Keuroghelian banking on experience

Josh Kleinbaum

A woman approached Chahe Keuroghelian while shopping at the 7-Eleven

on Broadway recently and asked him if he remembered her.

She reminded Keuroghelian of the time years ago when he helped

mediate a problem with some tenants at the apartment building she

manages.

She told Keuroghelian she was grateful and promised the City

Council candidate her vote.

Keuroghelian hopes voters like that woman will remember his 13

years of service as intercultural relations officer for the Glendale

Police Department instead of July 11, 1999, the night he waved a gun

at his wife.

A jury convicted Keuroghelian of displaying a firearm in a rude,

angry or threatening manner in May 2001, and he served 90 days under

house arrest. A month after the conviction, the Glendale Police

Department fired him.

“I did make a mistake,” Keuroghelian said. “We all do at one point

in life or another. I paid very dearly because of that mistake. My

family fell apart because of that. My goals were put on hold for some

time.”

Keuroghelian has spent six years putting the whole story behind

him. Now, he’s focusing on his City Council campaign.

He believes the skills that made him an effective and popular

community liaison for the Police Department can help improve all

Glendale residents’ quality of life.

“He’s a consensus builder,” said Garbis Der-Yeghiayan, president

of Mashdots College. “When he serves on any committee, he likes to be

recognized as a unifier and consensus builder. He doesn’t push his

own personal agenda. He shares his ideas, his opinions, his plans,

and then he goes with the majority without feeling bad if his plans

weren’t approved.”

On the council, Keuroghelian wants to increase community outreach

and education, spending money on that rather than hiring new police

officers.

He’d like to build a youth center to give latch-key children a

place to go after school, and he’d like to see more public funds used

for low-interest loans or grants to help small businesses and

first-time homeowners.

“I have a vision for tomorrow’s Glendale, which I want to pursue

to make this a better place to live, work and enjoy,” Keuroghelian

said. “Glendale will benefit from my experience, from my honesty,

from my commitment to serving the best that I can.

“I think I represent and will be representing the concerns, issues

and goals of ordinary people in Glendale.”