myBurbank Talks
myBurbank Talks
The Week That Was and That Will Be - November 18, 2024
Discover the latest twists and turns in Burbank's local politics and community happenings! Curious about the election results that saw Konstantine Anthony and Chris Rizzotti elected to the City Council? Join us as we uncover the implications of the school board race and the passing of Measure ABC, while emphasizing the urgent need for transparency from the new board members. We'll also share the buzz around the Veterans Day celebration at McCambridge Park, which faced lower turnout.. Plus, we'll raise questions regarding the accessibility of the newly unveiled Green Lantern statue at Hangar 28 and delve into the alarming case of a woman allegedly impersonating a nurse in Southern California hospitals.
We'll also take you on a tour of Burbank's bustling city life and anticipate thrilling upcoming events. There's strong advocacy for extending outdoor dining to support local businesses, despite the challenges posed by parking and transit issues, including the Bus Rapid Transit Project. The episode offers a preview of upcoming city meetings, with a keen focus on the Police Commission's agenda and the need for transparency in officer-involved incidents. Excitement is building for the holiday festivities on Magnolia for Holiday in the Park, complete with live music and unique activities. We wrap up with a nod to the popular Winter Wine Walk and a personal belief on age restrictions for military personnel drinking. Join us for a compelling conversation that frames the week gone by and the exciting week ahead in Burbank!
My Burbank Talks presents another edition of the Week that Was and the Week that Will Be a weekly podcast featuring highlights and commentary on local events and issues taking place right here in Burbank. Now let's see what's on today's agenda as we join our program.
Speaker 2:Thank you everybody, thank you, thank you, thank you Well, hello Burbank. Clay Shorty here once again for the November 18th edition of the Week. That Was and that Will Be, and, as always, we have a humble request that you like this video and please subscribe to the channel so YouTube continues to recommend this video to others like yourself, and also think about a channel membership to support us here at my Burbank. Last week's Word of the Week winner was JB Long. The word was midnight and he has won a $25 gift card, and don't forget to continue to listen for another chance to win this week when that word of the week pops up. One last time. Let's go back to the MyBurbank Command Center election headquarters and finish up with our election coverage. It came down to a three-horse race and it was Judy Wilkie, the odd one out, as Burbank voters re-elected Constantine Anthony and Chris Rizzotti, who was not elected in 2022, but now makes it to the dais in second place. I fully expect to see Judy battle again in 2026 when we elect three to the council. I found the school board race very interesting in the fact that people seemed very upset with the incumbents, but when it came time to the election, one of them ran unopposed and one was automatically re-elected and another was elected by a wide margin, which tells me that people are happy with the direction the schools are taking. Measure ABC also passed and now I challenge the new board to be transparent and to make it work and to benefit all schools and facilities. There are a couple of sports facilities that really need upgrading, as well as structures in different schools. We will stay on it.
Speaker 2:On Monday we had our annual Veterans Day celebration at the War Memorial at Cambridge Park. We'll go back to our live feed again and hopefully show you a couple of shots from the day of. Ross Benson was on scene and got some great pictures. I unfortunately could not make it. That's like getting a little food poisoning on Sunday and being scared to go, scared to death to go out in public on Monday with no facilities in place. So I apologize for not being there. I was disappointed. I missed it, but I heard the crowd was not as large as expected, which is sad. I can only imagine that more people must have ate the same place I did on Sunday and that must be the reason. I know the Burbank High baseball team was in attendance, however, which I know our veterans appreciated.
Speaker 2:Let's move on now to Thursday, where we saw the new John Stewart Green Lantern statue unveiled. That was in a place called Hangar 28 at the Empire Center. I have to be honest with you that I have never heard of Hangar 28 until this press release came across our desk. It's a magnificent statue of the Green Lantern, but I do question as to number one, why it is put on private property, and number two, why it is put in an area that is not easily accessible. My only hope is that the Green Lantern could actually use its powers to decrease crime at the Empire Center. I hear that there's another statue still to be worked on in Burbank, but we do have three, with Wonder Woman at the Warner Brothers Tour Center and Batman at San Fernando and Palm. When will Superman make an appearance?
Speaker 2:Police sent out one of their rare press releases seeking information about a woman who had been impersonating a nurse at St Joseph's Medical Center as well as other hospitals in Southern California. It'd be interesting to know if any of the people she treated died, if they're now able to charge her with murder because of that and they did not say in the release, so we don't really know but then they don't say a lot in their releases Friday. I know it's not a Burbank story, but I fell for the stupid Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight on Netflix when it was over it really looked like some 58-year-old guy getting beat up by a 27-year-old guy. You kind of wonder how anything else could be really the result. I was happy, however, that Paul was respectful in his victory speech and they just enjoyed his payday.
Speaker 2:Not sure if that is. They're not sure if that or the UCLA loss was more depressing on Friday night. But here's another part of the depression for you. That is Burbank local. For Friday night and that was Friday Night Lights saw the Burbank Bulldogs fall to the Highland Bulldogs 42-18 at Memorial Field. Burbank actually led the game 28-21 at halftime. The loss ended the Bulldogs season but was still as successful as they took second place in the Pacific League and, as far as Burrows goes, they parted ways with their coach, who was only hired about six months ago, and now the search begins for a new football coach. Okay, that's it for the week that was. We're going to have a quick commercial break and come back for the week. That will be in a few minutes, so stand by and we will see you in a second.
Speaker 3:Enjoying the show right now, thinking you may want to do your own podcast. Viberate Talks is renting out our podcast studio on an hourly rate. You can do audio podcasts or both audio and video, and even bring in guests to talk with. We will help you get set up on podcast platforms and start a YouTube channel, and we can edit your productions to make you look and sound your very best. If you are arrested, please drop us an email at studiorentalsatmyburbankcom. That's studiorentalsatmyburbankcom, and we will get back to you. Now back to our show, and we will get back to you. Now back to our show.
Speaker 2:Yo, thank you, thank you, thank you very much. No, no, please sit down. Sit down everybody. Thank you very, very much, craig Schubert. Back with you again for the week that will be, and starting with today.
Speaker 2:So on Monday, we are recording another Ask the Mayor episode tonight, Really looking forward to talking with Nick Schultz after his decisive victory in the assembly race and to see what's up in his last six weeks in the Burbank City Council before transitioning to the assembly. Well, what's funny about that race is that I saw him campaigning numerous times and did not see the opponent once in Burbank. If you want to know why they don't get votes, I think it's great having a Burbank resident at the state level and he will look out for our best interests. Also, today you can stop by romancing the beat at Ford from four to 6 PM to talk to Burbank water and powers general manager, mandip Samara, about all things that power Burbank. So just stop by the chat and you can ask questions or share your thoughts on how Burbank Water and Power can serve you better. And I bet she'll even buy you a free cup of coffee, but don't push it for a free scone. Do they even have scones at Romancing the Bean, I don't know. Anyhow, as far as meetings go, the Sustainable Burbank Commission will hold theirs on 5 o'clock at the Community Services Building, where they will nominate somebody for their Green Spotlight Award for January of 2025 and discuss the meeting schedule for 2025. And besides that, only their ad hoc committees will report at that time. Well, I'll tell you to go to the Planning Commission meeting afterwards, but the Planning Commission meeting has been canceled, so I guess there's nothing on Monday that needs to be planned. Right, everything has been planned. That needs to be planned.
Speaker 2:Alrighty, let's move on to Tuesday. So Tuesday is a city council night. Tuesday brings city councils back after a three-week absence, and they're going to have a joint meeting with the parking authority. Side note, the city council is also the parking authority, so it's nothing really more than legal speak. So let me clue you in here that the meeting is actually broken up into two parts, with the first part coming at 4.30, where they're going to get two different study session reports On number one, the general fund financial status as of September 30th, and also an update on the new Burbank Central Library and Civic Center project. Now, if you want to comment on either of those things, you have to be there at four o'clock for public comment because these two items are not part of the regular council meeting that then starts at six o'clock. Interesting that they do not put this as part of their agenda, but we found found it, so now you know all about it.
Speaker 2:So at 6 pm the council will once again start up and, of course, public comment will happen for this part of the meeting and they'll also be voting on several items on their consent agenda. There is an ordinance about the transient occupancy tax and they're going to award a contract for the community services building security enhancements projects. They're also going to accept some funding grants and funding for the library, approve some salary adjustments for the city employees and they're going to buy themselves another police helicopter along with the city of Glendale for $1 million yes, that's $1 million or a police helicopter. I wonder whatever happens to the helicopter that Clint Eastwood donated. Are they using it? They're also going to improve their audio and visual equipment in the community services building for all those meetings they're having there, which is nice. Also Moving on, there will also be a public hearing on adoption for a second extension to the urgency ordinance establishing interim development standards for the Burbank Rancho neighborhood and the Equestrian district, you really have to wonder if it's such an urgent matter, why do they have to keep extending it? I'm sure the Rancho people will all be there to have their say, but all they're doing is just extending what they already have in place. They're not going to decide anything.
Speaker 2:Next is the big one, and that's to report to the council to add an ordinance to establish a parking meter zone in downtown Burbank, and they're going to have a citywide fee schedule for parking fees and parking violations. So you're going to need to hire a gelada. They've been talking about this for a while and right now they're looking at only putting meters on the streets in downtown Burbank, with a goal of about 20% open spaces at all times, with the pricing adjustable depending on how busy it is. I think the advantage is just the fact that employees will no longer be parking in areas that customers can now park in. Unfortunately, this is the future Burbank, so we're going to start getting parking meters all around town down the line, and while I do not like it, I do understand it, because parking structures do not get built for free, or at least maintained for free, and our parking structures are very old in the city. I just hope that the money made on parking meters goes into parking lots and street improvements in the areas they are in, and not just the general fund. Not just the general fund. I think we will take a deep plunge in that subject after the meeting and let you know what happened on our notebooks for our notebook LM friends.
Speaker 2:Another hot topic on the agenda is going to be review of the citywide outdoor dining in private parking lots and the approval of the development of a codified outdoor outport outdoor dining program with with executive standards for citywide outdoor dining. Always a mouthful, without a doubt. Dining in the parking lots for these restaurants and dining on the sidewalks is a boon and I am 100% in favor of continuing to help out our restaurants that struggle as they are. For the longest time, berwick was so strict about having one table on the sidewalk, like other cities, and now we have finally turned the corner and become restaurant friendly, which increases the number of diners a restaurant can have and hopefully increases their profits. So we're going to have the Rancho people probably there complaining about the Rancho things, and we're going to have the Rancho people probably there complaining about the Rancho things, and we're going to have downtown parking people talking about parking things and the rest of the people there talking about the restaurant things.
Speaker 2:So why not include the bus system in this? So they're going to have a report from their subcommittee on the Metro bus route from North Hollywood to Pasadena called the Bus Rapid Transit Project, better known as the BRT. So we all know that the BRT people will be there in support or opposition of saving that one minute and 30 seconds on Olive. And just to end the meeting with one more item, it's going to be a task force for a citywide minimum wage and paid parental leave. I wonder where they will go with this. The voters just turned down a state minimum wage increase, so we will see what Burbank officials have to say about that. My only comment is I know fast food workers want up to $20 an hour and, yes, my McDonald's and my Burger King burgers all cost a little bit more money, as does my Wendy's, but it's good to know that these people are making a good wage and don't have to work 60 hours or two different jobs just to pay their rent. So, yes, while I don't like paying higher prices, I like the fact that people actually make a decent wage to live in Southern California, which is tough enough as it is.
Speaker 2:Let's move on to Wednesday. Okay, here's a puzzle for you to figure out. On Wednesday the Transportation Commission is having a special meeting and when I go to the special meeting agenda to see what they're going to talk about, it says the meeting was canceled. So the special meeting they're having is not so special after all, I guess. And the Police Commission is scheduled to meet on Wednesday at 6pm at City Hall, but the problem is no agenda has been posted. I guess the Burbank Police Department has not decided what PR matters they want the board to bring up for them. Take up for them. I will give them the suggestion Maybe bring up the officer-involved shooting that recently occurred and find out why an officer pulled his weapon and fired it.
Speaker 2:What did the suspect do for him to fire his gun? To this day, no report of any weapon that was found on the suspect has been reported by Bering Police and in fact a suspect who was a transient was cited at the police department for being in a stolen vehicle and then released. Thank God we voted a new DA, but I'm sure that is much too much a controversial topic for the police commission to actually deal with. And of course you know they'll probably be off in december anyway. I really don't blame the police commission, I blame the system that has put this smoke screen in place. Okay, I'm into that. You know how I feel about that sometimes.
Speaker 2:Friday okay, friday it's kind of much anticipation and from what I can see, we're going to have some great weather. So, thank goodness, it is the annual holiday in the park on Magnolia. Wait a second, did I just say Magnolia? Yes, that can only mean one thing and that means that Magnolia is our word of the week. So send an email to contest at myburbankcom and in the subject line put Magnolia I know how much you must love that alert and send it in to contest at myburbankcom and you'll be entered for a $25 gift card for next week's. And we'll find out next week who wins. So, hopefully, good luck.
Speaker 2:So the holiday in the park is once again going on magnolia between Buena Vista and Hollywood Way. That is probably the most well intended event in Burbank every year, with at least 35,000 people expecting to show up. There's going to be a ton of activities there, with live music, and I hear Santa will even be there to make a special appearance. Moving on to Saturday to be there to make a special appearance. Moving on to Saturday If you actually recover from Friday night, there's a lot going on Saturday the plan for a greener Burbank being held from 9 to 11 am at Johnny Carson Park, and they make reference to planting a tree or something of that effect, or planting many trees. Anyhow, that's one thing. For Saturday morning, at 930, there's going to be a great yoga hike at the Stout Canyon Nature Center. This sounds crazy, but I'll read it as they wrote it. It says take a hike to the view while fun-lo, loving goats interact with each and every participant. Enjoy the yoga session overseeing the city, taught by a certified yoga instructor, along with some furry friends. I have nothing else to say. From 10 to 2 at the Burbank Animal Shelter. On Saturday, they are going to have another kitten fair. So there you go.
Speaker 2:Finally, the Winter Waiwai returns, I'm sorry, and the whole street and a street fair too. It's going to close down San Fernando and the street fair is free to the public from 12 to 8. The Wine Walk actually is a wine sampling and it's from 4 to 8. The Wine Walk actually is a wine sampling, and it's from 4 to 8 pm and you must be 21. Yeah well, I always thought, however, there should be an exception for anybody serving in our military that they're allowed to drink at 18. If they're on leaves, why give them a high-powered weapon and teach them how to kill, but they can't drink a glass of wine? I guess you got to shake your head at that one, anyway. And finally, on Sunday it's going to be a wild creatures walk at the Stout Canyon Nature Center from 1130 to 1230. And they're going to have you hike in the mountains and talk about what kind of animals you can find. If you find a mountain lion, don't pet it. Finally I know you like the word finally, don't we all?
Speaker 2:It's time for Craig's comment, and it's about Holiday in the Parks. So I have two requests. Number one is that you take some time and stop in all the stores and hopefully purchase something, or else look for things for your Christmas list that you want to go back and buy later. These businesses pay a lot of money to put on Holiday in the Park, so it's really important that we as a community support these businesses and look at a lot of great shops, a lot of different things too, and small restaurants and everything. So it's your time to get.
Speaker 2:Don't just walk up and down and look for free stuff in all the booths and places. Go into the stores also. But that brings us to the booths. So, number two stop by the my Burbank booth that's going to be located right around, right around the corner on Magnolia and California, and stop by and say hi, we're going to be doing a podcast and we're going to have a lot of swag for sale. Don't you think you'd look good in a new my Burbank hat or t-shirt? I think so. We're also going to have free pens to everybody that has a stylus on the back side to use with your phone or your tablet, of course, while supplies last. This is one of the best events of the year in Burbank and I'd love to see more people from the Hill area come down and enjoy it also.
Speaker 2:Anyhow, that's it once again for my comment. Not a long comment, but once again, support Magnolia Park, support all Burbank businesses Very important. So please, once again, do notolia Park, support all Burbank businesses Very important. So please, once again, do not forget to subscribe and like this video and please, as always, consider a channel membership to the MyBurbank YouTube channel so we can keep going and bringing you this great content. I hope it's great content. I hope you enjoy the content. I hope it's great content. I hope you enjoy the content. I hope you enjoy the weekly updates. Anyhow, that's it for another episode. We will hopefully see you on Friday night at Holiday Park and that's about it for another week. So once again, craig Sherwood, saying thank you for watching or listening in the park, and that's about it for another week. So once again, craig Sherwood, saying thank you for watching or listening in your cars and we will talk to you later. You.