Current Burbank City Treasurer, Krystle Palmer, is facing two challengers in the November General Municipal Election. The Burbank City Council appointed Palmer as treasurer back in August 2019.
Palmer took over for Debbie Kukta who left to become the assistant superintendent of administrative services for the Burbank Unified School District. The candidates are competing to see who will finish out the two years remaining on Kukta’s term.
Palmer’s challengers are Darin Shea, local businessman and investor, and Lindsey Francois, product development engineer. All three candidates have statements in the official sample ballot/information pamphlet mailed out by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
The treasurer candidates’ video statements appear in the same video as the city council candidates. The city treasurer candidate statements start at 22:30 into this YouTube video on The Burbank Channel.
City treasurer candidates forum
A League of Women Voters of Glendale/Burbank forum for the city treasurer candidates was held last month. Shea reportedly had a time conflict and so he did not attend. Both Palmer and Francois participated in the forum. They answered questions about investments and the duties of the city treasurer. That forum video can be found here.
Palmer appears to have the strongest background in finance, investment management, and strategy. The other two candidates have different backgrounds and perspective. Shea touts his experience as a successful local businessman/entrepreneur and former financial adviser and manager on Wall Street .
Francois plugs her background as an engineer handling budgets and coming up with innovative solutions to problems. If elected, Francois says she will steer the city investment portfolio to areas where it will most help Burbank residents and businesses. Also, she contends her involvement as a volunteer and an activist in the community is a plus for the position of treasurer.
The General Municipal Election is November 3, 2020.
