BURBANK : Mayor Praises City’s Economic Progress

Burbank Mayor Bill Wiggins praised the city’s economic progress in the past year during a brief state of the city address on Thursday.

Speaking at the Burbank Airport Hilton, he pointed with pride to a balanced budget of more than $330 million for the 1994-95 fiscal year and a growing number of businesses opening in the Burbank Village area in downtown.

But the California recession and massive layoffs by the Lockheed Corp. in recent years have dealt powerful blows to a city that is still struggling to recover from them, Wiggins said.

“It’s no secret that the state and federal budget crises have affected local government,” he told an audience of city officials and business representatives.

“We have been forced to fend for ourselves.

“We cannot afford, literally and figuratively, to go back to business as usual.”

In a series of videos that began with the mayor mimicking Johnny Carson by walking onto “The Tonight Show” stage as a host, Wiggins showcased the most notable business expansion efforts in Burbank.

Studios such as Warner Bros. and the Walt Disney Co., for example, have constructed eye-catching buildings that opened this year or will open soon.

Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, with Mickey Mouse at his side, made an appearance in one video, declaring pleasure over his company’s base being in Burbank.