By Julie BUTCHER

On Tuesday night, the Glendale City Council once again took up the question of permitting digital signs on the sides of the Masonic Temple building on Brand Boulevard, ultimately approving changes to the advertising overlay zone allowing the new signs and authorizing city staff to execute a “better deal” than the revenue sharing agreement previously reviewed by the Council.

At last week’s meeting, representatives of the Caruso company reported that revenue estimates of the public benefit agreement (PBA) sharing 12% of the gross revenues of the sign revenue for the first 10 years and 15% for the years after that, added to the $634,335 in PBA fees already paid to Glendale from the four existing Advertising Signage Overlay Zones (ASOZ) signs and the 16 digital kiosks, could top $1 million.

Chris Robertson, Caruso senior vice-president of Planning and Development, responded to some of the public criticism of the development agreement. 

“The city council is charged with solving a significant budget shortfall and our project would help to solve some of that shortfall – and it comes at absolutely no cost to the city,” Robertson said. “We’ve gotten unanimous support from the planning commission and the greater downtown Glendale business association, from the firefighters and police officers’ associations. Our proposal is absolutely consistent with the terms of the agreement we’ve been in partnership with the city for the last number of years.”

Council regular and declared Council candidate Beth Brooks objected to both the agreement and the process by which it was negotiated.

“It’s not just that there are negative impacts to the public by putting signage on an historic building but the way you did it, in a way that was sort of ‘cloak and dagger’ by bypassing the Historical Preservation Commission (HPC), very intentionally tailor-made for a billionaire. 

“When he says ‘jump,’ the city council says, ‘How high?’ When Mr. Caruso wants two signs on an historic building, you bend over backwards for the man. Why is he more important than the residents of Glendale?” Brooks asked. “This is what you’re deciding today – not just putting up 20-by-40-foot blinking flashing advertisements on an historic building.”

Councilmember Dan Brotman voted against the project and against the zoning change. He acknowledged that while consideration by the HPC may not have been required the city would have benefited from HPC consideration.

Brotman specifically took exception to the claim that these sign changes come at “no cost.”

“I pay extra when I get streaming services to have them ad free,” he said. “There is a cost. And there should be more of a benefit to us.”

Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian criticized the sloppiness of the staff work that failed to copy every other page of the report then recalled the history of the building, citing the years it sat idle. He added that he does not like shopping malls and does not socialize with Rick Caruso. Kassakhian voted in favor of both the zoning change and the development agreement.

Mayor Ara Najarian responded to what he called “manufactured outrage – the allegation that there’s improper political influence being exerted by Caruso – that’s bunk. Report it to the District Attorney’s public integrity unit.”

The mayor noted that from the late 1920s there was advertisement on the sides of the building. 

“They weren’t pretty: Dr. Pepper and Coca Cola, bank ads, whiskey ads,” he said. “So, let’s not clutch our pearls and say, ‘Oh my! There’s advertising on that building!’”

The Council heard a report on a comprehensive operation analysis of the city’s Beeline bus system commissioned to evaluate the current bus network, gather input from riders, non-riders and stakeholders, and make recommendations for improvements.

Public Works director Daniel Hernandez introduced consultant Dan Boyle of Dan Boyle & Associates who added that the analysis is about half done and that the recommendations presented are draft, meant to continue to solicit input.

The overall goal of the review is to improve access, connectivity and the efficiency of the Beeline bus service. Outreach included a project website; ride-alongs to garner passenger input; bus rider intercepts (at bus stops); an online community survey; community event pop-ups; a virtual public meeting; and informal meetings with transit and community partners. 

Boyle reported on more than 1,300 responses to the survey of riders: 45% are between the ages of 25 and 61; 24% are between 18-24; 13% are under 17; and 18% are over 62 years old. A majority of riders (56%) are women. Latino/Hispanic bus riders comprise 46%; 18% are Armenian; 13% are Asian; 13% are White/Non-Armenian; and 5% are Black/African American.

Forty-one percent of the households of Glendale’s bus riders have zero vehicles; 36% have one car; 17% have two; and 6% have three or more vehicles.

Thirty-nine percent of those households earned incomes under $20,000; 26% earn $20-40,000; 17% see household incomes of $40-60,000; and 18% earn more than $60,000.

These statistics show “that we’re providing service to those who could not get around very well without these transit services – they don’t have a car, and they don’t have a lot of money,” Boyle observed.

The Beeline sees approximately 5,600 riders per day on these routes: https://www.glendaletransit.com/tools/system-map/beeline-timetables-route-maps.

According to the survey results, bus riders want expanded weekend service; later evening service; more frequent service on current routes; earlier morning service; faster travel times (fewer stops but a longer walk); new or extended routes to new destinations; more stops (slower travel time but a shorter walk). Non-riders want more frequent service, expanded weekend and weekday hours.

Burbank is hoping for all-day service on Route 12 with potential connections to new developments. The Disney shuttle that serves the Disney Imagineering campus needs to be adjusted to reflect workers returning to the office at least four days a week. Glendale Community College (GCC) is very thankful for the expansion of the GoPass program (https://www.metro.net/riding/fares/gopass/) that allows students to ride free and would like to see the program expanded to include connections between campuses. The City of La Caňada Flintridge wants added afternoon trips from La Caňada High School.

The consultant sought input from the bus operators and deemed them “by and large, the most pleased group of operators I’ve ever spoken with.” 

Here are the draft recommendations:

1. Add a bus to Route 8 to address on-time performance issues to ensure the bus runs every 20 minutes, as promised
2. Add a stop on Route 6 at Eagle Dale for transfer to the DASH Metro A line
3. Reroute Route 11 to serve the Glendale Civic Center
4. Add midday service on Route 12 connecting Glendale with Burbank – partially responsive to a request from Burbank and from businesses sprouting up along the route
5. Shift service from Route 33 to Route 34 to address La Caňada High School overcrowding
6. Pilot two late-night service options: extend Friday and Saturday night hours until 10:15 p.m. on Routes 1-8 and Monday through Thursday service hours during either the fall or spring school semester on Routes 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8; add Sunday service on Routes 8 and 31 

Glendalian Herbert Molano addressed the Council, questioning the potential positive impact of offering free bus service.

In response to Council questions, staff reported that farebox revenue amounts to approximately 10% of the bus system’s revenue, an estimated $1 million per year. The Beeline costs $11 million per year to operate.

Mayor Najarian noted that there were problems when Metro offered free service during the pandemic. He added that the Beeline accepts Metro’s LIFE pass https://www.metro.net/riding/fares/life/ “where you just have to declare yourself ‘low-income’ – no proof necessary – and get 20 transit trips per month – that’s almost free.”

Councilmember Elen Asatryan criticized the outreach, recalling that she had specifically insisted on outreach to senior homes and to students, not just to school administrators. 

“I’m shocked at what I’m seeing,” she seethed. “We’ve literally been waiting three years, and I’ve been telling people for three years that there’s a process and we’re just waiting for it.”

Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian wondered why the buses are so long, noting that sometimes he sees them nearly empty. The consultant explained that 85% of the cost of operating a bus is “putting a driver in the seat” and that the size of the bus “doesn’t matter.” He also observed that in the current move toward electric buses, the market is waiting for an American-made 25-foot electric bus. He added that bus operations have to plan for peak loads and peak operating times.

Collectively, the Council criticized recent comments made by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, who recently filmed a video alleging that members of Southern California’s Armenian community had orchestrated large-scale healthcare fraud.

“That kind of hate, villainizing an entire community,” said Councilmember Asatryan indicating she had issued an immediate statement condemning the statements made by “someone connected to the Turkish government.”

Councilmember Brotman added that he is “equally disgusted by these racist comments.”

“I hope I’m wrong, but it feels like a pretext to a Minneapolis-type paramilitary deployment here, targeting the Armenian community,” he said. “This is exactly what happened in Minnesota with the Somali community.”

On a lighter note, Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers had donated $10,000 towards the city’s senior services.

The Council delayed action awarding a contract for legislative advocacy – lobbying services – and will consider the staff recommendations at next week’s council meeting.