Cynthia Torres
CA
Cynthia Torres is an education services consultant with past experience in school district finance who served on the district's bond oversight committee in 2018-2019. She says she will push for steady budgets and new revenue through fundraising, sponsorships, and city partnerships.
Where Cynthia Torres stands, based on their records
Supports
Government Efficiency (2 records), Public Infrastructure (3 records)
Mixed record
Government Spending Reduction (1 support · 1 oppose), Public Education Quality (4 support · 1 oppose)
Track record
Track record — Government Efficiency
Government Efficiency · 2 support
As Financial Oversight Committee chair, Torres delivered a report supporting the school board's $7.1 million spending-reduction plan, class-size adjustments and further cost controls. She also urged appropriate staffing ratios, adequate reserves, and public budget presentations covering all district funds, schools and departments.
June 3, 2010Supports Government Efficiency
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres urged the Santa Monica-Malibu school district to tie its strategic plan to clear priorities, budget trade-offs and resource-allocation choices. She also questioned the limited input used to select the planning consultant. The school board approved the consultant contract; Torres was speaking as the financial oversight chair.
November 12, 2009Supports Government Efficiency
Source: smmirror.com
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 1 support · 1 oppose
As Financial Oversight Committee chair, Torres delivered a report supporting the school board's $7.1 million spending-reduction plan, class-size adjustments and further cost controls. She also urged appropriate staffing ratios, adequate reserves, and public budget presentations covering all district funds, schools and departments.
June 3, 2010Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres moved to recommend that the Santa Monica-Malibu school board seek a district bond measure on the November 2006 ballot. The Financial Oversight Committee passed her recommendation unanimously. The recommendation concerned financing the district's facilities plan; it did not itself place a measure on the ballot.
April 4, 2006Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Track record — Public Education Quality
Public Education Quality · 4 support · 1 oppose
As Financial Oversight Committee chair, Torres delivered a report supporting the school board's $7.1 million spending-reduction plan, class-size adjustments and further cost controls. She also urged appropriate staffing ratios, adequate reserves, and public budget presentations covering all district funds, schools and departments.
June 3, 2010Opposes Public Education Quality
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres wrote to the Santa Monica and Malibu city councils on behalf of the Financial Oversight Committee, urging them to endorse the Measure A school parcel tax. The committee's April 13 minutes documented those letters.
April 13, 2010Supports Public Education Quality
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres submitted eight school-revenue proposals to Santa Monica-Malibu's Financial Oversight Committee. They included another school-funding measure, targeted fundraising, income from district assets and advertising, an attendance campaign, fees, grants and business partnerships, and additional interdistrict permits.
June 2, 2009Supports Public Education Quality
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres moved to recommend a six-year schedule for issuing Measure BB bonds for classroom, science-lab and other school-facility improvements instead of an eight-year schedule. The Financial Oversight Committee unanimously recommended scenario 1C to preserve construction purchasing power and increase interest earnings on unspent proceeds. This was an advisory recommendation about existing bond authority.
December 4, 2007Supports Public Education Quality
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres advocated increasing student attendance to raise school revenue. The superintendent credited her recommendation with the district's Every Minute Counts document, which supplied attendance guidance and set a goal of improving attendance by one percentage point.
October 19, 2007Supports Public Education Quality
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Track record — Public Infrastructure
Public Infrastructure · 3 support
Presented a proposal to accelerate renovations of Barnum Hall and the Greek Theater to earn school revenue. The proposal called for upfront investment and projected up to $1 million in annual income.
June 3, 2010Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres moved to recommend a six-year schedule for issuing Measure BB bonds for classroom, science-lab and other school-facility improvements instead of an eight-year schedule. The Financial Oversight Committee unanimously recommended scenario 1C to preserve construction purchasing power and increase interest earnings on unspent proceeds. This was an advisory recommendation about existing bond authority.
December 4, 2007Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres moved to recommend that the Santa Monica-Malibu school board seek a district bond measure on the November 2006 ballot. The Financial Oversight Committee passed her recommendation unanimously. The recommendation concerned financing the district's facilities plan; it did not itself place a measure on the ballot.
April 4, 2006Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Track record — General
General · 13 records
Torres founded and led College Decisions, a Pasadena educational consulting firm established in 2010, providing college-admissions and financial-aid guidance. Her earlier financial-services career included Goldman Sachs in New York, Fidelity Investments in Hong Kong and First Interstate Bank of California in Los Angeles.
October 22, 2026
Source: altadena-now.com
Teamsters Joint Council 42 endorsed Torres for Pasadena Unified School District’s District 7 seat in the November 2026 election.
October 15, 2026
Source: teamstersjc42.com
The Los Angeles County Democratic Party endorsed Torres for Pasadena Unified School District’s District 7 seat in the November 2026 election.
September 10, 2026
Source: pasadenanow.com
Torres left Pasadena Unified's Measure TT Citizens Oversight Committee. The committee's September 23, 2019 minutes recorded her resignation and the need to advertise for new members.
September 23, 2019
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres received the Harvard Alumni Association Award for outstanding service to alumni and the university. The Harvard Club of Southern California reported that she received the award on September 27, 2018.
September 27, 2018
Source: hcsc.clubs.harvard.edu
Torres voted to recommend that the Santa Monica-Malibu school district join California’s retiree-health-benefit trust, select investment strategy 1, review it annually and establish a long-term plan to fund its retiree-health liability. The Financial Oversight Committee passed the recommendation 11–0.
June 18, 2015
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres served as Harvard Alumni Association president during 2014–2015. Her work included meeting alumni internationally through the Your Harvard series and collaborating with Harvard clubs, shared-interest groups and campus volunteers.
May 28, 2015
Source: news.harvard.edu
Torres organized alumni participation in Harvard's Wintersession and helped connect students with alumni for career guidance. Harvard Magazine reported about 250 alumni and 750 students participating each January, including a public-interest careers conference and arts-career events.
August 15, 2014
Source: harvardmagazine.com
Torres received the Harvard Club of Southern California’s Fred Smith Award for volunteer service at its annual dinner on June 9, 2013.
June 9, 2013
Source: hcsc.clubs.harvard.edu
Torres read a Financial Oversight Committee statement asking the Santa Monica-Malibu school board to slow implementation of districtwide fundraising. The policy shifted school-program fundraising responsibilities from parent groups to the education foundation. Her action concerned the transition process.
November 17, 2011
Source: smdp.com
Torres seconded a recommendation for student representatives to have advisory votes on Santa Monica-Malibu's Financial Oversight Committee, while excluding full voting membership. The committee passed the motion unanimously.
March 15, 2011
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres served as president of Franklin Elementary School's Site Governance Council in Santa Monica. The district's April 19 school-plan report identified her in that role alongside principal Tara Brown.
April 19, 2007
Source: resources.finalsite.net
Torres worked as director of marketing at Diamond Portfolio Advisors in Santa Monica. Harvard's January 2004 institutional biography identified her in that position.
January 22, 2004
Source: news.harvard.edu
Past race Cynthia Torres ran in:
- Pasadena Unified School District Board Member, District 7 · November 3, 2026 · Pasadena Unified School District Board District 7