Political candidates supported by Arch. Hovnan Derderian were defeated in Mar. 3 Glendale, Pasadena City Elections
Posted on March. 6. 2020
A COMBINED REPORT BY PASADENA AND GLENDALE
AMERICAN ARMENIAN VOTERS
COMPILED BY APPO JABARIAN
March 4, 2020 (Glendale/Pasadena, CA) — In order to shore up American Armenian public support for their candidacy in local elections, certain political candidates solicited and received ‘blessings’ from Western Diocese primate Arch. Hovnan Derderian.
They may have thought these blessings would be asset, but they came to a rude awakening in the aftermath of the March 3 elections. They proved to be a political liability.
On Monday, February 17, 2020, Terry Tornek, Mayor of the City of Pasadena visited the Western Diocese. Accompanied by Mr. Roy Boulghourjian, member of the Pasadena Unified School District (District 2), Mr. Tornek met with the Diocesan Primate and “discussed avenues of collaboration between the Diocese and the District.”
The incumbent mayoral candidate Tornek may have thought that Derderian’s support may encourage many within the American Armenian community of Pasadena to vote in his favor.
But because of Arch. Derderian’s negative public image, high negatives in public opinion polling and fast-dwindling popularity, many American Armenian voters abstained from voting for Mr. Tornek who went down in defeat on March. 3, 2020.
Now some of Mr. Tornek’s supporters are wondering why their American Armenian ‘advisors’ did not alert Mr. Tornek about Arch. Derderian’s faltering public image within both American Armenian community and mainstream American circles.
For a number of local observers, Tornek was the presumptive winner positioned to garner more than 50% of the vote, which is required in Pasadena to win the contest outright.
But his early lead was squelched as his rival Victor Gordo gained a 4% advantage over the incumbent. Wed. night with 93% of the precincts reporting, Gordo had 46% of the vote with 11,461 votes to Tornek’s 10,323.
Looks like Mayor Tornek may have lost a golden opportunity to avoid a November runoff.
Many Pasadena American Armenians stated that Mr. Tornek was misdirected. His outreach to Arch. Derderian may have even backfired causing unintended consequences for his reelection bid.
In a February 29 article titled “PALACE INTRIGUE,” a Glendale reporter Mike Mohill wrote that Glendale Mayor Ara “Najarian and his sidekick, Councilman Vartan Gharpetian, both attacked their future nemesis, City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian, who holds an elected position. They attacked the City Clerk for errors on the new filing date for city council that were actually caused by the City Attorney’s office, managed by Mike Garcia, an appointed position by council. Hoping to score points, Council Candidate Greg Astorian addressed the council regarding the errors surrounding the filing date and wanted to embarrass his political rival, Ardy Kassakhian, and help his friend, Vartan Gharpetian.”
Mohill continued: “A few weeks ago, Mayor Najarian wanted to censor the elected City Clerk, Ardy Kassakhian, for the filing date errors and Councilman Gharpetian didn’t second the motion of the expected Mayor’s censor. It was left for Councilman Vrej Agajanian to do the dirty work.”
On Feb. 29, Mohill concluded: “Should Vartan Gharpetian be re-elected that would be the needed third vote (Agajanian, Najarian and Gharpetian) to appoint Councilman Agajanian to the cherished Mayor’s position. Should Councilman Agajanian be appointed as the new Mayor, it would be a shame not only for the Armenian American community, but for Glendale as a whole.”
Early Tue. Mar. 3, a Glendale American Armenian voter lamented that “The trio, Agajanian, Najarian and Gharpetian have unfairly targeted Kassakhian, who is well-versed and well-liked by all Glendale citizens.” She hoped that it would backfire on them.
GLENDALE CITY GENERAL AND
SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
City Councilmember,
Regular and Unexpired Terms (U/T ending 3/3/2022)
PAULA DEVINE 23.04% 21,403
ARDY KASSAKHIAN 18.68% 17,501
DAN BROTMAN 17.89% 17,420
VARTAN GHARPETIAN 12.56% 11,235
SUSAN WOLFSON 11.81% 10,778
GREG ASTORIAN 7.76 % 7,002
LEONARD MANOUKIAN 4.69% 4,527
WILLIAM KESHISHYAN 3.57% 3,383
Ardy Kassakhian Dan Brotman Vartan Gharpetian Susan Wolfson Greg Astorian Leonard Manoukian William (Bill) Keshishyan
PASADENA CITY PRIMARY
NOMINATING ELECTION Mayor
VICTOR M. GORDO 46.21% 11,461
TERRY TORNEK 41.63% 10,323
MAJOR WILLIAMS 8.40% 2,084
JASON HARDIN 3.76% 932
A Glendale voter and a longtime Western Diocese member and supporter stated: “Gharpetian has been keeping cordial ties with Western Diocese primate Arch. Hovnan Derderian in order to secure votes from Glendale voters who are members of the Western Diocese. But Gharpetian is clueless about the fact that Derderian has become so unpopular even within the Diocese that he may have actually caused Gharpetian a loss of valuable votes.”By late Wednesday evening, March 4, Derderian-backed Gharpetian was going down in defeat. While Kassakhian had garnered 10,005 votes, occupying the second place, becoming one of the top three winners, Gharpetian was trailing at a distant fourth with only 6,937 votes.