Steven Ferguson belongs on board

Soon, the Burbank school board will be appointing a member to serve the remainder of the term vacated by Debbie Kukta, who is now city treasurer. While I’d like to thank Kukta for her dedicated service on the board and to the district, I want to challenge the board’s current members to look at something as a non-binding criteria for Kukta’s replacement.

To my knowledge, the only young leader Burbank has seen in recent memory was Steve Ferguson, when he ran for City Council in 2009.

Steve, as a young leader, did as fantastic (if not more so) a job as any of his older, more experienced colleagues during his time on the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Board. In my opinion, this can be credited to his fresh, new perspective on city issues, while also having been a lifelong resident of Burbank. Burbank truly needs more young leaders like Steve Ferguson.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that older citizens of Burbank do a poor job in leading the city (I can often be seen at meetings praising great leaders such as Councilman David Gordon or school board members Dave Kemp and Roberta Reynolds), but I think it’s time Burbank starts looking to new, fresh perspectives that can be found in young leaders.

I charge the school board to look at someone who has not only been a lifelong resident of Burbank, but to look at someone who was a recent product of Burbank schools and can provide a new take on the front lines of education.

Finally, I’d like to task the young residents of Burbank to become more involved in our great city. We need to start taking charge of our future, and what better time to start than now?

Brandon Batham

Burbank