Mark R. Madler
The City Council this week reappointed incumbent members of the
BurbankGlendale-Pasadena Airport Authority and city Planning Board
while greeting new faces for other commissions and committees.
All told, the council Tuesday night made appointments to 12
citizen-advisory bodies. The boards give input to the City Council
and department heads on policy, while others, like the Civic Pride
Committee, organize events to boost interest in Burbank's image.
Returning to the airport commission were Charlie Lombardo, Bill
Wiggins and Don Brown. They were the only applicants for the
commission seats.
Lombardo, whose term as commission president expires in July, set
a goal of strengthening the relationship between the airport and
city, he said.
In the coming year, the airport's main project will be improving
the 27-acre Star Park property that it purchased for valet and
self-service parking, Lombardo said.
Three incumbents will return to the five-member Planning Board, a
move that can be interpreted as the council wanting to maintain the
status quo, said Dan Humfreville, who is among the appointees
returning to the board. The council also reappointed Emily
Gabel-Luddy and Greg Jackson. Eight applications were submitted for
the three spots.
"I like to think of the direction in terms of our maintaining all
the aspects of the city that are favored by established residents
while working with developers to create opportunities that attract
new residents," said Humfreville, who was first appointed to the
board two years ago.
The Planning Board reviews zoning changes and variances and makes
recommendations to the council on conditional-use permits. Recent
topics the board has dealt with include a development agreement
between the city and Bob Hope Airport, the approval of the Burbank
Media Center mixed-use project, and height and size restrictions for
single-family homes.
One of the new appointees was Garen Yegparian, who after four
previous tries was named to the Park, Recreation and Community
Service Board.
An avid hiker in the Verdugo Mountains, Yegparian is familiar with
outdoor recreation issues.
"That would by my particular asset I bring to the board," said
Yegparian, who is the city's representative to the Santa Monica
Mountains Conservancy board, and a member of the Verdugo Hills Group
of the Sierra Club. "The City Council members all know that."
The council agreed to increase the number of members on the
Library Board of Trustees from five to seven.
Councilman Dave Golonski sought to increase the number of members
on the library board and Civil Service Board to seven each from five
as a way to give more opportunities for the applicants to serve.
While his council colleagues backed the increase on the library
board, they shot down the Civil Service Board increase, also from
five members to seven.
"I think it would be too unwieldy with more than five members,
although there were some great applicants," Councilwoman Stacey
Murphy said.
Open spots on the Landlord Tenant Commission were not filled
because too few applications came in.
The city clerk's office extended the deadline to submit an
application to May 20.
Applications are available at City Hall, 275 E. Olive Ave., or
online at the city's website, http://burbankusa.com.
