About Jason
A Leader Who Listens
Jason is a partner at the historic Pasadena law firm, Hahn & Hahn. He practices business litigation with an emphasis on complex partnership disputes. Jason is the first openly LGBTQ attorney in the firm’s 122-year history, and indeed, he’s the first openly LGBTQ elected official in Pasadena.
Before practicing law, Jason worked as a documentary film producer in New York and Los Angeles, where his award-winning work appeared in theaters nationwide. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his law degree from UCLA, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served on the UCLA Law Review.
Public service has been central to Jason’s life for decades. Prior to joining the City Council, he chaired the Pasadena Planning Commission and served on the Historic Preservation Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals, and the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership. In addition, he has been a board member of several local nonprofits, including Young & Healthy, All Saints Church, and Planned Parenthood Pasadena San Gabriel Valley, reflecting his deep commitment to health care, equity, and community well-being. As a former resident of Los Angeles, Jason was elected to two terms on the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council and was its founding co-chair. He was appointed by Mayor James Hahn to that city’s East Area Planning Commission. Later, he served as the Vice Chair of the blue-ribbon Neighborhood Council Review Commission under Mayor Antonio Villariagosa.
District 7 Councilmember Jason Lyon was elected to the Pasadena City Council on June 7, 2022. He has called Pasadena home since 2010. On the Council, Jason serves on the Municipal Services and Economic Development and Technology standing committees and the ad hoc committee on the development of the former 710 stub. He also represents Pasadena on the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority and serves as the Mayor’s alternate to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments. He also served a term on the Council’s Legislative Policy Committee.
Jason grew up in North Carolina, where his commitment to service began early. He co-founded a nonprofit at age 14 and joined his first board of directors at 16. That early commitment has carried through every stage of his life, from professional leadership to civic engagement.
At home in Madison Heights, Jason and his husband, the Rev. Tim Hartley, are raising their younger son, Wyatt, while older brother Noah attends Jason’s alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Lyon-Hartley family is active in many aspects of Pasadena’s community life, including schools, churches, and athletic associations.
About District 7
District 7 is home to many of Pasadena’s iconic institutions, including the Pasadena Playhouse, Caltech, Pasadena Community College, the Planetary Society, the Langham Huntington Hotel, and the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.
The South Lake Business Association and the Playhouse Village Association, both in District 7, provide a wealth of shopping and dining opportunities. Our public schools include Hamilton Elementary, McKinley School, and Blair International Baccalaureate School, and independent Schools in the district are St. Philip the Apostle School and Polytechnic School. Two of Pasadena’s oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods, Madison Heights and Oak Knoll, were subdivided in the late 19th century with their oldest homes built in 1890 and 1905 respectively. Known for its walkability and beautiful street tree canopy, District 7 is centrally located with easy adjacency to downtown.
District 7 is bounded by Los Robles, Del Mar, Madison, California, Marengo, Arroyo, the Pasadena Freeway, Orlando, Homet, Roosevelt and Colorado.
