, Khubesrian said.

“The residents love this city and want to make it even better—more sustainable, economically diverse and vital. We have all the ingredients here to go forth and accomplish great things in this next coming year.”

Among the challenges before the city, Khubesrian pointed to “some very dysfunctional intersections that are dangerous [and] we need to address those.” She also mentioned the lingering threat of the 710 freeway tunnel, which South Pasadena can effectively confront through “an amazing coalition of friends” in the form of an alliance with other cities such as Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena and Sierra Madre. (The five-city alliance was formalized later in Wednesday’s meeting. Stay tuned for details.)

South Pasadena has “made it through five years of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression,” the mayor said. “We’ve come out stronger, better, leaner, meaner, while other cities have had to file for bankruptcy.” The city’s relatively small size proved to be an advantage because “we were more flexible and were able to action quickly.”