Still pounding the pavement

Laura Sturza

Incumbent City Councilman Jef Vander Borght did not know what he was

in for when he decided to run for a full term on the City Council,

since he was appointed to his seat last year when former mayor Bob

Kramer resigned.

“The campaign requires an inordinate amount of time,” Vander

Borght said. “Being a council member requires a fraction of the time

that it takes to run for office.”

The councilman works by day as an architect, and is joined by

fellow candidates Gary Bric, a restaurant owner, environmental policy

director Todd Campbell and Realtor Brian Malone in being ready to

learn the results of Tuesday’s general election. The hopefuls look

forward to the prospect of getting to work for the constituents they

meet while knocking on doors.

The men also agreed that campaigning has been heartening --

receiving support, meeting residents, and learning more about

specific concerns.

“Now that the primary is over, it seems everybody is really honing

in on the issues -- the airport, traffic, and the budget,” Malone

said. “If they are asking about the airport ... they want

restrictions.”

The war in Iraq has changed Vander Borght’s approach.

“[We] try to remind people that the campaign is still going on,

especially at this difficult time when there are far more pressing

issues,” Vander Borght said.

Campbell’s experience with the State Legislature will help him

defend Burbank from state budget cuts, he said. That has helped with

his campaigning, along with his masters’ degrees from Yale University

and University of Southern California.

“Some [residents] think I’m crazy to want to do it because they

think with the degrees I have that I could do anything,” Campbell

said.

People continue to voice their concerns about the budget crisis.

All city departments have been told to plan for 10% cuts.

“Maybe cut some programs [and] reduce others,” Bric said “To me

that’s rightsizing, not downsizing.”