Six Candidates Vie for Glendale City Council Seats

The race is on: two incumbents and four challengers will meet the evening of Feb. 25 at the .

The contenders for two council seats are Dave Weaver, John Drayman, Rafi Manoukian, Chahe Keuroghelian, Mike Mohill and Garen Mailyan. Robin Goldsworthy, editor of the Crescenta Valley Weekly, will serve as moderator.

Councilman Weaver said he has lived in Glendale 71 years. Married for 42 years with two children and three grandchildren, Weaver is a civil engineer and worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for more than three decades.

In addition to 14 years of city council experience, Weaver has served on more than 10 boards of directors, including school, credit union and community boards such as the Homeowners Coordinating Council. Weaver cites the city's budget as his top-priority in the next four-year term.

"I am running for city council again because I want to continue to help forge the future of this city in a positive way," said Weaver. "We are a safe and fiscally sound city, and I want to keep it that way."

Councilman Drayman seeks his second term in office. He explained that his family "owned the Hangin' Red Pants stores in La Crescenta and Montrose. I grew up working in our family store," said Drayman. "I worked for many years in film and television, eventually returning to manage another family business, Custom Photo in Montrose." 

Drayman served as a board member and president of the Montrose Shopping Park Association and "grew business starts in Montrose from 138 businesses to 213 businesses with 100 percent occupancy rates," he said. He, too, prioritizes the city budget.

He claimed credit for bringing back the historic Montrose street lights and removing all overhead wires and rusted utility poles in the community.

Drayman also reported that he was responsbile for Montrose's re-landscaping and that he "started the Montrose Harvest Market on Sundays, as well as most of the other public events in Montrose. I was also responsible for the city acquisition of historic Rockhaven Sanitarium as a future home for the Montrose Branch Library and for bringing Trader Joe's to Montrose." 

Manoukian is a former councilman who lost his seat to Drayman in 2007. Last year he unsuccessfully ran for city treasurer.

"I am running in this year's Glendale City Council election because with my experience in the private sector as well as government, I can make a significant contribution in dealing with the economic issues facing Glendale," said Manoukian.

A certified public accountant for 20 years, Manoukian is currently the chief financial officer of USArmenia Television. Like his incumbent opponents, the budget is Manoukian's main concern. "With a $10 million shortfall projected, it will be a daunting task," he said.

Keuroghelian owns a small business and said he's received endorsements from the San Fernando Valley Democratic Party and Teamsters Local 848.

"For many years I have been an advocate for environmental, economic and societal justice at the grassroots level," said Keuroghelian, originally from Beirut, Lebanon. "Ever since I was a young man ... I have stood up for the individual's rights and freedoms. And during the last 30 years of service in the Glendale  community, in both the private and public sector, I have always supported the full participation in civic life of all concerned stakeholders, especially encouraging those who have often been denied or have isolated themselves from full participation in decisions that impact their lives and the lives of their children."

Jobs would be Keuroghelian's no. 1 priority if elected.

"That means promoting job-fairs, attracting growing companies with well-paying jobs by creating the conditions to engage our youth with income opportunities ... and protecting the jobs that provide our basic services," he said. 

Mohill bills himself as a "city watchdog" for the past three years. "I have lived in Glenoaks Canyon for 33 years and in Glendale 60 years," he said in a statement. "I am a product of the Glendale school system and a Vietnam veteran. As a retired businessman, I have witnessed the financial deterioration of our city for the past decade."

Mohill framed the election as being "about character and the restoration of our public trust. This election is about fixing our government gone amuck with self-enrichment and wasteful spending," he said.

In addition to fiscal woes, Mohill listed four of Glendale's "biggest problems in the last 10 years," including "councilmen under investigation by federal authorities or charged by the district attorney for unethical conduct."

According to his statement, Mohill's bullet-pointed goals if elected are to:

• Stop the unethical influence of city unions on the political process.
• Restore affordable electricity and water rates.
• Stop wasteful spending, excessive growth of administrators, excessive employee pay and runaway pensions.
• Stop current and future budget deficits.
• Restore our focus on infrastructure - roads, water lines, sewers, bridges and open green space.
• Stop the misappropriation of millions of dollars in federal funds for low income housing. 

Mailyan has lived in Glendale for 20 years and came to the United States from Armenia in 1991. He has a master's degree in political science from California State University Northridge and currently works as a security officer at the Americana mall in Glendale.

"There is a need for cultural reconciliation because the city is divided along ethnic lines," said Mailyan. "We need to improve those relationships."

He pointed to a lawsuit filed by Glendale Police officers of Armenian descent as a key issue of concern.

"Nothing poisons Anglo-Armenian relations like discrimination," Mailyan said in his sample ballot statement. "Five out of nine Armenian cops are suing Glendale P.D. for systemic anti-Armenian discrimination. The matter needs to be investigated." The candidate said if elected he "will work to create an independent police commission to investigate that and other issues."

A born-again Christian, Mailyan said his faith is a central part of his candidacy and political philosophy. He intends to apply this directly to building ties between community members of different ethnic backgrounds.

"Regular reconciliation meetings will be part of my tenure as a councilman," added Mailyan, who also cited two-term limits and budget reconciliation as policy goals.

"The way to deal with that on any level is to control spending," Mailyan said. "Promoting business growth is also important. Small or big, any kind because the city benefits from that."