Mayor’s Wishes Prevail : Burbank Set to Party as Age Issue Is Settled

A victor has emerged in the great Burbank birthday battle.

The Civic Pride Committee voted this week to support Mayor Mary Lou Howard’s wish to celebrate the city’s 75th birthday in July, commemorating the date in 1911 when Burbank became an incorporated city.

The decision by committee members is a retreat from their earlier position supporting the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the city’s founding.

Although the committee, made up of City Council appointees, said last month that Burbank could not celebrate two different birthdays within a year of each other, acting committee Chairman Curt Reynolds persuaded members Tuesday to support the mayor’s birthday proposal.

Both ‘Appropriate’

“The mayor and the City Council obviously wanted to celebrate the 75th birthday, and it’s our purpose to assist the mayor,” said Reynolds, who is also Burbank fire chief. “There was no conflict, just two different purposes. Both birthdays are appropriate.”

The battle began to brew last month when Mary Jane Strickland, director of the Burbank Historical Society, asked the committee to help plan the celebration of the city’s centennial, despite Howard’s request for the committee to come up with ideas for its 75th birthday.

Strickland had contended that Burbank actually became a city in 1887, when the Providencia Land and Water Co., which owned what is now central Burbank, divided it into lots and subdivisions and filed maps with Los Angeles County naming the place Burbank.

Howard and other council members expressed anger over Strickland’s proposal. Since several members of the committee had been appointed by Howard’s chief political opponent, former Mayor E. Daniel Remy, they said Strickland, a longtime Remy friend, had tried to give the committee a “sales pitch” behind Howard’s back.

Accusation Denied

Strickland denied the accusation.

Howard said she was pleased with the committee’s change of heart. “Their participation is going to make the celebration much better. Once they realized what direction the council had wanted to go in, they agreed it was the right decision.”

Strickland said there was no winner or loser in the birthday conflict. “Everybody was saying it was a dogfight, but it wasn’t,” Strickland said. “We’re still going to celebrate the city’s founding. Nothing’s changed.”

Plans for the city’s Diamond Jubilee will proceed, Howard said, with the celebration scheduled for July 1 to July 4 next year.

Strickland said she will also continue planning the city’s centennial, and individual committee members are expected to help her.