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.”