Manoukian starts second stint as mayor

Robert Chacon

Rafi Manoukian was unanimously appointed mayor Monday during a

meeting in which new city officials were sworn in and outgoing Mayor

Bob Yousefian completed his wedding vows.

Manoukian, who has served six years on the council, will serve his

second term as mayor.

“I am not as nervous as the first time around,” he said.

Zoning standards for downtown, traffic congestion and

strengthening relationships with the Glendale Unified School District

and Glendale Community College were among issues he plans to tackle

in his one-year term.

Manoukian promises to meet with residents at the Glendale farmer’s

market on the first Thursday of every month, and at the Montrose

Harvest Market on the first Sunday of the month. As he did during his

first term as mayor, he will continue his Coffee with Rafi sessions,

where he will meet with residents and answer questions.

After the city’s traditional and informal mayor-selection process,

Manoukian was next in line to sit at the head of the dais.

Traditionally, the chairman of the Redevelopment Agency is voted into

the mayor’s seat. This year, Gus Gomez sat in that position, but his

departure from the council to become a Superior Court judge allowed

Manoukian, as vice chair of the agency, to move to the front.

The council remained largely intact with the reelection of Bob

Yousefian, Frank Quintero and Dave Weaver. Ara Najarian is the sole

newcomer to the council, though he received the most votes during the

election. Najarian was sworn in Monday.

“I am going to work very hard to do the best I can,” he said. “My

door is always open. I can’t promise that I will agree with you, but

I will listen.”

All four newly elected council members, as well as three Glendale

Community College Board of Trustees members, the city treasurer and

city clerk gave their oath of office and were sworn in.

The night’s surprise came when Yousefian announced that he had

married his girlfriend, Sue Eller, shortly before the meeting and

exchanged wedding rings with a packed audience looking on. He

proposed while being named mayor last year.