Clear vision for Council

City Council critic David Gordon announced Tuesday that he will make

a bid for the seat left vacant by the resignation of Stacey Murphy.

Gordon, an optometrist who is among the regular speakers at the

weekly council meetings, considers himself a candidate who can

restore public trust and confidence in city leaders.

His campaign will reach out to voters who want a change, Gordon

said.

“We need new people on the council with new ideas and fresh

approaches who will uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct,

Gordon said.

Murphy stepped down Aug. 30 after being charged with one felony

count of cocaine possession and one misdemeanor count of child

endangerment.

Murphy has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to

appear in Pasadena Superior Court on Sept. 28, and then stepped down

so that her legal troubles would not distract the council from city

business.

The council is expected to order the special election at its Sept.

27 meeting.

The City Clerk’s office has 120 days from that date to have the

election.

A Burbank resident since 1983, Gordon served on the Planning Board

-- including one year as chairman -- from 1995 to 1999, as chairman

of the Magnolia Park Citizen’s Advisory Committee for three years and

for two years on the Administrative Services Committee of the League

of California Cities.

Gordon’s strong ties to the city will be helpful in the election

said Carolyn Berlin, who served with Gordon on the Planning Board.

“Through his business he comes in contact with the community on a

day-to-day basis,” Berlin said. “And he has a good handle on the

issues.”

Although he is still finalizing the platform he will run on,

Gordon identified traffic congestion, over development, threats to

private property rights and potential expansion at the Bob Hope

Airport as among the issues he will raise.

“I am very concerned with the current trend to change contractual

agreements the city has with large developers,” Gordon said. “Those

changes alter the impacts those developments have on the community

without any additional environmental review being done.”

With only two weeks having passed since Murphy’s resignation, the

field of potential replacements is growing.

Vahe Hovanessian, a lawyer who ran for a council seat in 2003 and

2005; and Bill Wiggins, a former councilman and mayor who is

currently serving as a commissioner for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena

Airport Authority have also announced they will take part in the

special election.

The election would mark Gordon’s first foray into running for

public office.

His experience on the Planning Board would be helpful to serving

on the council, Gordon said.

“It allowed me a better understanding of how projects are reviewed

and conditioned,” Gordon said. “And it allowed a better understanding

of how to assess the impacts of development on the community.”

When on the Planning Board, Gordon always did his background

research and homework on proposed projects that came before it,

Berlin said.

“He was not a rubber stamp and he listens to the public,” Berlin

said.