Letter to the Editor: Business Owner Disappointed in City Council

Thank you for your service and for putting in such a long evening last night!! The commitment is commendable.

I wanted to reach out this morning while my disappointment was still fresh!! Let me explain this disappointment…it is not regarding the final decision regarding the “hazard pay” outcome at all. My issue comes from how you arrived at this decision. In my eyes and ears, it was a disgrace quite frankly!! There were many phone calls during public comment with direct questions regarding this ordinance that were completely ignored until Ms. Springer brought them up near the end of the discussion.

I appreciate that this was done by Ms. Springer (and subsequently echoed by Mayor Frutos) to make sure that these questions were asked on record. When Mr. Anthony (proposer of the said ordinance) was directly questioned regarding his decision on this matter and could not articulate a complete sentence on the matter. As big a mess as this was we then were interrupted by Vice Mayor Talamantes at one point, flailing his arms and either on mute or just unintelligible saying something to the effect of “just run it” insinuating to call for the question.  Vice Mayor Talamantes was completely disinterested in sharing any thought on his decision outside of “it’s the right thing to do” which is no an answer sir and we all expect more from the elder statesman or “Veterano” as you and Bob joked about earlier in the meeting…Show the City and your constituents the leadership that they deserve and answer the questions, please.

I understand that it was a long meeting at there was a lot to digest but I did find it telling that there was a much deeper discussion by Mr. Schultz, Mr. Anthony, and Mr. Talamantes regarding the $1,000.00 discrepancy with the CDBFG funds for The Boy Scouts than there was regarding dictating pay structures to companies in Burbank…This is telling on how the council feels about business in Burbank!

Mr. Schultz at least tried to answer some questions and offered a minor perspective on the matter which is appreciated.

I need more from this council and cannot only have 2 members (Mayor Frutos and CouncilMember Springer) attempting to make INFORMED decisions or at least be willing to have a coherent, or at this point, ANY discussion regarding the merits of all sides.

I was saddened by what I saw last night and really expected more from the veteran leader of this council…maybe next time but I will not hold my breath!!

PS still waiting for a response from Mr. Talamantes from my email dated 4/14/21 regarding this issue. I guess there is no need to respond at this point unless you would like to offer me your true reasons…

Thanks for your service!

Hope you have a better day…

Mike Thomas
MT Comercial Cleaning Services, Inc.