Cole Apologizes for Parade Attire

There were apologies all around this week from Mayor Rick Cole, swept up in a flap about the way he dressed for the Tournament of Roses Parade.

He was sorry, Cole said, for having “caused offense, or hurt” on Jan. 1, after riding down Colorado Boulevard--and appearing before an estimated 400 million television viewers worldwide--in a plain Oxford shirt, rather than a tie and jacket.

Under the shirt, Cole wore a T-shirt critical of the Tournament of Roses, the century-old organization that stages the parade.

“Tournament of Racists,” read the message on the shirt, reflecting the position of local black groups who have criticized the group as being the exclusive preserve of white men. Cole displayed the T-shirt and the message briefly during the parade.

“I believe that the exclusion of women and people of color from the tournament leadership is wrong,” Cole said Wednesday. “But clearly, as Mayor, I owed it to the city not to have caused offense, or hurt, on Jan. 1.”

Cole said he had sent a written apology to Tournament President Gary Hayward.

A spokesman for Hayward said that the tournament head had found the T-shirt “disappointing.” There was no comment on Cole’s casual appearance.

Along the parade route New Year’s Day, at least one large group in East Pasadena shouted in unison: “Rick Cole, buy a suit!”

Some of Cole’s City Council colleagues said they had been hearing about the issue from constituents.

“Everybody’s talking about this,” said Councilman William Paparian. “I’ve never seen this type of indignation.”

At a break in Tuesday’s council meeting, from which Cole was absent because of illness, several council members spoke scathingly of his casual style.

“As mayor, a different code of conduct is required,” Councilman Jess Hughston said.

“I think it’s absolutely inappropriate and atrocious,” Councilman William Thomson said. “He’s representing the City of Pasadena in an international event. He ought to look like the mayor of Pasadena.

“I think Rick has to begin to take seriously his responsibilities as mayor.”

Last July 4, Cole met some representatives from Pasadena’s Japanese sister city, Mishima, at City Hall in blue jeans and sneakers. He said that the exchange with the Japanese officials had not been planned ahead of time. He had not expected to engage in formalities when he went to his office on that Independence Day holiday morning, he said.

But Cole--long known as a rebel on the City Council before he became mayor last April--has always been a casual dresser, flaunting conventions in tradition-bound Pasadena.

“Rick has never made any bones about being any different from what he is,” Councilman Chris Holden said.