By Julie BUTCHER

In a surprisingly short meeting Tuesday night, the Glendale City Council approved an agreement with the Glendale Community College Foundation to use $1.3 million in Measure S funds to implement plans for affordable housing the city and college district authorized at a joint meeting last week. Interim city manager Roubik Golanian told the council the next step would be the selection of an affordable housing developer, responsive to the request for proposals approved at the joint meeting of the city’s housing authority and the college board last week. Together the entities okayed the move forward for local plans for the Low-Income Student Rental Assistance Program (LISRAP).

In October 2020, the council approved a report on various possible ways to help lower income households using Measure S funding; at that time, members approved the LISRAP plan, an affordable housing program designed to provide rental housing assistance to low income, Glendale-based students living alone or with family, and to provide supportive services administered by the college’s new Office for Basic Needs via its “Fresh Success” program.

The Fresh Success program is aimed at ensuring “participants receive adequate basic needs support (food, shelter, transportation, etc.) to impact their persistence and completion of their education and to ensure that participants receive education and training that will improve their employability after they complete their education at GCC.”

In other news, deputy city manager John Takhtalian noted additional items slated for next week’s council agenda: a report on the city’s annual weed abatement plans and challenges; plans and specifications for on-call sewer and storm drain repair services; traffic signal installations and modifications at various intersections; 2021 plans for street resurfacing and sewer repair; and a report back on the council’s pending opposition to an aerial tram proposed to cut across Griffith Park to the Hollywood Sign.

The council also expects to hear a follow-up report at an upcoming council meeting regarding a member of the city’s Design Review Board (DRB) allegedly drinking at a meeting of the board.

An attorney for the property owners whose claim was rejected at that meeting of the DRB called in to protest the action, described “multiple sips of a large glass of wine” and demanded a complete redo of the hearing, without the accused commissioner present, and that fees and costs all be waived for the project he described as seeking to expand the 640 square foot home built in 1947 to more than 3,000 square feet.

Also on the agenda for next week, the city expects to hear an appeal from a DRB action regarding 2941-2943 Honolulu Ave.

This week, the city council accepted a $4,000 emergency pet food grant from Meals on Wheels for the purchase of pet supplies for the city’s senior services programs.

Councilmember Ara Najarian followed up on an outstanding request he had made for the city to publicly detail its obligations to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) for safety workers, including the possibility of switching to another pension system.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” he said, urging a comprehensive discussion of the issues and potentialities, “so we can all be best informed when the question comes up again.”

CalPERS is an agency in the California executive branch that manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.6 million California public employees, retirees and their families. In 2018, the agency reported that it had $360 billion in assets, and was underfunded by an estimated $150 billion, with assets below 70% of what would be necessary to provide for liabilities. At the end of 2016, the CalPERS board lowered the expected annual rate of return on investments from 7.5% to 7.0%, increasing the costs California cities must pay toward their workers’ pensions.

Interim city manager Golanian replied that a staff report is coming soon, establishing a community-based blue-ribbon commission to study the issues. The annual CalPERS liability report is due at the same time, the city manager reported.

A caller identifying herself as a GUSD parent urged the reopening of K-12 public schools as the “mental, physical and academic health of our children continues to be affected negatively.”

“The CDC and pediatricians say it’s safe to open now. President Biden has called for schools to reopen, horrified that 20 million children have not been in school for almost a year,” the parent continued. “As parents, we decide what is best for our children. What is best is in-person learning. It is a tragedy that our focus has been on opening restaurants and malls rather than schools.”

Councilmember Paula Devine asked the city attorney to clarify the roles of the city and the council in determining when schools reopen.

Mayor Vrej Agajanian echoed Devine’s comment, adding his opinion of remote learning.

“As the father of two, I cannot imagine [telling] little kids, ‘You stay home and learn.’ This is unbelievable. I cannot imagine a 3- or 4- or 7- or 12-year old, regardless how much patience you have, asking them to learn,” he said. “It’s not going to happen.”

“But that’s just me,” the mayor added. “Parents are complaining continuously, ‘You can reopen the schools as the mayor’ but that’s a different government, an entirely different entity. We have no power over the schools.”

The DRB appeal regarding 1248 Corona Dr. was continued again, this time until March 2.

The City of Glendale has announced that parking enforcement will begin again, with warning notices only being issued until Feb. 14. Ticket writing will begin on Feb. 15, the city reported.