As Pasadena residents were waiting for the results of Tuesday’s election, Mayor Terry Tornek was hoping his work to secure the city’s budget while weathering the financial hurricane created by COVID-19 had earned him a second four-year term.
As it turned out, revenue from Tornek’s successful “big ask” for a three-quarter cent sales tax a few years back came in handy in helping the city stay above water after the pandemic hit.
Tornek is endorsed by outgoing Councilmember Margaret McAustin and Councilman John Kennedy. Most recently, Kennedy and Tornek worked together to craft a police oversight commission in the wake of the officer-involved death of George Floyd on May 25.
Pasadena Now: This is one last bid for voters. Why should people vote for you?
Terry Tornek: This has been a long campaign and the voters have had a chance to really measure the candidates in terms of what they’re talking about. I’ve talked about the significant issues facing Pasadena and what I’ve done about them so far, and what I intend to do moving forward into the future; homelessness, managing the pandemic, supporting the public schools, safeguarding the environment. And, of course, keeping the city financially strong in the face of all these challenges. That’s been the essence of my campaign. And the contrast in terms of what I believe my opponent has done which is, “If you can’t win on the issues, you move to other things.”
What he attempted to do was to use vague catchphrases and smear me on a variety of issues. He’s had a huge campaign warchest. He’s tried to bury the people in mail and use TV ads. I think at the end of the day, based on the responses I’m getting from people as I talk to them and as my volunteers report back to me, I don’t think people are buying it. I don’t think this election could be bought. So my appeal is for the people to investigate these things and reach their own judgments.
Point to one or two or three of your biggest accomplishments that you want people to think about and remember when it comes down to vote.
Well, the thing is that the reason that we’re not struggling, you know, there’ve been all these headlines about the city of Los Angeles having to furlough people and lay people off. That hasn’t happened in Pasadena. And the reason that hasn’t happened is because I’ve relentlessly pursued building the city’s budget, and reserves so that we’re able to withstand this emergency. It’s not sexy, but it’s good government. And that has really been my emphasis. And the other thing that I’ve been focused on since we’ve been in this crisis is managing the pandemic, making sure that services continue to get delivered and that the city expanded services to deal with this emergency condition that its residents are confronting, and continuing to work on the long-term strategy with regard to homelessness, and continuing to support our public schools.
It has been a long campaign and it has been a trying campaign. How different has this been in the midst of COVID?
My campaign strategy is one of those things that’s been fundamentally adjusted. My campaign has always been built around going door to door, meeting people on their front porches and talking with them directly. The one benefit of the long campaign period from March to November was that I would have all those months to troop around the city, walk every street the way I have in the past, and reintroduce myself to voters and introduce myself for the first time to new voters. That wasn’t doable. People were not going to welcome me in my mask with open arms on their front porch.
So we had to completely change our strategy and I’ve happily been the recipient of a huge turnout of volunteers. I won’’t let them walk for me, but they’re calling for me, they’re writing postcards for me. They’re contacting their friends and neighbors, writing personal emails. That has been a dramatic change. It’s been inspirational to me that there are so many people that are willing to spend their time and their effort and their energy to have the feeling that they’re having an influence in terms of the future direction of the city and feel I’m the right person to reflect that and to keep it going in what’s undoubtedly going to be a pretty tough time.
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