Council Candidates Focus on Airport

Roughly 80 times a day, Burbank residents are reminded of a big concern in Tuesday’s primary election for City Council.

That’s how often, on average, a plane takes off from Burbank. The city’s small airport shares its name with Glendale and Pasadena -- but not its noise and other nuisances, residents complain.

As the airport authority pursues a lengthy review that could lead to a ban on nighttime flights, the 10 candidates for City Council are assuring voters that they want to make the airport a better neighbor. But they have to concede that the airport is ultimately controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration and the commissioners appointed to the authority by the three cities.

“What we can do is hope to influence and push and cajole people and get them to move for protections for the citizens of Burbank, but we cannot deliver that,” said Councilman Jef Vander Borght, who was appointed 10 months ago to fill a partial term and is running for a full four-year term.

Two council seats are open in Burbank, and Tuesday’s top vote-getters -- usually the top four, but that will depend on the vote -- will advance to a runoff on April 8. Also on next week’s primary ballot are 15 school board candidates vying for three seats, plus a bond measure for library improvements and a measure to recommend voting by mail.

About 100,000 people live in Burbank, and about half of them are registered to vote, according to the city clerk. In addition to Vander Borght, the council candidates are:

* Michael Bergfeld, an attorney

* Gary Bric, a restaurant owner

* Todd Campbell, a public policy director

* Esther Espinoza, a frequent speaker at council meetings who calls herself a domestic engineer

* Vahe Hovanessian, a paralegal

* Kisa Kirkpatrick, an attorney

* Brian Malone, a residential real estate agent

* Michael Porco, the director of a nonprofit agency

Financial advisor Lee Dunayer is also listed on the ballot, but he is not actively campaigning.

Just as Burbank residents complain about the planes overhead, they curse traffic on the ground.

The entertainment industry remains a major contributor to the city’s economy, and retail has supplanted the city’s flagging aerospace sector. As new shopping centers have opened, the roads have not kept up, Bergfeld said.

“Our bedroom community is being transformed into a retail-discount-commercial area without regard for how it creates traffic on our streets,” he said.

And, like most cities, Burbank wonders how it can provide the same level of service in this tough economy.

“We’re facing a real challenge,” Malone said.

For the Burbank Unified School District’s Board of Education, there are 12 challengers to incumbents Elena Hubbell, Mike McDonald and President Richard Raad.

The $14-million library bond would be issued only if Burbank can secure state funding for 65% of the cost of a new central library.

The result of the “mail ballot” measure will advise city leaders whether to conduct future municipal elections by mail.

The Burbank city clerk’s Web site posts the names of the candidates for City Council and the Board of Education, along with descriptions of the library bond and vote-by-mail measure: https://www.ci.burbank.ca.us/cityclerk/voteflyer.htm