Claremont Resident Tabbed to be Pasadena City Manager

Claremonter Michael Beck has been hired as Pasadena's next City Manager and will begin his new duties on October 1st. The Claremont Courier yesterday had a profile of Beck that noted that Beck has been the Assistant City Manager for Riverside for the past seven years and worked for the University of California, Riverside, before that.

The Courier article explained some some of the similarities and differences between the two cities:

Pasadena and Riverside are both regional job centers with high levels of drive-through traffic and drivers heading into the city for work. Both cities have a strong emphasis on education, arts and historical preservation, he said. And both have 7 council members representing their jurisdictional territories.

But Pasadena is significantly smaller than Riverside, both in size and population. Pasadena is roughly 26 square miles and has a population of about 145,000. Riverside is roughly 86 square miles with a population of 305,000.

Among the perks of being a city manager, Mr. Beck will be driving a city-owned hybrid vehicle. His salary has not yet been determined by the city council; however the previous city manager in Pasadena earned nearly $236,000, according to the city website.

$236,000. It's not Indio money, but it's not bad either.