Ask the Mayor with Nikki Perez - January 2025

What drives someone from a lifelong residency in Burbank to the mayor's office? Join us as we uncover the inspiring journey of Nikki Perez, Burbank's newest mayor, whose deep-rooted connection to the city fuels her mission to improve the lives of its residents. From her upbringing in local schools to her career as a social worker, Nikki's personal story is a testament to her unwavering dedication to community service. Listen as she shares the challenges she faces in addressing bureaucratic hurdles and her ambitious plans to bring meaningful change to Burbank.

Our conversation takes a deeper look at pressing issues like immigration concerns and public safety challenges. We tackle the complex dynamics of protecting undocumented residents while maintaining trust in local law enforcement. Hear about the critical policies and community engagement needed to ensure safety and cohesion in a rapidly growing city. We also discuss the importance of retaining trained personnel in essential services like police and fire departments amidst staffing shortages, a crucial step towards sustaining Burbank's high-quality city services.

The episode wraps up with a focus on the heartbeat of Burbank's economy: its thriving film industry. We'll explore how local businesses can flourish with targeted support and incentives, maintaining Burbank's status as a global media hub. Additionally, discover how the city's emergency preparedness plans are evolving, with initiatives like the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) playing a pivotal role. This episode is a comprehensive look at the challenges and opportunities facing Burbank, offering valuable insights for residents and stakeholders alike.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
My Burbank Talks presents another edition of Ask
the Mayor, a monthly forumgiving the Mayor of Burbank an
opportunity to answer questionsfrom you, the listener, and
address issues important to theCity of Burbank.
Now let's join our hosts asthey welcome the Mayor of
Burbank.
Hello Burbank, it's CraigSchroed, once again with you.
I'm back again, of course, todo this with Ross Benson.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Tally-ho, hi-ho, hi, wait, there we go.
There's my tally light.
We're doing a show.
House of Makeup I got my falseteeth in Looking good.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
What more do I need?
Well, ross, as we always talkabout, this is probably our
favorite show we do every monthand since we've started it, and
with us we have Burbank's newestmayor, nikki Perez Madam Mayor,
welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
Well, glad to be here .
Hi Craig, hi Ross and Ross, younever need any makeup.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Oh, thank you very much.
What do we address you?
Do we address you as MadamMayor?
Mayor Nikki, madam Perez.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
You know you can call me Nikki Ross, I'm just a girl
from Burbank.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, let's talk about it for a second.
So you're just a girl, not onlyjust a girl from Burbank, born
and bred in Burbank.
You grew up here in Burbank,went to Burbank schools.
What color is she wearing?
Well, she's wearing the rightcolor.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Because she knows.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
No offense.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Burbank High people.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
No, none, you really beat us this year.
It's okay, I'm not over it.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Anyhow, you were born here and you were raised here,
and let's talk about when didyou first decide?
Hey, I kind of want to get intopolitics a little because I
want to make a difference.
What did that start for you?

Speaker 3 (01:46):
You know, I would really like to describe it as
falling into the rabbit hole,because I don't think there was
a moment when I said I want togo into politics.
I think the best people don'tthink you know the folks who
really want to make a difference, don't think about that, but I,
for me, it was as a socialworker.
I worked in social work.
I went through the county, Iwent through different systems

(02:09):
and most of my work was eitherwith unhoused folks or in child
welfare.
My clients were between threemonths and three years and with
a lot of them and their families, I noticed something which is
they teach you every client isdifferent, but, yes, every
family was different, but a lotof their issues and the big like

(02:30):
stoppage and blockage pointsthey had were all the same and
they were all bureaucratic, andso that made me want to go into
the government and start workingon those kinds of things,
because I realized we didn'thave a lot of people who had
worked handson on the groundfloor with folks and just change
those details and change thosethings to make things a little
easier for people.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
And, of course, you're getting that $250,000 a
year for being a mayor.
I mean, wait a second.
No, you're not.
You're getting nothing.
So that means you'll continueto work in your job now.
So what are you doing right now?

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Let's back up up a second.
We jumped over that good oldhigh school.
You went why?

Speaker 1 (03:07):
don't we get back into that.
I was gonna ask her now.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Okay, I want to know about the french horn and did
you really play the french horn?
I did, and I do I love thefrench horn.
I think we have a band upbehind, you know, at city
council.
Can we call them a band or fivepiece or something we got?
We got a french horn playerhere and did you love burroughs,

(03:29):
like craig and I did.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
I love burroughs okay , I, I mean, high school is
amazing and that's what I'msaying.
You know, working in socialwork got me into the whole
government rabbit hole, intoworking at the state, into all
that.
But what made me want to runactually for office because I'd
seen a lot of people run and Iknow how difficult and how crazy
it can be to put yourself outthere what made me want to do it
is that I had the chance to doit here at home and to actually

(03:54):
work for the people that I knowthat I care about.
That I grew up with and so forme, a lot of I always tell
people what shapes kind of mydecision making.
My, my experience is, yes, mymy work and academic background,
but mostly just being fromBurbank, you know what it's like
.
You know who to talk to whenyou have a question.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Let's go back to you.
Know, ross got you back in thehigh school days.
Let's keep you there for awhile.
What did you do during yourhigh school days in that, in
that area?
What'd you do for fun andeverything else in Burbank?
What was your memories ofBurbank back in those days?

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Well, in the good words of Char Tabat the other
day, she was like, you know, inhigh school, you know we weren't
that popular.
She was like well, you mighthave been.
And then she paused and she waslike you were in band, you were
not popular.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
And I was like like shark, come on.
I played the french horn.
I was not popular, butburroughs was you know,
apparently they did some.
You learned some good stuff.
We had guys like mr marshall,was it?
Uh, the english teacher, thehistory teacher.
We go back years ago to someold, old teachers there's.
You had some newer ones, butburroughs.
You know what I love about youbeing mayor.
When somebody references thestreet purpose or glen oaks, you

(05:10):
know glen oaks from one end tothe other.
You know this city like theback of your hand.
You know I mean anytimesomebody talks to you.
You've probably been on thatstreet, being a lifelong, born
and raised here.
You have a brother I do have ayounger brother, and they live
Magnolia Park.
They still live in the sameplace.

(05:35):
I grew up right by Verdugo Park.
I know your parents are very,very proud of you.
Every time I see them At thereorganization at Christmas they
beam ear to ear.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
You have succeeded and you know you're a mayor, so
that's a big thing and folksalways ask how do you keep up
with constituent questions andconstituent services there?
You just mentioned my two mostintense constituents, mom and
dad.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
You know we pull you here and there and everywhere
else we pull you here.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
I can imagine how many people pull you in
different directions now whenthe the lights went out, those
were the first two text messages.
Madam Mayor, my lights are out.
Love Mom.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Now that's a text that you don't think about
getting you know, and I bet youanswered her rather quickly.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
You're right on that.
Oh yeah, oh, definitely.
I'm smart enough to know who Igot to answer right away, and
Mom's right up there.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Absolutely.
Oh, definitely, I'm smartenough to know who I got to
answer right away and mom'sright up there.
Absolutely Well, what about afew questions here?
Yeah, we have a couple that wecan.
Let me start off with our lastcouncil meeting a couple days
ago.
Wasn't that fun.
And you put on the agenda thesanctuary city status and it was
a long discussion.
We had a lot of speakers andeverything else us and it was a

(06:45):
long discussion.
We had a lot of speakers andeverything else, and I think we
kind of found out that most ofthe protections are already in
place and there's really littleBurbank needs to do.
I think we're not really goingto call it a sanctuary.
I think we're going to call itsomething else To have the
police department's policy kindof put around the different
departments.
But what I'm worried about andI saw today I'm worried about
and I saw today, Trump fired abunch of FBI guys, a lot of

(07:10):
retribution, and I'm worried, ifwe call ourselves a sanctuary
city, are we going to lose thatfunding, maybe for the airport,
maybe for the bridge project wewant to do.
We don't want to produce acentral library.
There's a lot of projects wemight want to get government
assistance on.
And what if he just goes aftercities that are called sanctuary
cities, new central library?
I mean, there's a lot ofprojects we might want to get
government assistance on.
And what if he just, you know,he goes after cities that are
called thanks for your cities?

(07:30):
But I really think we had to do,we have to do.
Why do we have to do it in thefirst place is amazing to me,
that we have to protect ourpeople, protect people from
being pawns.
I'm just that amazes me.
Last thing I'll say is this itwas kind of on the I'm not sure,
when Tamla brought up what shebrought up and kind of the

(07:52):
posters and everything else andtalked about internment and
everything else.
It's like wow, I didn't thinkthat's how we did treat people
60, 70 years.
And have we, have we learnedanything?
Obviously not, craig.
That was your agenda item andeverything else.
Are you happy how it turned out?
Talk about it a little bit.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
I am and you know when I propose it.
It's the reason I left it veryvague Because, as we all learned
the term sanctuary city, itisn't even a defined term.
What LA calls a sanctuary cityis very different than what the
city of Pasadena is calling asanctuary city.
It's really based on what youand your city attorney and your

(08:30):
city manager feel comfortabledoing locally and what you need
you know, based on some of thethings we discussed.
La didn't have a police policylike what we do.
Our police is way ahead of thecurve on this stuff For years
what 20 years?

Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, police is way ahead of the curve on this stuff
.
For years what 20 years?
And it sounded from what ourdeputy chief said, you know, and
, and that's what bothered me um, I feel sorry for anybody that
lives in fear.
You know, um, if you've been incustody once they put handcuffs
on you or wire ties or whatevercuffs and you can't freely say

(09:05):
I need to go to the bathroom oror those things, it just scares
me.
Um, I know, growing up um fromthe jewish faith you know years
ago was nazis and so forth andyou had to worry about that and
there's still tons of jewishpeople in our communities that
are still in fear of that.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
And that hate is out there we hear anti-Semitic
things all of the time.
It's horrible.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
It's worse too.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
And that's what you need to feel safe and that's
what Burbank I've always saidit's a great community and you
hate to see people feeling infear of going to the police
department to ask them aquestion, going for medical
service, going for all thesethings.
They're afraid to go get theirlaundry done at the laundry

(09:51):
because they might be.
You know, and and I think thatwas one of the things that I
really took from people need toknow that our police department
are not going to stop you.
There are, there are policieson on Burbank's books and I know
you brought that up through ourPIO farm and they're not going
to stop you.
There are, there are policieson on burbank's books andi know
you brought that up through ourpio.
You guys are going to do stuffto educate everybody.

(10:11):
Yeah, you know, and yeah, thereare some that don't want our
citizens to be educated, but youhave to.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
I mean, we're in this , we're in a time now that you
we need to Are you satisfiedwith how things went the other
night and how you know you'regetting ready now for the second
step?

Speaker 3 (10:29):
on all that and everything, I am, and let me
backtrack a little bit here.
Here's why I really brought itforward, right, Knowing that the
police had the protections inplace.
I talked to the chief early onabout this, you know, to let him
know I was thinking about this,to get his thoughts, to see
what.
What was the best thing wecould put forward.

(10:49):
And whenever we propose anagenda item, in my opinion it's
probably better to leave it morebroad, because you never know
what kind of fixes and tricksare going to come out of it, or
how much or how little you needto do.
And the real thing that Iwanted to get across were three
things.
Number one we talk so much aboutbeing proactive and not
reactive.
Well, our police department isalready there.

(11:12):
Where's the rest of the city?
And we're seeing across thenation and unfortunately, we're
seeing with this administration,but it's nothing new.
We've seen federal departmentsin the past get really creative
about how they're going toenforce immigration because
there isn't a guidebook.
Ice is a little bit Wild Westright, Cowboys absolutely.

(11:34):
And the last thing I wanted andthat's why I said it from the
dais, and when I said it inconversations with our city
manager earlier, what he saidwas I didn't think about that.
That's why we're talking aboutit, right, what happens when, be
it an ICE agent, be it anotherfederal immigration officer,
goes to a normal staffer inParks and Rec and says I need to

(11:54):
see the addresses of folks.
And I know Justin said well, Ithink it would be
confidentiality or we have somesystem.
With all due respect, thatdoesn't inspire a lot of like a
lot of confidence in me.
I'd love a policy that tellsthe staff member this is what
you do when you're confrontedwith this.

(12:15):
And, to the city attorney'spoint, it also takes the
liability off the staff memberif there is retribution.
I'd rather the federalgovernment say we're mad at the
city of Burbank than we're madat this staffer.
Right, we can handle that.
After, Protect them legallybecause there's something in
place.
And then also, if the federalgovernment wants to come attack

(12:37):
us for that and come throw dogwhistles, at the end of the day
there's something called theConstitution, there's something
called the 10th Amendment, andwe're very well protected.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Right now we're trying to suspend the 14th
Amendment to a point you know.
So it's scary.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well, you brought up a good point there and you know,
I remember a council member twoor three terms before or years
before they wanted to change ourpolice uniforms and our police,
you know they they wear, theyhave an assortment of uniforms
that they wear.
Um, some wear these raid veststhat, um, you know, look very,

(13:14):
they're the same thing ice wearsand some wear shirts, polo
shirts, depends, you know, Ithink, uh, you know, the um met
team wears a different shirt andI think people need to feel
safe and I thought about that,the uniform that our police

(13:34):
officers wear, that when thiscouncil member wanted them not
to wear those vests.
But the reason they do that isthey carry, and I've talked to
an officer more than one, theycarry so much stuff now that's
why they do that is they carry,and I've talked to an officer
more than one, they carry somuch stuff now that's why they
wear that vest.
It's not to make it look moreintimidating or anything, but
it's because they have so muchgear, it's it's spread out

(13:57):
better, you know.
But I think it it needs toalways be clear you are bur
police officer, it has to sayBurbank police.
You know, front and backsideways.
So if anybody ever gets stopped.
You feel safe that you'redealing with Burbank police and
not an ICE agent.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
Exactly, and you know we would hate for that to
happen.
Like you said, ross, we wantfolks to feel safe in the
community and it's really notfor one particular subsect of
the community Because, of course, like, we want our undocumented
community to feel safe in thecommunity.
And it's really not for oneparticular subsect of the
community because, of course,like, we want our undocumented
community to feel safe, but thisaffects all of us.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
If they don't feel safe reporting a crime that
affects the person who is avictim of the crime, if they
don't feel safe being a witness.
Right and again, I know ourpolice had these policies in
place, but this is twofold,because now we have them across
where, we're going to have themacross the city if votes go the
same way they did as they did inthis first step, and we would

(14:56):
also have the discussion outthere which I can promise you.
If you were undocumented in thecity of Burbank, you were
watching because people care,and now you know about the
police policy if you didn'tbefore.
Now you know about the statepolicy and exactly what that
means if you didn't before.
And to Councilor Mullen's point, you also know where our

(15:16):
limitations are.
So it isn't a false assumptionof oh well, I'm completely OK
and you know exactly how toprepare yourself and take care
of yourself and that you cancontinue going to parks and rec
activities, to our library,school, school.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
The thing that bothers me, though, is that ICE
could come into Burbank at anytime unannounced and do whatever
they want to do, and we reallycan't do anything they know or
anything else.
I just saw they rounded up somepeople in New York, and there
were people around the peoplethey were going after, and they
said, oh, we'll just take youtoo, and they had done nothing.
I mean, there was nothing, nocamaraderie whatsoever.

(15:54):
Once again.
But they took them in andthey're going to, just because
they were in the area at thetime and they were easy targets.
And that's what scares me.
Is that indiscriminate anduntargeted?

Speaker 3 (16:05):
I mean, you know, checks and balances are
important and and we're losing alot of that lately and it's sad
.
I mean I I'm in communicationwith a lot of our different
tribes I don't know if you'veheard the navajo nation is very
upset because we've had they'vehad like 10 members who were
taken and who had theircitizenship questioned by ICE
because they have federal or, ohmy gosh, tribal registration

(16:30):
for the I'm forgetting the wordright now where the areas where,
where they live, which is adifferent uh registration than a
normal id and so they had thatquestion and and they had
threats of deportation giventowards them.
They're literally more americanthan anybody else.
Where are you gonna send them?

Speaker 2 (16:51):
so you know that's what kind of gets me, because if
you look at, you know when youget stopped out in the street,
you know, or by police orwhatever, and you're in fear of
rolling your window down.
It makes it harder for police.
I'll tell you, nowadays I waswatching something the other day

(17:12):
where it's just they're makinglife harder to stop anything and
everything, even if you're inthe wrong, you know, and people
don't want to roll down theirwindows and people don't want to
answer them.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
I think we've gone the right direction.
And when does it come back fora second reading?

Speaker 3 (17:31):
So Justin said two weeks and I'm going to hold him
to that.
I hope two weeks we get to seesomething comprehensive and I
know there's a little back andforth at the end.
I'm glad that Joe clarifiedthat a resolution has teeth.
It is the best way to go policywise in a department because it
creates guidelines, it createsdepartmental structure that

(17:53):
Justin can actually enforcewithout the ordinance might have
created a misdemeanor and thenthat's not what we're looking
for.
We're like you don't want topunish staff for that, we just
want to give them and protectthem.
Protect them and give thempolicy, give them rules.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
Well, I'm curious with that.
As you said, through our PIOpublic information office, are
we going to educate people thatmove here?
It's kind of like the thingwith the pine trees Did you know
you were responsible forwatering the trees along the
curve?
I did.
A lot of people don't know thatEvery year are we going to

(18:32):
communicate and I will say wehave the best PIO department we
have.
It hasn't been that way yearspast, but we now have somebody
that is running that departmentthat's quite well good and can
communicate real well.
And those are things that youlive here.
That's why you live here, youknow, because they communicate

(18:53):
right.
You know how safe it is.
You know and this is whatBurbank's policies are on some
things.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
And it's great that you mentioned that, ross.
Actually, one big kudos to PIO.
A lot of them and the folks whowork there, including Jonathan,
live here.
They know what it's like.
They get to hear a lot ofwhat's going on, but just by
going to the supermarket andthen they bring that information
back and they disseminate theinformation that people actually
want to hear, because it's whatthey're talking about right now

(19:19):
.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
One of my pet peeves for a long time, russ, right, I
mean staff comes in here, theymake decisions and then two
years later they're in anothercity.
Now we're stuck with theirdecisions.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
And he also has brought up, and both of us have.
We don't hire people fromBurbank anymore, a lot of people
from Burbank.
We hire somebody from Cerritosor from Redlands.
They drive here, they literallyget off the freeway.
They collect a check every twoweeks.
Their heart isn't in Burbank.
They're here for a job.

(19:50):
They're only going to be herefor so long.
Yeah, they're just moving up theladder instead of looking at a
career in Burbank where theylive.
And now, yeah, it's nice aboutour PIO.
They all live here, so theyknow what street you say
something's going on over here.
They know that neighborhood andthat's one of the things that
we got away from, that that weweren't hiring people from
Burbank, and it's unfortunate.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
Great subject.
I mean we got more to come andwe'll talk about that next month
with you, the finalization ofit, and we'll talk about that
next month with you thefinalization of it, Ross, we
want to know because we got alarge agenda here.
The next one is a good one.
Arf arf bow.
Wow, I think we have somethingfor that, don't we?
Yes, we do.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
There we go.
I don't know if I want that dogat the dog park.

Speaker 2 (20:37):
Well, I know you're a dog lover, you're an animal
lover.
I know that for a fact.
We've been talking about thisdog park for over 20 years.
I thought last year.
I heard from Parks and Rec fromMarissa that they're about to
break ground I mean by August.
I heard it keeps getting putoff Every time we put it off.

(20:59):
Now, in another couple ofmonths, you're not going to find
a contractor that's availableto do anything because they're
going to be busy either inAltadena or Pacific Palisades.
But and the costs go up Are weever going to break ground for a
dog park in Burbank?

Speaker 3 (21:16):
So that came up in our goal settings, as I'm sure
you know and I wasn't the onlyone to bring it up and you know
a lot, a lot of the reason whywe haven't seen the dog park
happen.
I got to give it to our staff.
Anytime, there is somethingwhere we have to collaborate.
With an entity like the city ofLA, it's a lot harder to get

(21:36):
things done.
You saw it with our dog park,you saw it with the community
garden situation here inMagnolia Park, and so we've had
a lot of patience, we've had alot of negotiation room and it
looks like things are moving inthe right direction because they
finished their project thatthey were working on here by the
134.
You've gone by there.
I've reached the point where Ikind of ran by there every day

(21:58):
on my morning run just to seelike, are you really almost done
?
What's going on here?
And and we have communicationfrom them that they're they're
about done.
So now we are moving into itthis year.
But I I have to say you knowagain not not to throw any, any
shade at the city of la, but ithasn't been our- staff.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
Another politician that throws dirt we won't talk
about.
We won't talk about that.
We won't talk about that guy.
Well, you brought up a goodpoint because Craig brought it
up.
The community garden, the oneat Whittenall and Pass, is
growing like.
I mean growing like weed?
No, it's growing and it'soccupied.
The one you had written aboutor we talked about a while ago

(22:37):
at Whittenittenall and hollywoodway.
I drove by there yesterday.
There's a lot of work beingdone on that piece of property.
It is cleared out, the groundhas been cleared, trees have all
been cut.
That's supposed to be acommunity garden.
In fact, yesterday was davidgalansi's birthday and I know he
was behind that originally.
Is that getting cleaned up forcommunity garden?

Speaker 3 (23:00):
it is.
So that's moving forward andand the thing I will say is you
know we've let staff do a lot ofthe lead way.
You know they're talking totheir counterparts, but I've
also told justin I'm committedto getting this done and if I
need to go have a conversationmayor to la city council member,
mayor to mayor I have karenbass's phone number.
I'm happy to give her a calland be like this is happening in
our city.
We need to talk because we weare another municipality.

(23:24):
We need to get this done and Iknow it's not going to be super
high on their priority list, butit is on ours.
So it's on us to follow up andI'm committed to doing any of
the follow-up necessary.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
I think you just made a good point.
How, how many times do peoplelook at government and how long
does it take to do anything?
To order a paperclip, it takesthree months because all the Not
like compared to Burbank, youknow.
But here you just wonder.
You know it's a much smallercity and things do work a lot

(23:56):
quicker.
Well, it's nice to see you onboth those items.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
I did have somebody ask me one time what's?
You've worked in governmentyour whole life.
What is the number one skillsetyou need?
And I know they were lookingfor grant writing policy
analysis and I just saidpatience.
So much patience Wouldn't workfor me, huh.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
Well, you know, it's funny because when I had a son,
my son matt, you still have ason.
I do still have a son, um, butI was told the reason will teach
me patience.
I've never had to use it, youknow.
But when you have kids and Iknow you don't have kids yet,
you have dog, but, um, when youhave kids you learn patience and
you sure do all right.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
bring a baseball coach and see how much patience
you need at times.
Well, Ross, I'll ask you thenext question also.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
So let's move on and go ahead and Okay, the next one
is you drive over the BurbankOverpass, or Burbank Bridge, as
my granddaughter would say.
The Poop Bridge is the waterreclamation plant, but we see
that huge project going in onfront street.
Front streets closed every twoweeks, I think, for some utility

(25:07):
install our first street too.
First street, we got the firststreet villages we're going to
eventually have out on hollywoodway.
We got a lot of people movinginto the city.
We're down police officers.
You know, I, I was, I witnessedan accident tonight and I
called the desk and they said wedon't have anybody to send for
half an hour.

(25:27):
You know, you put it out glenn,oaks and uh, and kenneth and
kenneth um, which don't cross,it was actually naomi.
I told them, yeah, but um, theyhad no officers.
And I understand that nowglendale just hired, or got
permission to hire, 25 officersand that's going to take them up
to what their staffing levelsare are we looking at?

(25:48):
But again, that's alsobudgeting too, which they have
to budgeting.
But also, if you hire that manyofficers, where are you going
to put them?
Our police department, I hear,is built out.
You know when they built thatbuilding.
Oh, we have room for 20 moreyears.
Well then, you had MET and youhad K-9 and you had drone
operators.
You had all these.
We're out of room at the policedepartment.

(26:09):
What are they going to drive?
We don't have enough policecars for the number of officers
that we have out.
That's a big picture, know you.
You have this as bob frutas.
You say you don't have acrystal ball.
You know a snow globe maybe,but not a crystal ball.
But I mean, you know, it's allthese things that what are we

(26:31):
going to do with?
Uh in in, it's hard to get.
It was real hard to get police.
I think it's getting easier,the pool is is getting easier to
get and good officers.

Speaker 3 (26:43):
Yeah, and you touched on a couple of things there,
ross because I think we have tolook at where we've been and
where we're going right.
I think our city staffconstantly tells this council
because we're very frustrated,we want to keep going faster and
do more, and they'll constantlyremind us.
Well, let's look at what youhave done.
You know, don't don't runbefore you walk, and I think a

(27:05):
lot of what we've been doing hasbeen that catch up work.
When I ran for office, I one ofthe things that I ran on was
making sure our fire departmenthad the budget they needed,
because I've seen what happensto a fire department that
doesn't, holy cow we're seeingthe effects of that right now,
but even more so to a smallercity like us.

(27:27):
If we, if our fire departmentreally hits that critical point,
what happens is we shut downand then we're on la county fire
and we are under a massumbrella where we don't have the
same level, the same expediencyof service that we're
accustomed to, and so that wasmy first priority right Giving

(27:50):
them a comprehensive package,even if it cost us in the wallet
.
Because, really, when you lookat local government the main
things that a city supposed toprovide, especially a city of
our size you have your utilities, your police and your fire.
You can't do that.
You're not a city, absolutely,and why do?

Speaker 2 (28:09):
people move here.
Exactly.
I mean literally.
You hear people move here.
Why?
I always say people look wherethe media capital of the world.
Why do these large corporationstend to want to be based in
Burbank?
Because they look at police andfire.
You dial that three-digitnumber, 911.
You don't want to hear arecording.

(28:30):
Usually in Burbank you neverhear a recording.
You'll talk to a live personbut you're guaranteed to see
somebody in three minutes.
It doesn't matter where you arein the city and that's why
these big companies like to comehere.
But again, when we have calariagot built, that added how many
more people to the mix.
Right, these new locations.

(28:52):
Um fry is going to be built onalso right, and I'm just
thinking you know, craig, and Ilisten they now have an extra
paramedic unit that's workingduring the day.
We talked about that for a longtime.
They finally but I you know, Iknow the fire department has
just gone through a big change.
We have a couple of new chiefsin there, meaning battalion

(29:12):
chiefs overseeing EMS anddifferent things.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
But it's just the mayor's point also by them
stepping up on a contract.
We don't have people leavinganymore.
We're not training people andthen they go to different
departments.
We're keeping people now andthey're happy.
I've talked to a lot of they'revery happy now and that's what
we want as citizens.
You want to be happy.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
It's a world of a difference, because that was one
of the complaints from ourdepartment.
Listen, we're training guys, wegive them quality training and
then they leave because of alittle bit more money they could
be making in LA, in the countyfor Cal Fire, et cetera, et
cetera.
And so I think, doing, you know,doing what we did with the fire
department, even though I knowit was very hard for the city

(29:57):
manager's office, for staff, foreverybody, because it was
taking a lot of money when itcame time to look at police, it
was a very easy decision whenthe chief said we need to keep
people and it's going to requirea 10 percent raise.
That was so quick, so easy todo, because we had already seen
the effects of what happenedwith fire and we're now seeing
the effects of that with police.
So, all that to say, we've beenplaying catch up and I think

(30:21):
we're at a good place right nowfor where we are.
Now to Craig's point with thatproactive mentality, we have to
think about where we're goingand one of the things I always
tell people is, yes, we needmore housing, but with housing
comes more city serviceinfrastructure more
infrastructure, everything.
So we have to think about thatnow as we're building and I
think we're in a good placebecause as we look at the

(30:43):
downtown specific plan, we'relooking at that new civic center
we're going to do a lot ofshuffling in that area so that
people have offices in the rightplace.
Right now in downtown you don'thave parks and rec staff.
If you saw, a few weeks back oncouncil we talked about the
Olive Park restructuring.
There's going to be moreoffices there, so a lot of those

(31:04):
folks who are downtown aregoing to shuffle to where they
should be a park, which is goingto leave more space for our
departments.
That should be downtown, likePD, like fire.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
Well, I know, for PD I talk to officers daily and you
come here one because you'renot in some parts of LA which
they don't get treated, you know.
I mean a car goes by a policeofficer and they don't get
waived at, or at least not witha full hand.
Here you also have the newestequipment.

(31:35):
You have a small department,you have new equipment, you have
better communications andthat's why they like to.
You know, come to work here.
I mean, yes, you might notpromote as quick, but you're
guaranteed a job.
I talked to somebody that camefrom lapd here, um, who I went
to school with and in here liketransferred 10 years ago, and he

(31:55):
says i'm'm so glad I came toBurbank.
It just is, it's night and day.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
And our chief has really created that culture.
I hope to see it continue afterhe leaves us, but it really is.
It's a culture that you create,right?
I think Burbank PD has done agreat job of not only creating
culture that welcomes officers,but that also makes the
community feel good.
And I have to tell you, I'veseen a traffic stop in Burbank

(32:23):
and I've seen a traffic stop inother places and there's a world
of a difference.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
I think the word culture.
I had a talk with our team theother day and I brought that
word because I've been watchinga lot of sports and at the end
of the day people say we'resuccessful because of the
culture.
Here the word culture is alwaysbeing used in sports as success
and it's great you brought thatup because you're right.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
The culture, whether it's sports or whether it's just
in a job or anything like that,is important for people's
well-being.
Well, I think you know you talkto people and you talk to a lot
of the kids and I hear peopleyou know you don't, we got to
keep up on it.
I mean, before your term isover, not as known as mayor, but
your term is four years beingon council is by the end.
You're probably going to need alot more officers, you know,
and that's a big that costs.

(33:16):
A People don't realize it costsa lot to hire 5, 10, 20
officers and you got to stay upon the times with that, I mean.
But also, why do people movehere If it's Magnolia Park or if
it's up on the hill, whatever?
Because they feel safe,absolutely.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
A hundred percent and I think the only other thing
I'll say on this thinkingforward right in this year, I
would love to see and we talkedabout this earlier the theme of
community.
I'd love to see more of ourhigh schoolers interested in
going into fire, into PD here inBurbank.
That's why I suggested the firecamp when I did and I'd love to

(33:58):
just see them go into thesetrades here.
I know college isn't foreverybody and for the folks who
have maybe interested in thesecareers I don't want to see them
go to Lancaster, I don't wantto see them go outside.
They have a community here athome where we're hiring.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
So I definitely want to make that fire camp that day
to shoot, you know, and I readthat story and it was great and
I thought out of that group.
Some of them probably did itbecause mom and dad wanted them
to take it, sure, but I bet someof them said this is a career
that I'd like to do.
Are we fostering that group?

(34:33):
Have we done a survey with themor have we talked to them?
Years ago we had guys likeronnie bell who would take a
group from a camp like that andthey would meet at the fire
station on saturdays.
So if it was to roll hose or tolearn the apparatus, we don't
do that now, right, and thatit's so sad because these kids
go get hired other places.

(34:54):
But if you live here, you wantto work here, you know, and, um,
I hope that program.
It was great.
I saw a lot of happy peoplethere, but there were some
people that you could tell itwas like PE.
They did that for their parents, not for them.
But hopefully we'll get some,you know, possibly.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
Well, you never know, ross.
That's why I joined band,because my mom forced me.
But then you know, eight yearslater, later, I was getting my
degree in French horn.
So you never know, maybe someof those very uh begrudging
firefighter cadets are going tobe our future firefighters very
well.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
You'd hope so I.
And it's funny because my sonhe played the tuba at Burbank
High and went on to Long Beachon a scholarship, and you know.
And then when he got to LongBeach he figured I'm never going
to make a million dollarsplaying a tuba.
You probably have said you'renever going to make how much
money playing a French horn.
I double majored, oh wow See.
Well, in the middle of LongBeach, I remember him saying I'm

(35:54):
just going to get the diplomahere, you know, and then we'll
see where I go.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
Well, I think we have a great transition to our next
question.
We're talking about performanceright now.
That's right, and inperformance is Hollywood.
You know, we're here in the, weare the media capital world and
all those things.
We have two major studios inour city.
How many, two major studios?

Speaker 2 (36:15):
Oh, I was going to say aren't there more?
There's a lot more.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
I said major.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
Nickelodeon, that's not major, oh is it no, no, no.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
Oh, you mean, like Disney and Warner, the big
movies out and everything else?
Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
And the big TV shows.

Speaker 3 (36:30):
So I've heard over the years that we have a lot of
restrictions and regulations inBurbank and we have that poor
speaker comes every week andgives you three minutes all
about you know what's going onin the Mr Mark Scroggs and I got
to say he emails us and I lookforward to that email every week
because that's to me it feelslike I don't know if you're

(36:51):
signed up to LA Times or youknow New York Times.
That's what it feels like to me.
The Mark Scroggs email is likethe film industry report and I
go through it and I'm like it'sgreat.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
yeah, it's great because he always comes up and
he's great for me.
I feel bad.
We've got three minutes.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
You know, now that I sit here and think about it, yes
, every, and Mark has Justwatching him and he loves doing
that.
But it's what's that old term,the squeaky wheel?
You know the or the oil, andyou brought it up.
You, you can say it you knowwell yeah well, you know that's
well, my tooth is loose so Idon't, but every week he gets up

(37:28):
there and he reminds you we arethe media capital right and and
my point was kind of this iswhat can we do as a city to help
streamline permits, to getincentives?

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Because we all know that not only does a production
company pay the fees andeverything else and fees really
shouldn't matter it's the moneythey spend on the outside, the
caterers, all of the prop houses, all those things that we have
here in Burbank, also thoseother industries that depend on
them and they'd probably, youknow, would get the benefit also

(38:03):
.
But what can we do to get?
Because I see there's verylittle filming in Burbank
anymore, you know, and I'veheard, well, there's not a lot.
You know, sometimes we have alot of regulations and
everything else, and in thiscity we don't and everything
else.
And so have we really lookedinto that and see what we can do
and said, hey, you know.
So have we really looked intothat and see we do, and and said
, hey, you know, back in the dayin the 70s, Adam 12 emergence,

(38:23):
all those shows up and down thestreets here all the time, you
know, there was always shootinghere in Burbank.
Oh, there, that is in Burbank,that is in Burbank.
We're not seeing that muchanymore.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
I will say the reason that is unfortunately, is we're
not seeing that in Californiaanymore period, and that's been
the biggest hit, you know, andand so to answer that question,
really I think I'm looking at mygoals for this year right, and
one of the major goals I have isto really make sure, when we
say we're the media capital ofthe world, we put our money

(38:55):
where our mouth is right.
The city needs to support thefilm industry wherever we can,
and there's several ways we cando that.
Probably the the most largeststructural way in not federally,
statewide is the film taxcredit and supporting that.
We need to make sure that thelegislators who may be if you're
voting for this, are northerncal, california friends know how

(39:18):
much we need it and know thatthis isn't just oh, hollywood
and the actors asking for abailout.
No, these are unions.
These are everyday folks whoare florists here owning a small
business, who are going to relyon that tax credit because they
need the production here backin California and, in my opinion

(39:39):
, newsom is a little too latewith this tax credit.
This should have happened a fewyears ago and the attention
from the state should have beenon this a few years ago, because
the film industry is theeconomy of California as much as
it is of Burbank, I think.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
Newsom kind of went to the tech firms and everywhere
else and tried to court thembecause they're the big money
people and not realizing whatkind of money the studios
actually bring into California,and now they're all leaving.
Now we're starting to see thattax money decline.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
So I got a question for you, madam Mayor.
Sure, we have a ton ofproduction-related companies
here, from Caters to Floris, asyou just said, to Taylors, to.
I mean, there's Post-production, there's everything, there is a
ton.
When they get a permit inBurbank to film and usually then

(40:28):
it's too late are they given asheet of paper that said these
are Burbank businesses that arerelated to filming in Burbank?
Are you guys supporting them?
Are you buying your gafferstape from Burbank, so-and-so?
You know, I mean, beinginvolved with the Chamber blows

(40:51):
me away how many differentcompanies there are in Burbank
that you use on a production.
Why are these people going tothe other out of burbank?
They should be buying it righthere in burbank.
That money stays here.
You know I I gotta say, as youknow, my I wasn't going to bring
up burbank comp parade, but Imade not burbank comp parade

(41:14):
holiday in the park.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
I love more shows to do, so don't worry holiday in
the park.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
I made sure that we use burbank based companies for
our porta potties, for ourwalkie talkies, for the lights
in the middle of street andindustry was slow in november
and december.
They were real glad to get paidby us and their Burbank
companies.
I did not want to leave Burbankand to me that's important.

(41:42):
We got to use more Burbank,these businesses in Burbank.
This is how we survive.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
And that's where I think what we need to do this
year and that's why I've askedfor the film and industry
subcommittee.
I think it's insane that wehave so many commissions, boards
, committees, subcommittees,task forces, but not one is
focused on media andentertainment, when we are the

(42:08):
capital of the world On Tuesday,so it's time to bring that back
up.
Oh, 100%, even though to me itstill feels like a long time
coming.
Asked for this at the beginningof last year.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
And again, mark Scroggs, thank you for reminding
us Every week.
He's, you know a lot of people.
You think he gets up there andGot tenacity.
He does, but he also his lifeis getting work for Burbank
people.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
And he's well-connected because I've had
several meetings with him, andthe folks that he'll introduce
you to are those exact peoplethat we're talking about the
folks who run a costume shophere in Magnolia Park, the folks
who work in catering, and thething is, and the reason I
wanted this subcommittee isbecause those are the folks I
want in the room together.

(42:58):
I have seen now what that does.
So post, strike, post all ofthis.
I've been in a room where andthis is very interesting because
we we did a group of all of thefilm unions warner brothers,
michael walbrook was there,there were a couple of other
studio folks and a few sprinkleof electeds, and I was invited

(43:21):
to join the conversation and wetalked about the film tax credit
, what's working about it,what's not, what else we feel
like we need Shout out to ourmusicians union.
That was there.
They're located here in Burbank, Local 47.
So it was just a conversationfrom everybody and some folks
like them who shared hey, we'renot included in the tax credit,
we really should be.

(43:41):
And so talking to groups likethat has been my focus.
Because now I want to take thatand put it twofold.
Burbank needs to do as a citytwo things.
One, support what our folks areasking us from the state level.
Send those letters, make thatnoise and Make that noise and
make that noise in Sacramento,as the media capital of the
world Say.

(44:01):
We are the experts on this, wehave the people Listen to us and
I know we have great advocatesin our state assembly member.
I was going to make sure a lotof that gets heard.
And we also need to then look atthe local level and say what
can we do.
And I'm working with anothergroup there, California United,
and they're a group of directors, producers, union workers who

(44:26):
are really coming together.
It's interesting because a lotof times these folks are on
opposite sides of thenegotiating table.
They're coming together becausethis affects all of us and
they're putting a list ofproposals that they think
Burbank could take a look at andcould be the leader in and say
we are doing this because it's51 percent of our city's economy

(44:46):
, the rest of SouthernCalifornia.
You should do this too, becausewe need to work on these things
.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
We need to bail ourselves out.
Work on these things.
We need to bail ourselves out.
But the problem with when itcomes to LA, they have so many
plates they're twirling and theydon't think of it.
Oh, they're going to.
They take it for granted theproduction amount that goes on
For us in Burbank.
You know, it's like I said, ourstudios are major studios.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
You did not know the questions before you got here.
We didn't prep you or anythingelse and I had that question and
, wow, what an answer.
I mean you are really involvedand it looks like you have
solutions in mind and I give youa lot of credit for that,
because I did not expect thatdetail of an answer and I I'm
very impressed by that.
So let's continue to you knowwork on that Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (45:38):
And I think you know, just to go back to kind of our
rolling theme here, it reallydoes go back to me being a
Burbank girl.
I don't just know that this isa media capital, I didn't just
grow up with high school musicalfilming in Burroughs Hallways.
I was, I think, seven years oldthe first time I drove in the
van with my dad down MagnoliaPark and we stopped at the

(45:59):
costumers to pick up somethingthere.
We stopped at a bakery to pickup something for set and I got
to watch the whole process.
And then driving back into theWarner Brothers lot, my dad's a
teamster with 399.
So I've literally been in theseat watching it happen and
seeing what the entire communityhas done to come together

(46:20):
having a mayor that grew up hereabsolutely I've been along, I
think, burbank.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
People don't realize what we have in you growing up
here sitting in the front seatwith your dad to do that trip
you just said, because it's inyour blood, it's in your parent,
in your family's blood, youknow, and and so forth and I
realize that most families inburbank are in the same boat.

Speaker 3 (46:42):
I am right, everybody has at least.
I mean I would.
I would bet that everyone hasat least one family member, if
not your neighbor who works inthe film industry degrees of
separation.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
With kevin bacon, it's by one degree in burbank,
you know, I, you know.
Um.
Well, ross, let's, let's moveon here.
What, what do you got next forus here?
A little more kind of turn thepage, a little more serious
topic here.
So, um, why?

Speaker 2 (47:08):
don't you go ahead.
Okay, I did, uh, I threw thatat you kind of late.
You brought up, um, we justwitnessed some horrible fires,
um, the worst in you know, Imean altadena, it was right over
our backyard pretty much.
Uh, pacific palace you broughtup.
You want to see better trainingfor the rest of our community,

(47:30):
for the whole city.
I thought about it today, youknow, yesterday, we, you know.
Yeah, we don't have a planegoing down in a river, but we
have helicopters that fly overthe city every day.
What happens if a plane doesdrop out of the sky taking off
from burbank?
How prepared are we?
Yes, we have a great emergencymanager, that you know.

(47:52):
If we have an earthquake, whichwe've drilled for for years, I
don't think anybody expected towin Two major freeways, major
rail lines touring throughBurbank Exactly.
How well and I talk to peopleall the time that move into
Burbank, us lifelong Burbankpeople know where Verdugo Park
is.
We learned during the pastearthquakes people go to the

(48:12):
fire stations.
They're all empty becausethey're all out responding.
But if you move in here again,that booklet that you get or one
sheet of paper, you know whereyour local park is.
If you live down here, you knowyou go to Verdugo Park.
And how prepared we need toprepare this city.
I mean, like you said, we needto strengthen it for any

(48:35):
disaster.
I mean, like you said, we needto strengthen it for any
disaster.
You know Altadena, you knowthere is just a ton to go on and
I know our fire department isquite taxed.
Yes, they offer the CERTclasses, but a lot of people
don't want to take that time out, like on Thursday nights.
The community academy juststarted.
If you want to know aboutBurbank police, the best class

(48:55):
to take I say you learn so muchand CERT you do too.
But how well prepared.
And I know you brought it uplast week that you want to see
us more.

Speaker 3 (49:07):
Yeah, well, I'll start with CERT, just because
I'm going to do the shamelessplug for them, because this is
something I learned during thisdisaster I was on call with
Justin.
I mean, justin took my calls at11.30 pm, 1 am.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Well, I will say he worked all night.
He did, he was there all night.
He was there all night long.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
I got to see Justin in emergency preparedness mode
and I'm really happy with what Isaw.
I feel safe going to sleep atnight and shout out to Eric
Baumgartner, our emergencypreparedness fire member,
because he's really on theground floor.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
His updates were constant.
We got him from LA City and wewere very lucky when we did many
years ago.

Speaker 3 (49:44):
He's been great and he also lives here in the
community, so he's on watch allthe time.
And one of the things I willsay to start because I learned
it this time around the CERTprogram.
I think people tend to onlythink about this during
disasters.
If you're thinking about it now, please do it.
Please sign up, because one ofthe things we saw and and thank

(50:06):
god Burbank was not impacted inthis way but one of the things
we saw when, when folks reachedout and said how can I help?
I asked Eric and he said the RedCross is asking for volunteers
and people were offeringdonations or people were
offering space, but they reallyjust needed bodies.
And the problem is the peoplewho said, well, ok, I'll

(50:27):
volunteer.
They were told well, do youhave cert training?
And to find that pool ofvolunteers that they needed to
be certified, to have thosecredentials was so difficult and
they were short staffed acrossthe county this time.
So if you're listening rightnow and you're thinking about it
, please do it, because you maybe that right person that we
need during the next disasterand, if I recall right, they're

(50:49):
starting a class.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
I drove by station 12 and there's a sign on the uh on
the fence, if you're interested.
I think the classes arestarting this month, but they do
them every so on.
But again, yes, I'm certtrained, uh certified, when I
was working at a church inhollywood, which it doesn't
matter if it's hollywood orwhatever.
The cert training is all thesame for everybody.

(51:12):
But again, it's only so manyweeks.
You wouldn't believe howhelpful it would be.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
And that's why I say folks are really thinking,
because I know a lot of us,especially here in Burbank we
feel so lucky because we were.
We were really, really lucky incomparison to our neighbors.
Um, if you're feeling that wayand you're thinking I don't know
where to donate clothes orthings, think about donating
your time and getting preparedbecause, unfortunately, we don't
know when the next earthquakeis going to come.

(51:41):
We don't know when these thingsare coming.
About time.
Time is ticking for that oneand if you're certified, you're
ready, you're one of the mostvital volunteers.
But shifting gears back to thequestion, I had to do my
shameless plug there for cert.
I think the main reason I askedfor not just disaster

(52:02):
preparedness because I thinkthat's on everybody's mind on
our council, from electedleaders across the region the
reason I asked specifically forneighborhood by neighborhood is
because, when you think about it, I thought about myself.
Right here in Magnolia Park, wehave our backpacks, blake and I

(52:22):
have our backpacks in the frontfor what we're going to do.
My parents, I know, have theirbackpacks in the front and then
I think about it and I don'tknow what's after that.
Where do I go?
What is the safe place rightfor my neighborhood?
I also think of my neighborhoodhere in the media area, where
where are the folks who are inthe studio is going to go if
it's the middle of the day?

Speaker 2 (52:42):
and people I don't think understand those power
lines are going to be down.
You can't drive over them.
There's so many things that yougot to be aware of that.
Again, I highly.
I love the idea because as amedia person I've seen it and I

(53:02):
know everybody likes to help.
They want to bring something tothe fire department cookies,
food, water.
They don't understand the firedepartment gets inundated after
every event such as a fire orwhatever.
They usually have so muchgatorade and water they're
putting them in people's desksbecause they'd have no storage.

(53:24):
They don't realize that theburbank, each fire station, only
has so much room.
Ross, who's repair one now?

Speaker 1 (53:32):
um, bob, I can't think of i'm'm asking yeah, on
Channel 9 News and on Passing Isaw them interview the guy
driving Repair One who broughtan entire truckload of stuff out
to the donation center outthere, all from Burbank, and
they didn't put his name on thescreen.
But I go, oh, I recognize therig and I go that's Repair One,
right there.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
Yeah, and it's just people want to be helpful, I get
it.
Pair of one right there.
Yeah, and it's just people wantto be helpful, I get it.
Um, it was funny because oneday the fire union there were
they were at one station saidbring your stuff.
It's money they need, it's thepeople, just your body.

Speaker 3 (54:06):
You might not be able to do much, but volunteer,
that's it yeah, and and I Ithink, as a as a social worker,
I I have to again throw in theplug.
I've said this from the dais Ifyou want to help, it's always
best to ask how.
I actually felt very compelledwhen the winds were happening,
even before we saw all theissues with the fires, because I

(54:29):
was on my street, a tree felland I got to watch BWP in those
winds at three in the morningfixing a pole at 30 feet in the
air.
That's not something I would do, and so to see them do that,
big kudos to them, and I thought, wow, these guys, this is the
rest of their night and they'rejust going in, they're going

(54:51):
back to to their stations andthey're going back out well, I
know people are going to be oneof their stations.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
They just call to call, to call.
We were hearing it all night.
We were listening to it.

Speaker 3 (54:59):
They will go in sometimes just to check in and
then and then come back out.
And so the thing I actuallylearned with with this, when I
was like what can I do is Ipicked up the phone and I asked
what do you need?
And I was surprised because youknow, we get a lot of donuts, I
get a lot of treats.
They wanted grab and go snacksbecause that way they could have
actually something to eat onthe way out.
And that wouldn't have occurredto me, because I'm not somebody

(55:22):
who's a first responder in thatfield.
And so one thing I always tellpeople is, wherever you're
donating, call first and askwhat they need, because you'll
be surprised.
When I used to work in ahomeless shelter, a lot of times
people were like, oh, I havemittens, I have gloves, and I
smiled knowing that I had acloset full of mittens and
gloves.
And then they would ask what doyou need?
And I would say tampons,because people don't think of

(55:48):
donating things like that.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
So it's always helpful to call, ask what people
need, and then you can bereally the most beneficial.
What I'm curious, madam Mayor,is year round, you know, yes, we
witness fires, you know, andwe're just going to have some
rain coming up.
But if somebody is out shoppingCostco, smart and Final,
whatever, and put together adozen bags, they could take it

(56:10):
to the guard shack at Water andPower on Lake Street for the
guys in the field year-round.
I mean, those guys need thatnourishment all the time and
they'd be appreciative, good wayto say thank you for you guys
being up that pole in 30 mile anhour winds or whatever.
Year round.
It doesn't need to be anemergency and I just think

(56:33):
people need to think about that.
These guys are working yearround.
I know for the police.
They get fed very well, yes,restaurants take care of them
very, very well, but year roundI think people don't realize.

Speaker 3 (56:46):
And in our lovely PD I have heard from them sometimes
when I'll say like what do youall need?
They're like no more snacks.

Speaker 2 (56:52):
No more yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:53):
Those guys are fit.
No more snacks, no more.
Yeah, those guys are fit.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
Well, they took the.
Somebody just told me they tookthe vending machines out of the
break room because they werealways breaking down.
So that's why and they alsodon't eat donuts anymore they
don't stop More of a fallacyprobably.

Speaker 3 (57:10):
But yeah, to go back, I think you know it's really
important for all of us to havea citywide plan, but that's
neighborhood specific, because Irealized in that moment when I
thought about how I evacuate,it's going to be really
different than my friend wholives in the hillside and the
things they're going to be readyfor are also very different.
You know, and I want all of ourneighborhoods to have a plan,

(57:31):
to have a place to go.
It's kind of like when we doour school fire drills, you know
.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
Well, and right now I'm hearing it daily.
I see it on social media.
People are frustrated that allthe branches, the leaves, the
gutters still have stuff in.
They don't realize.
I listened to the parks recmarissa gave a report of how
many trees, how many manybranches you go by Verdugo Park.

(57:57):
There are mounds of branchesstill.
They've made a prior, they'vetriaged it More like they did in
the emergency operations centerthat night.
They triaged incidents and Isaw a witness, the fire
department.
If there were power lines downthey would go out and put a
caution tape on it.

(58:17):
So if a police officer drove byor somebody else saw it, it was
a sign that they'd already beenthere and they were doing that
all through our tree.
If there was a tree down youdon't need to report it 20 times
.
They'd put a tag on it.
But I know Ken Berkman and hisdepartment and forestry are

(58:38):
cleaning up.
There are still tons of debristhat it's hard to catch up.
I drove Glen Oaks last night.
City of Glendale hasn't eventouched the medium down the
street there must be 25 treesdown.

Speaker 3 (58:51):
Yeah, and I'm glad you said that, ross, because I
think you know kudos, kudos toour guys, and if you're a little
frustrated out there, I hearyou, it's hard to deal with.
But we are really going inorder and our priority is always
safety, you know.
So we we really went throughthe trees that were on top of
things, first, that wereblocking roadways, and then I

(59:12):
got to see it in action.
We went to the trees that were.
Then that then turned intoemergency situations.
We had about one hundred andseventy or more tree failures,
and some of those, it was worthnoting, were not just trees that
had fallen down, but trees thatwere on a teeter, potentially
about to fall down, and so thosepotentials were an emergency

(59:35):
for us, because God forbid thatfalls on somebody or on
something Right, and that's howParks and Rec and our BWP and
our public works crews have goneabout it.

Speaker 1 (59:46):
So I know they're frustrating to see, I know the
branches on the side, but thoseare our last priority because
they're not going to killanybody driving down victory
afterward, I saw a couple trucksthat were out of service, just
had their arms up, holding holesin place until you get back to
them at a later time to fix them.
That was an, that was aband-aid, which they incredibly

(01:00:09):
they don't do that they losepower completely, that whole
area that was that those werecrews at work.

Speaker 3 (01:00:13):
I mean, when I talked to mandep, she was incredibly
proud of that, because that wasthe creativeness of our crews at
work.
What can we do now, in thismoment, to safeguard this?
And it actually saved a lotmore poles from coming down.
It was something that I got tosee in action when we decided on

(01:00:38):
in the moment to say, ok, ifyou have a tree issue, call this
number, if you have a powerissue, call this number, but if
you see a downed wire, call9-1-1.
And it was the way we funneledall of those calls that were
real emergencies to 9-1-1.
And I think that saved us in alot of ways that maybe some of

(01:00:58):
our neighbors didn't figure outright away.

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
Well, it's funny because just yesterday I think I
read yesterday or the daybefore in the LA Times a very
big article on people gettingnotified.
There's tons of programs, Adragon I have found during the
Latuna fire.
It was on a weekend, I think itwas a labor day or something.
The city staff wasn't around.
I I gotta give kudos to our piostaff again for getting stuff

(01:01:25):
up.
It's on the website.
It's somewhere for people tolook there.
People are wanting and whatthis article said, that's what
la and county said.
They found that people aresaying it's too slow, the city
is too slow in putting outsomething.
They turned to us.
We had plenty.
I was up to what 4 in themorning putting stuff out, you

(01:01:46):
know, because people wanted tohear, know what was going on.
And I will say that on thisemergency, getting that city web
page where people can ready getgo, or the different
notifications, are just totallydifferent.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
And really kudos to Jonathan and his staff with that
, because not only was it quick,but it was also accurate, which
was the priority.
As we saw with the county,sometimes you can be quick but
not accurate and that scares alot of people and send some
misinformation.
So we did a good job, I thinkof.
Maybe we're a few minutesbehind, but we gave you the

(01:02:25):
right information.
Not, you know, put folks into apanic, and I think the next
step of that and the next stepof what we do with emergency
preparedness is also get morepeople to sign up for our alerts
page, get more people to gotowards our burbank specific
pages, because we're going tohave the most accurate
information.

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
very, very, very good point, because we found I found
a ton of burbank people gettingthese alerts from outside of
burbank thinking do we need toevacuate?
And we heard it the whole time.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
Honestly, and I put that as soon as I got that alert
.
I put out there is no problemin Burbank, relax, it's okay.

Speaker 2 (01:03:09):
Well, people need to and, again, part of that overall
communications plan is to letpeople, when you move here, we
have our own police, our ownfire, our own public works, our
own forestry.
All those depend on Burbank toget your source, not LA County,
not LA City.
They're not going to tell youwhat's going on in Burbank.
We're our own city and we needto get people to understand.

(01:03:31):
There are a ton of programs nowthat you can get alerts on, but
if you want to know fromBurbank, you get it from Burbank
.

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
Exactly, and I got to do one more shout out for our
311 app.
If you have not signed up for311, you can download it from
any app store.
If you also go to, if you lovethe computer, you can also get
311 on there, can you?
I didn't ever.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
Yeah, that's Burbank 311, not just the county 311.
Right, I have one also.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
Yes, Burbank 311.

Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
A lot of people don't realize.
Yesterday I answered somebodythat there was a traffic
accident.
Police were moving traffic downa side street or something and
then they got sent down an alley.
And somebody said oh, I'm goingto call Bob Kramer.
He needed to put a detour signthat it's not a through alley.
And I wrote back.
I said you might not find hisnumber.

(01:04:22):
Bob retired.
He was in that position foryears and years and the city
really wants everybody to useBurbank 311, or call that
department.
But Bob, but you'll get a.
You know Bob did a great job,retired and they're not going to
replace him.

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
He created that job and retired and they lost that
job If you want to talk aboutpublic service.

Speaker 3 (01:04:47):
There is no public servant like Bob Kramer.
That's real dedication.

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
That he was.

Speaker 1 (01:04:52):
Well, we had more, a couple more questions, but you
know what?
We can wait until another month.
It's nothing that's that timely.
I like to try to get about anhour or so, but I will save this
question for next month.
So if you're listening, youhave a reason to listen next
month, because I have a good onefor you.

Speaker 2 (01:05:10):
Well, you know how do you always end the show it's up
to the mayor.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
This is how I always end it.
I always say what's on themayor's mind.
So I give you the time you wantto say anything, you'd like to
say anything coming up, oranything that's on your mind
that you want people to know, orthis is your time.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
So please go ahead, don't give your personal phone
number out.

Speaker 3 (01:05:34):
No, no, I think what I'll say is gosh.
I'll tell you all what I toldthe chamber last week when I did
my first update.
I said hi, I hope this is myfirst and last update revolving
around emergency preparedness,you know, because it's really
scary times.
It's been a rough start to 2025.
And so I guess I just want towish everybody listening a happy

(01:05:55):
new year and hope that Februaryis much better than January for
all of us, and I think what'son my mind is really now, now
that we've gone through this,hoping that we don't get hit
with anything again.
I'm really ready to focus onsome of the things we talked
about today, on the filmindustry, also on economic

(01:06:17):
development.
That's my big, big push thisyear as mayor.
I think there's so much we cando there to help our community,
and economic development isquality of life.
People move to cities not onlyfor the safety, but also because
they know that there's a coffeeshop they like down the street,
because they know they havegood nightlife street, because
they know they have good nightlife, because they know they

(01:06:38):
have good quiet scenery Right,and so that's going to be my
focus for this year.
I look forward to doing a lotof shows about it, a lot of um
mayor's minutes about it.
To look out for those.

Speaker 2 (01:06:51):
Well, I watch your mayor's movement, but Craig and
I, you know, I know he willextend the invitation to you you
ever want to use this platform.
We have found with our previouscouple of mayors that have come
in here we heard when we wereout in the field Craig did
Holiday in the Park.
We've set up other places.
People watch these shows and ifyou want to come on it's kind

(01:07:14):
of different On the dais youhave to what's a Brown Act and
there's a lot of rules andregulations.
But here we give you the mic.

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
If you want to come in and do a different show on a
single topic, it's open to you.
Bring a guest in.
Absolutely, there's a lot wecan do.
We like doing this because itgives us a chance to kind of
wrap up the month and what'sgoing on in burbank and get it
from your opinion.
But it's a special thing comingup.
We can also.
It's up to you.
This is your city, you, you aremadam mayor.

(01:07:44):
You know it's going to be fun,it's going to happen.
You have these goals right.
You have a year, but how fastthat you're going to go, it's
going to, it's already going byso fast, so well.

Speaker 2 (01:07:55):
We just got your calendar for the week and it's
almost two pages.
You are busy this next week.
We get a copy of you know,sandra, your secretary sends it
to us and you are one.
I don't know how you're goingto work.
You are everything else and youknow feed your dog.

Speaker 3 (01:08:15):
You know I don't want to waste a single minute.
I this is the privilege andhonor of a lifetime to serve
your hometown and I think I wantto enjoy it to the fullest.
And I want to do the best I canfor burbank, because the rank
deserves it.

Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
It did so much for me we see that too, and crick and
I said at the top of the show wedidn't get a lot.
We've put it out there that youwere going to do the show.
People, if you want to askquestions, you can send them to
Questions at mybergencom Anytime.
You know we have an open lineto you.
I mean we could save them forthe show or if there's something
that people want to ask.

(01:08:49):
I always say people don'trealize our mirrors are
available, yes, not just in thegrocery store or, you know,
putting gas in your car, but ifthey have a question and they
don't want to go to the citycouncil because that's not the
place to ask, yeah, and like Isaid the other night, it can be
an intimidating thing to go infront of that microphone up

(01:09:10):
there.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
Sometimes we've all been up there it's like, and we,
you know ross and I know youguys, it can still be
intimidating up there, you knowabsolutely.

Speaker 3 (01:09:19):
I mean I, I think tamla said at that time but we
all know what it's like to be onthe other side, speaking
ourselves, and it isintimidating, even if some of
the people up there are yourfriends, um, but yeah, I, I
would just say that too.
I think the most importantthing for for living in a city
like burbank is you know yourmayors.
They're your friends, they'reyour neighbors, they're your
community members and theyshould be approachable.

(01:09:40):
If you want to talk to me, myemail is nperez at burbankcagov,
and the reason I use my emailand not the phone number is
because that one goes to theoffice and if you email me,
sandy will make sure that Ianswer you within a few days.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
Sandy's amazing.
Oh, she is.
She has been great for uh tohelp us out to line you up for
your, to get you on yourschedule for us, and she is, see
, we really depend on her andevery mayor that.
But I mean she really she willprotect you.
I mean you and I will see eachother at a million ribbon
cuttings.
You know and we get and I knowwhen somebody I go to a ribbon

(01:10:19):
cutting you're not scheduled, Iwill know before anybody else
and I will tell the mayor's notgoing to be here.
We'll have a stand.
You know either vice mayor orsomebody else, but it's very
helpful, yep.

Speaker 1 (01:10:31):
Well, Ross, anything else you got before we?

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
wrap it up.
I'm not on.
Oh, oh, am I on?
I couldn't tell my tally lightwasn't on.
This was a great I.
I'm glad we did it in january.
Yes, we'll be out in a day orso.
Hopefully you get a couplethousand hits, like we do on
some of our other podcasts.
And um, you know, you, you'veseen craig out in the field.
You, you sat down with him atholiday in the park.

(01:10:56):
We're gonna do some shows outand you're always welcome.

Speaker 3 (01:10:59):
Well, that's what I'm looking forward to.
I can't wait to do some out inthe community.
Be more active.
The only thing I can neverpromise you is, unlike our past
mayors, I'm not going to be outthere in a polo.

Speaker 1 (01:11:11):
Neither am I All righty.
Well for Ross Benson and forMayor Nikki Perez.
This is Craig Schubert, onceagain saying thank you for
watching.
As always, the little things.
Hit that like button andsubscribe to our channel.
If you're listening to your cartwo hands on the wheel right
now, if you're watching at home,thank you for watching and we

(01:11:31):
will talk to you next month.
Goodbye.