Advertisement

Burbank City Council candidate Sharon Springer hopes second attempt will get her on the dais

Share

Sharon Springer said that she is fed up with the Burbank City Council making wrong decisions and not looking out for local residents.

Springer, 60, a nonprofit administrator, is vying for a spot on the City Council again after an unsuccessful run in 2015.

She said that she thinks the friction between council members is preventing work from being done.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

“I’m action oriented and have lived in Burbank for 25 years,” she said. “The whining, flimsy excuses, incompetence, ineffective leadership, lack of collaboration and consensus building and bullying have simply gone too far.”

Springer was compelled to run two years ago because of the City Council’s decision to approve construction of a new IKEA store, which opened recently.

She said that she still disapproves of the council members’ decision because she believes there was not enough traffic mitigation for the project and the city decided to give away the street naming rights to IKEA.

“I was not and am not anti-IKEA nor anti-development,” Springer said. “However, development should be thoughtful and mindful of our community. I trust that our city and IKEA will work through the impacts to our neighborhood and restore normalcy once the initial impact is over.”

What do you consider to be the biggest issue facing Burbank today?

One of the biggest issues Springer thinks is plaguing the city is a projected budget deficit.

“Most of our residents are unaware of the looming budget deficit,” she said. “They’ve trusted our City Council, including long-term incumbents who are running in this election, to keep our city solvent. Very simply, we have more money [going out than coming in]. This irresponsibility would be considered incompetence and calls for termination in the private sector.”

Additionally, Springer said the council has not addressed the increasing amount of traffic throughout the city nor has it dealt with a lack of affordable housing.

“These two issues are related and have been ignored by our current council,” she said. “Any development needs to be feasible for Burbank. We need to go through the same analysis that a developer goes through.”

How would you ensure that the members of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority stick to what they told voters they would do?

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority is now moving forward with its project to build a 14-gate replacement terminal at Hollywood Burbank Airport.

Springer said that because there has been a level of distrust between residents and the airport authority, she would consider having current council members serving as airport commissioners, which is something Burbank has not done since 1995.

“If it’s allowed, I’ll serve on the airport commission,” she said. “I won’t ever vote for more than 14 gates. And I’ll represent the people in the airport neighborhood.”

Springer added that, although she is not in favor of having more than 14 gates at the airport, she thinks the terminal should be replaced.

How would you ensure that the city’s budget is balanced without pulling money from the General Fund?

Burbank faces a growing budget deficit over the next five years, and Springer thinks that tough decisions need to be made to get the city back in the black.

“We need to look at the city’s expenses and need to see if there’s any room for potential cuts,” she said. “We need to be creative about making money and see if there are other opportunities out there to generate income.”

Additionally, Springer said that the city cannot build its way out of debt by approving development projects on a whim.

“That’s a very short-term outlook,” she said. “We have to be mindful and have responsible development.”

--

Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio

Advertisement