Stimulus

CITY HALL — Glendale is poised to submit a list of $155.8 million in ready-to-go projects as part of the nationwide funding competition that will commence when President Obama signs his economic stimulus package. In his first weekly radio address Saturday, Obama said a key element of his proposed $825-billion stimulus package would be to spend heavily on public infrastructure projects that involve roads, power lines, transit and renewable energy as he pushed to sign the initiative by mid-February.

BOB HOPE AIRPORT — The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority is set to receive $3.5 million for safety upgrades on three taxiways as part of the federal stimulus package. The Department of Transportation indicated last month that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood would identify “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects and give them priority when it came time to distribute $1.1 billion available to airports for upgrades through the stimulus package.

DOWNTOWN — Federal stimulus money seemed like a long shot to members of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday as officials offered an update on finances that showed lofty reserves dwindling into deficit and projected that state budget uncertainty may continue to jeopardize revenues. Some funds for schools included in the stimulus plan would likely be redirected by the state in order to make up for shortfalls, Supt. Michael Escalante said. “I don’t think you’re really going to see that [federal stimulus dollars]

Last week, the American economy lost 71,400 jobs — in a single day. The International Monetary Fund warned that world economic growth is set to fall to 0.5% in 2009, its lowest rate since World War II. And at the just-concluded World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, business leaders from around the world were gloomy and skittish. Their mood reflected the global fear about the state of the world economy. We have a unique opportunity to achieve two important goals with the stimulus package that recently passed the House and is now awaiting action in the Senate: to create jobs and get commerce moving again through a combination of infrastructure spending, tax cuts and other fiscal stimulus, so that families can maintain their income, standard of living and health care; and to make investments in our future and promote our long-term prosperity.

CITY HALL — Five local business districts could get a financial boost from the city to support holiday marketing campaigns under a City Hall proposal scheduled for review Tuesday. The City Council will review a one-time $37,500 stimulus to be divvied up equally among five of the city’s neighborhood business districts: downtown Glendale, the Montrose Shopping Park, Kenneth Village, Sparr Heights and Adams Square. The proposed stimulus comes at a time when local merchants are preparing for the coming holiday season, which they say is especially important after last year’s brutal drops in consumer spending for both local and commercial retailers.

GLENDALE — There may be less reason to dread the April 15 tax filing deadline this year. The annual paperwork process that most taxpayers put off until April is still in play, but citizens are slated this year to receive rebates from the U.S. Treasury as part of the recently approved stimulus package — and there’s no extra paperwork. “From a taxpayer’s standpoint, this is a very easy process,” Internal Revenue Service spokesman Terry Lemons said.

DOWNTOWN — Area educators responded with skepticism Tuesday to assurances that federal stimulus aid would reach local schools without first being raided by lawmakers in Sacramento. State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell expects California school districts to begin receiving stimulus funds in May, he said in a teleconference Monday, but administrators in Glendale and Burbank have not heard concrete details from the state and are not anticipating any of the additional money.

CITY HALL — As the city prepares to go out to bid on more than $6 million in federal stimulus projects, City Council members are pushing for the work to flow to local firms. The City Council on Tuesday will consider plans for six Public Works projects. The council will also vote on approving the receipt of $6 million in federal stimulus money as part of the $27.5 billion distributed across the nation by the Federal Highway Administration for “shovel ready” projects.

CITY HALL — Under pressure to submit public infrastructures projects in time for federal stimulus funding, the City Council on Tuesday voted to submit a $155.8-million wish list for state and federal consideration. The list of 40 projects included $12 million for the realignment of a major wastewater line, $11 million for a chromium removal water treatment plan, $6.1 million for park development and $184,000 to expand community gardens. City officials and lobbyists were pushing to have the list of existing or nearly ready-to-go projects lined up in time for the $819-billion economic stimulus bill that the U.S. House of Representatives sent to the Senate on Wednesday.

Thanks to the Glendale News-Press for the great story on Col. James McGinley?s emotional welcome home. I was privileged to witness him walking the last block home, saluted by current and former members of our military. When his wife, Maribeth, ran to him with welcoming arms, well, it?s the stuff that movies are made of. What an incredible welcome home for one of our hometown heroes. McGinley?s military recognition banner flies proudly on the east side of Glendale Avenue between Harvard Street and Broadway ?

Friday marked the end of a well-funded era for the Verdugo Workforce Investment Board, as federal stimulus dollars officially dried up after two years. The agency is now seeing its own budget and staff reductions, even as its mission is to train Burbank and Glendale residents for jobs remains critical in a struggling economy. Agency leader Don Nakamoto said the Verdugo Workforce Investment Board received about $3.5 million in stimulus money over the past two years and had an annual budget of a $7 million.

The Glendale Youth Alliance hosted a luncheon on Wednesday at the Anoush Banquet Hall to raise funds to support employing hundreds of youth this summer. For the first time in more than 15 years, the organization did not receive enough money from the city and federal government to support its summer program, which connects young adults with work in office settings, such as libraries, hospitals or nonprofits. Last year, the organization matched 350 low-income Burbank, Glendale and La Cañada residents, ages 14 through 24, with summer jobs.

GLENDALE — State legislators this week approved a bill to release millions in one-time federal stimulus funds to Glendale and Burbank school districts, but local officials said nothing would change until the money was in the bank. But school board members and staff in both cities said their fiscal challenges and positions won't change until the federal dollars are physically or electronically transferred out of Sacramento. "Yes it's on track and our staff and our team has been very aggressive with this and putting this into our mindset," said Greg Krikorian, president of the Glendale Unified school board.

SOUTH GLENDALE — Faced with mounting financial troubles, the founder of New Horizons Family Center said Tuesday that the nonprofit will have to downsize in order to keep from shutting down altogether. "I have to consolidate our operations to keep our doors open to the community to do what we do for the children," said Maria Rochart, who founded the center in 1996 to provide childcare and counseling to low-income families in South Glendale. Rochart had resigned from her role as executive director in April, but recently reassumed the position after her replacement quit in protest of what she said were unhealthy work conditions and poor financial management.

CTY HALL — The City Council this week authorized city planners to create a plan to guide increased energy efficiency and conservation at public facilities. The plan is required as part of the city's receipt of $1.88 million in federal stimulus funding for energy-efficient retrofits of city buildings and public education efforts. On Tuesday, council members allocated up to $160,000 for a temporary employee who would help create the plan. Money for the position, which is funded for a year, comes from federal stimulus funding and state fees charged to all utility customers.

CITY HALL ? A slew of infrastructure projects paid for with millions in federal stimulus funds are scheduled to break ground next summer. The projects include six new traffic signals across the city, and street repairs and rehabilitation for Pacific Avenue, Chevy Chase Drive and other streets. When all is said and done, the projects are expected to total up to $3.4 million among three contracts with construction firms in San Dimas, South El Monte and Santa Fe Springs. When the project plans were first approved in July, City Council members said they?

CITY HALL — PATH Achieve Glendale, the city’s largest homeless services provider, was awarded more than $100,000 in federal stimulus money to house five local families made homeless by the recession, but so far the organization is having a hard time locating families who qualify. In September, the Glendale Housing Authority approved a $140,000 contract with PATH Achieve Glendale for a Rapid Re-Housing program, a federal stimulus-funded program meant to provide rental subsidies for five local families who have recently become homeless because of job loss or foreclosure.

CITY HALL — Glendale and Burbank may have been among an elite few who were awarded up to $20 million in federal money for their smart-grid projects, but they’ll have to put up the matching funds to get them, officials said Tuesday. Glendale and Burbank were the only cities in Los Angeles County to receive a share of the $3.4 billion in stimulus funding allocated last week by the Department of Energy to support energy-efficiency projects nationwide. Utility officials plan to use the funds to support their respective projects to install “smart” utility meters that track real-time water and electricity usage and allow for two-way communication with customers.

LOS ANGELES — Federal stimulus grants have helped the Verdugo Workforce Investment Board assist more jobless workers in recent months than ever before, but the funds have also turned the spotlight on a looming problem: The money is running out. Don Nakamoto, the board’s labor market specialist, alerted members to the issue Thursday during a quarterly meeting for the organization, which oversees job training and counseling services for...