Buzz Ebbs as Burbank Lends Ear to Gadflies

The audience at last Tuesday’s Burbank City Council meeting was laughing, but Jules Kimmett had not come to tell jokes.

As he does every Tuesday evening, Kimmett, 63, the self-appointed, leading citizen watchdog of Burbank politics, had come to express his dissatisfaction with city staff reports and to scold the council for not doing enough research on agenda items. But by the fourth time Kimmett rose to complain in his theatrical manner, the audience in the council chamber seemed unwilling to take him seriously.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Kimmett bellowed over the chuckles floating through the auditorium. “People think we’re in a circus.”

3-Ring Circus

Six months ago, Kimmett’s observation might have been right on target. Burbank City Council meetings resembled a discordant three-ring circus, with council members and a group of colorful gadflies playing out a volatile feud in the center ring. There would be shouting matches with barbed insults and obscenities. Council members would not hesitate to shout back at citizens or to leave the room while they spoke.

But now, the Burbank City Council circus appears to have folded its tent--at least for the time being. The number of gadflies regularly attending the meetings has dwindled to Kimmett and a few others. The atmosphere at council meetings sometimes even contains periods of friendliness.

Indeed, Mayor Mary Lou Howard has to beg for citizens to speak during the oral communications period.

“There’s been a noticeable reduction in the number of people coming to the podium and attacking the council,” Councilman Bob Bowne said, sounding pleased but cautious. Like some others, he’s not sure how long the peace will last.

Although gadflies, residents who relentlessly research documents, policies and rulings, have always been a thorn in the side of politicians, the intensity of the hostility in Burbank seemed extraordinary in recent years.

The oral communications portion of the council meetings, where citizens can address the council, sometimes lasted up to two hours. The feud even sparked lawsuits, including an $11.5-million suit filed by the city against one of the more vocal council critics, Mike Nolan.

Nolan, who used to address the council at every opportunity, now speaks only occasionally. The meetings are shorter and, some officials say, a bit duller.

Remy’s Departure a Key

The quieting of Burbank politics is being attributed by officials largely to the departure of former Mayor E. Daniel Remy, who once called the gadflies a group of “bozos,” provoking more negative reaction from citizens.

Remy was soundly defeated in his bid for reelection earlier this year. Councilman Larry Stamper was also defeated, and another council member, Leland Ayers, who was known to get into heated arguments with the public and his colleagues, resigned in April.

Michael Hastings, Mary Kelsey and Al Dossin, who were elected to the council with the backing of Howard, had promised during the campaign that they would not be rude and would pay more attention to residents’ complaints. After six months in office, they say they are keeping their promise.

“The gadflies really and truly have the best interests of the city in mind. They have put a lot of time and effort into gathering the facts, and the new council listens to them,” Dossin said. “We do everything in public instead of behind closed doors, and because we are so accessible, there is nothing to yell and shout about.”

Other Reasons for Harmony

But there are other factors contributing to the new harmony.

Kimmett and Nolan were appointed by the council this year to government committees--Kimmett to the noise study panel of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, and Nolan to the Metropolitan Water District board. Some officials and council watchers have said privately that the appointments were attempts to placate the pair and that the gadflies are becoming a part of the Burbank establishment.

But Howard insisted: “Nobody’s been bought off.” She said Nolan “had a problem with one of the council members, and that council member is no longer with us,” referring to Remy.

Some council members also believe that the new council may be benefiting from a honeymoon period in which Burbank citizens withhold their criticism. But they also say the honeymoon may be rapidly drawing to a close.

“The conflicts will come again,” Hastings said. “The people haven’t had time to load their guns,” he said.

Hastings and Bowne predict that the honeymoon may end at today’s council meeting, when the council considers enacting a moratorium on development within the city limits. Residents, particularly those from the part of Burbank that contains several major film studios and high-rise office buildings, have become increasingly angry over the prospect of additional development in the city.

About 400 residents from the Burbank Media District area crowded into a school auditorium Wednesday and attacked the council for not imposing a moratorium to reduce development. Howard has pushed for a moratorium for several months but has failed to win support from the majority of the council.

But no matter how residents react to the council tonight, the situation is unlikely to reach the intensity of past years.

As the council critics paraded to the lectern, Remy often would walk out of the chamber or ignore them by looking away and then, when they finished, proceed with business as though nothing had been said. Former City Attorney William Rudell once held up a “No Bozos” decal while Kimmett was speaking last year.

After Nolan filed a suit in 1982 to block the sale of land for a redevelopment project, the city filed an $11.5-million countersuit, alleging that Nolan’s suit had prevented the city from participating in the sale and seeking to recover its losses.

The city’s suit eventually was dismissed.

Despite the relative peace, the tension has not entirely disappeared from council chambers. Kimmett launched a “Recall Hastings” movement in the summer after the councilman initially failed to support moving the regular time of Redevelopment Agency meetings from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Melvin Perlitsh, another council gadfly, circulated a flyer at a Town Hall meeting hosted by Hastings suggesting that the councilman was leaning more toward a pro-development stance than he had stressed during his campaign.

“I don’t mind being attacked,” Hastings said. “Everybody has to be criticized and kicked in line. I think Jules Kimmett is one of the most credible people to speak before the council. I listen to what he says.”

Kimmett, a school custodian who is the chairman and only member of a group he calls Concerned Citizens of Burbank, said he does not plan to let up on the council.

“If they start loving me, that will be the worst thing that can happen,” he said. “I got to keep on them. They’re not doing their homework.”