Friday, July 10, 2026

Political Gumbo: Not a Good Look

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Stop me if you heard this one.

A school board, already struggling with money and unpopular at best, decides to cut down trees on local campuses in a town full of tree huggers and climate activists.

Couple that with the fact that four of that same board have been accused of corruption and two of them, including the board president, face serious recall efforts.

The problem is there is no punchline.

Or at least there shouldn’t be.

On one side the city says the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) must comply with its tree protection effort before any trees are removed.

On the other side, the school board is saying it is a state’s rights issue and the trees are a threat to local students and 8,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil must be removed to guarantee the health and safety of those same students.

If that’s the case though, why are they cutting down trees at Longfellow Elementary School, which is currently shuttered.

Thursday, crews were at John Muir High School once again cutting down trees. This time after asking city officials to leave the site.

That comes one day after a special closed meeting of the City Council on the matter that included the phrase “pending litigation.”

Not a good look.

Especially for a school district that is always cash strapped.

It behooves the school district to come back to the table and have a full discussion with city leaders and find common ground.

The last thing this district needs is another PR disaster. They have more than enough already, and feuding with the city isn’t helping.

Especially when you consider the city annually shells out money from Measure J, or is it Measure I, to the PUSD.

Last year, the money strapped school district got a cool $12 million from the city.

Simple equation.

PUSD-$12 million=a whole lot of problems.

Sit at the table, have a conversation and find a way to get this done that satisfies all involved.