YOUSEFIAN DEFIANTLY NOMINATES 2
By Jason Wells
Glendale News Press
Jan 31 2008
CA
After first saying he wouldn’t participate, councilman makes
controversial Design Review Board picks.
CITY HALL – A revamp of the city’s two Design Review boards was put
back on the track to contention Tuesday when Councilman Bob Yousefian
reversed an earlier decision to abstain from nominating members,
instead suggesting to reinstate two of the most controversial board
members to have served recently.
Yousefian nominated Design Review Board No. 2 member Michael James –
who in November weathered calls for his resignation after admonishing
opponents of a residential project for living too far away to be
involved in its review – after calling the process a "sham" and a
"slap in the face" to current members on Friday.
"I wasn’t going to play, but if you want me to play, fine," Yousefian
told his colleagues on Tuesday.
His other nomination – former Design Review Board No. 1 Chairman
Vartan Gharpetian – was not reappointed to his seat on Nov. 27 amid
mounting public pressure from homeowners associations and residents
over his co-management of a private-property owners association.
Yousefian’s choices drew a critical – and confused – response from the
public and his colleagues on Wednesday, with Councilman John Drayman
calling the move a "thumb in the collective eyes of the council and
process." advertisement
"Clearly a number of people are not going to support Vartan or James,"
Drayman said. "I think he has chosen two nominees that he knows are
controversial, and I think it will go on from there."
Some of Gharpetian’s most vocal detractors in November reacted to
his re-nomination on Tuesday with disbelief and frustration, saying
Yousefian appeared more concerned with stirring the pot with his two
choices than paying attention to the outcome.
"Yousefian certainly played his hand by nominating these two
controversial people," said Michael Teahan, president of the Adams
Hills Homeowners Assn. "It’s in your face. It’s because he wants to
make a statement."
Yousefian defended his nominees Wednesday as misunderstood,
hard-working volunteers who are more than qualified for the job.
"All these people who serve on the [Design Review boards] currently,
these are good people," Yousefian said.
Reconstituting the two Design Review boards is part of a two-track
overhaul of the review process for single-family homes. The Planning
Commission on Feb. 20 is scheduled to hear a host of amendments that
would include giving staff members more input early on and curtailing
the authority of review board members to "redesign" projects.
All 10 nominations for the two boards – two from each council member
– to reconstitute the Design Review boards will come back next week
for a confirmation vote among the full council.
Of the current nine members, seven were re-nominated and two – Design
Review Board No. 1 Chairman Hamlet Zohrabians and Design Review Board
No. 2 member Robert Carnahan – will be replaced. The 10th seat is
vacant and will be filled through this process. Until Tuesday, it
had been generally assumed that City Council members would confirm
the nominations of their colleagues since, through the power of sole
nomination, the performance of any given commissioner will be tied
more closely with his or her nominator.
But with two controversial nominees on the table, and Councilman
Frank Quintero nominating Ivan Insua – who resigned early last year
from Design Review Board No. 2 after it was discovered he had failed
to obtain the proper building permits for a carport in his yard –
a smooth confirmation vote with little debate is less likely, some
on the council said.
Gharpetian will likely have to contend with lingering accusations
that his co-founding and management of the Glendale Property Owners
Assn. LLC presents a conflict of interest as someone who sits on a
board that has the power to usher multimillion-dollar residential
and commercial projects through the development pipeline.
His association took heavy criticism in November for door hangers left
on homes throughout Glendale urging residents to sign up on their
website to help "save" the Brand Library, even though millions had
already been allocated to restoration projects and library officials
had not been contacted for the campaign.
"It’s shocking that a discredited former [Design Review Board]
member would now be nominated . . . not to mention being
publicly chastised by council for perceived conflict of interest,"
said Arlene Vidor, president of the Glendale Historical Society.
When Gharpetian addressed the council to defend the association as
a benign information service for its members about proposed code
changes, several on the council didn’t buy it and chided him and his
organization for their secrecy.
To date, none of the association’s board members has come forward,
and Gharpetian has refused to reveal their identities.
But Yousefian said any effort to prevent city volunteers from
participating in other organizations bordered on infringing upon
civil rights.
"I just have major issues with that," he said.
As for James, the embattled Design Review Board member and landscape
architect can expect a warning, Yousefian said.
"I will talk to him about losing his cool, and he shouldn’t have,"
Yousefian said. "Nevertheless, you want someone who understands
landscaping."
Still, the whole point of reconstituting the two boards was also to
start fresh, said Peter Fuad, president of the Northwest Glendale
Homeowners Assn. – something the rest of the council should keep in
mind next week when voting on the nominations.
"Councilmen need to be accountable for their choice, but I don’t
think the rest of the council should adjudicate their role," he said.
From: Baghdasarian