COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:The city isn't as bad as literature makes you think

What's wrong with Burbank? The way I see it, not much. But after reading Carolyn and Phil Berlin's campaign mailer one might think Burbank is not a nice place to live. I don't look at things as negatively as the Berlins.

We already have public officials who are accountable. Over the past 10 to 12 years, under the leadership of City Council members Todd Campbell, Dave Golonski, Marsha Ramos, Jef Vander Borght and former council members David Laurell, Stacey Murphy and Bill Wiggins, and two excellent city managers, former City Manager Robert Ovrom and our current City Manager Mary Alvord, Burbank has flourished.

We have positive financials that allow us to have the best police and fire departments in Southern California. Our city officials have been responsible for giving us the following: a state-of-the-art library; a revitalized downtown; two new power plants that keep our utility rates lower than surrounding communities; youth and senior programs second to none; city streets that are clean and resurfaced regularly; the Chandler Bikeway; graffiti removal; the Empire Center (remember how the naysayers were against this) and partnerships with local nonprofits.

These are just some of the examples of the accountability of our city officials.

Is this the Los Angeles-ation that the Berlins fear? Voting for the Berlins will make Burbank more like Los Angeles, non-responsive and reactionary.

The Berlins claim they will fight to stop airport expansion. This has already been achieved. There can be no airport expansion without approval of Burbank voters. Since Philip Berlin left the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, our new commissioners do not antagonize our partner cities. Because of this spirit of working together, the airlines have maintained a voluntarily curfew.

Don't let this negative attitude invade our city any further. I fear that if the Berlins are elected, there may be a stampede of department managers and staff leaving city service that could cripple our city's progress.

We already have one councilmember, David Gordon, who doesn't seem to like anything about our city and sees everything as a conspiracy. We don't need two more. Why Gordon and the Berlins still live in a city they seem to dislike so much is a mystery to me.

When you get your ballot, please vote for Anja Reinke and Gary Bric. Keep Burbank moving forward.