Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, September 25, 2021

Mountain Views-News Saturday, September 25, 2021 

Pasadena 
Stay SafePledgeProgram 

 
The City of Pasadena 
and Visit Pasadena 
announced Monday the 
launch of the Stay Safe 
Pledge Program. The Stay 
Safe Pledge encourages 
local businesses to go 
above and beyond CDC 
guidance to demonstrate 
their commitment to the 
safety and well-being of 
all Pasadena residents 
and visitors. The Stay 
Safe Pledge is voluntary. 
Businesses may choose 
whether participation 
in the program makes 
sense for their individual 
business operations. 

To participate in the 
Stay Safe Pledge Program, 
business operators will 
need to sign a pledge 
committing to the 
implementation of at least 
one measure that exceeds 
current CDC guidance. 
The pledge form is a simple 
web-based checklist. Upon 
completion of the pledge, 
businesses will receive a 
certificate confirming their 
participation in the Stay 
Safe Pledge Program. To 

sign-up for the program, 

visit: cityofpasadena.net/
staysafepledge. 

 In exchange for signing 
the pledge, businesses 
will be included in the 
Stay Safe Pledge Program 
directory on the Visit 
Pasadena website. 
Program participants will 
also be highlighted in an 
ad in a local publication. 
For more information, 
visit: cityofpasadena.net/
staysafepledge. 

Pasadena 
Monthly FoodDistribution 
Program 

Friday, Oct. 1, from 8:30 to 

10:30 a.m. in the parking lot 
at Pasadena Senior Center. 
Low-income adults 60 and 
older receive one free box 
of food and couples receive 
two. Proof of income and 
California ID are required 
for first-time recipients. Each 
box includes foods that meet 
specific nutritional needs, 
such as cheese, canned fruits 
and vegetables, dry milk and 
related dairy products, cereals 
and other grain products, 
and more. Boxes are heavy, 
so bring a pull-behind 
personal cart to the parking 
lot between the Pasadena 
Senior Center and the Metro 
Gold Line station. Opening 
boxes on the premises is 
prohibited. Masks and social 
distancing are required. For 
more information, visit www.
pasadenaseniorcenter.org and 
click on Food Distribution 
Programs, then LA Regional 
Food Bank or call 626-6856732. 


Pasadena City Manager Set to Retire 

By Dean Lee

 Although Pasadena City 
Manager Steve Mermell made 
no public announcement as 
of Friday, numerous reports 
indicate that he will retire early 
December. Mermell, a city 
employee for 32 years, has been 
the city manager for the last five 
years. 

 Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo 
said that they will immediately 
look for a qualified interim. 

 “On Monday, the city council 
will begin formal discussions 
to define the inclusive process 
of a national search for a new 
City Manager and to ensure 
a seamless transition, and we 
will share those details with 
you when they have been 
confirmed,” Gordo said in an 
open letter to the community. 
“In the meantime, Steve will 
continue in his role until his 
retirement date of December 
2nd and the Council and I am 
confident that he—along with 
our incredible city employees 
and department heads—will 
continue to serve the city with 
distinction.”

 In an email Monday to 
coworkers, Mermell said he was 
willing to help the city council 
during the transition.

 “Over the years I have had the 
pleasure of getting to know a lot 
of city employees and I count 
many of you as friends and all 
of you as colleagues.’ his emails 
reads. “Day in and day out you 
provide exceptional service to 
our community and it shows. It 
will always be a great source of 
pride for me to have served as 
your city manager.”

 Gordo and other colleagues 
praised Mermell for his 
leadership. 

 “He fostered creative 
collaboration between our 
public and private sectors 
to address the needs of our 
community,” Gordo said. “He 
worked with his leadership 
team and our City Council to 
ensure City services remained 
strong and adapted as needed, 
while ensuring we remained 
fiscally sound. He led our 
City’s unprecedented response 

to the worldwide pandemic. 
Steve’s distinguished service 
and commitment to our City’s 
employees and residents will 
not soon be forgotten.” 

As city manager, Mermell had 
also come under scrutiny by 
city council members and the 
public, at times calling for him 
to be fired. Frustrated at the slow 
moving investigations over the 
shooting of Anthony McClain, 
Councilman Tyron Hampton, 
said that Mermell and Police 
Chief John Perez should be fired 
along with the officer who shot 
McClain.

 Councilman John Kennedy 
called on the council to replace 
Mermell in 2020 after fire 
Chief Bertral Washington was 
unexpectedly reassigned and 
then later Washington resigned. 

 Mermell said his retirement has 
nothing to do with controversy 
and just a time in life for him to 
make a change. 

 Mermell had been hired by the 
city council after City Manager 
Michael Beck left Pasadena in 
2016 to take a job with UCLA. At 
the time city council members 
looked to Mermell for help with 
an embezzlement scandal after a 
former city employee stole more 

Dine at Mijares Restaurantto Support the Senior Center 

 
“This donation has the 
potential for making a 
great impact on Pasadena 
Senior Center programs and 
services,” said Akila Gibbs, 
executive director of the 
center. “I encourage everyone 
to be part of this effort.” 

 Anyone who cannot dine 
at Mijares that day and 
evening will still have an 
opportunity to support 
the center by visiting: 
pasadenaseniorcenter.organd clicking on the orange 
Donate button.

 In addition to online 
classes, onsite events and 
other activities, members 
and nonmembers of the 
Pasadena Senior Center are 
encouraged to visit the PSC 
website regularly for a weekly 
blog, monthly magazine, 
COVID-19 updates for older 
adults, ongoing activities 
throughout the year and 
more.

 The center, at 85 E. Holly 
St., is an independent, 
donor-supported nonprofitorganization that has served 
older adults for more than 60 
years. 

than $3.5 million from the city’s 
underground utility program. 

 According to the city’s 
website, Mermell is the Chief 
Administrative Officer of 
the city and is charged with 
supervising, coordinating, 
and administering the various 
functions of the city. He has 
direct responsibility for all 
departments, divisions, and 
offices of the city with the 
exception of the City Attorney/ 
Prosecutor and City Clerk 
which are separately appointed 
by the City Council. 

 
Print out flyer from 
Pasadena Senior Center 
website to give to serverOct. 13. 

 
Pasadena Senior Center 
officials announced Friday 
they are set to hold a 
fundraising event next month 
to support the Senior Center 
by eating out at Mijares 
Mexican Restaurant. 

Anyone who dines at Mijares, 
145 Palmetto Dr. in Pasadena 
on Wednesday, Oct. 13, from 
3 p.m. to closing time at 9 

p.m. will have an opportunityto help support the PasadenaSenior Center. 
The restaurant, family-
owned since 1920, will donate 
15 percent of that afternoon’s 
and evening’s profits to the 
center on behalf of everyone 
who prints out the flyer from 
the PSC website and hands it 
to their server. 

 To download the flyer, 
visit: pasadenaseniorcenter.
org and click on Dine Out 
& Benefit PSC. Diners may 
eat at the restaurant or order 
takeout. 

October 
Comic Book 
Club for Adults 


The South Pasadena Public 
Library is set to hold the 
Comic Book Club for Adults 
October 7, from 7:00 to 

8:00 p.m. for a discussion 
and reading of Infidel by 
Pornsak Pichetshote 
Join the South Pasadena 
Library in reading one of 
NPR, Huffington Post, 
and Book Riot’s top 2018 
graphic novels, Infidel! A 
haunted house story for the 
21st century, Infidel follows 
an American Muslim 
woman and her multi-racial 
neighbors who move into a 
building haunted by entities 
that feed off xenophobia.

 Comic Book Club meetings 
are held online on the 1st 
Thursday of every month at 

7:00 PM. 
Registration is required. 
Comic Book Club for 
Adults is intended for adult 
participants, and titles 
discussed may contain 
mature images and subjects. 
Each month a new graphic 
novel/comic book will be 
selected and discussed via 
Zoom. View upcoming 
titles (subject to change) 
and more on the Comic 
Book Club webpage at: 
southpasadenaca.gov. 

Playhouse Announces theCasting for Head over Heels 

 
Pasadena Playhouse, the 
State Theater of California, 
announces initial casting 

– Alaska 5000 (RuPaul’s 
Drag Race), Lea DeLaria 
(Orange is the New Black),
Yurel Echezarreta (Steven 
Spielberg’s West Side Story),
Tiffany Mann (Be More Chill),
George Salazar (Little Shop of 
Horrors), Emily Skeggs (FunHome), and Shanice Williams(“Dorothy” in NBC’s The WizLive!) – for Head Over Heels,
with music of The Go-Go’s,
which kicks off the Playhouse’s2021-2022 season. The 
historic Pasadena Playhouse 
will be fully transformed 
for the production creating 
an experience with both 
traditional reserved theater 
seats and a general admissiondance floor. Performances are 
scheduled from November 9 
through December 12. 
Head Over Heels is a musical 
comedy, set to the music of 
the iconic LA-based female 
rock band The Go-Go’s, that 
follows a royal family in search 
of a purpose, lovers in search 
of each other, and a whole 
kingdom in search of a beat. 
Featuring the hit songs Our 
Lips Are Sealed, Vacation, 
Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is 
a Place on Earth, and Mad 
About You, among others, the 
audience will be whisked away 
through a world of exuberance 
and wit from the first notes of 
We Got the Beat to the final 
celebratory curtain call.

 Head Over Heels has been 
reimagined for the Playhouse 

by Director/Choreographer 
Jenny Koons and Director/
Choreographer Sam Pinkleton 
in an all new experiential 
production. Originally 
produced for a traditional 
proscenium stage on Broadway 
in 2018, the Playhouse’s 
90-minute, intermission-free 
production puts the audience in 
the middle of a non-stop, dance-
filled joyride through magic,
merriment, and mischief. Withthe actors performing all overthe converted theater, everyseat, or spot on the dance floor,
will have a unique vantagepoint and an experience toremember. Patrons will be 
required to be fully vaccinatedand wear masks when enteringthe theater.

 Whether you prefer to watch 
this play as a traditional 
theatrical experience or to be in 
the middle of all the action, the 
Playhouse will ensure that you 
will have a good time. Danny 
Feldman, Pasadena Playhouse 
Producing Artistic Director 
said, “We return to the stage 
with a party for all. There’s been 
nothing like it in our 100+ year 
history. Our historic theater 
will be turned on its head as 
the audience joins in on the 
exuberant celebration. This is a 
live musical experience created 
just for this moment, this 
theater, and this community.”

 Tickets for Head Over Heels are 
available at pasadenaplayhouse.
org, by phone at 626-356-7529, 
and at the Box Office at 39 S. El 
Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA 
91101. 

Redistricting Task Forceto hold Public Meeting

 The Redistricting Task Force City Clerk’s Office at (626) 7 
of the City of Pasadena will 44-4124. For information on 
conduct a public hearing how to provide live public 
pursuant to Elections Code comment, please refer to the 
Section 21627.1 on Saturday, posted agenda for additional 
October 9, 2021, at 9:00 details and instructions. 
a.m., at which time the Task The electronic meeting may be 
Force will receive public viewed with captions and the 
input, recommendations, opportunity to submit public 
and testimony regarding the comment: 
composition of one or more • us02web .zoom. 
council districts. us/j/85300442855

 All interested persons may • pasadenamedia.org 
submit correspondence • cityofpasadena.net/ 
to correspondence@ redistricting 
cityofpasadena.net prior to the If you need an accommodation 
start of the Task Force meeting. pursuant to the Americans with 
Members of the public may Disabilities Act (ADA) because 
provide live public comment by you are unable to participate 
submitting an online speaker electronically as set forth 
card form at the following above, contact the City Clerk’s 
webpage: cityofpasadena.net/ Office as soon as possible at 
city-clerk/publiccomment-(626) 7 44-4124 or cityclerk@ 
redistricting/ or by calling the cityofpasadena.net. 


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