Glendale, California

Pasadena's Measure PFD, on the Nov. 3 ballot, would impose an annual parcel tax of 19 cents per square foot of improved property (about $304 a year for a 1,600-square-foot home), with low-income exemptions. The roughly $22.1 million in yearly revenue would fund a new battalion chief, rebuilt Fire Stations 33 and 37, a training center, an added fire station, more apparatus and ambulances, 36 new firefighters, and brush clearance. It needs a two-thirds majority and would sunset after 14 years.

The measure is backed by the Pasadena Firefighters Assn., City Council, Mayor Victor Gordo and other officials, while opposition comes from realtor associations, the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles and a former mayor, who argue the city should fund fire needs through its general budget instead. Campaign tensions have escalated over claims of city-sponsored advocacy and disputed ad messaging.

Glendale, California, officials reported a 12 percent rise in homelessness in the city's 2026 point-in-time count, conducted Jan. 20. The count identified 220 people experiencing homelessness, including 96 sheltered and 124 unsheltered. While the sheltered population fell 13 percent from 2025, the unsheltered population rose 43 percent. Notably, the number of unsheltered people who reported becoming homeless within Glendale dropped 54 percent, from 37 to 17.

City officials cited housing affordability and economic instability as leading causes, with survey respondents most commonly pointing to inability to afford rent, job loss, and family circumstances such as divorce or the death of a parent. Mental health disorders were the most reported disabling condition among unsheltered residents, and 42 percent of that population was age 55 or older. Glendale has launched a rental assistance program and expects to complete over 400 affordable housing units this year, including the Pioneer Village and Parkview Glendale developments, as part of ongoing efforts to address the crisis.