Some candidates for the Burbank City Council are off to a fast start. Yard signs are popping up. And fundraising is in full swing. Officially the race for two seats on the council began on May 3, 2020, when potential candidates were allowed to begin fundraising.
Next, the nomination period opened on July 13, 2020 and is scheduled to close today, August 7. However, candidates wanting to submit nomination papers for the city council race will have an extra few days. That is because incumbent City Council Member, Emily Gabel-Luddy, has decided not to run for re-election.
Gabel-Luddy not seeking re-election
Apparently Gabel-Luddy publicly announced her decision not to seek re-election at a council meeting last June. According to city election rules, if an incumbent does not run, the nomination period will be extended… in this case to August 12, 2020.
Councilman Murphy’s campaign
Meanwhile, Council Member, Tim Murphy, is running for a full term. You might remember, Murphy was appointed by the council in May of 2018 to fill out the rest of the term of Will Rogers, who passed away a month before. There had been much talk about Murphy not seeking a full term. Well, he put those speculations to rest by kicking off his campaign.
Councilman Murphy and his organizers began a gofundme account on June 7, to raise money for his campaign. So far, they have raised $1,770 of a $12,000 goal. By the way, this is not Murphy’s first run for a council seat. Previously, Murphy served on the Burbank City Council from 1989 to 1993.
Other Council Candidates
Also, seven other candidates are vying for the two seats on the council, and there might be more by the close of business next Wednesday. Among the contenders, Nick Schultz, a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice, and Paul Herman, head of the Herman Company, a property management and commercial real estate firm here in Burbank.
Also, hoping to win the approval of voters in November, activist Konstantine Anthony. This is Anthony’s second attempt at winning a seat on the council. He is a co-founder and chair of the Burbank Tenants’ Rights Committee, a member of the Burbank Advisory Council on Disabilities, and the Burbank Transportation Commission.
Anthony admits this campaign has some special challenges like the pandemic and the all important presidential race. Anthony believes there is a great need for change in Burbank: “… our current city council doesn’t have a working class voice. There are no renters or millennials on council. We need to have all viewpoints heard at our local level, and I believe I bring a very different life experience to city hall. I’m disabled and I’ve been homeless and I have a child currently attending a Burbank Unified school. These are vitally important lived experiences that are simply not reflected in our current leadership. I’m running to give voice to those views.” Anthony has raised $19,024 so far for his campaign.
Other candidates running for council are Linda Bessin, Michael Lee Gogin, Sharis M. Manokian, and Tamala Takahashi.
