By Brian CHERNICK

Tuesday night the Glendale City Council voted to increase the contract amount with the legal firm of Gibbs Giden Locher Tuner Senet & Wittbrodt LLP (Gibbs Giden) to $160,000, an increase of $35,000.

Gibbs Giden’s legal services for the city date back to 2004 and the current Professional Services Agreement between the two was established in 2013 with a $15,000 contract cap.

The law firm provides assistance to the city attorney in crafting and negotiating specialized bids and assists with construction law-related advice on various city projects. The previous contract cap of $125,000 was reached last year in February where it previously was set at $75,000.

The city works primarily with Gibbs Giden attorney Barbara Gadbois and has worked on previous bid challenges and contractor issues with the Alex Theater rehabilitation, Pacific Park Community Center repair, and Central Library renovation among other projects.

During the meeting council member Zareh Sinanyan asked City Attorney Michael Garcia about the possibility of opening up bidding for other law firms to introduce competition in the hopes of finding a better rate. Sinanyan stated the four-year contract was a “long time” without opening it up to other possible law firms.

According to Garcia, the council can initiate a Request for Proposals (RFP) in the next fiscal year as current projects are already being handled by Gibbs Giden.

The council also voted for City Manager Scott Ochoa to advertise for bids to construct the Glendale Police Dept. Museum in the lobby of the police building at 131 N. Isabel St. The construction is estimated to cost $125,000 with the opportunity for the costs to be completely covered by private donations from local businesses, citizens and community stakeholders.

The City Council will soon be welcoming a new council member, Vrej Agajanian, who won a seat after Tuesday’s election along with current council members Ara Najarian and Sinanyan who retained their seats. Agajanian is a host to the political talk show “ABCTVLIVE with Vrej Agajanian” on the Armenian American Broadcasting Corp., of which he is the president. Agajanian currently sits as a board member for the Glendale Police Foundation.

Measure L also passed overwhelmingly on Tuesday with over 85% voting to approve the enactment of term limits for future city council members. Term limits has been one of Zinanyan’s biggest agenda items, and one he has campaigned on since 2013. The council finally voted to place the measure on the city ballot back in December after years of being blocked by other members of council. The measure limits council members to three four-year terms for a total of 12 years. The measure is not retroactive, meaning all sitting council members elected prior to the passage of Measure L are not affected and will continue to be allowed to run indefinitely.

Council member-elect Agajanian will be the first member to be affected by Measure L.

  Brian CHERNICK