Pasadena Sues State to Bar Parole Office

PASADENA — City officials said they filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state to stop a parole office from opening near the Civic Center in March.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against two state agencies, the Corrections Department and the General Services Department, alleges the state arbitrarily and capriciously agreed to accept relocation money from the cities of Alhambra and Monterey Park.

Both cities, which pledged $100,000 apiece, objected to a Garvey Avenue parole office that straddled the Alhambra-Monterey Park border. Another parole office is on Main Street in Alhambra, and state officials said 20% of the parolees served by the two offices live in Pasadena.

The lawsuit also claims that the state violated its own procedures by choosing to lease the Pasadena location at 333 E. Walnut St., a site previously judged unacceptable by the state.

Finally, the suit claims the state failed to prepare an environmental study as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

The decision to sue was made in closed session Tuesday by the Pasadena Board of Directors, which has fought for the past two years against locating a parole office in Pasadena.