‘It’s a Mess’ Says Mayor: City Council Addresses City's Infrastructure

Years and years of neglect have caused city officials to take a hard look at South Pasadena's crumbling infrastructure, which Mayor Michael Cacciotti has called "a mess." He believes the time has come for the city to finally find the funds to repair its streets, many of which are filled with potholes. The infrastructure not only includes the streets, but also the city's aging sewer and water system, curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. The cost of improving the streets, curbs and gutter add up to about $16 million. Improvements to the water system would be approximately $61 million and it would take about $29 million to repair the city's sewage system. Each year there was supposed to be a certain amount of maintenance and this has been neglected for over 50 years. According to a local resident, "For decades, all the candidates for City Council have pledged to repair our roads and the sewer pipe lines under them. Yet the roads keep disintegrating, and, at random intervals, sewage empties onto our yards as well as the roads." In addition to addressing the concerns of the city's infrastructure, the council hopes to eliminate any more talk of the proposed Long Beach (710) Freeway, retain and attract quality employees, preserve and improve the environment and increase sources of revenue to meet unmet needs in the city.

I chose this article because it deals with local South Pasadena politics that affect me. It is definately time for South Pasadena to improve in their neglected areas...especially the roads. It is ridiculous the amount of potholes there are and how bumpy the roads our when I am driving. However, since this is going to cost large sums of money to get things accomplished, it should be done gradually rather than all at once. This article also goes to show that promises candidates make are sometimes never fulfilled ones. They often just want to become popular with the public to get their position.
http://www.southpasadenareview.com/