Yasmin Beers’s Failed Leadership: Glendale Needs an Outside City Manager

A few weeks ago Yasmin Beers announced her retirement as Glendale’s city manager after less than two-and-a-half years in that job. Serving a part-time Council and rotating mayor, our city manager wields especially enormous power. Ms. Beers leaves Glendale in the midst of a crisis ¬– it is reeling from the pandemic, facing new and significant budget shortfalls and sluggishly grappling with calls for racial and social justice.

Ms. Beers is in her early 50s. Based on current life expectancy data, she may well reap more than $6,000,000 in retirement salary and benefits, vastly more than if she had retired from her previous position and more than most residents will make in a lifetime of hard work. Under the circumstances, with many Glendale residents out of work and the City coping with an affordable housing crisis, her decision to abandon Glendale, even leaving aside the tone-deaf announcement and “this decision was so difficult” pablum, is obscene.

I hope that Council will take note of Ms. Beers’ decision to take the money and run and do what they failed to do in 2018: conduct a serious outside search and hire someone who can take a fresh – and hard – look at this City: someone who can tackle our budget problems, stop allowing GWP to stall on the Grayson Power Plant, and challenge the hideous development that continues to plague Glendale and that is headed straight for Honolulu Avenue, Verdugo Road and Foothill Boulevard, with the blessing of staff; someone who is not eager to stick around a few more years to plump up the pension. Glendale needs someone with vision and experience and intelligence, someone interested in public service with a keen understanding of how cities do and should work, and not just how we do things in Glendale.

Catherine Jurca

Glendale

Meatball Needs Some Meatballs

It was great seeing Meatball on the front page of the Crescenta Valley Weekly (Aug. 27) and knowing how he is doing. If Meatball is need then the community that put him in the spotlight should step up and supply the guy with meatballs!

As we all send in our donations, we know that Meatball will be in “meatball heaven” eternally.

Send to Lions, Tigers & Bears, 24404 Martin Way, Alpine, CA 91901 or visit www.lionstigersandbears.org and click on “Donate.”

Pat Kerr

Tujunga