By Mary O’KEEFE

The Glendale City Council meeting on Tuesday had the shadow looming over the meeting of the latest mass shooting in the United States, which had occurred just hours earlier.

On Tuesday, an 18-year-old man entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and shot and killed 19 children and two teachers. Prior to entering the school he had shot his grandmother who, as of press time, was listed in serious condition. As of Wednesday, six victims remained in the hospital, one being the gunman’s grandmother.

“I did not think I was going to have to talk about this as your mayor,” was how Mayor Ardy Kassakhian began Tuesday’s meeting.

Visible shaken, he continued, “I had spent a little bit of time last week going about the business of the City, going to business openings, events and dance concerts at the Alex. I traveled to Las Vegas with staff to help attract business to our Jewel City, all the things you expect of me.”

Kassakhian had already been working on comments concerning the racially motivated mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York that occurred on May 14 and killed 10 people and wounded three. He then had to add to his comments the shooting in Laguna Woods that happened the next day.

“This afternoon, we find ourselves cursed with yet another one, this time in Uvalde, Texas,” he said. “This should not be happening, but of course … it’s going to happen again. It continues to happen. It happens because we put the lives of our neighbors second to our political debates and satisfying our personal ego.”

He continued to voice his concern on how these tragic events will continue to happen because nothing is being done.

“When faced with this terror, when faced with the horror of individuals who want to inflict violence and spread fear, we do nothing or worse we allow nothing to be done,” he said.

He added he could talk about the toxic nature of these killers’ political beliefs or mental illness but what mattered was the people who had died, the children of Uvalde who had been killed.

“Maybe its time for us to be a louder voice before something like this happens again,” Kassakhian said.

He ended by quoting St. Paul: “We must not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. We must lean on each other and work to find a way that protects our children and puts their lives above all else.”

Councilmember Vrej Agajanian added his voice, too, saying for his television show he had been looking at the number of mass shootings in the U.S. only in 2022. He shared just a partial list that included 10 shootings across the nation.

“And that is just a partial list. Imagine if I read the [entire list]? We would be here a long time,” he said.

Councilmember Ara Najarian said he endorsed the remarks made by the mayor.

The meeting then went forward with the City’s business being discussed; however, that didn’t disguise the somber feeling in the room.

The Council did make presentations that celebrated and showed respect to diversity including recognizing Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Stephanie Lee from the Glendale Galleria Panda Express accepted the City’s proclamation.

June is Pride Month and two organizations were presented with a proclamation. Glendale OUT and Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society (GALAS) accepted the recognition. They promoted Saturday, June 4 as First Saturdays Coffee with GlendaleOut from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Adams Square Mini Park. Later on June 4 will be Pride in the Park that will be held at Adams Square Mini Park from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The meeting then turned to traffic safety with Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons (RRFB) that would be placed in three areas of the city. These beacons are yellow lights that flash at crosswalks alerting drivers to pedestrians. The City was awarded a grant for $250,000 to purchase the RRFBs and the staff asked the Council to vote to accept the funds.

Councilmember Dan Brotman said he understood that this may be too late but he had received an email from a community member who questioned if the RRFB lights were the best option for the areas. The community member had suggested the use of a High-Intensity Activated crossWalK (HAWK) beacon, which flashes red, as a better option.

The grant, however, had already been applied for and the HAWK lights are far more expensive than the RRFB.

Brotman said he was frustrated that the choices between the beacons were not discussed prior to applying for the grant.

“I would have liked to see us have this conversation before we got to this point,” he said.