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•GUEST OPINION• EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR
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BY RALPH FRAMMOLINO
MAYOR TORNEK NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
L
ike a person aggrieved, Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek is now playing the victim as he fights for his political life. The reason: criticism by his mayoral opponent about how Tornek decided to take a ceremonial Sister City visit in March, leaving his colleagues scrambling to protect the rest of us during the onset of a once-in-a-century pandemic. Tornek was marked “absent” for a critical March 17 special council meeting to approve a citywide declaration of emergency. Unlike his colleagues, Tornek never even phoned in. Now Tornek wants us to believe he was on top of things 6,000 miles away and that he’s the target of a political “smear campaign.” His chief supporter, John Kennedy, has denounced criticism of the trip as an “evil, unworthy and unmerited campaign distraction.” As veteran politicians, they know better. This is no hit job. This is an accountability moment for an incumbent who is asking for another term. Tornek should have known he was tempting fate when he insisted on going through with the nonessential goodwill mission to Senegal March 10. By then, the World Health Organization, state of California and Los Angeles County had declared health emergencies. Hours before he boarded a jet, Tornek himself had presided over a City council meeting in which he voted to do the same in Pasadena. What most people don’t know, however, is that Tornek also ignored other warnings and requests to delay the trip from key people involved. These warnings, revealed in city emails released under the Public Records Act, came weeks before Tornek left. On February 5, Tornek’s official host, Dakar-Plateau Mayor Alioune Ndoye, asked for a two-week delay because he would be away on government business when Pasadena’s 12-person delegation arrived. “Too late; tickets purchased & council agendas set,” Tornek texted. “Sorry we’ll miss him.” Then, as COVID-19 became a looming threat, others tried to persuade Tornek to push the trip back. Boualem Bousselem, chair of the Sister City’s Senegal Committee, sent an urgent email February 27 asking to meet with Tornek and Kennedy about rethinking the excursion. “We need to discuss the possible impact of the coronavirus epidemic on our trip and probably set up a plan B,” wrote Bousselem, who had invested months on arranging the privately paid mission. Records show they met twice, but no Plan B. Even a local news editor tried and failed to discourage Tornek.
“Since I cannot talk you out of going, can you give me a point person here in Pasadena that I can communicate with in your absence?” the editor wrote March 9. The next day, March 10, the editor sent an interview request with an ominous postscript. “Just as an FYI, as of today, Senegal now has 4 reported cases of the COVID-19 virus.” Too late. Tornek was on a jet to Senegal, where emails and texts show he began having immediate regrets. Tornek exchanged a flurry of frantic emails with his Pasadena travel agent, who spent hours on the phone trying to cobble together a return flight for everyone that avoided fast-moving international travel bans. Curiously, Tornek was not as communicative when his colleagues asked for a special meeting to declare a citywide emergency. When the preferred dates of March 14 and 16 were floated, Tornek texted: “Not available.” He’s never explained why. But emails show around that time, Tornek and crew were scheduled for five days of heavy sightseeing. Highlights included an overnight in the old colonial capital, a wetland for birdwatchers, a canoe ride, a train ride, a beach picnic of Mar Lodj Island, and a tour of a large mosque. The documents don’t say how many tourist spots they actually reached or, more importantly, enjoyed. Emails reflect a rising anxiety among Tornek’s troops. Until March 17, when everyone finally caught a flight home through Dubai. Tornek admitted in a recent debate he missed the special meeting because he was herding the delegation onto the flight. He’s been less forthcoming on other questions, including the most important: Why were you so hellbent on leaving in the first place? Emails suggest it might have been the lure of a European vacation. After Senegal, the Torneks were booked for a week in Portugal—where, in a sad twist, some of their luggage sat unclaimed in the Lisbon airport as their travel plans blew up. We are grateful the delegation got back safely. But make no mistake, they were at risk in the first place because of Tornek’s astounding lapse in judgment. He was MIA during the crucial days of a civic crisis because of a stubborn refusal to heed those around him, a common complaint about his leadership style. It’s altogether fair and proper that he be held accountable for it. n
•LETTERS•
THE END OF POLICE BRUTALITY
EDITOR: Solutions are often so obvious that they go unnoticed. How long did it take for us to figure out the advantage of placing wheels on luggage? Police misconduct is a pervasive problem that costs American taxpayers millions of hard-eared dollars, not to mention innocent lives. These issues would not exist if the unions were as committed to protecting the public as they are to protecting the interests of their members. Rogue cops exist because the majority of good cops face retribution when they call out the misconduct of fellow officers. The unions protect officers who they know are unqualified and even a threat to the public. So, let’s end police brutality and misconduct immediately by simply making the police unions liable for the conduct of their members. I guarantee you that if the actions of a racist cop forced the police union to dip into its coffers for millions of dollars, po-
lice brutality would end next week. Of course, there will always be misconduct in human interaction. But I don’t think we’d see unarmed citizens shot in the back 15 times as a matter of course. If qualified immunity was limited—no longer protecting police from egregious conduct—we’d see an immediate decrease in misconduct and the beginning of a better overall relationship with communities of color. However, this must go hand in hand with real efforts to increase real opportunities for our youth. Unions are not all bad. Most are just mismanaged and greed driven, putting union dues and membership over the common good. As we contemplate these issues, let us not forget the teachers unions, who protect the jobs of incompetent and even dangerous personnel. I realize the complexity of these problems, but I sincerely believe that when we make the police unions liable for the actions of their members, we’ll see less killing, more cooperation and a better society. ~Billy Mitchell
10.22.20 | PASADENA WEEKLY 3