Amid coronavirus crisis, Glendale city leadership will see shakeup
Glendale’s City Council race at the beginning of the month might seem light years in the past, with coronavirus headlines dominating news cycles and public consciousness.
Despite large swaths of the county shutting down in the wake of the pandemic, county vote tallies have gone forward on time. Election results are set to be certified on Friday, as planned, and on Tuesday Glendale will virtually swear in the top-three vote-getters — incumbent Paula Devine, who came in first with 22.92% of the vote, and a pair of newcomers.
Those first-time council members, Ardy Kassakhian and Dan Brotman, who took second and third with 18.78% and 18.67% of the vote, respectively, will join the city leadership amid a crisis that has as upended residents’ ways of life.
Just prior to certification, Kassakhian led Brotman by just 109 votes, scoring a full four-year term. Brotman will take over a vacated seat for a two-year term.
As new faces arrive, incumbent Vartan Gharpetian will be leaving the council after 5 years on the dais. First elected in 2015, he slipped into fourth place on election night and has stayed there ever since. He finished with just over 12% of the vote.
While the coronavirus is a global issue, it has had profound local effects. As of Friday, Glendale had 29 confirmed cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, with one resident over 65 losing their life to the virus.
Last Tuesday, the city extended its local emergency period through the end of April. Like the rest of the county, nonessential retail businesses have shut down and residents have been asked to leave their homes only for essential needs.
Both Kassakhian, currently the city clerk, and Brotman, an economics professor, acknowledged that most of what they discussed on the campaign trail will be put on hold while they take on the emergency situation.
Devine, first elected to the council in 2014, said she is also concentrating on the crisis rather than long-term goals for the time being.
“It certainly isn’t what I envisioned coming into when I ran for office, but it’s certainly something I’m ready to take on,” Kassakhian said.
First elected to the clerk’s position in 2005, Kassakhian said he joined then with “all these great plans” only to soon be hit with the Great Recession beginning in 2007. A period of financial austerity followed.
“There are going to be similarities and experiences that I can draw from,” he said. “Moving forward, we’re going to have to make votes and tough decisions that are not going to please everyone.”
Brotman, who has never held a political office, agreed that there were echoes of the recession.
Since Glendale officials declared a local emergency on March 16, the day-to-day response has been handled by city staff, something that won’t change with the council shakeup, both Brotman and Kasskhian said.
“What changes is policy direction about how we’re going to handle different parts of the population that are dealing with extreme economic pressures and food and housing insecurity,” said Brotman, adding that he thought that the city was moving in the right direction on those issues.
Glendale has halted evictions of tenants affected by the virus, as well as banned all residential rent increases as long as the emergency period continues. Officials have coordinated grab-and-go meals for children not in school and public sanitation facilities for the homeless.
Mayor Ara Najarian said he doesn’t anticipate a major change following the swearing-in ceremony, which will be held as a teleconference on Tuesday at around 6 p.m.
Glendale has been following the lead of county and state officials to ensure there’s a coordinated, uniform response across the board, Najarian said.
“In other words, if [other cities] are going to go and close bars, we can’t keep our bars open because that would just be counterproductive,” Najarian said.
“We’re hearing what state and county officials are proposing, and if it makes sense for Glendale, we’re adopting it,” he added. “We’re not reinventing the wheel with regard to the coronavirus response.”
In a statement, Devine said she’s confident that the council will be able to address the crisis at hand.
“There is no doubt in my mind that, regardless of who is on council, we will act as a team in supporting any and all measures needed to address this issue,” Devine said.