By Julie BUTCHER

On Tuesday night, the Glendale City Council addressed a long list of issues and items including proposed changes to the city’s charter.

The Charter Review Committee shared an updated list of outstanding matters, and the Council debated those. 

The Committee and staff recommend charter changes to the civil service system that would expand the candidate pool for hiring and promotions (this is described as going from the “Rule of 3,” where the hiring authority has to choose from the top three ranked candidates, to the “Rule of Three Whole Scores,” where a list of potential candidates is generated from the three highest scoring bands of applicants, allowing for more potential candidates from which to choose); removing department heads from civil service protection; enabling the city manager to hire and fire those executive-level employees without Council consideration; and allowances for a longer probationary period, up to a maximum of 18 months for those positions deemed to require a longer period of evaluation by the Civil Service Commission. The current 12-month probationary period for police officers would not be changed.

The Charter Review Committee recommends keeping the city clerk and treasurer positions as elected rather than appointed positions and continues to recommend against district elections and a directly-elected mayor. The Council members have mixed opinions on these issues and did not reach a conclusion.

The Committee recommends a process of addressing how Council pay is set, being consistent with state law, and perhaps establishing a committee as some cities have. City Council members currently receive $1,730 per month ($20,760 annually), plus a $50 fee per Housing Authority meeting.

Also on Tuesday night, the Council approved a six-year $19,250,400 contract with West Coast Arborists, Inc. for tree maintenance services, an amount 57% higher than the last contract, entered into in June 2020.

The city maintains 50,000 city trees using both contracted and in-house services, Assistant Public Works Director Dan Hardgrove reported. The city’s trees are assessed to be valued at $192.7 million. Eighty-eight percent of the trees are broadleaf; 12% are palm trees. Currently, the city trims the broadleaf trees on a six-year full-trim cycle and the 5,000 palm trees the city owns are trimmed annually for dangerous palm fronds. Each year, the city trims approximately 7,000 trees, dividing the city into 12 maintenance districts and trimming the trees in two districts each year.

In addition to tree trimming, the contractor will remove up to 300 trees and will plant 750 new trees each year and will extend the warranty period for new trees to three years, to increase their chances of viability. Also, three years of watering the new trees are included – again to ensure they survive the first critical tree years.

The significant cost leap is attributed to increases in prevailing wage as well as fuel and equipment cost increases. The contract entered into in 2020 set a fixed rate, Assistant City Manager John Taktahlian explained, and the new contract represents a “truing up” of costs.

“I think palms are worthless,” Mayor Ara Najarian said, sharing his thoughts. “They’re worse than worthless because they grow extremely tall and the amount of effort and danger in scaling those trees to cut the fronds is immeasurable. They were nice when they were 10 feet but at 50 or 60 feet, they have no aesthetic value. I’m not a big fan of pine trees either: they’re messy and a potential fire hazard.”

However, he added, “Trees are important to the residents of Glendale. Shade is important. We talk about being the ‘Tree City,’ so we should walk the talk. We have to maintain those trees.”

Hardgrove also presented a report on the current city procedures for picking up bulky items. Single-family homes receive unlimited bulky item pick up services while multi-family properties receive four pick-ups per year, a limit set in the recent trash collection franchise agreements the city adopted.

Councilmember Elen Asatryan was not satisfied with the update. 

“The system is not working. The average person doesn’t know the difference between a bulky item and an abandoned item. It’s all trash in the eyes of the public,” she said. “And there needs to be a fair system that deals with all of it.”

To secure bulky item pick up, Glendale residents can visit https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/public-works/integrated-waste-management/residential-1-4-units/bulky-item-pickup.

To report any municipal problem, visit https://www.glendaleca.gov/residents/how-do-i/contact-the-city/report-a-problem-online.

Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian encouraged the use of the “MyGlendale” app.

Stepan Partamian announced the Glendale Art Show – https://www.glendaleartshow.org/ – presented by Armenian Arts on Sunday, April 19 along the 200 block of Orange Street as an “important milestone for our city’s cultural life, the Glendale Art Show is envisioned as a vibrant, open-air celebration of creativity, to bring together artists, residents, and visitors from across the region.”

Glendale resident Herbert Molano presented a detailed financial analysis critical of the city’s practice of transferring money from the city’s utility to shore up the city’s general fund.

“The City of Glendale has not had a balanced budget in 25 years,” Molano said, specifically criticizing a $19 million annual transfer – “money needed for updates to aging infrastructure.” He argued that the recent dramatic increases in electrical costs could have been averted had the city not transferred the funds he estimated to be $1.2 billion or “$34,000 per household.”

Dr. Jackie Gish thanked all of the Council members for their tireless service to the city. She also recognized the Glendale Environmental Coalition (GEC) as “a positive influence in Glendale.

“GEC organizes community clean up events, supports the city’s Earth Days and tree plantings as well as works for clean air, reduced plastics, and improves the city’s tree canopy, amongst other things. We can disagree on policies but still show appreciation for the people who work to make Glendale better.”

For the second year, Glendale will host the Southern California Chess Open, on Sept. 4 – 7 and the Council voted unanimously to spend $18,000 to sponsor the tournament. Founder of the American Chess Academy and tournament organizer Armen Ambartsoumian told the Council that this year, 500 players and 1200 spectators are expected. Information of the tournament can be found at https://glendaleplayschess.com/.

Mayor Najarian encouraged all Glendalians to participate in the city survey aimed at improving emergency preparation and informing the city’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP): GlendaleCA.gov/LHMP.

The mayor also announced this year’s EggStravaganza event set for Saturday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Pacific Community Center, 501 S. Pacific Ave. The day will include community and department information booths, the Glendale ROCKS! climbing wall, carnival games, egg hunting for all ages and a photo op with the Easter Bunny. For more information, visit https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/community-services-parks/special-events/spring-eggstravaganza#ad-image-4.

Finally, Mayor Najarian asked that the Council adjourn in memory of former Glendale fire chief Richard Hinz.