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Mayoral Candidates React to Wave of Pasadena Shootings

Published on Saturday, January 31, 2015 | 2:10 pm
 

[Correction — An ealier version of this story contained a typographical error in the spelling of candidate Jason Hardin’s name. That has been corrected.]

Pasadena’s mayoral candidates have weighed in on the wave of recent Pasadena shootings which in the past twelve days have wounded three and killed one – and which at one point last Thursday night threatened to disrupt a mayoral debate in Northwest Pasadena.

The two candidates who already sit on the City Council, Vice Mayor Jacque Robinson and Councilmember Terry Tornek, offered pointed remarks:

“ I am disappointed and angry,” Robinson said.

Tornek said the situation “is serious and ongoing… it’s an emergency.”

Both Tornek and Robinson agreed that the current flare-up is consistent with cyclical, temporary increases in violence that have been seen in Northwest Pasadena in the past.

Tornek referred to the shootings as “gang violence.”

“We know that these things are cyclical and I am confident in our police department’s response using violence reduction efforts,” Robinson said.

“I don’t need candidate forums to convey a feeling of alarm to me. I know firsthand,” Tornek said after pointing out that his grandchildren play in Washington Park and Villa Parke, both scenes of violence this month.

Candidate Bill Thomson, a former Pasadena mayor, said “I think Chief Sanchez and his department are doing the best they can to try to control this but it’s a real problem.”

“[Chief Sanchez] was telling me one thing that’s causing a lot of problems is the release of prisoners by the State. That’s very much what’s behind all this right now,” Thomson said.
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Candidate Don Morgan said he drove past a shooting incident Thursday night on his way to a political forum.

“It provided a stark reminder that the issues faced on a daily basis in Northwest Pasadena are significant. These daily reminders led people to the forum with a sense of purpose and urgency,” Morgan said. “They want improved opportunity throughout all of Pasadena, and especially in Northwest, and they want it now.”

Morgan said that “after decades of seeing desperate acts on a daily basis” the Northwest seems eager to partner with a new mayor to “build hopeful opportunity for the community.”

At that forum, mayoral candidate Jason Hardin became concerned by a lack of young voters.

“Just as in the other forums, I realized that our city’s young people are few and far between.  The lack of political involvement from our city’s young voters represents exactly what I hope to change,” Hardin said.

Robinson pointed out the public’s role in keeping Pasadena safe.

“As a community, our part is to take back our parks, keep them activated, and not let a few individuals deter us from the use of the park programming and services that will continue to be made available to our residents,” she said, urging resident to report suspicious activity to the police department so that it can be quickly addressed.

Mayoral candidate Allen Shay has not responded to our email request for comments on the shootings.

 

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