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YourHub.com \\ Burbank \\ Stories \\ Sound Off \\ Letter to the Editor

Vote NO on Burbank Charter changes

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Contributed by: Eric Michael-Cap on 10/25/2006

I strongly oppose the majority of the Charter Review Committee's recommended changes, as I believe these changes are nothing more than a tool to help perpetuate the status quo.

They want take away our right to choose a replacement Council member via a special election in the event of a vacancy, as well as taking away our right to elect our own City Clerk and Treasurer.

Why?

So that they can control who sits in those seats! It seems the-power-that-be aren't happy that the people of Burbank chose Dr. David Gordon in our recent special election over their hand-picked candidate Bill Wiggins, so they want to take that away from us.

They also want to do away with the four-fifths vote required to approve our city budget. It seems they're scared of loosing another seat at next year's election, which is why I suspect they want to change the four-fifths vote to a three-fifths vote.

Charter Review Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Jackson says she trusts the voters. Really? If that's the case, why on earth do you want to take away these very voters rights to choose and give that power to the City Council and a City Manager who's beholden unto the Council?

This is not the first time Ms. Jackson's logic has been fatally flawed. You might remember her speaking against random drug testing of our City Council, with the argument that asking a Council member to submit to a drug test is like asking a man "do you still beat your wife?" Thankfully our Council ignored Ms. Jackson's diatribe and voted unanimously to implement a voluntary random drug testing program, for which I commend them.

The CRC had an opportunity to address many issues that Burbank residents would like see on the ballot, such as term limits, but chose otherwise. Every conversation I've had in the community regarding Charter changes people would like to vote on involved term limits but that didn't make on their list of 12 changes. That tells me we have a committee that for the most part is out-of-touch with the average Burbank resident.

One of the strategies discussed at the CRC's last meeting was going into our local churches to campaign, or as Mr. Dennis Barlow put it, "educate" the community. As a Christian I am deeply offended by this. It makes me sick to my stomach when organizations try and use the church to push their political agendas, like the Republicans in Washington D.C. who have used groups like the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family for political campaigning.

In Mark 11, Jesus drives out the merchants and money changers from the temple courts with a whip, and declares: "My house will be a house of prayer." Churches are for worshipping God, for teaching people about God and fellowship, not for political campaigning! Furthermore, the Internal Revenue S ervice takes a very dim view of such activities and I would caution any church or charity from getting involved in any such political activities that might jeopardize their not-for-profit status. This is not a moral issue.

The charter changes will likely appear on next year ballot in April. When they do, Vote NO!

UPDATED: 11/1/2006

Some web videos have been posted from the CRC Public Hearing here:

BetterBurbank.com
YouTube.com .

Check them out for yourselves to see what all the fuss is about.

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Submitted By: C L Ramirez

posted on 10/27/2006 @ 5:11:38 PM

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I believe that the citizens should vote for more and not less. It is not wise to allow a few people to decide everything for everyone.

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Submitted By: Eric Michael-Cap

posted on 10/26/2006 @ 5:01:42 PM

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I don't normally respond to Mr Aboulsaad's personal attacks but how one can deduce that there's nothing I like about Burbank from reading an article in opposition to proposed Charter changes is beyond my understanding. Alfred is like those intolerant people who accuse citizens of hating America because they dare criticize the Bush administration on the war in Iraq. As for his religion comments: I'm not the one asking my pastor to have the floor at a Church meeting so that I can "sell" the Charter changes. I have never and would never use God's House for such an inappropriate political activity.

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Submitted By: Carolyn Berlin

posted on 10/26/2006 @ 1:57:58 AM

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At the Council meeting a speaker pointed out that the redline version of the proposed Charter changes prepared by City Attorney Dennis Barlow before the very first meeting of Mr. Aboulsaad's Committee looked almost identical to the final version that was presented for Council approval. It seems the Committee meetings and related expenses were just to rubber-stamp what City Hall wanted which is to limit voter participation and concentrate power among a few.

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Submitted By: Dink O'Neal

posted on 10/25/2006 @ 9:04:44 PM

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Sorry I couldn't make the meeting last night. I'm sure that Alfred and his ilk (aka The Burbank Bootlicking Brigade) will not rest easy until they are able to finish the job the council majority appointed them to do: Minimize and/or delete the voters' rights to ultimately control what our City Council does to us. Notice I didn't say "for us". We must double our efforts, get this pile of garbage turned down by the voters and then take back at least one more seat in next year's election.

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Submitted By: Alfred Aboulsaad

posted on 10/25/2006 @ 4:24:37 PM

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Is there anything at all you actually LIKE about Burbank? You gloss over anything that doesn't suit your negative view of everything related to city business? The first thing that Dr. Gordon focused on last night was the conversation about how to advertise the changes and why we chose to include them. That was 45 minutes out of 50+ hours of discussions. Please spare us the scripture since using religion as a tool to advance YOUR political agenda isn't very Christian-like either!

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Eric Michael-Cap

Burbank , CA

Eric Michael-Cap has posted 7 stories and 7 comments since joining on 8/23/2006. Eric Michael-Cap's average story rating is 3.09.

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