Burbank City Council to interview 28 candidates for vacant seat

Members of the Burbank City Council will have their work cut out for them as they interview nearly 30 candidates vying to fill the vacancy left by the late Mayor Will Rogers.

During a special meeting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, the city will begin its process of interviewing 28 Burbank residents who hope they will finish Rogers’ term, which ends in April 2019.

Rogers died on April 19 after battling stage 4 liver cancer and non-alcoholic cirrhosis. Because he had served more than half of his four-year term, the City Council is obligated to find a replacement within 30 days of his death.

The city clerk’s office received 31 applications by the Monday deadline at noon, but three applicants — Antonio Dontrel Hatchinsch, Iveta Ovsepyan and Patricia S. Tomaszewski — were disqualified because they were not qualified as registered Burbank voters, according to a city staff report.

Should the City Council need additional time to interview candidates, the process will be continued to a special meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Council members are also expected to make their decision during that meeting.

Here are the candidates who are scheduled to be interviewed, in random order, by the City Council starting Thursday:

• Alfred Aboulsaad, 21-year resident, senior medical informatics report developer/data analyst for AltaMed Health Services;
• Konstantine Anthony, two-year resident, ride-sharing driver for Uber and Burbank Transportation Commission member;
• Steve S. Baghoomian, 20-year resident, attorney;
• Robert S. Brody, 19-year resident, administrative law judge;
• Lauren G. Burton, one-year resident, attorney;
• John Bwarie, two-year resident, business owner of Stratiscope;
• Gayle Kolodny Cole, one-year resident, educational consultant;
• Davida Michelle Frieman, seven-year resident, attorney;
• Michael Gogin, 11-year resident, singer/songwriter;
• Juan Jose Guillen, 26-year resident, chief financial officer of True Integrity and Payroll Services;
• Barry Steven Gussow, 24-year; resident, Realtor;
• Paul Richard Herman, 11-year resident, commercial real estate broker;
• Vahe Hovanessian, 29-year resident, attorney;
• Carolyn Elizabeth Jackson, 40-year resident: retired.

Also:

• Stephen N. Kindred, 19-year resident, semi-retired;
• Gilbert Lopez, 14-year resident, freelance consultant for GLJ Consulting Group;
• Kristofer Justin McNeeley, nine-year resident, vice president of creative affairs and business development for MarVista Entertainment;
• Linda Helen Muchamel, 30-year resident, lawyer;
• Timothy Michael Murphy, 54-year resident, attorney;
• Erik Laurence Nelson, 26-year resident, chief executive of FanFlex, LLC;
• Gerrard A. Panahon, 12-year resident, senior financial analyst/lead resource analyst for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory;
• Oscar Portillo, Jr., 35-year resident, quality control technician for Eckert and Ziegler Isotope Products;
• Christopher Rizzotti, 50-year resident, real estate broker and Burbank Planning Board member;
• Thomas Michael Smith, five-year resident, teacher for Los Angeles Unified School District;
• Tonja M. Stump, 24-year resident, self-employed;
• Meredith Ann Swierczynski, two-year resident, private elementary school tutor;
• Abby Elizabeth Usayiwevu, four-year resident, registered nurse for St. Vincent Medical Center;
• Alex Wysocki, four-year resident, producer and director of photography for Shadow Render Films.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio