Tornek Ready to Get to Work

Although he has not yet been sworn in, newly elected District 7 City Councilman Terry Tornek is not wasting any time.

Tornek will meet with City Manager Michael Beck on Friday to discuss issues affecting the city.

“I have a whole range of issues I want to discuss with him,” said Tornek. “I talked to him Tuesday night and he was very amenable. There are some things I need to get educated about and some answers I need on things I don’t understand.”

Tornek would not reveal what issues would be discussed at the meeting.

District 7 is probably best known for its institutions including PCC and Caltech, and the main issues there are the South Lake Avenue Business District which the recession has hit hard and left several shops vacant.

Soon after the meeting with Beck, Tornek said he will meet with the District 7 appointees on several commissions to get up to speed on what is taking place on the respective commissions. After that Tornek will consider replacing members who know longer wish to serve.

“Once I find out who wants to stay and who wants to go I will solicit applications from the people in the district and try and play matchmaker,” Tornek said.

And Tornek said he would even entertain an application from opponent Margaret York.

Tornek defeated the former Los Angeles County Police Chief Tuesday night in a run off election, 1,087 to 937 votes.

The race was forced to a run off in March after none of the five candidates garnered the 51 percent needed to win the seat. Tornek finished far out front of the other candidates in that election with 47 percent of the vote with York trailing with 27 percent.

Despite those numbers York gave Tornek a race in the runoff election largely due to an endorsement by third place finisher Ciran Hadjian and more than $20,000 in campaign contributions coming from unions.

The election turned ugly over the last month after York’s campaign issued a press release questioning Tornek’s ability to be an effective member of the city council based on a campaign mailer.

Tornek replaces three-term councilman Sid Tyler, who announced last February that he would not seek re-election, and endorsed Tornek. Tyler served as the council’s financial expert. Tyler appointed Tornek to the Planning Commission in 2005. He was also a member of the Pasadena Design Commission.

Tornek moved to Pasadena from Massachusetts 27 years ago to accept the position of Planning Director after serving as Planning Director of Springfield, Mass. He also was elected to the Springfield City Council. In Pasadena, Tornek served as Planning Director for three years and helped to rewrite the Zoning Ordinance, the General Plan and to establish the Redevelopment Plan for Old Pasadena.

Since leaving city government, Tornek has remained active in Pasadena affairs through his 20 years of service as a Board Member of Pasadena Neighborhood Housing Services, a non-profit organization devoted to affordable housing in Northwest Pasadena.