By Julie BUTCHER

“Next week, things get real,” said Glendale Mayor Ardy Kassakhian reminding Glendalians at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Glendale City Council that the quiet of summer traffic will come to an end next week as school drop offs begin anew. He added that the council has worked with the local police department and public works department to ensure drop offs go smoothly and to set a good tone for the school year. The mayor urged patience and calm: “Be safe out there.”

Mayor Kassakhian also reported on his recent trip to Sacramento. While there he spoke at the Assembly Select Committee on California and Armenia Mutual Trade, Art, and Cultural Exchange, along with representatives of featured Glendale business ServiceTitan, a “tremendously successful publicly traded company founded by two Glendale public school graduates.” While in the state capital, Kassakhian reported lobbying for increased local resources, particularly in light of cuts to federal housing assistance.

Crediting Councilmember Elen Asatryan for the initial sponsorship, Mayor Kassakhian announced the return of the Southern California Chess Open, one of the state’s largest chess tournaments, happening in Glendale over the Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4 – 7. For more information or to register to participate, visit https://glendaleplayschess.com/.

On Tuesday night, the council approved an increase of up to $2 million for environmental monitoring of the Scholl Canyon biogas project, expected to be completed in September 2027. 

Ejmin Hakobian questioned why the contract was amended rather than sent out for a competitive bid and why the contract cost overrun was placed on the consent calendar.

Glendale Water and Power general manager Scott Mellon responded that the engineering firm already working on the project has knowledge and an understanding of the project, which is valuable, and there is the need for continuity. The current contractor is trusted to monitor the “biology of the site,” such as the Crotch’s bumble bee and other endangered species of plants and animals, “making sure we don’t disrupt any other existing life up there.”

City manager Roubik Golanian explained that the contract amendment was put on the consent calendar because it is a routine extension and that council members and the public had the opportunity for additional scrutiny during council briefings and by calling the item special, as was done for this item.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $76 million and the $2 million approved Tuesday represents the cost overruns of the project designed to utilize gas produced by the landfill.

Councilmember Alek Bartrosouf announced two upcoming BRT outreach meetings that will provide updates as construction of the North Hollywood-Pasadena Rapid Bus project begins in Glendale. The meetings will provide information about upcoming construction activities, what the community can expect, resources available to residents and businesses and the chance to pose questions directly to Metro staff. The first meeting will be held virtually on Monday, Aug. 17 starting at 6 p.m. and the second will be in-person on Tuesday, Aug. 18 starting at 6 p.m. at the Adult Recreation Center, 201 E. Colorado St. More information about the upcoming meetings and the overall transit project can be found at https://www.metro.net/projects/noho-pasadena-corridor/.

Councilmember Bartrosouf also reported on the beginning of SCAG’s (Southern California Association of Governments) Cycle 7 housing needs analysis for 2029-2037, noting that the process for analyzing future housing needs is starting now and that the regional planning done to develop regional housing goals (REINA numbers) occur in public.

“I want to make sure that as we continue to educate the public about how these land use and zoning decisions are made, I think it’s our responsibility to inform the public that this is also a parallel process that very much affects what happens here in the City of Glendale,” Councilmember Bartrosouf explained.

Additionally, the newest council member called for a change in the city’s budgeting process, suggesting additional advanced outreach, more robust – perhaps interactive – participation, the use of tools such as surveys, possible changing of the time of budget hearings and using whatever means increase the public’s awareness and involvement in the process.

Councilmember Asatryan reported on a site visit with the Tongva tribe in San Gabriel and the potential for collaboration. The tribe has started hosting a Native American market that brings out approximately 1,000 participants, she reported, citing the opportunity for collaboration, perhaps a pop-up market in Glendale.

Councilmember Dan Brotman responded to concerns raised about Flock cameras, “those automated license plate readers,” noting that there have been reports of data being shared without the knowledge of the jurisdiction, reports of data being used inappropriately within police departments, reports of faulty data matches, and general concern about the beginning of some AI-based surveillance system that puts at risk people’s privacy rights.

“There is zero evidence that any of this has happened in Glendale,” Councilmember Brotman noted, adding that the cameras have been helpful in the solving of crimes. He added that the city is seeing and reading the national reports and looking into this internally. 

“We want to separate fact from fiction. If there are vulnerabilities, we want to understand them and are working on them to make sure we can – with a straight face – tell the public that their privacy rights are being protected,” Councilmember Brotman said.

Herbert Molano addressed the council to advocate for an internal audit of police and fire overtime expenses and to voice opposition “against any consideration of additional sales taxes.” Molano reported that police and fire overtime in calendar year 2025 totaled $21 million and that “some police officers are earning $200,000 a year in overtime pay, some of them earning more in overtime than in regular pay.”

Finally, on Tuesday night the council approved adding two houses to Glendale Register of Historic Resources and authorized Mills Act contracts for both. The houses are located at 228 Spencer St. and 1524 Ridgeview Drive.