By Julie BUTCHER

On Thursday, May 8 the Glendale City Council held the first of four budget study sessions, offering an overview of next year’s budget challenges and soliciting input from council members. Study session #2 is set for Tuesday, May 20 and will highlight departmental budgets, vacancies among city staff and the overall budget proposed for FY 2025-26; study session #3 will take place on Tuesday, June 5 to review the city’s capital improvement program. On June 10 the council will take up outstanding budget matters and a final budget will be debated and adopted by the council on Tuesday, June 24. The budget study sessions are all scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Preliminary budget documents can be reviewed at https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/finance/budget.

Early in the regular meeting of the city council on Tuesday night, acting Glendale Water & Power (GWP) head Scott Mellon updated the council on challenges facing the Grayson repowering effort caused by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which could add $75 million to the cost of repowering Grayson and would not be covered by contingency planning and budgeting. GWP has halted the purchase of the powerful batteries anticipated to anchor the utility’s development while it analyzes options. Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian asked for alternate plans.

“If it were up to me, I’d replace the batteries tomorrow,” he said. “Batteries don’t generate power; they just store it. It’s a power plant. It has to be able to generate power. Engines would cost $178 million and batteries would cost $178 million but don’t generate any power. Power is life.”

The council continued to discuss rules and procedures for council meetings and agreed to review a detailed update to the current ordinance at an upcoming meeting. Council meetings would include two periods dedicated to public comment in addition to a time for announcements of community events. Explicit rules would be put in place detailing the processes of council debate and deliberation. 

Alan Durham addressed the ongoing issue of what angle is shown of commentators addressing the council. Currently, the back of speakers are shown when they address the council. 

“You should show public speakers’ faces on camera,” he said. “There’s huge criticism out in the community for showing the backs of your constituents instead of their faces. It seems disrespectful. You show staff faces, consultant faces, recipients of proclamations but if you stand up to make public comments, all you see is the back of their heads.”

Councilmember Dan Brotman defended the current camera angle, arguing that people come to address the city council, not the public.

“If you want a soapbox, you need to find another place for your soapbox,” he said.

The council had a lengthy debate about a proposed $5,000 sponsorship for the glendaleOUT Pride in the Park event scheduled in the Adams Square Mini Park for Saturday, June 7 from 1 – 4 p.m. Previously, Mayor Ara Najarian criticized the organization glendaleOUT for its reported lack of financial transparency and because of its reported connection to Glendale Extremists, an organization critical of the mayor and other individuals.

“Neither glendaleOUT nor anyone in it is associated with Glendale Extremists,” said glendaleOUT member Grey James to the council. “We exist to respond to hate, disinformation and harassment around us. Opining that an art show is pornographic does not make it pornographic.”

Jackie Gish spoke in support of the Pride in the Park event.

“Glendale Arts will responsibly spend the sponsorship funds to ensure a fun, welcoming, safe space for anyone who wants to attend. Glendale’s diversity is one of its strengths and the LGBTQ+ community is definitely deserving of support,” she said. “When I grew up in Glendale there was virtually no diversity in race, religion nor ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ was never talked about. I want everyone to feel comfortable in Glendale regardless of their identity and for all to celebrate that diversity.”

“I just wanted to voice my opinion as a citizen,” Glendalian Judd Hollander told the council and shared family photos of past years. “I love this event; it’s super fun – I bring my family, my wife and kid – we have a great time. I love that Glendale is welcoming of so many different people. The previous speaker mentioned that when she was a child there was no diversity. All I know of Glendale is diversity.”

Hollander noted that he has lived in Glendale for 10 years and appreciates the city “helping with events like this that are family-friendly, accepting of others different from ourselves, that foster a connection between us. I think that’s magic.”

The council voted 3-2 to consider the sponsorship.

A $269,280 contract to paint 226 historical cast iron street standards and lights in the Rossmoyne neighborhood and along Honolulu Avenue was approved by the council. 

A member of the public criticized the cost, noting “that’s $300,000 to paint 226 light poles — $1,200 a pole, 38 poles a month, less than one pole a day … to paint a pole.” 

City Manager Roubik Golanian explained the work necessary to restore the lights, the requirement for the city to pay prevailing wages “which are considerably higher than what folks pay for private work” he said, adding that work is needed to repair some wiring, replace some lights and, based on the age of the poles and posts, the need to address lead-based paint.

Earlier in the council meeting, proclamations were issued to recognize May as Jewish Heritage and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Months.