Photo: FLLewis / Media City G — Dr. David Gordon’s optometry business at 851 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505 November 17, 2014
A Burbank Leader political cartoon in last weekend’s November 15 edition has sparked some chatter around B-town. The cartoon focused on Burbank Mayor, Dr. David Gordon’s optometry business at 851 North Hollywood Way and the city council’s recent vote to keep in place the plan to drop outside watering restrictions from three days to one day a week. This plan is part of an ordinance passed by the city council to deal with the severe drought problems.
At the November 4 city council meeting, some residents criticized the so-called winter schedule, which calls for only Saturday landscape sprinkler use from November first to the end of March. One of the major complaints by critics of the change is that we’re still in fall and the temperatures have remained warm — 70s and some 80s. However, the city council majority voted to stick with the plan with only Dr. Gordon casting a “no” vote.
This political cartoon by Bert Ring appeared in the Leader last Saturday.
What is this cartoon saying? The Semichorus blog pondered this question with some, uh, blunt and descriptive language. Is the cartoon slamming Dr. Gordon for his dissenting vote on the water restrictions or attempting to “out” him for not following the winter watering schedule at his office? I asked Dr. Gordon for his reaction and this is what he had to say in an email yesterday.
“I have had a professional gardener maintain a small (approximately 200 square foot) natural grass area and planters in front of my office building on Hollywood Way since first establishing my business in 1982. Due to the drought, our watering schedule has been dramatically reduced and some of the grass died off. Each fall, the office gardener reseeds the front lawn and instructs us to water daily to allow the new grass to become established. During a recent discussion before the City Council, representatives of Burbank’s Water & Power Dept. clarified that either hand watering or watering more frequently with sprinklers to establish newly planted or replanted lawns does not violate the general, newly put in place winter watering restrictions. As a result, during the past two weeks, we have been watering the front office landscaped area either with sprinklers or by hand until the newly seeded grass takes root. Once established, we will follow whatever watering restrictions apply to established lawns in our small front office landscaped area. “
Dr. Gordon concluded his email with this statement: “I have no idea what the motivation was behind the cartoon but I fail to see it’s significance, if any.”
