City Treasurer

Come next election, Glendale voters will be choosing a new city treasurer. But they may also have to decide whether they want to keep voting for that position or turn it into an appointment made by the city manager. In recent years, Glendale has had a tough time attracting candidates to run for the position. Now that there's a possibility people may run for a position that ceases to exist, some community leaders are wondering, “Who's going to run?” “If it's been difficult to attract qualified candidates before, I'm not sure how this helps,” said City Treasurer Ron Borucki, who is in favor of an appointed treasurer.

An initiative that would simplify how Glendale transfers tens of millions of dollars from the city-owned utility to pay for general public services is officially going on the April ballot. City Hall officials say the changes, which the City Council approved Tuesday for the ballot, would update a decades-old practice and bring it in line with modern accounting principles. Critics, though, contend it will drastically change what city leaders had intended more than 70 years ago, when the revenue transfer was established.

City Councilman Rafi Manoukian successfully defeated Measure A on Tuesday, preserving his successful bid for city treasurer. While Manoukian was the sole candidate for city treasurer, he wasn't without some opposition in the form of Measure A, which was defeated on vote of 11,602 against and 4,001 in support. Manoukian mounted a strong campaign against the proposed Charter amendment that would have changed the city treasurer into an appointed, not elected, position - thereby nullifying the outcome of his uncontested quest for the office.

The outgoing city treasurer, and the city councilman vying for his job, will be facing off on April's ballot as they try to convince voters to either keep the treasurer as an appointment, or change it to an elected position. Councilman Rafi Manoukian and Treasurer Ron Borucki are set to file their 300-word arguments by Jan. 25, a day after the four people who have indicated they want to run for the open seat will have to turn in 100 signatures each to make their candidacy official.

What investment strategy do you intend to follow through these turbulent financial times? The primary responsibility of the city treasurer is preserving the principal funds of the taxpayers of the city of Glendale. The secondary responsibility is ensuring liquidity so that the current obligations of the city are met on time. And third is the return on the reserve funds that are governed by the policies adopted by the City Council. I do intend to follow these conservative approaches to the investment strategies, and will recommend that foreign bankers acceptances, which are currently allowed by city policy, be removed from the list of acceptable investments for the city of Glendale.

Several measures, including one that could make the city treasurer an appointed rather than elected position, have moved closer to being placed on an upcoming ballot. On Tuesday, Glendale City Council members directed the city attorney to bring back specifics on the measures - one of which would also deflate the debate surrounding an annual electricity revenue transfer - before they approve putting them before voters. The measure deciding the fate of the city treasurer position could be part of the April municipal election, while others may take more time to get on a ballot.

Councilman Rafi Manoukian's committee against a ballot measure that would make the city treasurer's position an appointed rather than elected position is in debt to the tune of $10,865. Manoukian, the sole candidate for treasurer, has spent $12,965 on mailers, advertisements, signs, phone calls and voter lists, but has raised just $2,100 - all of it from himself and his parents, according to the latest campaign disclosure forms filed last week. Manoukian said a fundraiser he had after the disclosure forms were due should cover much of the expenditures, which are all on credit cards.

Rather than raising money for his own campaign for city treasurer, Councilman Rafi Manoukian plans to set up a fundraising committee to battle a ballot measure that could prevent him from taking the job. While Manoukian is running unopposed for treasurer, Measure A, if passed, would convert the elected position into an appointed one. “The majority of my focus on the campaign will be against the measure,” Manoukian said in an interview, adding...

The Glendale city treasurer is responsible for the receipt and disbursements of all city funds, the management of the city's investment portfolio, and reporting investment activity to the City Council and the people of Glendale. The city treasurer is privy to the financial management of the city and should also report to the people the financial health of the city. Our treasurer appears to be a good keeper of the city investments, but has not informed his voting constituents of the health of the city funds.

As thousands of apartment units continue to fill downtown Glendale, all five candidates for City Council told about 130 people on Wednesday night at the first election forum this campaign season that they believe in slowing down development. “It's time for us to take a break,” said Chahe Keuroghelian, who came about 350 votes short of clinching a council seat last year, during a candidate forum sponsored by the Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn. and held at the Brand Library and Art Center.

Five people have qualified for the June ballot for a single City Council seat, one that comes with a shortened 10-month term. Of the five candidates, four have run unsuccessfully for City Council in the past. The five candidates, in alphabetical order, are: Rick Barnes, a real estate agent, Paula Devine, a Commission on the Status of Women member, Vartan Gharpetian, a Historic Preservation Commission member, Chahe Keuroghelian, a small business owner, and Mike Mohill, a self-declared community advocate.

Come June, Glendale residents will be voting for a new council member to replace an appointed one and following a City Council decision this week, they will also be voting on whether to get rid of the city rules that required the early election in the first place. The current rules for how to fill a seat on the dais after a council member leaves office before the end of their four-year term are costly, confusing, cause voter fatigue, and need to be changed, council members said at a City Hall meeting Tuesday.

As city officials try to test the waters about where voters stand on additional taxes, a recent survey revealed that residents are generally pleased with how the city is operating and are not prepared to take on any new taxation measures. Results from the survey, conducted by Los Angeles-based consulting firm Cerrell Associates, were released to the City Council on Tuesday. City officials hired the firm in December to gauge residents' sentiments about possible new taxes. The survey included phone interviews with 501 randomly selected residents.

Two Glendale residents who have been trying to kick Councilman Frank Quintero out of office have failed again. This week a Los Angeles Superior Court judge supported California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris' decision to block residents John Rando and Mariano Rodas from challenging Quintero's April appointment in court. The pair needed approval from the state's top lawyer before filing a suit seeking to oust Quintero. The rule, which applies to public officials, is aimed at curbing frivolous lawsuits.

At least two people have decided to run for a City Council seat in the special June election, while others who made an unsuccessful attempt in April plan to sit this round out with an eye toward the general municipal election. Chahe Keuroghelian and Vartan Gharpetian confirmed this week that they plan to run after announcing their intent on Armenian television channels. Both said they're prepared for the long haul that will come with the upcoming election cycle, since whoever wins in June will have to run again 10 months later to grab a four-year term.

Re: “ The revenue may justify the spending ,” News-Press editorial, Dec. 14. Here we go again. The City Council wants you to tax yourself, give up your right to vote for city treasurer and city clerk, and also vote charter changes that will end their illegal transfer of money from GWP to the general fund. To add insult to injury they want to spend $80,000 to convince you this needs to be done. Didn't they get the message from the last election? I guess they think they can wear us down by constantly having these items on the ballot.

Glendale voters have not approved a new tax since 2009. In April of this year they were skittish about other items they were asked to consider and turned down three ballot measures that would have determined how the city would issue bonds, how it would account for an annual transfer of millions of funds from Glendale Water & Power and even how it would hire a city treasurer. Mindful of local voters' reluctance to support measures at the polls, and in need of raising some more cold, hard cash to maintain various services during a time in history when state and federal monies continue to evaporate, the majority of the City Council would like to tag on one or more tax measures to the special June election being held to fill the expiring council seat currently held by Frank Quintero.

Campaign finance rules that govern regular city elections are now in place for a special election in June to replace Councilman Frank Quintero , following a unanimous City Council vote Tuesday. The council needed to clean up the regulations, which didn't apply to special elections. The rules include a $1,000 cap on individual contributions and a five-month period after the election to pay off campaign debt through fundraising. The council appointed Quintero to an open seat after he did not run for reelection in April.

An attempt to boot Councilman Frank Quintero out of office has more to do with his support of a recent ban on gun shows on city-owned property than a misinterpretation of a decades-old revolving-door policy, attorneys for Glendale contend in court documents. Last month, two Glendale residents, John Rando and Mariano Rodas, filed a request with the state attorney general for permission to file a lawsuit that would seek to remove Quintero from his appointed seat because they contend the city is violating a 1982 provision that prevents council members from being employed by the city until two years after they leave the dais.