Amongst national tension regarding the federal administration’s stance on the Israeli-Gaza war, Burbank has been no exception to the protests and debates. On the day of the annual Burbank Armenian Genocide recognition, mayor Nick Schultz declared that due to a resolution proposed by Councilmember Anthony, the city would discuss a ceasefire in the end of May.
The calendar finds itself in the overwhelmingly hot summers of June, and the resolution was pulled back after the Councilmember visited ongoing college encampments in California. We’ve spoken with Councilmember Anthony about the reasoning and what the path forward for Burbank looks like.
The Councilmember began with noting that drawing the resolution back was never about abstaining from the conversation overall, but taking a different approach, one that looks like a letter of support for the ceasefire proposal the Biden administration is currently forwarding.
When asked about what pushed this decision, he stated that it was a precautionary step to mitigate threat and violence to the community. He noted “back in September, we were inundated by a number of anti LGBTO+ threats and city staff were subjected to a whole host of hate speech.” The event he’s describing led to city business having to be shut down for a couple of days. He elaborated that a similar ordeal occurred when he originally introduced the resolution, but since pushing it back and endorsing the Biden administration’s call for a ceasefire, the threats have died down.
There were concerns that endorsing a federal proposal means being unable to highlight the unique position Burbank can take. When asked about this, the Councilmember stated that “there is an opportunity under our rules to add in our own language and I would be open to having that discussion with our council. I also encourage folks in the community to submit a few short statements in regards to what they’d like us to address specifically.”
Thus, the discussion could look like both a letter of support for the president’s proposal or adding in elements to make it, as he states, “reflective of the thoughts and opinions of our constituency.”
The Councilmember noted that they’ve been pushing for Burbank’s federal representative, Adam Schiff, to sign off on the resolution proposed by Cory Bush, which calls for an immediate ceasefire. Notably, Schiff hasn’t done so, which is part of the reason the council calls for support of Biden’s proposal. Anthony stated “I think by getting the city in support of what the president is doing will help us get our federal representatives on board. If this letter of support gets approved, we’ll be sending it to our 2 senators as well.”
This upcoming discussion on July 15th is one that several constituents have been waiting for, with the Burbank for Palestine group even holding protests every Wednesday in front of city hall. For those interested in leaving a personal statement, an email can be sent to citycouncil@burbankca.gov.
