By Julie BUTCHER 

At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Glendale City Council, Councilmember Ara Najarian shared a dramatic news video showing cars left along Sunset Boulevard during the recent fire crises facing various Southern California neighborhoods. 

He asked his colleagues to reconsider plans to reconfigure La Crescenta Avenue. 

“In light of the recent fires, I plan on asking (Fire) Chief Fish to come to our next meeting to respond to concerns” that the same tragedy could befall La Crescenta as a result of the street changes, Councilmember Najarian explained.

The issue was mistakenly placed on the council agenda but could not be legally reconsidered as a majority of the council has already acted and no one voting in the majority was willing to entertain reconsideration, in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.

Earlier in the council meeting, Councilmember Najarian announced free local transportation for the celebration of Transit Equity Day on Tuesday, Feb. 4. He also shared that the Burbank Airport has appointed a new executive director, John Hatanaka, and that the regional airport would be opening a new passenger terminal in October 2026.

Najarian also asked for an update on a massive fire, deemed a “thermal event,” in northern California reportedly caused by the burning of large capacity batteries, such as those planned for the city’s Grayson plant.

City staff reported on concerns raised by the freezing of federal funds, particularly as to the potential impacts of local meals, housing and recreational programs.

Public Works director Daniel Hernandez reported that the department has made significant progress in cleaning up from the recent winds: 589 calls –  302 reported trees down and 285 reported significant limbs damaged. Hernandez said he believes that public works crews will be caught up by the end of next week, considerably sooner than had been predicted.

The council considered a comprehensive report of possible changes to the rules of decorum for the conduct of city council meetings. According to city attorney Mike Garcia, council meetings are classified as limited public forums. For this reason, the city can impose fair rules on the conduct of participants. 

The council agreed to open up public comments at the beginning of council meetings to include agenda items as well as general remarks and to designate 30 minutes for these comments in addition to a specific agenda item to hear about upcoming community events. The council also opted to limit debate among council members and to end evening council meetings by 11 p.m.; meeting times can be extended by agreement of the councilmembers. 

Recently, the council changed the camera angle used during public comments limiting the video appearance of the speaker and showing instead the city council and the back of the speaker. Councilmember Najarian advocated for a split screen approach, saying, “We are certainly entitled to see the face of the person speaking.” 

Councilmember Dan Brotman spoke in favor of keeping the new approach. 

“I like it the way it is now,” said Councilmember Brotman. “It’s important to remember when the public comes here to speak, they’re addressing the decision-making body; they’re not addressing their friends and family; they’re not addressing the public at large.”

Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian agreed. 

“They’re not coming to provide entertainment,” he said. “They’re here to address the council.”

Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian argued in favor of a split screen.

“If they want to make a video, they’ll make a video,” he said.

The council considered further steps to limit restaurants from using single-use plastic but was unable to agree on next steps.

“I am not ready to add any further burden to our small businesses, our mom-and-pop shops,” said Mayor Elen Asatryan criticizing staff and consultants in their attempts at outreach. 

The city’s Sustainability Officer David Jones detailed the need to limit the use of plastic. 

“Take-out food containers can contain phthalates, PFAs and BPA, types of chemicals linked to cancer, problems in the reproductive organs, and other health concerns,” Jones said.

The average person eats a credit card’s worth of plastic every week, he reported. 

Mayor Asatryan did not disguise her displeasure that staff had drafted a new ordinance without council direction.

“Under what authority did you write up this ordinance?” she grilled staff. The mayor recalled specific instructions to seek input and feedback from the city’s restaurant owners and to focus on incentives rather than rules and penalties. 

“To say that I’m frustrated is an understatement,” as she expressed her dismay.

Councilmember Kassakhian agreed that he “prefers the carrot over the stick.” He also suggested starting enforcement with street vendors, noting the unfairness of requiring brick-and-mortar businesses to abide by rules not applicable to the street businesses.

Finally, the council approved the use of $266,525 in dedicated transportation funds for 60 new concrete planters. According to the staff report, “in collaboration with the Greater Downtown Glendale Association [GDGA], staff requests authorizing dispensing with bidding in order to acquire 60 landscape planters to provide for pedestrian safety on the bridges over the 134 Freeway on Brand Boulevard and Central Avenue between Goode and Sanchez, and within the Orange Street Alleyway between Wilson and California. The planters staff seeks to procure match existing planters on Brand Boulevard and will therefore provide a consistent downtown aesthetic that beautifies the areas. GDGA will be responsible for installing and maintaining live landscaping in the planters.”

Councilmember Kassakhian noted that the writing proposed for on the  planters is “less than inspiring.” He suggested a more specific “Welcome to Glendale” or “Glendale: The Jewel City” message would be more appropriate than Greater Downtown Glendale Association.