Terry Tornek - Journey to Old Pasadena

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Terry Tornek was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush and Erasmus Hall High School where he met his future wife, Maria Mascoli and served as President of the New York City Student Council.

Terry then graduated cum laude from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.

After marrying and serving in the US Army National Guard (Airborne) Terry worked for the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and then earned a Masters of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University’s School of Architecture while Maria was a public school teacher on the Lower East Side.

 Maria and Terry moved to Springfield, Mass. where he served as Planning Director, Administrator of the Pioneer Valley Regional Transit Authority and as a planning consultant. Their three children, Joshua, Jessica and Rachel were born in Springfield, where Terry was also elected to the City Council and Maria continued to teach.

In 1982 the family moved to Pasadena where Terry accepted the position of Planning Director. He was hired because of his history of neighborhood improvement and historic preservation. Terry served for 3 years and helped to rewrite the Zoning Ordinance, the General Plan and establish the redevelopment plan for Old Pasadena.

After leaving city government, Terry built a career in real estate as a developer and manager of residential and commercial properties all over Southern California working as Senior Executive Vice President for a large Japanese development company before founding his own company to own and manage garden office projects. He remained active in Pasadena through his 20- year service as a Board Member of Pasadena Neighborhood Housing Services, a non-profit organization devoted to affordable housing in Northwest Pasadena. In 2005 Sid Tyler appointed Terry to the Planning Commission. He also served as a member of the Design Commission. He was elected to represent District 7 on the City Council in April, 2009, was reelected in 2013 and was then elected as Mayor in April, 2015 serving until December, 2020.

As Mayor, he was Chairman of the Finance Committee, a member of the Municipal Services, Public Safety, and Legislative Policy Committees, the City Council appointee to the Fire and Police Retirement Board, and as a member of the Burbank Airport Authority and the LA County Sanitation District.. He was deeply involved in the City’s finances, affordable housing and the City’s planning and development decision-making process. He also initiated the creation of the One Arroyo effort, Sales Tax measures I and J and the creation of the Community Police Oversight Commission.

Terry and his wife Maria have been married for 54 years. They are blessed with 3 children and 7 grandchildren all living in Southern California. 

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Music

Podcast Intro and Outro
Everyday, Jason Farnhmam, YouTube Audio Library

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I love you, Vibe Tracks, YouTube Audio Library

Sour Tennessee Red (Sting), John Dewey and the 41 Players, YouTube Audio Library

Dewey, Cheedham, and Howe (Sting), John Dewey and the 41 Players, YouTube Audio Library

Film Project Countdown.flac Copyright 2013 Iwan Gabovitch, CC-BY3 license

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