Pasadena Woos City Clerk With Housing

In an attempt to help solve housing problems for its recently hired city clerk, Pasadena’s Board of Directors on Tuesday voted to buy a $305,000 home for the employee to live in.

Under the agreement, the city would then defer the city clerk’s rent payments for up to a year and give her the opportunity to purchase it. In so doing, Pasadena joins dozens of cities statewide, from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Palos Verdes Peninsula that have begun to use public funds to help meet high housing costs for newly hired, top-level employees.

“It’s a fairly new trend,” said Sheri Erlewine of the League of California Cities. “It’s not that uncommon in the last half-dozen years, particularly in areas with high housing prices.”

Cities such as Palo Alto, San Mateo, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Rancho Palos Verdes have all approved a variety of housing assistance measures, according to a league survey. These measures have included offering low-interest city loans, helping to secure mortgages from outside lenders, giving monthly housing allowances and making contributions toward the down payment of a home, according to the survey.

“Sometimes it’s viewed as a gift of public funds,” Erlewine said. “The public still needs to get the best people to meet city needs.”

The action taken by Pasadena officials Tuesday was a solution rarely used by cities, however. The city will not merely provide a loan but will actually purchase the house and become a landlord for its city clerk, Marvell Herren.

The home is a one-story, two-bedroom house with 2 3/4 baths in the San Rafael Hills neighborhood of Pasadena.

Herren took the job with Pasadena in October after 15 years as city clerk in Foster City, 15 miles south of San Francisco. As one of her conditions of employment, Herren asked for housing assistance if she experienced difficulty selling her Foster City townhouse.

Since her employment, Herren said she has been unable to find a buyer and has been renting in Pasadena, paying double housing costs. She approached the city for help and the board agreed to provide assistance as part of her salary negotiations.

Under the agreement with the city, Herren will live in the house in the 1500 block of Cheviotdale Drive, pay taxes there and maintain the residence. But she will not have to pay rent for the first year.

If Herren remains for seven years in the home, the first year’s rent of $27,831 will be forgiven by the city. Once her townhouse is sold, Herren must purchase the Pasadena home from the city.

The Pasadena board approved the arrangement for Herren after first adopting a policy that would allow housing assistance for any future city managers, city attorneys and city clerks.

The board also agreed to discuss providing housing assistance for other city employees, including top, middle and professional employees. City Director Rick Cole called it “an issue that we have been talking about for at least a year.”

“In this city, we have lost outstanding people because they would not come or they left after being here a short time because of the cost of housing that we have no direct control over,” Cole said.