Mailbag: Is rebranding necessary?
Re: “Working to spread the news,” Jan. 17. I’m curious how much time and money has been spent in the attempt to “rebrand” what our community has known for years to be Bob Hope Airport into Hollywood Burbank Airport. Has this plan been thought through? First of all, Hollywood is a mountain range south of Burbank, and the article also mentions that the legal name of the airport will still remain the Bob Hope Airport. So why not just keep it the Bob Hope Airport as it already is?
Chuck Weiss
La Crescenta
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League forums scheduled
The League of Women Voters of Glendale/Burbank is working on tried and true, as well as new and innovative ways to help voters learn about and engage with the candidates for Burbank City Council and the Burbank school board.
First up will be the League’s Candidate Forum on Jan. 27 at City Hall. It will begin at 7 p.m. with candidates for City Council and continue at 8:30 p.m. with candidates for the school board. A League moderator will ask the candidates written questions received from the public before the event and from the audience attending the forum.
The public is invited to attend both City Council and school board forums in person. The forums will also be taped and broadcast on Burbank Channel 6 through Feb. 28 (the deadline to return your ballot); they will also be available on Burbank’s YouTube channel.
Submit your questions in advance. Send email to: CityCouncilForum@gb.ca.lwvnet.org and/or SchoolBoardForum@gb.ca.lwvnet.org.
In addition to our traditional Candidate Forum, this year the local League of Women Voters is organizing an exciting new Candidates Carousel. This new event provides candidates and community organizations the ability to gather in one location, and candidates will move from table to table answering questions and conversing with each organization for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the number of participating organizations and candidates. This event (sometimes described as “candidate speed-dating”) has been used by League groups around the country to bring together community groups in engaging and informative conversation with candidates for public office.
The Burbank Candidates Carousel will be at the Buena Vista Library, on Sunday, Feb.12. If your community group is interested in participating in the Candidates Carousel, please contact us at lwvglendaleburbankca@gmail.com.
Look for more information about election events at your local library and our website: gb.ca.lwvnet.org.
Mary L. Dickson
Burbank
Editor’s Note: The writer is president, League of Women Voters of Glendale/Burbank.
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IKEA’s past is questionable
As the new IKEA store in Burbank prepares to open, we should not forget the shameful history of the company and its founder, Ingvar Kamprad. He was actively involved in a Swedish Nazi group during World War II. That information was revealed by the Swedish government in the early 1990s. Swedish security had developed a file on Mr. Kamprad in the 1940s and eventually released its contents to the public. Following this revelation, Mr. Kamprad apologized for his Nazi activism in a letter to IKEA employees. He actually blamed his grandparents for his attraction to the Nazi beliefs. However, it was not until 2011 that the extent of his involvement as a Nazi recruiter was exposed in a well publicized book written by Elisabeth Asbrink.
Additionally, it has been revealed that IKEA used forced labor to manufacture some of its products in East Germany in the 1980s. IKEA did admit to that fact and later apologized.
Perhaps the Burbank City Council was unaware of this information, which is well known and well documented, or deemed it to be irrelevant when members approved the new arrangement with IKEA. It is not irrelevant and shoppers should be aware of IKEA’s history when they consider spending their money at the new store.
Thomas Saito
Burbank
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Development pays the bills
When voting in the upcoming election, there are a lot of important things to consider. One item that people need to think about is the fiscal stability of our city. A lot of candidates want to stop development and keep Burbank as it is. While this in theory is a nice idea, in the long run I believe it will be detrimental to our city. It isn’t that I am pro-growth and want a lot of new apartments and condos in Burbank. But I want to keep Burbank the great independent city it is today.
Development brings in much needed tax revenue. With the city currently bringing in less in revenue than it spends in expenses (with a deficit of $1.2 million last year) we need to fill the gap. There are two ways to fix this problem — reduce spending or increase revenue.
One solution to cut costs could be reducing the cost for city services. The city services are what make Burbank great. Cutting staff might mean increased response times for police and fire. Or fewer programs offered by our parks and recreation centers. Another solution might be to outsource some of these services. When power goes out in Burbank it’s never for long because we have BWP. If this service were to be outsourced would we receive the same level of service?
When thinking about who to vote for this election season keep the deficit in mind. If you like a candidate who wants to halt development ask them how they will increase revenue. If they want to reduce costs ask them what services they would cut. Change is sometimes scary but increased revenue from new development is a lot less scary than reducing the number of police officers on our streets.
Laura McKinney
Burbank