Profile in Success: Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard

Many credit the leadership of widely-admired Mayor Bill Bogaard with the city's successes in these areas. After the recent announcement that he will not run for office in 2015, he sat down with The Planning Report to reflect on 16 years of service.

In discussing Pasadena's recently improved transit options, its diverse neighborhood offerings, and its longstanding practice of public engagement, Mayor Bogaard shares strategies that have yielded desirable results. He goes on to note the city's commitment to job creation in science and technology, along with its focus on the arts. Finally, he comments on the challenges remaining for Pasadena and the responsibilities facing his successor.

Bogaard explains one municipal approach he stands by, "Our split of services acknowledges explicitly the difference between economic development and the planning function. There can be a conflict when the person responsible for encouraging companies to come or supporting new investment that involves large buildings is also responsible for administering the zoning code. There is sometimes a temptation not to apply zoning requirements with the strictness called for by the plan or by the community’s expectation. Development in Pasadena is directly under the city manager. He and his team are working very hard to make Pasadena highly attractive to new investment through expansion of existing companies and arrival of new companies. At the same time, a separate team is pursing the General Plan update."