myBurbank Talks
myBurbank Talks
The Week That Was and That Will Be - December 2, 2024
Unlock the secrets to thriving in Burbank's bustling community scene with our latest episode of myBurbank Talks. Ever wondered how a local event could spark a lively debate at a city council meeting? Discover the intriguing dynamics at play during Magnolia Park's Holiday in the Park as we celebrate Lisa Davis' win of the Word of the Week and dive into the hot-button issues surrounding the contentious SB35 project on South Mariposa. From the heartwarming spirit of Thanksgiving to the surge in shoplifting incidents during Black Friday at the Empire Center, we leave no stone unturned. Plus, arm yourself with crucial safety tips to avoid falling victim to ATM card skimming.
As the weekend approaches, get ready for a whirlwind of local festivities and strategic insights. Join us as we navigate through the calendar chaos, including the Burbank Police's anonymous gun buyback initiative and the downtown arts festival—both unmissable events that highlight the vibrant weekend pulse of our city. Acting Mayor Nicki Perez is poised to lead a memorable tree-lighting ceremony at City Hall, bringing the community together for a festive evening. Whether you're a business owner or a local shopper, our episode offers tactical advice to maximize Black Friday success and reinforces the power of community support through our platform, myBurbank. Don't miss out on these essential conversations to boost local business and enrich your Burbank experience!
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, thank you everybody. Thank you very much. Please, please sit down. No need for that.
Speaker 2:Hello, burbank, craig Short here with you once again for the week that was and the week that will be, and in the background this week we have some of the sights from Magnolia Park's Holiday in the Park. Sorry, the video's a little dark, but sometimes that stuff happens. 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 Lisa Davis. Of course, the word was Magnolia. In celebration of Magnolia Park, lisa wins a $25 gift card to a local Burbank restaurant and all she had to do was send in an email with a single word in the subject line and her address. How easy can that be? As always, there will be another Word of the Week later in the show, so please listen and send it in to us for your chance to win that $25 gift card.
Speaker 2:Last Tuesday, a city council meeting went as expected, with the city council approving the ministerial process for the SB35 project located in 910 South Mariposa. It was amazing how rude the people in the Rancho District were to the city council members and kept interrupting and harassing people with a different viewpoint. At our first meeting running the council, vice Mayor Perez actually did a very good job in trying to control the meeting. I know several past mayors have not had that patience, but the problem still is that the rancho people were very rude. I got a couple of phone calls before the meeting that our podcast was wrong and that the information in the staff reports was also wrong, and all those speakers brought those points up during the meeting and each item they brought up was debunked. I have since put the podcast back on, since the points it made have now held up.
Speaker 2:We all love the Rancho area and it is a special part of Burbank, but ever since the Whole Foods fiasco many years ago, people in the Rancho District now think they control whatever they want. Welcome to 2024, where laws have changed and just organizing a mob does not do anything to change the state law. The city council is trying to protect the area with new codes. Remember one thing about this project, however it started as a small office project and when the neighbors went after it, the developer then changed it to a much larger project and instead of offices, it's now offering condos. Now, instead of getting traffic on weekdays, they can now expect traffic 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. So you can't do it yourself, rancho people, you know. Sometimes on weekdays they can now expect traffic seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Say candidate yourself, rancho people, you know. Sometimes things like that are a little better left alone when state law trumps local law.
Speaker 2:The council also appointed a couple of people to boards and commissions, and I stand by what I said last week, that why don't they put that on the agenda before the public hearings so that those people don't have to sit in the audience for hours waiting for three minutes to address the council to introduce themselves? I don't know. What do I know? I don't know how government works. Thursday Well, thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving, and what great weather it was. I would like to thank the amazing people who prepared my dinner. With all the fixing and trimmings, it was stupendous. However, now my bucket list is a triad for Dekken.
Speaker 2:One of these years, friday was Black Friday or, as the Empire Center likes to call it, shoplifting Friday. It was amazing how many calls of Burbank Secret Police got to go and arrest shoplifting suspects who, I promise, do not live in Burbank. I really can't believe that they would not have stationed one or two units at the Empire Center or the Town Center, knowing that this is going to be a huge problem on Friday, and instead of taking units off patrol in their areas to go handle these problems Once again. What do I know about bureaucracy? Something else related which people should be very aware about.
Speaker 2:I have seen a number of stories posted about card skimming readers being placed on ATM machines.
Speaker 2:There is a high instant rate of these machines being tampered with at private businesses like 7-Elevens and so forth, and not just the banks. Make sure, before you use an ATM machine, you check it out. If you see any suspicious, to walk away from the machine. The bad guys are putting card readers and cameras to get your information. Another tactic is to put glue inside the card reader and make people tap their cards, and then they have installed cameras nearby to watch their pins After the person taps their card instead of inserting it.
Speaker 2:They have a tendency to walk away when their transaction is complete and do not make sure that the transaction screen goes back to its home page. A person is usually waiting right by the machine and as soon as you walk away, they go to check to see if the screen is still active. If it is, they say they want another transaction and use the camera footage of you typing in your PIN to drain your bank account. So please be aware On the weekend. That's about it. For last week it was a very quiet weekend. We will now take our obligatory commercial timeout for a word from our sponsor, who happens to be ourselves. Be back in a second with the week. That will be.
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.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you once again. Thank you, I told you before. Very unnecessary. All right, we're back for our commercial break.
Speaker 2:Craig Schubert, here once again for the week that will be, and let's start off with today. You can always tell when it's the first Monday of the month because there's a jam log full of meetings on the same night. Today the Burbank Culture Arts Commission will have their capacity subcommittee meeting at the Community Services Building at 2 pm where they will discuss ideas and plans. The Arts in Public Places meeting scheduled for tonight has been canceled, but at 6.15, and what a strange start time for a meeting the Burbank Landlord Tenant Commission will meet at the Community Services Building and there are three new cases they're going to look at. There is a mediation request, there is a change of terms of tenancy and a tenants' rights question, and a tenant is requesting more time to move out of a property that has been sold. Once again, all the commissions can do is try to help the people requesting it. They have no powers to do anything. Hopefully that will change in the next few months when the city council comes back with their recommendations for rent stabilizations.
Speaker 2:Tuesday, the main library will have a showing of Edward Scissorhands from 2 to 4 pm, which, of course, is not as entertaining as a city council meeting. But since the city council is dark on Tuesday night, you'll have to settle for Edward Scissorhands and, by the way, like a city council meeting, the movie is free. But if you're still looking for a meeting to go to instead of the city council meeting, you can head over to the Community Services Building and listen to the Burbank Athletic Federation meeting at 6 pm. On their agenda is an update on the Youth Sports, transgender Athletic Policy, senior Softball Age Requirements Update, non-resident Player Participation Update, an update on the George Isaiah Master Park Plan and a Board member recruitment update. They will also approve their minutes from previous meetings and it would be great if we could actually see what those meeting minutes are, but we can't and they're not online for anywhere for us to look at. So you want to know what's going on? You've got to go to the meeting or else forget about it. Sorry, bads are pale. And also on Tuesday, at the exact same time of 6 pm and the exact same location as in the Community Services Building, the Community Development Goals Committee will meet. Their agenda is a fiscal year 2024-25 community development block grant request for funding proposals, presentation for capital projects only. And that's about it. Once again, the meeting is not recorded and there are no minutes posted. So if you want to know what's going on at the Bergen Athletic Federation meeting or the Community Development Goals Committee meeting, you better stick your tape recorder in one meeting and go to the other, because that's the only way you will find out.
Speaker 2:On Wednesday, senior Citizens Board will meet at 1 pm at the Johnson Adult Center so they can get home before their bedtimes and they will discuss Safe Streets and the Park Patrol Program and also get reports on transportation, senior legislation, the Tuttle Center and the LA County Commission for Older Adults. After you finish up at the Johnson Center for the Senior Assistance Board, you can head over to City Hall for a Civil Service Board Meeting. They'll be discussing exciting topics of amendments to the classification plan, recruitment and selection report and giving out appointments and assignments. Plan recruitment and selection report and giving out appointments and assignments. As this podcast does not put you to sleep by itself, I'm sure if you record that meeting and play it back that night it will knock you out any night. You're having a hard time getting to sleep as soon as the Civil Service Board meeting is done, you can rush over to the Community Services Building and listen to the Domestic Violence Task Force meeting. That starts at 5.30. On their agenda is a review of the Domestic Violence Task Force resource card, review and discuss the Domestic Violence Task Force mission statement and continue on their goals and objectives and the frequency of their meetings. Maybe they can talk about changing their meeting to a day and time when there are no other meetings, but that's far too much to ask for, I'm afraid, government bureaucracy. And we are not done yet for Wednesday, with a fourth meeting being scheduled. This one is the community services building for the youth board. They'll get a report from staff on the tobacco grant achievements from last year and they'll discuss this year's goals. And of course, don't forget the ever exciting reports from each individual school.
Speaker 2:Thursday On Thursday, the Public Water and Power Board. I'm sorry, the Burbank Public Water and Power Board Will meet at the Burbank Water and Power Building Hard to believe At 5 pm. Public Water and Power Board will meet at the Brimac Water and Power Building Hard to believe At 5 pm. And they'll get a report from the general manager as well as a report on operations and financial status, an overview of the fiscal years 25 and 26 and the 26-27 water and electric rates setting process. So we're going to talk about the new rates. Of course it's going to keep going up. What do you expect? Too bad, they don't go up as little as the rents go up, but that's not the case.
Speaker 2:They will also have a report on the implementation of electric vehicle charging, overstay fees, which in other words means no free parking, which in other words, means no free parking. What did I say? Parking? Oh, I know you just love when I hit that button, don't you? For parking, which means yes, that's right, that's our words of the week. So please send the word parking to contest at myburbankcom. In the subject line, put parking, send your name and address and we will have a drawing for a $25 gift card to a local Burbank restaurant. So please send in that email by Friday. I do find it interesting that they do put their minutes from other meetings online, unlike other boards and commissions do not. That's a policy that really needs to change.
Speaker 2:On the weekend, saturday, will be a busy day in Burbank, with Burbank Police having their anonymous gun buyback event from 9 am to 12 pm at the police station. Gun buyback event from 9am to 12pm at the police station. I think they want you to think of anonymous because they won't ask for your name and address, but you'll be going into a police station parking lot with cameras that can read your license plates. So be forewarned that the secret police are always up to their tricks. Downtown Burbank is going to have their arts festival, which will be happening from 11am to 5pm on San Fernando Boulevard on both Saturday and Sunday. Good day to go pick up some trinkets, or people will take my advice and go down to Magnolia Park and buy something for the merchants who are there, who are actually Burbank merchants.
Speaker 2:At 5pm, somebody did an amazingly strange thing of making it Burbank King's Night at the Crypt. Why do I say it? Because at 6pm is the Mayor's tree lighting ceremony at City Hall, and why they would schedule an event for people to go to at the same time as a tree lighting ceremony mystifies me as much as it does putting four meetings on the same night. Why does somebody not sit down and figure out how not to duplicate things at the same time? That, my friends, is called your government in action, or should I say lack of action.
Speaker 2:Anyway, moving on to 6 pm. It is the mayor's tree lighting ceremony and Acting Mayor Nicky Perez will be there as the ambassador of ceremonies. Even though it starts at 6 pm at City Hall, I would get there early because there's always a very large crowd and there are some great performances before the button is pushed and the tree is lit. We've been very lucky, year after year, to get Santa to stop by, and word is out that he might be there again this year, so bring the young ones out Afterward, stop by one of the local downtown Burbank restaurants and grab some dinner with the family. That leaves us now with only yes, that's right. Craig's comment and my comment is one of befuddlement.
Speaker 2:Last week we had one of the most successful ever Holiday in the Park events in the Magnolia Park area, and I'm sure all the merchants did a lot to make it the best event it could be. The merchants spent a lot of money to put that on every year, and of course they do well that night in business. Actually, what I can't figure out, though, they put on this great event and yet people to get people in their stores to look around, and then a week later, on Black Friday, they shut all the businesses down early in the evening. I drove down mcnolly around 7 pm and every shop was closed. On black friday it is the biggest retail day of the year and you would think the business wouldn't get together and publicize a late night, and not even a late night. But in evening event, why not do something like their lady and gents night out they do every last Friday of the month and have some food trucks there and maybe some carolers walking around and things like that, and bring people into their shop on the busiest and biggest shopping day of the year?
Speaker 2:We always hear how much the merchants are struggling there, but at what point do you have to help yourself? All those businesses sat closed on Friday evening. It just mystified me. You know where everybody went. They all went to the Empire Center or the Brick Town Center and did their shopping because they could not in Magnolia Park. How you can run your business is how you want to and Lord knows.
Speaker 2:It's not for me to tell you what to do, but I would think, as much as you want business, that you would want to figure out something on Black Friday to attract shoppers. All I know is while those businesses were closed the landlord was still collecting his rent. Anyway, that's my comment. Take it as you will, but all I can say is what I see, and while it's my opinion, it's also my comment. So there you go. 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 that channel membership. We got a few last week that I'm really happy with, so we appreciate the support here at MyBurbank. That's it for me. We'll talk to you next week. Thank you for listening or for watching on YouTube, and we will see you later.