Burbank: No Place for Bigots

The Burbank City Council did the right thing when it sacked a member of a city panel for using a racial slur against Asians during a meeting. Mike Nolan was removed on a unanimous vote from the city’s Public Service Department Advisory Board last month after he used the slur to refer to executives of Sony Corp. during a passionate speech to the City Council.

Nolan, brother of former Republican Assemblyman Pat Nolan, used the slur during a speech criticizing city subsidies to large companies. When the council asked him to retract the remark, Nolan refused, saying he had served in Vietnam and “that’s how I feel.” Nolan’s bigotry is his own business. But when it seeps into public--as such things inevitably do--it becomes the public’s business. That Nolan should have been disciplined is a given. But the swiftness, firmness and unanimity with which the Burbank council ousted him deserves notice. Council members said they acted decisively to send a message that such behavior will not be tolerated.

Councilman Bob Kramer put it this way: “He tried to say that because he served in Vietnam, it’s OK for him to use racial slurs against people he doesn’t like. I was in Vietnam myself with the Marines, and I don’t think it’s acceptable for anyone to use that kind of language, least of all in a City Council meeting.”

With the removal of Nolan, Burbank demonstrates yet again that it is a town with truly cosmopolitan aspirations. While many other places are still sputtering from the recession, finding a vacancy in Burbank’s Media District is virtually impossible. As the rest of Southern California grapples with the decline of the aerospace industry, Burbank aggressively woos the booming entertainment industry. Its retail strips are among the healthiest in the Valley.

Burbank’s message of the past decade has been that it is a city where residents and merchants can thrive and that everyone is invited to take part. Nolan’s venom has no place. The City Council should be applauded for recognizing that and acting quickly to eliminate it.