To address the situation, the city manager’s office has asked department executives to cut 5% from their draft budgets for the coming fiscal year. Bric proposed filling vacated positions where necessary through promotions and freezing job titles that have little impact on safety services.
“If we have to freeze any positions, so be it,” he said. “But I am a big believer of promoting from within.”
Under the gloom of a tough budget year, Bric also pushed for working with the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to establish a mandatory nighttime curfew at Bob Hope Airport.
The authority this week resubmitted its Part 161 Study, the document backing the curfew, to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Do I really feel it’s going to go through? No,” Bric said. “But we need to work on [noise relief].”
Other common council goals include a continued focus on traffic, transportation and parking, and establishing new ways to address crumbling infrastructure. Piggybacking on one of its top-five goals for 2008-09, the council also turned its attention to conservation and ways to weave sustainable practices through each of its departments and policies.
Vice Mayor Anja Reinke asked city executives to research the cost and efficiency of installing a zero-waste facility, perhaps through a partnership.
“We haven’t really moved forward with that despite it being a former goal,” she said.
Along with Bric and Councilman Dave Golonski, Reinke called on the city to reach out to the community to better inform residents on water issues, including rate hikes and how to read their bill.
