9 Directors Named to Rose Bowl Panel

PASADENA —  The Pasadena City Council approved nine nominees for the new Rose Bowl Operating Co. board of directors last week.

The 4-1 vote to name the panel came after heated debate Tuesday evening over the nomination of Councilman Isaac Richard to the board. Richard, whose district includes the Rose Bowl, nominated himself.

Councilman Jess Hughston, who has frequently clashed with Richard, moved that the council vote on each candidate singly so he could vote for all the nominees but Richard, who was censured by his colleagues this fall for “abusive” and “antisocial” behavior.

“His behavior is not conducive to the smooth cooperation needed with this type of board,” Hughston said. “But I am in favor of the other candidates, who are all very well qualified.”

The motion failed, however, and the council voted to approve the entire slate with Hughston dissenting. Council members William Paparian and Kathryn Nack were absent.

Councilman Chris Holden, who opposed removing the arena from city control, described the venture as “an airplane that’s got its wings on fire and is heading down in a nose dive” but said he voted to approve the slate “in the spirit of cooperation.”

Earlier this month, the council had agreed that the panel, which will supervise operations of the 101,000-seat arena, would be composed of three community members, a city manager’s appointee, a council member, two experts in finance and representatives from the bowl’s two major clients: the Tournament of Roses and UCLA.

It ended up with two council members, Richard and William Thomson, who was nominated by Mayor Rick Cole and Paparian.

Others on the board will be: Alfred Moses, a Pasadena attorney; Fred Zepeda, a vice president of the Pasadena firm LAACO Ltd.; Ann Marie Hickambottom, deputy director of the Pasadena firm CSAAC Inc.; Penny York, an instructor at Citrus Community College; Edmund Sotelo, assistant city manager; Allen Charles, appointed by UCLA, and Jim Stivers, appointed by the Tournament of Roses Assn.