Three Pasadena Endorsements You Can't Miss

Okay, in fact, it would have been quite easy to miss them, but hey, that's why we're here. With April 17 rapidly drawing near, endorsements are flying fast and furious in and around Pasadena. Here are some of the latest.

Bill Bibbiani is taking most of the LTEs at the Star-News, though one writer did make the excellent point that a majority has already voted against him. At least one supporter of the Bib (as he is known among the politically savvy) thinks he will "nourish" the district, while a Cartesian Bib-backer says you're not supporting a man, "you're supporting a brain."

Pasadena Weekly has a dog in every electoral fight: Robinson, McAustin, Cooper and Bibbiani. Incredibly, their primary method of candidate selection seems to have been gender and race. Or at least that's what their words seem to indicate:

The way things stand right now, with the absence of veteran Councilwoman Joyce Streator from her District 1 seat, the council would be missing a woman's voice; a woman's influence over important issues like affordable housing, contracting, public safety and historic preservation, among many, many others.

Also without Streator, the eight-member council will be without the benefit of a second African-American voice, the other one belonging to veteran local lawmaker Chris Holden.

These facts make the endorsement decisions "pretty clear," according to the Weekly. Their fuzzy logic, though, only gets increasingly less clear when they move on to the men in charge of education.

The now-seven-member panel has been missing female representation since Scott Phelps replaced Susan Kane two whole years ago.

Not that Kane would have voted differently than her male counterparts, the fact remains the board during that period lost four schools, thousands of students, millions of dollars and one superintendent, who stayed long past his welcome before being canned last fall.

Okay, "not that she would have voted differently," but had a woman been on the board, presumably the four schools wouldn't have been lost, student flight would have been halted and the superintendent would have left much sooner? You'll have to explain that one again to me. I certainly have no qualms about folks who want a woman's voice on the board, but let's not pretend said voice would be a panacea.

And over at inSierraMadre.com, Robert Niles puts his vote behind Bob Harrison and Mark Mastromatteo. Why? Well, Mark got his wife a job (okay, she's teaching violin) and "we do not need a curmudgeon on the school board." Translation: vote for Bob, not for the Bib.

More Pasadena election coverage to follow shortly. If you want to make an endorsement of your own, drop it in the comments or send us an email. We, of course, reserve the right to edit for length, so keep the epics to yourself.