Burbank Ignored Residents’ Wishes

What a wonderful thing to see democracy in action. The meeting on the cul-de-sac situation gave a loud and clear signal that, in Burbank, all men are not created equal.

A month ago, a written poll showed a majority of residents wanted the cul-de-sacs to become permanent. But that wasn’t the response the gentlemen of the council wanted (the developers would be displeased), so they caused to be written a negative staff report which bandied about any number of half-baked reasons as to why the barricades were a bad idea.

The meeting was supposed to be the neighborhood’s opportunity to respond to the staff report and once again make its feelings known. We responded with clarity and intelligence and a plea for fair play and majority rule.

If the gentlemen of the council were listening, they would have heard the 80% pro cul-de-sac testimony vs. 20% against. But they weren’t listening. The meeting was a farce--a sop to a gullible neighborhood naive enough to believe promises made during the recent election campaign.

The Burbank City Council members are not stupid men. They know very well that any additional stop signs, no turn signs, 25 m.p.h speed signs and truck tonnage limit signs will be as ignored as the current signs are. And as to the speed humps that are being hyped as the saving grace--if they don’t bother the police and fire departments, then they sure won’t bother the speeding commuters.

Will someone’s dead child or husband or grandmother be enough to bring the council to its senses and make it realize how costly was their sellout to development interests? I doubt it. Perhaps the following million-dollar lawsuits will.

ANITA DOOHAN

Burbank