Thorne launches campaign for council seat Thorne launches campaign for council seat (May 28, 2004)

Ayala to announce for mayor on Wednesday
by Jeb Bing

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Jerry Thorne launched his campaign for a City Council seat Sunday with a rally at his Birdland neighborhood home on Hummingbird Road.

At the same time, Councilwoman Kay Ayala, who is serving her eighth year on the council, scheduled a kickoff reception to formally announce her decision to run for mayor. The public get-together is scheduled from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday during the First Wednesday street party on Main Street. The reception will be held in the second-floor law offices of Peter MacDonald, former city attorney, at 400 Main St.

At his rally, Thorne told supporters that if elected in November he will "hit the ground running to tackle traffic and land use issues affecting Pleasanton." Now 60, Thorne ran unsuccessfully for a council seat two years ago. He retired in 1999 after 26 years in executive management posts with Agilent Technologies and Hewlett Packard Corp., and has put more than a decade of service in community and civic affairs, including serving as chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. He and his wife Sandra have lived in Pleasanton for 28 years.

Thorne is also co-chair of the Committee to Save Our Community Park, a coalition of sports enthusiasts who want to assure that athletic fields are placed on the city's newly acquired public lands on the Bernal property. Working with his co-chairman Bob Maas, president of the Ballistic United Soccer Club, Thorne and his supporters have obtained more than 4,500 signatures on a petition now filed with the Pleasanton City Clerk. If at least 3,400 are verified as registered Pleasanton voters, the petition will qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would dedicate up to 50 acres at the northeast corner of the Bernal property for lighted sports fields and other related uses.

"Although my candidacy for the council and the sports petition are two different issues, obviously I will be supporting the initiative as I campaign," Thorne said. "But I also want to address other issues, such as the General Plan update, which the next council will handle, and the city's promise to the state to add more affordable and senior housing."

Ayala, who cannot run for re-election as a councilwoman because of term limits, is seeking election as mayor, a post now held by Mayor Tom Pico, who has decided against running again. She will be vying with Councilwoman Jennifer Hosterman, who has served two years of a four-year term on the council, and is also campaigning for mayor.

Three seats will be open on Nov. 2, Election Day. Besides Pico and Ayala's current positions, Councilman Matt Campbell has also decided not to seek re-election after serving a four-year term.

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