By Roman INGUANZO

The Glendale City Council meeting opened on Tuesday with a celebration and commendation by council to Glendale Fire Dept. Chief Todd Tucker and Sergeant Sharon Kim for their outstanding performance when a 76-year-old woman lost consciousness on an airplane due to low blood pressure and low blood sugar. Tucker and Kim sprang into action and administered fluids, glucose and oxygen to the patient. As a result of the efforts of Chief Tucker and Sergeant Kim, the patient normalized and was ultimately able to return home and her family. 

Chief Tucker and Sergeant Kim went “above and beyond the call of duty” according to Mayor Ardy Kassakhian.

Unfortunately, not every topic was celebratory. After anti-Armenian flyers appeared in Beverly Hills this week, Councilmembers condemned the city’s “weak” response and “inappropriate” categorization of the events. Councilmember Ara Najarian met with the mayor of Beverly Hills, Lili Bosse, to discuss the situation in the hopes of inspiring the mayor to take action against the hate speech. 

Both the Glendale City Council and the Beverly Hills City Council condemned the flyers. However, Glendale would like to see more done to prevent future hate speech and is reaching out to stakeholders across Los Angeles County. Councilmembers made it clear that the City of Glendale is an ally to Armenian communities and will follow up on this issue in future meetings

Other topics on the agenda were largely business as usual.

Councilmember Paula Devine nominated Roland Kedikian to fill the vacancy on the Glendale Water and Power Commission citing Kedikian’s experience, knowledge and preparedness as reasons for her choice.

Councilmember Dan Brotman sought to raise further awareness of the turf rebate program that is offered to Glendale residents and businesses. He encouraged residents to visit https://tinyurl.com/25mcjtu6 to learn more about the program, which is helping to address the crisis of water in the west.

One humorous moment of the meeting occurred when two men, apparently frustrated by the nation’s fixation on the upcoming Super Bowl, asked the council to declare that it is “okay to not be a fan of football.” The prank led several members of the council to chuckle and did not cause an unreasonable disruption of the meeting.  

Another topic considered during the meeting included a proposition to require certain public benefit amenities in order for developers to obtain conditional use permits for hotels in downtown Glendale. The requirements would ensure that luxury hotels in downtown Glendale would not only create jobs and opportunities in the city, but also would be designed in a manner that promotes opportunities for the entire Glendale community. Amenities include but are not limited to: live entertainment, spa services, fitness facilities and enhanced catering services. Danielle Wilson, a representative of the Unite Here Local 11 hotel workers union, spoke in favor of the development agreement. After much discussion, the council voted in favor of the agreement. The development agreement will be presented in greater detail in an upcoming council meeting. 

One topic of particular interest to residents of the Crescenta Valley was the capital improvement program that includes the reconfiguration of La Crescenta Avenue. Yazdan Emrani, the director of public works, led a presentation on the $130 million project that will include traffic signal upgrades and bus shelter repairs and improvements as well as increased safety features for people who use bicycle transportation or other forms of alternative or human-powered mobility. The proposed improvements include a protected buffer bike lane on both sides of La Crescenta Avenue. 

For more information about current public projects, or to contact public works staff, visit https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/public-works.

The Glendale City Council meets most Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Information on upcoming meetings, including agendas, meeting packets, and links to view the live streams of their meetings, can be found at https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/public-meeting-portal.