Budget Process

CITY HALL — As a part of the shift in the city’s Park Ranger program, six part-time rangers will be laid off as of July 15, city officials said Monday. The department is working to formulate a number of part-time park recreation specialist positions to focus on naturalist programming that the current part-time rangers will be able to apply for, but the process should take a few months, Recreation, Parks & Community Services Director George Chapjian said Monday. The part-time naturalist will be paid about half of the $25 to $30 an hour that rangers currently make, freeing up room in the budget for more of a presence, Chapjian said.

CITY HALL — With a July 1 deadline looming, the budgeting process will move forward as scheduled with next Tuesday’s public hearing regardless of whether negotiations with the Glendale Police Officers Assn. are complete, City Manager Jim Starbird said Tuesday. A study session scheduled for Tuesday afternoon to formulate a draft budget was pushed back a week because negotiations with the police union over possible salary concessions are ongoing. City Council members last week said they didn’t want to talk about a final draft budget until after the talks were concluded because concessions on a planned 6% raise could free up the need to make cuts elsewhere.

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the appropriation of $50,000 to fund the development of a Fire Department five-year strategic plan. “I think now, during the times we are in, it is time for us to take a very strategic look at our operations to make sure we are moving in a way that just makes sense in the environment and to make sure we are covering all of our bases,” said Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. The funding will come from current year salary savings, he said.

CITY HALL — Councilman Bob Yousefian, who during the past eight years has been known by many as a maverick and often contentious element on the dais, said Monday that he would halt his reelection campaign and instead pursue the open seat for city treasurer. Yousefian’s departure from the City Council race opens the April election to a potentially larger pool of candidates who may have had second thoughts about challenging three well-financed and experienced incumbents, including Ara Najarian and Frank Quintero.

The following items will be discussed at Tuesday?s Glendale City Council meeting: ? Citing a slew of economic factors, the council is slated to consider asking the state for $500,000 in additional grant money to cover the cost of its chromium 6 water treatment facilities. The council initially requested and received $2 million. Because of increased building costs of the yet-to-be-built facility and the needs and scope of the chromium 6 treatment research program, officials are asking for more money, which would bring the total grant amount to $2.5 million.

The Glendale City Council was scheduled to begin its budget planning sessions this week, but the meeting was put off to next Tuesday because of the need for some final “numbers crunching,” according to a city spokesman. Numbers may not be the only thing that gets crunched this year, as the council faces the possible need to reopen discussion on the long-range capital budget it spent six months crafting. Word from the city is that the $167.8 million plan for new libraries, fire stations and other facilities may be based on overstated revenue figures.

The Glendale City Council on Tuesday, May 1 launched the process that will lead to the adoption of a new city budget by June 26. The 2007-2008 spending program is the second year of a two-year budget adopted last June, but will be fine-tuned to reflect changes in anticipated spending. The general fund budget for the coming year is about $161 million, about $5.5 million more than was originally anticipated. The higher spending reflects fire department pay and about $2 million more in capital spending than anticipated.

Robert Chacon The City Council rejected a proposal Tuesday night to put a satellite library in a historical Adams Hill building, saying the site was better suited for a retail store or restaurant. Councilmen Ara Najarian, Bob Yousefian and Dave Weaver voted against a temporary library at 1100 Chevy Chase Drive, although they felt that a library was still needed in the southeast portion of Glendale. "I still believe there is a need for a library ... but this is not the right place," Yousefian said.