Gary Bric

Established in 1996, Leadership Burbank has offered an annual, nine-month leadership-training program for people who live or work in the city of Burbank. The organization employs a curriculum in which members of our community have the opportunity to enhance their personal and professional skills, gain a deeper understanding of how Burbank works and build a network of colleagues and associates. The group's goal is to encourage graduates of the program to use the insights and contacts they develop to enhance themselves in their personal and professional endeavors and to enrich the community by developing ideas and solutions that will assist in making and keeping Burbank government, business, faith-based, civic and nonprofit groups strong, sustainable and vibrant.

As dust settles from the battle of a long, hard-fought campaign, we would like to congratulate the candidates, who after months of vying for two open seats on the City Council, participated in Burbank's election on Tuesday. Collectively, Gary Bric, Anja Reinke and Phil and Carolyn Berlin, and those who listened to them, brought a dialogue and energy on issues that shouldn't stop with the counting of ballots. It wasn't always pretty. Running for public office is a courageous and often thankless undertaking, and yet is crucial to our democratic process.

CITY HALL — The county-certified results of Tuesday's general election show that 20% of Burbank's 51,201 eligible voters returned ballots, with winning council candidates Gary Bric and Anja Reinke nearly splitting the city's 42 precincts between them. Bric edged out Reinke as the top vote-getter with 6,301 votes, just 15 ahead of Reinke's 6,286. Bric, who is serving on the Traffic and Transportation Committee, captured 20 precincts in all — with a particularly strong nexus of support in the Hillside and Northwest Districts.

I am writing to you regarding the Burbank municipal election currently underway and your editorial decisions about how your newspaper has chosen to cover this election, or should I say, participate in this election. Your decisions strike me as ethically bereft. Let me explain why. Four years ago, your newspaper had a columnist named Will Rogers who interviewed City Council candidate Gary Bric. I am told he divulged his past legal issues. Four years ago, Bric also informed the Burbank Police Offices Assn.

Debate needed on aspects of charter The Burbank City Charter changes are far too important to consider without wide-ranging debate that covers all possible alternatives to the changes put forth. Many of the changes are in the name of modernization and efficiency. All should be decided on the issues and with a tilt toward more democracy, not less. I urge "No" votes on this set of charter changes on the basis that they reduce citizen input via the ballot box. The city clerk and city treasurer should remain elected offices and the process for filling vacant City Council seats should remain as is. There should be a serious debate on two topics: Should the city attorney be elected?

City Council candidate Gary Bric's moral and ethical compass is broken and he should not be on the Burbank City Council, or the Traffic and Transportation Committee. I was astounded at his first-place win in the Burbank City Council primary election ("Four in council race," Feb. 28). Now, after learning of his criminal record, my conscience has compelled me to write this. I absolutely don't understand the motivation behind the police and fire association endorsements for Bric, but I bet they don't live in Burbank.

I am writing this letter in response to a flier received in today's mail. This was a mudslinging, nasty bit of political hate mail. One side spews bile at Gary Bric and the other side at Anja Reinke. I am appalled by the gutter-scraping tone and allegations. Since this flier attacks two of the candidates for City Council and not the other two, I wondered who sent the flier and why. What I do know is this: The flier was sent by the Coalition for Responsible Leadership, which is also known as the Good Government Committee.

So, David Gordon has now become Burbank's whipping boy. Between the fascistic prescriptions of Alfred Abousaad ("Time for an end to tirades in chambers," Mailbag, March 14) and self-anointed Jiminy Cricket Robert Phipps, hysterically demanding to know if it was true that Gordon and the Berlins were driving slowly up and down the street outside Dave Golonski's house after 11 p.m., we see the local political goon squad at its ham-fisted worst. Taken with robotic propagandists in "No Married Couples" T-shirts bellowing at the council podium during open communication and Gary Bric's disingenuous ignorance about how and why union political action committee Working Californians ponied up $13,000 on his behalf during the primary, things are clearly reaching frenzy pitch.

BURBANK — The arrival of political hit pieces in Burbank mailboxes late last week has sparked questions about the origin of the mailers. The fliers, paid for by the Coalition for Responsible Leadership, attacked City Council candidates Gary Bric and Anja Reinke on several grounds — including Bric's 1997 driving under the influence conviction and allegations that Reinke represents unsavory clients in her law practice. The coalition was formerly registered as the Good Government Committee and has as its treasurer Kinde Durkee, whose accounting and business-management firm is based out of Burbank, according to state records.

BURBANK — As voters learn of City Council candidate Gary Bric's criminal record, he hopes it won't mar his chances in April for one of two open seats. Court documents show that Bric pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in June 1997 and was arrested in 1990 after he was accused of being involved in bookmaking, which is accepting bets on results of sporting contests. The bookmaking charges were dropped after the district attorney prosecuting the case would not reveal the identity of a key informant in the case.