By Julie BUTCHER

“On Sunday morning, Sept. 27, Azerbaijan launched an unprovoked large-scale military attack on the peaceful Artsakh community of Armenia – artillery fire, bombs, Turkish F-16s targeting civilians in the most intense hostility seen since the 1994 cease fire. Azerbaijan’s campaign of violence is even more concerning because of the belligerent support of Turkey, and warrants the most urgent denunciation,” Glendale Mayor Vrej Agajanian read a statement of condemnation “written by a group of ladies that is better than what I had written” at the beginning of deliberations into an emergency resolution at Tuesday night’s Glendale City Council meeting.

“The City of Glendale, as home to one of the largest community of Armenians outside Armenia, condemns the war-mongering and stands in support of stability and peace,” Agajanian concluded.

Councilmember Ara Najarian introduced the resolution as an emergency action, which requires two-thirds of the council to agree in order to pass.

“It was a shocking wake-up for all of us when we heard of the brazen aggression by the Azeri forces, in coordination with the Turkish, on Artsakh,” Najarian said. “When we renamed Maryland Avenue to Artsakh Paseo in 2018, we got a lot of puzzled looks. Artsakh is an important part of the Armenian homeland and this war certainly brings it home; it is haunting for many of us with the Genocide in our minds.”

The resolution passed unanimously. It concludes with urging these immediate actions: “The Glendale City Council calls on the White House and the United States Congress to immediately: A) Condemn Azerbaijan’s unprovoked aggression against Artsakh; B) Call upon Baku to cease offensive uses of force; C) Cut off all U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan; D) Warn Turkey to stop sending military aid, including arms and fighters; and E) Work through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group to establish lasting peace in the region.”

Moving forward, early in the Tuesday night council meeting Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District community relations manager Mary-Joy Coburn briefed the council about the public agency’s work fighting diseases spread by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can spread the West Nile virus, Zika, Dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya virus, all of which represent public health threats.

The most important action the public can take to help avoid the spread of these diseases is to aggressively avoid allowing water to pool. Mosquitoes require water to live and propagate through their estimated 30 days of adult life. It should be noted that only female mosquitoes bite.

The vector control agency urges weekly emptying of anything that could hold water.

“Break it up or puncture a hole in it when you throw it away,” Coburn urged. “Our SWAT Lab Team finds cryptic sources when they go out, things like an empty potato chip bag sitting out after watering, or those flowers that hold water in their petals.” The agency will send out an inspector who will help neighborhoods make a plan, if warranted. The Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District can be reached directly at https://www.glacvcd.org/tiptosstakeaction/.

During council comments, both Councilmembers Paula Devine and Dan Brotman commended Glendale for joining the Transportation Electrification Partnership, described as “an unprecedented multi-year partnership among local, regional and state stakeholders to accelerate transportation electrification and zero emissions goods movement in the Greater Los Angeles region (LA) in advance of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Gov. Newsom has mandated the end of the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, Brotman reported, a move “my environmental friends call a ‘BFD.’” He asked city staff to come back with a specific plan to electrify the entire municipal fleet, including police and fire vehicles.

Following that, fire chief Silvio Lanzas provided a coronavirus update to the council: With 33 million cases worldwide, a somber milestone of one million deaths was recently reached. Right now, there are more than seven million cases and more than 205,000 deaths confirmed in the United States; over 813,000 cases and 15,000 deaths in California; upward of 268,000 cases and 6,500 deaths in Los Angeles County; and 3,749 cases and 175 deaths in Glendale.

Lanzas reported that the number of new cases was trending down through the first three weeks of September but is now ticking up, presumably due to Labor Day activities.

Next, the council considered support of Prop 15, a statewide ballot initiative. City staff Christine Powers offered an overview.

Proposition 15 reads on the Nov. 3 ballot as “Increases Funding for Public Schools, Community Colleges, and Local Government Services by Changing Tax Assessment of Commercial and Industrial Property,” and amends the California State Constitution to require commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value. In California, the proposal to assess taxes on commercial and industrial properties at market value, while continuing to assess taxes on residential properties based on the purchase price, is known as split roll. The change from the purchase price to market value of commercial and industrial properties would be phased-in beginning in fiscal year 2022-23. Properties such as retail centers, whose occupants are 50% or more small businesses, would be taxed based on market value beginning in fiscal year 2025-26 (or later, as determined by the legislature). The initiative defines small businesses as those that that are independently owned and operated, own California property, and have 50 or fewer employees.

The city’s report says that a “yes” vote on this measure would result in an increase of property taxes on most commercial properties worth more than $3 million in order to provide new funding to local governments and schools. Experts estimate the additional revenue at between $6.5 and $11 billion annually, 60% going to cities, counties and special districts, 40% to schools and community colleges. The report notes that, “the City of Glendale is estimated to receive approximately $15.5 million per year from this measure. While school district estimates have not been widely published yet, a representative from the Schools & Communities First campaign indicated that the Glendale Unified School District is estimated to receive approximately $15.2 million every year.”

“I’ve lived here for 20 years,” homeowner Paul Kaye called in to support the resolution endorsing Prop 15. “This represents tax fairness and reform. This measure does not affect renters, homeowners or residential landlords. I’ve lived in California my whole life and benefited from fully funded, essentially free public education, before Prop 13. I’m tired of subsidizing big commercial property owners. It’s time to close these loopholes and make the corporations pay their fair share.”

A representative of the Chamber of Commerce called in, opposing the initiative. Many others called in as well, a predominant majority speaking in favor of the proposition.

“This could mean that painful cuts to city services wouldn’t have to happen,” one caller said.

“It’s an equitable solution to level the playing field for me and other small businesses that will benefit from this,” said another.

Councilmember Ara Najarian voiced his opposition to the proposition.

“I do not support Prop 15. I think it is ill-advised and poorly timed and I believe it will hurt small businesses.

“There’s no free money, no such thing as a free lunch. This report says that there will be 120,000 jobs lost. But then they amazingly reappear as government jobs. Do you know what happens when you add jobs in municipal government? The NAACP has come out against this because [it] understands it will hurt the most disadvantaged communities – not the chamber, the statewide, highly esteemed NAACP. The full and fair funding initiative (taxing the extremely rich) would have been a better option. There’s a lot of problems with this,” Najarian concluded.

Councilmember Paula Devine agreed but added she would prefer not to take a position as the voters will decide, then voted to support the proposition, adding that its implementation would be prospective over years and not effective immediately.

The council’s endorsement of Prop 15 passed by a vote of 3 to 1. Councilmember Najarian voted no and Mayor Agajanian abstained.

“I’m just worried that this is a down payment on changing Prop 13 for homeowners,” Agajanian commented.

Finally, the council revisited its pending ban of the sale of Mylar balloons. Dozens called in opposing the ban, citing studies that millions would be lost in balloon-related jobs. The metal-coated balloons are reported to be the top cause of electrical outages. One caller, identified as a representative of the Balloon Council, an industry advocacy group, asserted that work is in progress to develop new, safer materials for the balloons and urged the council to wait before acting.

Councilmember Devine moved the ordinance, which will be considered for a final vote on Oct. 13.

“As soon as they come up with non-conductive material, we can lift this ban as soon the new material is safe and available,” she said. “Some of the calls and emails I’ve gotten on this suggested that squirrels cause more electrical problems than Mylar balloons, so I asked. Squirrels are responsible for 9%, these balloons for 18%. It’s time for Glendale to take the lead and make a decision on this. That decision was reinforced for me when I saw that 99.9% of the emails I received came from outside Glendale. One exec who called owns 750 stores. Why are they so interested in Glendale?”

Finally, the council revisited its COVID-related measures, acting to extend the requirement to wear facial coverings on an open-ended basis, extending protections against rent increases until the end of October, aligning protections against residential evictions with recently passed state legislation, and waiving fees for fitness businesses wishing to use available city park facilities to offer appropriate services.

  Julie BUTCHER