Pending Appeal of Court Judgment : Burbank May Stash $4.6 Million

Even though Burbank plans to appeal a $4.6-million court judgment that it was ordered to pay to a concert promoter, city officials are recommending that the funds be withdrawn now from the city’s budget and placed in a special account.

Mayor Mary Lou Howard said Wednesday that a resolution to set aside the $4.6 million from the budget’s general fund, which is fed by local taxpayers, was being prepared by city officials. The measure requires City Council approval.

The money could be put into an interest-earning account while the city awaits a final decision on its intended appeal, she said.

Burbank last month was ordered by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury to pay the damages to a concert promoter who alleged that the city illegally prevented him from staging rock concerts at the municipally owned Starlight Bowl in 1979.

‘Going to Keep Fighting’

“We’re going to keep fighting this judgment, but we cannot forget it’s there, and I feel we must do what we can to set the funds aside,” Howard said.

Howard said the money could be withdrawn from surplus city funds, which she said totaled about $17 million. “We have enough reserves right now to put the money aside,” she said.

Although she said withdrawal of the funds would have no immediate effect on local programs, there could be ramifications next year, both on city programs and on contract negotiations with Burbank employee associations.

Howard mentioned the city’s desire to buy 240 acres of hillside property for parkland as one project that eventually could be affected by the judgment.

To Be Felt Next Year

“It’s really hard to tell now what’s going to happen, but the impact will be felt more next year,” she said. “However, I don’t see any drastic changes. Burbank has always operated conservatively. We will maybe operate more conservatively in the future.”

In an 11-1 decision, the jury ruled that Burbank City Council had breached a contract with the promotion firm, Cinevision Corp., when it banned concerts by such rock acts as Jackson Browne and Todd Rundgren. City officials voiced fears at the time that the concerts would attract narcotics users, homosexuals and anti-nuclear demonstrators.

Howard said that, besides requesting a new trial, City Attorney Doug Holland was going to ask the court for a reduction of the judgment.