Tell us about your background. How does this qualify you to lead the city?

CSUN Graduate, 24 year resident, Marine Crop Veteran & Small Business owner.  My education and years living in Burbank have giving me a great love and appreciation for our city. My military background gives me the discipline to stay focused on the tasked at hand & It taught me not to be distracted by pettiness or slowed down by obstacles. It has also given me a great appreciation for what I have and a better understanding of the difference between wants & needs.  Being a small business owner I understand how to do more with less and how to make things happen.  I also understand that working together, we can accomplish more. I believe that I have the LEADERSHIP skills that we need, to lead our city.

 

 

Why are you running for city council? What are the outcomes you intend to work towards if elected?  

I am running to serve and represent the voices of the residents. I believe the current majority on council represents the developers 1st and the residents 2nd. I want to create a real balanced budget, create better communication with our residents & small business owners, Preserve our small town feel as we move forward into the future.

 

 

What are the biggest challenges facing Burbank?

The Budget is our biggest issue. We can no longer kick the can down the road. We must address the issues today, for a better

tomorrow.

 

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

We must create policy that protects our small town. If and when a development request entitlements they must answer a need of the community. Ex: Attainable housing for 1st time home buyers, affordable housing for teachers & other city employees, affordable housing for seniors.

 

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

First we must listen to the small businesses and comprehend their concerns. Policies in the past have only tax small business and never addressed their needs. As a small business owner I comprehend 

the struggles, worries and needs of small businesses.  We must not tell small businesses what they want & create obstacles. We must help and empower businesses to be successful.

 

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?

Current policy is only making the problem worst.  We must create policy that ensures we have attainable housing. If and when a development request entitlements they must answer a need of the community.  As for the school, with growth, we will have greater demands on our school. We must plan where the need 

will be and prepare to build the schools with the increase in population.

 

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?

The projects have already been approved so their is nothing I can do about that but we can modernize our signals to help traffic flow smoother.

    

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?

As far as I know Overton Moore Properties has not presented anything to council yet. It is zoned for manufacturing I believe. I would love to see some high paying manufacturing jobs or medical technology go in there. As for the bullet train, I don't know if it will ever be a reality. I do know we were given 1.5mil to study the possible effects of it coming to Burbank. We need to make sure that those monies aren't wasted and we use that money for what it was intended.

 

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. 

We need to try new things in reaching out to the residents. What worked 50years ago, might not be the answer today. We must not just encourage people to participate during elections.  We need council members that will encourage participation throughout the year and not just when they are trying to get reelected.