Meet Vice Mayor Jerry Thorne

Your Concerns Are His Concerns!

History in the Community

Jerry Thorne is a 36-year resident of Pleasanton who fully understands the evolving needs of the community that he represents. During this period Pleasanton has faced challenges surrounding growth, traffic, and transportation. Jerry Thorne continues to be integrally involved in the decision-making process to mitigate these issues for the residents of Pleasanton. He is focused on the concerns of Pleasanton today, and considers the impacts of all decisions on the Pleasanton of tomorrow, that our children and grandchildren will inherit.

Commitment to the Community

Jerry is a public servant in the true sense of the term. He serves on numerous local, national, state, and regional boards, commissions and committees. He has selected his assignments carefully to ensure that each area where he has responsibility will have an impact on the people of Pleasanton’s and the quality of life in the community. First elected to the Pleasanton City Council in 2005, Jerry has served two terms as Pleasanton’s Vice-Mayor and will begin a third term in August, 2012. In each campaign, he has enjoyed the support of a large cross-section of Pleasanton residents and businesses. Prior to being elected to the Council, Jerry spent 10 years serving the community as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner.



An outline of Jerry’s service to the community may be found here. 

Jerry Thorne listens to his community and believes it is critical that elected officials at all levels should be accessible to residents. His ability to build consensus, take action and get results is visible in the following projects and initiatives: 

Understands Pleasanton

Jerry Thorne also understands the impacts of a fluctuating national and state economy on our community. It is imperative that we maintain the high quality of our schools and provide programs and facilities that enhance and enrich our young students lives, and there are many examples of this through Jerry’s tenure and voting history. There is the creation of the Firehouse Arts Center, which provides a venue for young talent to perform and to view performing and visual arts. We also developed Alviso Adobe Community Park, which teaches our young students about the history of our Amador Valley. This effort continues with the ongoing progression of Bernal Community Park, where new sports fields provide more opportunity for our local youth teams to play ball. 

• Jerry led seven-year effort by a diverse group of community members which resulted in the construction of a 50-meter Olympic pool at our aquatic center.  Today, the pool is used daily by hundreds of residents of all ages for lap swim, swim lessons, and swim competition. Pleasanton’s 50-meter pool also draws visitors from throughout the region, state and country for large swim meets, and is home each August to the Tri-Valley Swim Championships, where more than 1,000 gather to celebrate the final competition of local neighborhood swim teams
• Jerry spearheaded the effort to create the Alviso Adobe Community Park in 1995 by leading the effort to stabilize the building. He stayed with the project all the way through the planning task force phase and the construction phase. Today the Alviso Adobe is one of the premier parks in the City. Jerry stuck it out and led the charge with this project even when opposed by a number of elected and appointed officials.
  
• Jerry led two task forces that resulted in the plan for the sports fields at Bernal Community Park. His successful grass roots ballot initiative process protected the sports fields from being removed from the Bernal project or moved to unacceptable locations. Today, Phase One of the project has been completed and Jerry is leading another effort to fund the “open field sport” phase of the project (soccer, rugby, football and lacrosse).
  
• Jerry was an instrumental leader in the Parks and Recreation Commission efforts that resulted in the linear parks at Pleasanton Meadows and Valley Trails.
  
• Jerry was elected President of the East Bay Division of the League of California Cities and led a successful regional effort to get Prop. 22 on the ballot, which was eventually approved overwhelmingly by the voters of California. The measure protected local funding from being taken by the State and preserved Pleasanton tax dollars for local programs and improvements.
• Jerry was appointed to serve on a National Policy Committee for Economic Development and his personal active participation and leadership resulted in a $250K annual savings for our community in CDBG grants, which support Open Heart Kitchen, Tri-Valley Haven, and Axis Community Health, among other critical support agencies.

In conclusion, Jerry’s results-oriented leadership has been a key element of his success as both a private sector business leader and as a community leader.