Council fills close to three dozen vacancies

Ben Godar

It took a while, but the City Council sorted through more than 100

applicants to appoint 32 people to open positions on various city

boards, committees and commissions.

The appointments at Tuesday’s council meeting came after two hours

of public comment, most of which consisted of candidates making a

case for their appointment to everything from the Police Commission

to the Board of Library Trustees.

Following the public comment period, several council members said

the number of qualified applicants far exceeded the number of

available positions. The council even expanded the Youth Endowment

Services Fund Advisory Committee from five to seven members after

Councilman Dave Golonski suggested it would be an appropriate move to

accommodate nine candidates seeking two vacancies.

“Every time this comes around, I always try to increase the number

of positions on one board or another,” Golonski said.

One familiar name the council considered was former mayor David

Laurell, who was selected for the Park, Recreation and Community

Services Board. Laurell was competing with 10 other candidates for

two openings.

Burbank Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Susan Bowers, who

was appointed to the Board of Library Trustees, complimented the

council for not just relying on incumbents to fill the positions. She

joined incumbent Lee Paysinger in filling two board vacancies.

“By appointing fresh faces, they’ve taken a bold but important

step,” she said.

Mitchell Thomas and Margaret Taylor were appointed to the Planning

Board, but the council did not appoint a replacement for former

Chairwoman Carolyn Berlin, who abruptly resigned earlier this month.

Berlin’s resignation is effective today, and city officials said the

council has up to 90 days to appoint her replacement.