city life

Monday, November 9, 2009

UPDATED 11/11/09: Burbank Police Chief Tim Stehr to retire!

  Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove —Burbank Police Chief Tim Stehr I don’t know if he was pushed or he volunteered, but Burbank Police Chief Tim Stehr is heading for the door. The announcement appeared a short while ago on the Burbank city website. It comes almost a week after that volatile council meeting where Councilman David Gordon called for an […]
Monday, October 26, 2009

UPDATED 10/29/09:New developments about the Burbank Police Commission

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove. (From left to right) Commissioner James Etter’s empty chair, Chairman Robert Frutos, Commissioner Claudia Bonis, and Commissioner /Vice-Chairman Nathan Rubinfeld at the October 14 police commission meeting. There’s a good chance James Etter’s chair will be vacant at this Wednesday’s special Burbank Police Commission Meeting. Commissioner Etter walked out of the police commission meeting on October 14, after complaining […]
Thursday, October 15, 2009

Burbank Police Commissioners get fired up!

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Burbank Police and Fire Headquarters at Third Street & Orange Grove Avenue. Burbank Police Commission meetings at police headquarters are getting more and more interesting. Last night’s meeting brimmed with drama including verbal fireworks and one commissioner abruptly walking out in a huff. The way I see it, these are the growing pains of commissioners who are struggling to break out of an […]
Friday, October 2, 2009

A Burbank official goes on the attack over those police lawsuits

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove —Burbank Police and Fire Headquarters. In a recent Los Angeles Times story about the FBI probe and those lawsuits filed by former and current members of the Burbank Police Force, Burbank City Attorney Dennis Barlow had very little to say. City Attorney Barlow is quoted as saying he “… was unable to comment on the FBI investigation or […]
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Burbank City Council speaks out on those lawsuits and investigations

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Burbank Mayor Gary Bric read a statement at last night’s council meeting. Finally, after weeks and months of mostly silence or as some folks have described it stonewalling, the Burbank City Council spoke out last night about the controversial and very messy situation surrounding the police department. Back on May 13, I wrote a post about the alleged problems in the BPD and called on the city […]
Friday, September 11, 2009

Burbank, the city council, and that disturbing water wasting video

  Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Burbank Burbank officials have hammered residents with new water restrictions, penalties, and higher rates recently. We’re in a water crisis they insist. Well, you’d think if the shortage is as serious as they say, the first order of business would be to make the city as water efficient as possible. There are indications this has not been a high priority or the […]
Friday, September 4, 2009

Water a hot issue at the Burbank City Council meeting

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Burbank  We’re deep in the heat of a Southern California summer with temperatures  reaching over 100 degrees on many days. So what does the Burbank City Council do?  Last Tuesday, they voted to slap stiffer restrictions on water use. Hopefully, the council will reconsider this decision when the issue comes back for a final review.  At this week’s city council meeting, Dr. David Gordon was […]
Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Burbank City Council & a new legal claim against the city

Photo:FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove At Burbank City Council meetings most of the face time goes to the council members and the staff. They’re the ones who are supposed to be handling city business, therefore, they get to do a lot of the talking. Still, I get a kick out of the public comment segments where we get a chance to hear what’s bugging some of the citizens of […]