Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Sept 23 2004

Council takes a glance inward

Incumbents try to gauge how recent Americana vote will affect their
reelection bids.

By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press

GLENDALE – Even before Mayor Bob Yousefian’s reelection campaign ever
made it out of the garage, he said his critics began taking aim.

Yousefian joined an intense campaign supporting a controversial
outdoor mall proposal, which voters narrowly approved Sept. 14. He
believes the campaign against the project turned into a personal
attack on him.

“This was not about the [Americana at Brand],” Yousefian said. “It
was, ‘Let’s attack Bob, let’s attack Bob to weaken Bob for the next
election.’ That’s OK. I expected this. When I made a decision to go
into the Armenian community and talk about the facts, I knew going in
what I was signing up for. I have never been afraid of standing up
for what I believe is right. That has been my history.”

As the dust settles from the most expensive municipal campaign in
Glendale history – Glendale Galleria owner General Growth Properties
and developer Rick Caruso dumped more than $4 million into the
campaigns over the Americana – three City Council members are trying
to determine how it will affect their reelection campaigns.

“My wife told me, if I lose, I have to go out and get a job,”
Councilman Dave Weaver said, laughing. “That’s motivation to get
reelected.”

Council members invested significant political cache in the election
over the Americana, and that could play a major role in April, when
three of them are up for reelection.

Yousefian became the most vocal cheerleader for the project leading
up to the election, especially within the city’s Armenian-American
community.

Weaver contributed with comments at public meetings and letters to
local newspapers supporting the Americana.

Frank Quintero, the lone dissenter on the council, remained quiet in
public for most of the campaign, but was active behind the scenes,
encouraging critics of the project to be vocal and persistent.

With the election seven months away, battle lines have been drawn.

“Obviously, it’s going to be Mr. Quintero against the rest of us,”
Weaver said. “Mr. Quintero said he didn’t like the financial terms.
I’ll argue that [Americana] project was never intended to be an
economic project. We entered it to give the people of Glendale a town
center.”

Quintero did not return messages seeking comment.

Each of the incumbents has weaknesses that can be exploited during an
election.

During the Americana election, critics tried to paint Yousefian as a
flip-flopper because he changed his mind on the project in early
March.

Those accusations are sure to resurface in the City Council election.

“He put himself in real jeopardy, in my opinion,” said Vrej
Agajanian, host of an Armenian-language television show who
criticized Yousefian during the campaign. “He should not have gotten
deeply involved. It angered the Armenian community.”

Agajanian, rumored to be running for City Council, too, said he has
not considered it.

Of the three incumbents, Weaver has had the most trouble raising
funds. In the first reporting period, Yousefian raised $63,594 and
Quintero raised $39,133, while Weaver amassed $8,500.

And Quintero will have to answer questions about his political
future. He has long discussed a possible run at state Assembly in
2006. If he wins such an election, he must vacate his council seat.
Councilman Gus Gomez, who is running for Superior Court Judge in
November, has been criticized for a similar decision.

“If we lose and if we don’t get elected, and there’s a whole new
group coming to the city, so be it,” Yousefian said. “The city will
survive. The city has a life of its own. It’s not dependent on one,
two or three council members.”