What are you most proud of from your previous terms on the city council? 

The first two things that come to mind are: voting to implement neighborhood protections and participating in ribbon cutting ceremonies. 

  

Some of the neighborhood protections that I am proud to have received input from the community and voted for, are: 

-Installing permanent cul-de-sacs off of Alameda –

-Implementing single family design standards and guidelines to prevent mansionization

-Preventing the over development of the General Motors site by insisting on community conscious development which resulted in a French school moving in to the existing structures 

-Protecting our equine residents by addressing the safety concerns on the Mariposa Bridge and restricting its use to horses and pedestrians

 

I am proud to have participated in the many ribbon cutting ceremonies as Mayor and council member because it represents someone taking a chance. Someone is taking a chance on their dreams of being a business owner. Someone is taking a chance on themselves and their resolve to be a successful entrepreneur in the City of Burbank. I always have a feeling of pride for the individuals who are embarking on business ownership, not only because they get to realize their own dream, but they are becoming a piece of the fabric that is Burbank. Burbank is made up of small businesses of all shapes and sizes and I for one am proud that these individuals have chosen to offer their goods or services here in our community. 

 

Why are you seeking re-election? What are the primary outcomes you intend to work towards if re-elected? 

My adult life has been one of community service. I retired after 32 years from the Burbank Fire Department with the rank of Captain. Since 1975 I have served on numerous boards, commissions and task forces with the City of Burbank and with the Burbank Unified School District. Following my retirement I was elected to the Burbank City Council in 2009 and again in 2013. I served as Mayor during the city’s centennial year 2011-12 and I am currently serving as Mayor for the second time. I want to continue my community service to the city that I've been proud to call my home for over 55 years. I feel that my years on the fire department and through my extensive community involvement that I have gained the necessary experience to make the tough decisions that will be facing the Burbank City Council in the years to come. I intend to work towards a balanced budget, providing affordable housing, fully staffing our safety services, ensuring community input on the replacement terminal project, addressing our infrastructure deficit and assessing and addressing the traffic/parking situation throughout the city, but with an emphasis on Magnolia Park and Downtown Burbank. These can be seen as overwhelming tasks, but the city council can accomplish these things by working together to build consensus on these issues and receiving input from the residents and business community members.

 

What do you believe are the biggest challenges currently facing Burbank? 

In these past eight years on the Burbank City Council, we have faced our share of tough situations including: almost $10 million in budget cuts, mansionization of our neighborhoods, an understaffed police department, severe drought, and four City Managers in seven years, just to name a few. Currently, the biggest challenges facing Burbank include:

-Unfunded pension liability

-Unfunded infrastructure deficit

-Five year projected budget deficit

-Hiring for safety services

-Traffic and Parking issues

 

Residents love Burbank for its "Maywood" feel. How do we preserve it?

First and foremost, the Mayberry feel comes from the residents and businesses that have called this community home, for years. It comes from people who are proud to be from Burbank, and care about what happens here. When it comes to preserving the Mayberry feel, we need to have buy in from the people who live here and the businesses that reside here as well. Residents, who want to support local small business, know their neighbors and get involved in local groups and events. Small businesses that want to be involved locally, sponsoring sports teams, donating to Burbank on Parade, and that support other small businesses in town through the chamber of commerce, events in Downtown Burbank, Holiday in the Park, and Ladies Night Out, to name a few. We need community conscious development that adds to a neighborhood and doesn’t detract from it. We need to keep our residents and businesses engaged in our community.

 

Everyone in our neighborhood loves Magnolia Park, but we see many small businesses struggle. What can the city do to help this situation?

The city should look at working with the chamber of commerce to host entrepreneurial classes that could allow individuals the chance to learn what it takes to open a business here in Burbank. The city can even encourage open house networking hosted by our own Economic Development Team, where local financial institutions, realtors, and successful business owners as mentors, could come together to offer advice and assist new Burbank businesses with their venture into business ownership. I also feel that it would be beneficial to bring together as many of the property owners as we can, to meet and discuss their side of the situation. The chamber of commerce needs to be more active in recruiting Burbank’s small businesses, find out why more aren’t joining and do a better job in promoting them. The city’s Economic Development Team needs to communicate with property owners in former Property Business Improvement Districts, the benefits to re-establishing the PBID for the betterment of their business district and adjoining neighborhoods. Look into coordinating the efforts of the city and the Magnolia Park Merchants Association to increase membership and to better promote and support the entire business district. 

 

 

 

Housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable in Burbank, but many residents also don't want to see the population and housing becoming denser. Is there any way to reconcile this problem? What is your position on what needs to be done? How would an increase in population affect our schools? 

Burbank has been and will continue to be a desirable place to live. It seems, given our low vacancy rate, that even as landlords raise rents, there are tenants ready to rent those units. In this situation, the typical supply and demand relationship doesn’t exist. If we build more units, people will compete for those units, landlords will raise rents because the market allows for it and people will still rent those units. The city’s typical bargaining chip is when a developer comes in and needs something from the city in order to realize his/her development. It is at this point when the city can ask for a percentage of units to be earmarked for low income residents or other stipulations, in exchange for what the developer is asking for(within reason).

 

A significant increase in population would certainly affect our schools. Additional classrooms would be needed, teachers, supplies, and potentially administrators as well. Most of our schools are approaching capacity if they aren’t already there. An increase in population could cause the School District to consider additional classroom construction, additional use of portable classrooms and potentially purchasing property for a school site. The School District tends to notice increasing student numbers as their Kindergarten classes will typically be affected first, and they will have to make adjustments as the student population ages.

 

With the new airport, planned hotels and high-density residences on Hollywood Way, many residents are concerned about traffic congestion. What is your position on this? 

For all of the proposed projects, we will be paying close attention to the traffic studies and the Environmental Impact Report. Traffic mitigation measures will also be identified and reviewed so as to not impact the quality of life of those already living in Burbank. It is essential that these be community conscious developments, and that the developers be willing to work with the council and receptive to public input.

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Speaking of the new airport, what is planned for the property adjacent to the airport, which was sold to Overton Moore Properties? And what is becoming of the planned transportation hub now that the bullet train is being built from the North to the South with the Burbank portion not being completed until at least 2029? 

The fate of the planned transportation hub is currently up in the air as concrete plans for the high speed rail line have not been identified as well as a current lack of funding. We will have to monitor the progress of the high speed rail as the construction continues, and I would want to meet with the Overton Moore Properties company to discuss potential uses of the property for the interim decade.  

 

The voter participation rate for the last city council election was 16.6% in 2015. It seems unhealthy for a democracy to have such a low rate of participation. What can the city council do to increase citizens' involvement in their local government? 

 In recent years the city council has taken steps to increase voter turnout, with positive, but marginal results. Statistics show that voters are more likely to vote by mail instead of going to a polling place, so the city made the elections an all-mail election.  We were also told that many voters didn’t send in their ballots because they didn’t have or want to use a stamp on the envelope, so the city now pays for the return postage on all ballots. The city clerk’s office has also been far more active in getting the message out to the residents through social media, the city’s website, signs posted outside on city and school district properties. I was fortunate enough to join California’s Secretary of State when he came to Burbank and spoke to John Burroughs High School seniors during a Get Out The Vote campaign.

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In the not too distant future, I think that the city council will have to consider moving our elections to match Presidential and Congressional election calendars of November in even years. Currently our elections are in odd numbered years and in February and April, with a Primary Election and General Election. I feel that even consolidating our election to a single election in March, would likely increase voter turnout. The city clerk’s office could also recruit volunteers from the community or from the local non-profits and service clubs to walk neighborhoods and speak to residents on a door to door basis. Ultimately it is about successfully communicating to the registered voters in our community that their vote matters and they should and need to exercise that right.