By Julie BUTCHER

“I’m a composter. I don’t see it as waste but rather as a resource,” founder and executive director of LA Compost Michael Martinez said as he addressed the Glendale City Council on Tuesday night.

The council approved a three-year agreement with Martinez’ organization for $230,250 for the development of a food waste community composting program.

Martinez explained the optional community-based composting program. Residents can drop off food scraps at designated spots, such as at farmers markets, local community gardens and city parks, and pick up finished compost for personal use at those same spots. In Pasadena, for example, 200 households signed up for a similar program and diverted approximately seven tons of waste while creating usable compost for the participants to use.

“We have an opportunity to allow for community engagement, cooperation and the ability to reimagine what localized food systems and support can be in the City of Glendale,” Martinez said.

City staff added that this program would supplement existing city programs.

“We’re looking at the closure of Scholl Canyon and we’re looking at any program that can help in diverting waste in a cost-effective manner,” according to staff.

Councilmember Dan Brotman clarified that this would be a voluntary program beyond the current requirement to bag organic waste and deposit it in residential green waste receptacles for collection.

The council finalized last week’s action to reduce the total added to Glendale Water and Power (GWP) utility bills for “community benefits” from 3.6% to 2.85%, the rate mandated by state law, which had inadvertently been collected at the higher rate since 2018.

The “public benefits charge” shows up on electric bills as an added charge; the state-mandated fee is added monthly to fund various programs in the categories designated by AB-1890 and the California public utilities code §385 such as energy efficiency initiatives, assistance for low-income customers, investments in renewable energy, and research, development and demonstration projects.

Also on Tuesday night, the council approved a new non-profit subsidy program “to standardize policies for special events held in Glendale City facilities hosted by non-profit organizations” in order to support and promote these types of events.

Assistant city manager John Takhtalian detailed the proposal which would provide a 50% subsidy for eligible organizations. For large events requiring city staffing, the subsidy would cover up to $10,000 in staff costs.

The council opted to delay consideration of a suggestion by Councilmember Brotman to update development standards to include light standards.

“We already have enough laws,” Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian said as he spoke against considering additional standards on residential illumination. “I don’t want to create new standards because of a couple of bad apples.”

Similarly, the council delayed acting on new regulations limiting drive-through businesses.

“It’s not as big a problem as we pretend. If you want to put standards on existing locations, I’m not going to vote for it,” Gharpetian said.

A representative of Glendale YIMBY (yes in my back yard) addressed the council saying that, “We want to create dense mixed-use, walkable and bikeable communities, and drive-throughs are an anathema to the mixed-use city we are trying to create.”

At a special meeting of the council on Tuesday afternoon, the council took steps to advance Parkview Glendale, 68-units of 100% affordable housing for seniors at 426 Piedmont Ave and 507 Naranja Drive.

Also on Tuesday afternoon, the council voted to accept $1 million in funds from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to support tech start-up programs in Glendale. The funds were secured by State Senator Anthony Portantino supplementing $1 million in similar start-up money the city secured in 2019.

At the beginning of Tuesday evening’s meeting, the council adopted a proclamation designating October 9 as Hangeul (Hangul) Day.

[The City]proudly celebrates its connection with Korea and recognizes the contributions of our Korean community toward the vibrant and diverse fabric of our city,” Mayor Elen Asatryan said.

GWP’s interim general manager Manny Robledo introduced a large group of the utility’s staff as the city declared the week of Oct. 6 – 12 as Public Power Week.

“There are approximately 2,000 municipally— and consumer-owned utilities such as GWP that provide high level benefits to our communities including safe, reliable, low-cost service with a focus on the customer, focus on community needs rather than shareholders or private interests.” Robledo said.

He added that GWP has served the city since 1906 and thanked the staff of the utility for “keeping the lights on.”

The council designated October as Filipino-American Month. An event https://www.fabagglac.org/event-details/filipino-american-history-month-cultural-celebration-expo-2024 is planned for Saturday, Oct. 19 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Incarnation School Auditorium, 1001 N. Brand Blvd. The festival is free and open to all; there will be folk dancing and music, art and food vendors. Attendees are encouraged to wear Filipino attire.

“Personally, this is one of my favorite things about Glendale — celebrating all of the different cultures that we have makes us better as a society; I think it makes us better as humans to understand other peoples’ cultures and to be able to experience this is, for me, simply magic,” said Asatryan.

Finally, the council designated October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. An event https://ywcagp.org/events-feed/pasadena-candle-light-vigil is scheduled on the steps of Glendale City Hall for Thursday, October 24 at 6 p.m. in collaboration with the Commission on the Status of Women and the YWCA of Glendale and Pasadena.

The candlelight vigil and “purple ties” awards include honors for State Senator Anthony Portantino, Public Servant Advocate Awardee and Sgt. Vahe Abramyan of Glendale’s Community Relations Office, Law Enforcement Advocate awardee. According to the event announcement, purple attire is encouraged.