Councilmember Kassakhian’s nomination of Joel Peterson to the GWP Commission was unanimously approved. Mr. Peterson is Director of Facilities at Glendale Community College, a long-time Glendale resident, retired Lieutenant Colonel of the US Navy, Holds a BA from University of VA and Masters in Education. He is in the process of completing his doctorate of education. He has extensive project management experience and has been helping GCC to move to more sustainable, greener practices in his current capacity. Peterson was an elected member of the La Canada School District Board.

Councilmember Brotman’s nomination of Alek Bartrosouf to the Sustainability Commission was unanimously approved. Mr. Bartrosouf became the first member of the sustainability commission. He has been active in the community with issues of sustainability for many years. He helped form Walk Bike Glendale and the Coalition for a Green Glendale, and was involved with setting up community gardens in Glendale. He received a degree in Urban Planning from UCLA and currently works as a transportation planner for the City of Los Angeles. [GEC NOTE: Alek is also a steering member of the Glendale Environmental Coalition]

Councilmember Devine’s nomination of Jennifer Pinkerton to the Sustainability Commission was unanimously approved. Ms. Pinkerton is Assistant Division Manager for Environmental Affairs for LA Sanitation and Environments Dept.. She has spent nearly 30 years in the environmental arena, primarily in recycling, environmentally preferable purchasing, zero waste, food rescue policy and ordinance development and egislative analysis. She has also worked with other groups such as  CA Against Waste and the United Nations Environment Program. Councilmember Brotman also noted that Ms. Pinkerton is a steering member of the Glendale Environmental Coalition.

Councilmember Agajanian nominated Aleen Laura Khanjian to the Sustainability Commission. Ms. Khanjian’s application is linked.

Councilmember Najarian – Placed into nomination Andy Carrasco for the Sustainability Commission. [NOTE: This nomination was removed from the 1/26/21 meeting agenda.]

Council Comments:

Councilmember Brotman – Offered a brief report on the Energy and Environment Committee of the SoCal Association of Governments, which passed a resolution declaring a climate crisis in SoCal and specified various actions that SCAG will take to coordinate action across various cities and counties in its region, e.g. technical assistance, sourcing funds for Climate Action Plans, funding and assistance for dealing with urban heat island impacts, organic waste reduction and wildlife corridor restoration and urban greenway projects. Since there are many items included that Glendale is currently working on, Brotman encouraged staff to inquire if any of these activities would provide funding sources or other expertise that may be useful to Glendale.

Mr. Brotman also discussed resuming the Community Emergency Response Team Program (CERT) and taking it to the next level. This is a program where neighbors coordinate to prepare for emergencies like earthquakes, fires, etc, in order to have action plans in place for the time before help is able to arrive. Councilmember Devine seconded this request.

Councilmember Brotman also reviewed a recent memo from staff that he had previously requested regarding creating a plan to decarbonize the city’s vehicle fleet. He expressed that he understands some of the challenges we face, that some of the technology is ready and for others (especially for heavy duty vehicles) the technology might not be quite there yet for what we need. He noted that buses are pretty close and light duty vehicles are ready. He understands that electric vehicles can be more expensive than their fossil fuel alternative and that there are start up costs related to investments needed in charging infrastructure and training for maintenance personnel.  However, he made the point that we have an imperative to get off fossil fuels, that this is a health and safety issue for residents. He also noted that the technology is moving fast and the cost curve is rapidly moving in our favor (Brotman highlighted that operational costs including fuel and maintenance are expected to reach parity with fossil fuel cars in most classes in approx 4 years according to the CA Air Resources Board, or in 10 years when comparing fossil fuel cars to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.) He noted that other agencies have created plans to convert their fleets. He noted LA County has a plan that by 2025, 100% of non-emergency vehicles will be zero emission, by 2035 100% of medium duty vehicles and light duty emergency will be zero emission and by 2045 all of their vehicles will be zero emission. He asked for a second for staff to prepare a roadmap to a 100% zero carbon fleet with committed dates that are no less ambitious than the county, and ideally  he encourages the city to get ahead of the county. He asked that funds be set aside if needed in the next budget cycle, but encourages our city to draw on what others have done. He noted that the Governer is pushing on this and that we want to be ready when grant funds become available. Councilmember Kassakhian seconded the motion.

Councilmember Kassakhian discussed an uptick of graffiti issues in the city and asked for staff to bring back a plan to tackle this issue of blight that has increased over the past few years. He also noted the problem with “dump sites” – where bulky items are left (mattresses, cabinets, etc.) without arrangements for pickup. Mayor Agajanian offered a second to the motion. Mr. Kassakhian also asked the city to revisit digital signage code rules. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Brotman.

Action Items:

Action Item 8a. Community Development, re: Potential initiation of a Glendale Municipal Code, 1995, amendment related to urban beekeeping in residential zones.

Council voted unanimously to give this item to the Sustainability Commission to explore when they convene (estimated in March), including gathering information on the experiences of other localities that have permitted urban beekeeping,  to bring back recommendations to council for further consideration. If council chooses to move forward with any changes at that time, the item will go to the Planning Commission.