Photo: FLLewis/Media City G --Volunteers sort the ballots for the Primary Nominating Election at City Hall in Burbank February 22, 2011
The two candidates remaining in the Burbank City Council race picked up some important endorsements this week. In last month’s Primary Nominating Election, City Councilman Gary Bric won re-election, Bob Frutos and Emily Gabel-Luddy collected enough votes to move forward to the General Election in a run-off for the one remaining vacant seat on the council.
Final Primary Nominating Election results:
Gary Bric — 4,658 votes
Emily Gabel-Luddy — 3, 858 votes
Bob Frutos — 3, 085 votes
Jackie Waltman — 2, 140 votes
A few days ago, Bric came out and officially endorsed Frutos. In a March 2 press release, Bric said: “Our City will benefit from the knowledge, expertise and dedication Bob could bring to our council.”
Since Bric ran a campaign promoting the status quo and Frutos is pushing for change in Burbank, the endorsement came out of left field. Alexis Castro, Frutos’ campaign manager, admitted as much in a statement I got from her today: “Police Commission Chair, Bob Frutos, is greatly appreciative and pleasantly surprised of the endorsement received from Council Member Gary Bric.” Perhaps, the clamor for change from some Burbankers has been heard by City Hall insiders.
The fourth council candidate in the Primary Nominating Election, Jackie Waltman, is throwing her support behind Gabel-Luddy. This is a shock to a number of Waltman supporters — who thought she had aligned herself with Frutos. During the primary campaign, I got that impression as well, even though, I never received a joint campaign mailer from Frutos and Waltman nor heard of them campaigning together.
In an e-mail, Waltman told me why she’s backing Gabel-Luddy: “… I think there should be at least one woman on the council for the sake of diversity. I think women bring a different dynamic and she has the credentials.”
Waltman wrapped up her comments by saying: “… I hope whoever gets in will bring a change to the way the residents are treated and that the issues that are facing the city are dealt with responsibly and honestly.”
The Burbank General Election is next month, on April 12. Check out the election countdown in the far right column of this website.
