Councilmember Tornek’s Mayoral Bid Stirs Political Pot

Councilmember Terry Tornek’s announcement Monday of his intention to run for the Mayor’s office in 2015 drew reaction yesterday from Mayor Bill Bogaard himself and from potential opponent Councilmember Steve Madison.

“I thought it was disrespectful and I thought it was unnecessary and I thought it was not the Pasadena way,” Madison said. “There is absolutely no reason for anybody to do that at this point in time, but it’s also not surprising given who did it.”

Tornek said Wednesday his statement of intent was not a reflection of his opinion of Bogaard.

“I don’t do anything to disrespect Mayor Bogaard, he’s not a candidate and I have to move according to my own schedule and so I filed. That’s how the process works. It’s not a commentary on Bill Bogaard, it’s a statement of intent about Terry Tornek,” Tornek said.

Madison said he hopes Bogaard does run again and has made the case to Bogaard and others about why Bogaard running for Mayor again would be the best thing for Pasadena right now.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that when Bill Bogaard steps down I am strongly interested and have been encouraged to run for mayor, but for me it would be extremely disrespectful to Bill Bogaard to do that unless and until he has made a decision about running,” Madison said.

Mayor Bogaard said whether or not he will seek reelection is an open question in his mind, but he has been too busy to take the necessary actions to make that decision.

“It’s a free country and Terry has made an effort to keep me informed, and until I announce a decision to seek another term of office to serve the Pasadena public, its probably not fair for me to criticize anyone for letting the world know they have an interest in being a candidate,” Bogaard said.

“I have sought reelection on three occasions so far and find my work as mayor to be extremely rewarding,” Bogaard said.

The Nomination Period for the March 2015 City of Pasadena Primary Nominating Election for the Office of Mayor is still about ten months away. The period to officially pull papers for the office opens in November 2014 and closes at the beginning of December 2014.

If a candidate obtains fifty percent of the votes that candidate is elected. However, if no majority is reached than a run-off election is held six weeks later.

“At such time as I reach a conclusion to seek reelection with assurance from my supporters with all of the resources that are needed to have a successful campaign, I will enter the campaign with all the energy and commitment that I brought to bear when I was first elected,” Bogaard said.

Bogaard said once he makes his decision the next question will be if Tornek will challenge him in his reelection bid or “take a fresh look at his effort.”

Tornek said he thinks now is the correct time to be launching his camapign.

“I can’t base my campaign on what any body else is doing, not Steve Madison or Bill Bogaard or anybody else,” nhe said Wednesday. “My campaign is predicated on what I would like to achieve for the City of Pasadena and that’s what the electoral process is about and were only about a year out now so I think its time to begin that dialogue and I’ve got to get going.”