By Julie BUTCHER

At the beginning of Tuesday night’s meeting, the Glendale City Council adopted a proclamation recognizing Saturday, Nov. 30 as Small Business Saturday and urged Glendale residents to shop locally at small businesses, particularly on that day.

“Sixty cents of every dollar spent at a small business goes back into the local community,” Mayor Elen Asatryan noted, introducing plans for next year’s small business expo on Thursday, May 1 at the Embassy Suites.

Montrose Shopping Park Association vice president Gigi Garcia, representing 180 independent businesses in Montrose, shared plans for Plaid Friday on the Friday after Thanksgiving. She urged people to wear plaid and visit small businesses as an alternative to Black Friday.

The Montrose Shopping Park is celebrating the holiday season with an old town Christmas vibe, Garcia reported, complete with a horse-drawn trolley on the weekends, pony rides, live music and free photos with Santa.

The council also recognized Palace Cleaners and Laundry for its 101 years in business.

City lobbyist Kyra Ross offered a detailed legislative update. In light of the state budget deficit of $47 billion this fiscal year, the emphasis in Sacramento has been on protecting existing programs. Additionally, this year’s budget added $1 billion in homeless housing, assistance and prevention; $500 million in low-income tax credits to develop affordable housing; and protecting active transportation programs. While state revenues are coming in $5 billion above June projections, a multi-billion deficit is still expected for the next two years, Ross added.

During the 2024 legislative cycle, 2,124 bills were introduced. Of those, 1,206 went to the governor; 1,017 were signed; and 189 (15%) were vetoed. Most of the vetoes were of bills seeking funding outside the state budget. Of additional note, AB 1886 cleans up some minor points of housing policy. Prop 4 authorizes $10 billion in climate bonds for recycled water, parks and extreme heat mitigation. SB 1053 phases out plastic grocery bags by 2026. Voters in every California county passed Prop 36 on Nov. 5; it increases penalties for serial theft and for certain drug crimes as well as classifying certain drug offenses as “treatment-mandated felonies.”

The governor’s budget is due on Jan. 10, 2025 and will be impacted by the November election. There are at least 36 new members of the California state legislature. Governor Gavin Newsom has called a special session beginning on Dec. 2. The state is expected to budget new disaster funds as well as acting to protect California immigrants, civil rights protections,and existing gun control laws, the lobbyist told the council.

Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian urged focus on funding to cover state mandates.

“Anything that can reassert local control is a move in the right direction,” he said. “Hopefully, after seeing these election results folks in Sacramento are listening to the voters.”

“Some counties in California are turning purple because they care about safety and security, economy, putting food on the table, the price of gas,” Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian said. He asked about plans to increase the price of gas even further and advocated for programs to make it less expensive to build condominiums.

“We’re in favor of ownership housing, so the next generation is able to buy and stay in Glendale,” he added.

Councilmember Ara Najarian recognized Stephan Yacoubian, a Glendale orthopedic surgeon and commander in the U. S. Navy. Yacoubian received a medal of recognition in October 2024 for his part in Operation Keen Sword, a military expedition that was part of a combined exercise between the Navy and Japan’s military at Camp Foster in Okinawa, to improve medical response readiness in the event of a war.

Councilmember Dan Brotman commended the city’s sustainability staff for the successful quarterly events of the repair café and clothing swap.

Councilmember Gharpetian requested an update on the city’s digital sign ordinance and proposed that December be declared Family Celebration & Appreciation Month. Gharpetian also urged city staff to reach out and congratulate the new district attorney, noting the importance of political events across the state and nation.

A representative of the Glendale-Burbank Salvation Army issued an invitation to the organization’s Kettle Kick-Off on Thursday, Nov. 21 from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Forest Lawn Glendale, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection.

Glendale Water and Power (GWP) representatives updated the council on their efforts to utilize more renewable energy. Consultants to the utility reported that the city’s current goals of having 10% of its customers move to customer solar power and 100 megawatts of storage by 2027 is not only not feasible but that the shift to rooftop solar would drive up overall energy rates.

City staff will return to the council with a report analyzing goals that make sense for the environment as well as for ratepayers to include strategies such as community solar and new installations on city-owned properties.

“People who are on the forefront here with the adoption of this technology are those who can afford it,” observed Councilmember Kassakhian. Councilmember Najarian agreed that while the issue is “very complicated,” what he hears most is outrage from ratepayers. 

“There is no way I can commit to a program that will increase rates,” he said.

The council voted to reappoint Councilmember Kassakhian to represent the city on the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) board.

The council heard the introduction of ordinances clarifying building standards for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in downtown Glendale.

The full council voted to approve an all-way stop sign at the intersection of Adams Street and Schofield Drive. Adams Hill neighborhood resident Brian called in to the meeting.

“Once again, we find ourselves taking the time to discuss a single stop sign, a stop sign that city traffic engineers say is necessary for traffic calming, a stop sign that the overwhelming majority of those who live in the neighborhood want for safer streets, a stop sign that will slow traffic in front of my house where my kids play every day,” he said. “I understand the frustration of losing two street parking spaces may cause to my neighbor across the street, and I sympathize with him, but this is a public street and the welfare of the majority must outweigh the inconvenience of one.”

At a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, the council approved the consideration of changes to improve the city’s processing of permits and entitlements.

The council reviewed an update to its camping ordinance to prohibit daytime as well as overnight camping on city streets. Representing the Greater Glendale Downtown Association, Rick Lemmo urged the council to “be as aggressive as possible” in addressing issues of homelessness.

Finally, the council authorized increased funding for hotel rooms to address  homelessness. The budget for the expanded year-round hotel program increased from $80,000 last year to $300,000 this year, city staff said in answer to questions from the council.