Mayor Terry Tornek on the Issues

Mayor Terry Tornek (Photo – Jason Hardin).

Just before the cutting of the cake ceremony during Pasadena’s 129th Birthday celebration, we had a chat with Mayor Terry Tornek.

We asked questions that are on the minds of many Pasadenans and anyone interested in the welfare of the City; from the embezzlement, to the future of City Manager Michael Beck, to the role and influence of the Mayor’s position in moving things along in the city.

The most pressing thing right now is the embezzlement. So far, two people were let go without cause. And during the election time you said that we have to wait, in terms of more firings, until we have more facts. Do we have more facts now?

We’re almost done. There are three separate investigations underway. There’s a City Council Committee, there’s a professional investigator, and there’s a citizen committee that’s been sitting, and all three of them are closing in on the finish line. I expect that, certainly by the end of the summer, we will have the results of those investigations and then we will be in a better position to take specific action. I should say, though, that we’ve already put a bunch of things in place. We’re not waiting for the investigations to be completed to take remedial action. And so, there are all kinds of changes that have happened in terms of our procedures, in the terms of the scopes of our audits, in terms of the kinds of auditors that we’ve hired. So there’s all kinds of changes that are already in place that we’re not waiting for the completion of the investigations to achieve.

And then the City announced that we’re suing…

Yeah, well, that was anticipated. I mean, there are two things that we have been doing to try to recover our losses. One is that we’ve made application to our insurance company. That would be the lion’s share of the recovery, and, at the same time, we have filed a civil law suit against the perpetrators of the fraud and the embezzlement to try to recover from them.

…I’m not going to comment on the likelihood of any success there. I am optimistic about the insurance policies.

Mayor Terry Tornek at the “Road to Tomorrow” exhibit at the Pasadena Museum of History (Photo Emmanuel Krauletz).

Some people see Mr. Beck as the ultimate person in charge and, you know, responsible for this. How do you feel about that? Because, two people were let go…

He is the person in charge. That’s absolutely right. In terms of reaching the final conclusion about his tenure, I think that’s a function of what we learn from these investigations and his performance. I mean, we’re in kind of a fragile place. Apart from the fact that we haven’t completed the investigation, we have some major departments that are without department heads. Phyllis Currie from Water and Power retired. The two people that were terminated in terms of the Public Works Department and the Finance Department, are gone, and the Health Department is still without a permanent replacement. So, we have got four major departments that are without department heads, so the senior management right now is thin.

But I am actively monitoring all these events and I work closely with Mr. Beck. And you know, the city is a living, breathing thing. I mean, we don’t get to stop while we pick up the pieces, it’s moving and going. We just finished our budget deliberations successfully and we adopted a budget last Monday night. So, we continue to move along in the face of even without being shorthanded, in terms of senior management, and without having completed all the investigations.

In your opinion, how influential is the position of the mayor of Pasadena in moving things along?

Oh, I think it’s very influential. I think that part of the degree of influence is a function of the activities of the mayor. I mean, on the narrow sense, I’m just one vote among eight on the City Council. But in reality, people do look to the mayor’s position to provide some leadership and I am involved on a daily basis in conversations with senior staff. I’ve been meeting with personnel from every department and every department head to talk with them about what were my hopes and aspirations and focuses and so I’d like to think that it’s pretty influential.