By Julie BUTCHER

Long after curfew on Tuesday night, at the end of a very long day of various long meetings, the Glendale City Council adopted a $906.8 million budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year on a vote of 3-2. Councilmember Paula Devine cited a campaign commitment made to vote against transferring funds from the city’s utility as her reason for voting against the adoption of the overall budget. Councilmember Daniel Brotman expressed concern that the budget painted too rosy a picture of the city’s finances and that the city should instead adopt an “austerity budget” including furloughs and freezes to worker pay step increases.

City manager Yasmin Beers assured the Council that city staff would closely monitor revenue and keep the Council updated.

“The budget is a living document that can be changed,” she explained. “This is not my first rodeo.”

At the beginning of the Council’s evening meeting, Councilmember Ara Najarian read from a prepared statement, apologizing for comments he had made on social media, emphasizing that he is not against protesting nor the free expression of speech but that there had been credible threats made against Glendale targets. He acknowledged that his comments may have taken away from those wanting to mourn the death of George Floyd and to protest against racism.

“I look forward to the candlelight vigil rescheduled [on] June 7,” he said. “I intend to stand in solidarity against the injustices we have witnessed.”

Mayor Vrej Agajanian expressed his “shock and surprise” of the incident. He quoted extensively from a June 1995 Dept. of Justice document which delineates the treatment of handcuffed people and asked Glendale police chief Carl Povilaitis to explain “how it works here.”

Devine read a statement condemning “police brutality.” Brotman began a long, heartfelt personal statement saying that he is “horrified by the state-sanctioned murder,” recalling Glendale’s “dark history as a sundown town, the western headquarters of the Nazi party into the ’80s, with an office on Brand Boulevard.”

Councilmember Ardashes “Ardy” Kassakhian shared Brotman’s horror at the city’s racist past.

“I am not a perfect person. I try to teach my son to be a better person than I am,” he said. “We teach him to follow ‘I’m sorry’ with ‘How can I help?’ We need to do better to make people of color feel welcome in our city, to denounce our past. We are not that city anymore.”

He ended with, “I’m sorry. How can I help?”

Povilaitis reached back across his “three decades” of police experience.

“This is extremely disturbing. What I see there is wrong. I can’t say it any simpler than that. The chiefs I’ve spoken to all agree. This is wrong. It is not in keeping with the training or expectations of a professional, world-class police department. I tell every potential recruit that we perform respectful, constitutional policing that respects everyone’s rights,” he said. “And we are steeped in the traditions of community policing. This is my community and I want it to be one where everyone is welcome and safe.”

The police chief detailed the department’s response to threats it received over the weekend, outreach done to organizations across the city, and 39 arrests made in the past few days (for curfew violations, burglary and receiving stolen property). He answered a question about the department’s use of “chokeholds and strangleholds.”

“As long as I’ve been on this department, these have never been authorized as any use of force,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Glendale fire chief Silvio Lanzas joined Dignity Health’s chief medical officer Dr. William Wang to provide a COVID-19 update to the Council. Right now, there are 6.2 million cases confirmed worldwide; more than 376,000 deaths confirmed now in 188 countries; 115,000 cases and 4,286 confirmed deaths in Los Angeles County; 990 cases and 83 deaths in Glendale.

“We’re seeing a somewhat flattening here in the city,” Lanzas shared tentatively. Since May 19 there have been fewer than 10 new cases per day. He told the Council that their early and aggressive adoption of the requirement for face coverings may have had an impact on the flattening.

The Council voted to extend the requirement to wear face masks through June 30 and to waive fees making it easier to set up outdoor dining. The city intends to use parklets for additional al fresco restaurant service as well.

The existing moratorium on commercial evictions was extended through June 30 as well. The Council modified the provisions to exclude business that are publicly traded, multinationals, with more than five locations or 100 workers employed in Glendale. All others will be required to begin paying back rent starting on July 1.

As other cities have done, councilmembers voted to draft an ordinance capping 15% the total fees food delivery apps can charge. A survey of local restaurants showed that 81.4% favor protective actions like this.

“At a time when businesses are struggling and relying on deliveries and supply chain costs are up, it’s important that we do what we can to support our local restaurants,” said Councilmember Kassakhian, sponsor of the action.

Greater Downtown Glendale Association president Rick Lemmo called into the Council meeting to model and detail adjustable, washable masks that will be distributed to downtown businesses and shoppers starting later this week and to promote a karaoke contest promoting the downtown business district.

At the request of Council at a previous meeting, a representative of AT&T appeared before the Council to answer questions about the company’s ability to respond to increased demands resulting form the COVID-19 pandemic. AT&T external affairs director Amir Johnson noted the changes required by the moment and shared several notable statistics: overall, usage is up between 20% and 25%. Video calls are up 75%. The company announced that it will not terminate residential or business service through June 30.

The city’s other internet provider was not present and will be scheduled to appear at an upcoming meeting to answer the same questions.

Councilmember Brotman appointed Ely Lester to the city’s Transportation & Parking commission, recognizing him as a “passionate advocate for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation.” Lester told the Council that Glendale has the “bones of a multi-modal city, a walkable city.” He detailed some of the health and community benefits of walkability.

“Think about the difference between running into someone while strolling versus running into them with a car,” Lester quipped.

Brotman also proposed the creation of a sustainability commission to support the position of chief sustainability officer, which had been previously approved.

Kassakhian proposed that the city create a municipal equity policy statement, as have some cities.

  Julie BUTCHER