By Julie BUTCHER

For now, 31-year Glendale resident Tony Passarella is celebrating the cancellation of a city-backed program to allow electric scooters on the streets of Glendale – not even as part of a test program.

“I don’t see a need,” Passarella addressed the Glendale City Council on this issue for the 14th time on Tuesday afternoon.

He often shares pictures with the council of gruesome injuries reportedly caused by scooters.

“People can walk that last mile. You’re putting profits before people here,” he said. “Safety should be your number one priority. You don’t even know where people are going to ride these things.”

Glendale city staff detailed a proposed pilot program at the afternoon council meeting on Tuesday. Up to 1,000 devices, including 250 electric bicycles, would be tested during the one-year pilot beginning in June with the introduction of ordinances and the release of the RFP (the Request For Proposal that the City planned to issue to solicit plans from companies wanting to bid on the scooter work). By design, the pilot could be stopped by the City at any time, for any reason, and would be evaluated through customer surveys and public input starting with a 90-day report back. Vendors would pay the City $1 per day for each of the electric scooters or bikes (generating between $100,000 and $365,000 in revenue for the city) and would be required to educate the public about the safe use of the “shared mobility devices.”

Scooters are not allowed to be operated on sidewalks nor can they be ridden on streets with speed limits over 25 mph unless there is a bike lane. State law changed earlier this year and no longer requires safety helmets for use with electric scooters although local jurisdictions can request or require local vendors to include helmet mandates. State law is also pending to regulate the relatively new devices on a statewide basis.

Mayor Ara Najarian stated his support for the pilot early in the council debate noting that these types of micro mobility devices are a growing part of an overall transit system, aimed at helping with the first and last mile for some users.

“We want them to be as safe as possible and expect operators to be responsible,” he said indicating that this effort was aimed at getting cars off the road and invigorating downtown, not about the money generated.

Councilmember Zareh Sinanyan also supported the release of the RFP while he acknowledged that he could not see himself using one.

Citing concerns about the safety of the devices, the lack of infrastructure to support them and the need for law enforcement that would result, Councilmember Paula Devine expressed her opposition to the pilot, preferring instead to explore bicycle-only possibilities, waiting to see what other cities are doing, and acting after state legislation is adopted.

“I don’t want to kill this now, but I don’t want to approve it,” Councilmember Vrej Agajanian shared, citing the alleged dangerousness of the devices, notwithstanding the safety data included in the City’s report comparing the accident and injury data in a positive light to vehicle accidents.

Acknowledging the three-two split on the Council, Mayor Najarian worked to find consensus to have the issue remain open for reconsideration if the state acts.

“I am never going to take a backseat to Burbank or Pasadena,” he criticized the desire of his colleagues to “wait and see” or to follow other cities. “Maybe we should see what Commerce is doing,” he joked sarcastically.

Passarella explained the reasons for his mission to stop electric scooters from coming to Glendale.

“My granddaughter plays tournament beach volleyball, so I’m in Santa Monica a lot. Bird [one of the scooter companies] just dumped hundreds of them, maybe thousands, right there where people are walking. Fifteen miles an hour is quite fast versus a pedestrian,” he said. “Then I started reading up on it and saw that the ERs are filling up with people hurt by these things. In my own neighborhood, I saw an accident between a car and a bicycle that left the bike helmet split into five pieces. I just hate to see anyone hurt.”

Passarella estimated that he has made presentations on this issue before the Glendale council for 14 weeks. He “feels really good” about council’s decision but views it as a “temporary victory.” He favors a complete ban, saying that you “can’t make them safe enough to navigate on city streets. The infrastructure needs to be changed. And 30% recreational use? I call it joyriding, trendies with their phone apps.”

Cities such as Portland and Denver report hundreds of thousands of vehicle miles avoided with the introduction of shared scooters. Scooter-related deaths are reported at five nationwide.

  Julie BUTCHER