December Student Forum

December 6th ~ Friendship Pasadena Church

Thirty-two students from John Muir and Sequoyah High Schools spoke with individuals whose family was displaced by the 710 freeway construction, current Caltrans renters, city officials, and local advocacy organizations. Students also received a tour of the 710 project area and identified questions and issues that the community should pay attention to moving forward.

See the Summary of the Forum

Schedule

9:00 – Intros, Icebreakers & Community building

10:05 – Conversations with guest presenters (60 conversations)

11:30 – Bus tour around 710 ditch

12:30 – Lunch + History of Friendship Church

1:15 – Team and individual reflection

1:30 – Cross-team sharing and discussion

1:50 – Whole group sharing

Sponsorshop

The forum was a program of City Council District 1 - Councilmember Tyron Hampton, and received important support from John Muir High School's Engineering and Environmental Sciences Academy and Sequoyah School as well as Arroyo Seco Placekeepers, DBK Group, Perkins Eastman, The Roberts Group, Friendship Pasadena Church, and numerous city agencies. Thank you to all the contributors for an engaging day.

Welcoming Comments

Councilmember Tyron Hampton

Dr. Lawton Gray, John Muir High School Principal

Dr. Rebecca Hong, Sequoyah School, Head of School

Facilitators

Marcus Renner, Arroyo Seco Placekeepers

RJ Sakai, Sequoyah School

Brian Biery, DBK Group

Individuals and groups speaking with students

Barbara Richardson-King, Grant family

Dr. Tim Ivison & Chris Sutton, United Caltrans Tenants

Alma Stokes, First AME Church

Charles Loveman, Executive Director, Heritage Housing Partners

Luis Rocha, Pasadena Planning & Community Development Department

Blair Miller & Liz Schiller, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition

Jose Luis Correa, Correa family

Peter Ewing & Carlos Javelera, West Pasadena Residents Association

Tina Williams & Dr. Gilbert Walton, 710 Restorative Justice Pasadena

Deborah Membreno, Pasadena Office of Economic Development

Jenny Cristales-Cevallos, Pasadena Transportation Department

Vaughan Davies, Principal, Perkins Eastman

Executive Summary

Students appreciate the complexity of the project. Responses show that students see the project as having great potential to benefit the community and recognize the need for dialogue and debate so the community can come together around a vision plan.

Students showed a surprisingly strong interest in how to define the public good, balance competing needs, and engage the public, especially young people;

80% of students are excited to learn more about urban design, the development process, and local policy making

Strong interest in understanding the past, concern for restorative justice, and desire to put the project on a strong ethical foundation;

60% of students were surprised to learn about past displacement and lack of past concern about the impact the freeway would have.

Specific topics that drew the most interest included mobility, specifically bike lanes, and affordable housing.