By Julie BUTCHER

Newly selected Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian commended the organizers of this year’s events commemorating the Armenian Genocide for focusing more on the art, music and culture rather than “lots of political speeches” as he chaired Tuesday night’s meeting of the Glendale City Council.

Mayor Najarian also commended the city’s celebration of Earth Day, which rolled out the city’s first fully electric Beeline bus. 

“Watch for the very quiet, very clean new bus buzzing around out there,” he said.

“I’m not going to present you a manifesto of what I’m going to do as mayor. My main desire is to make sure that the business of the city runs smoothly, that councilmembers have a full and complete opportunity to state their opinions, to debate the issues – and the public as well – is informed on the issues and is able to give us their input,” Mayor Najarian commented.

Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian criticized the process of selecting the mayor for this year “because the ‘best interest’ provision was used; from here on I will inform the members of the community, be it a project or a program, what I believe – not in the best interest of the city – and let them be the judge.” 

Councilmember Gharpetian also insisted that the ordinance used to seat Mayor Najarian rather than him “needs to come back and be completely thrown away. It is self-serving and nobody believed it anyway.”

The council voted unanimously to move forward as one of six California cities to pilot a “Speed Safety System” aimed at reducing speed-related traffic collisions and injuries and to improve overall street safety. 

Defined as a “fixed or mobile radar or laser system that utilizes automated equipment to detect a violation of speed laws and obtains a clear photograph of a speeding vehicle’s rear license plate,” the speed safety system pilot will use “automated speed enforcement cameras to issue violations similar to parking tickets to the registered owner of the photographed speeding vehicle.”

City Transportation engineer Pastor Casanova summarized the history of AB 645, first as AB 2363, authored by now congressperson Laura Friedman, which required the California State Transportation Agency to establish a Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force and report findings by Jan. 1, 2020. That report “concluded that speed safety systems are effective countermeasure to speeding.” Similar programs in New York City have resulted in reductions in speeding of 73% and a 35% reduction in injuries; programs in other parts of the country have netted similar promising results. AB 645 was based on the study results and was signed by the governor into law in October 2023. Glendale is one of six cities included in the pilot statewide. The other cities are Los Angeles and Long Beach in the south; San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose in the north.

Councilmember Dan Brotman clarified that this is different from the experience the state had in the past enforcing “red light camera” programs as the photos taken are of the vehicle’s rear license plate, not of the driver of the vehicle, and that the penalties assessed are administrative and not criminal. 

Policy advocate Brett Slaughenhaupt addressed the council on behalf of Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE). 

“As an organization dedicated to reducing traffic fatalities to zero, SAFE strongly supports Glendale’s effort to implement AB 645’s speed safety system pilot program, but we also urge you to accelerate this life-saving initiative now,” he said.

Mayor Najarian described the five-year pilot program as a “game changer for Glendale.”

“Laura Friedman sat here on this dais and heard the concerns we hear about speeding and when she got to the Assembly, she did something about it,” he said. “I can’t wait for this to come into play and then hear about the results.”

Alan Durham announced that on Thursday, May 8 from 7  to 9 p.m. at the Brand Library Recital Hall, 1601 W. Mountain Ave., the Northwest Glendale Homeowners Association is sponsoring a community meeting focused on wildfire preparedness. Speakers include Glendale city manager Roubik Golanian, Police Chief Manuel Cid and interim Fire Chief Jeffrey Brooks.

On Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m. at the Alex Theater, the Armenian Foundation is sponsoring an Artsakh Dance Ensemble event. More information about this event can be found at https://www.ticketmicket.com/events/artsakh-state-dance-ensemble.

Former Glendale police chief, now chair of the Kiwanis Club of Glendale, Carl Povilaitis invited everyone to the 20^th Annual Kiwanis Duck Splash event at Verdugo Park on Saturday, May 3 starting at 11 a.m. Rubber ducks will race and the winning duck is worth $10,000 in prize money. All proceeds go to support programs “to improve the lives of kids in Glendale,” organizers of the event explained. The website for the event is https://www.duckrace.com/glendale.

The Council authorized $12,000 to sponsor the California state open chess tournament, set to take place in Glendale in August for the first time in the tournament’s history.

Finally, the council issued a proclamation designating April as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In her comments, chair of the city’s Commission on the Status of Women Diane Lambillotte spoke on the importance of “supporting and believing survivors” and engaging in the “fight for a world free of sexual violence.”

The council will meet in the afternoon and in the evening next Tuesday, May 6.