Alex Balekian says Glendale should fight dense housing mandates, cut overtime costs and crack down on reckless drivers

In an Inclusive Voices Media interview, Balekian said Glendale should protect single-family neighborhoods, withdraw from the BRT plan and focus first on public safety

Dr. Alex Balekian says Glendale needs to draw a sharper line between the housing Sacramento wants and the housing many local residents want.

In an interview conducted by Inclusive Voices Media’s Silva Harapetian, the Glendale City Council candidate said state housing mandates could threaten single-family neighborhoods, small businesses and local control unless the city pushes back.

“First, let’s discuss the kind of housing that the state wants, and then the kind of housing that people want, because those two are not the same thing,” Balekian said.

Balekian, a physician who asks voters to call him “Dr. Alex,” is running for Glendale City Council in the June 2, 2026, election. His campaign biography describes him as a lifelong Glendale resident who grew up in the city, attended local public schools and built his life and career there. His campaign also identifies him as a practicing doctor and former 2024 congressional candidate.

In the interview, Balekian said his campaign centers on three priorities: cracking down on reckless drivers, lowering electricity rates and limiting dense housing near single-family neighborhoods and small business parking lots.

“The three reasons that I’m running for city council are to crack down on reckless drivers, to lower electricity rates, and to limit dense housing away from single-family neighborhoods and away from small business parking lots,” Balekian said.

Housing dominated the first part of the interview.

Balekian said state leaders and real estate interests focus too much on unit counts. He argued that Glendale residents want more ownership opportunities, especially entry-level homes and condos that allow families to build equity.

“You have what people here on the ground want,” Balekian said. “People here on the ground want entry level homes, a condo that they can move into, something that they can own, something that will be able to be passed down to their children.”

Balekian said the city should look at areas outside established single-family neighborhoods for new housing. He pointed to the San Fernando corridor, from the Metrolink station north toward Golden Road, as a place where Glendale could support new condos without disrupting existing residential areas.

“There are a lot of opportunities, I think, to build condos there, develop entry-level affordable homes for people to purchase as their first home in an area where there is not an existing single family neighborhood that will be in danger,” Balekian said.

He strongly criticized SB 79, which he said could override local zoning near high-quality transit stops. He said the law puts “a target” on Glendale because of the planned Bus Rapid Transit line.

Balekian said the city should sue L.A. Metro to remove Glendale from the BRT plan, or at least prevent BRT stops from triggering state housing rules inside the city.

“I’m not saying don’t allow the bus to go through Glendale,” Balekian said. “I’m simply saying don’t allow it to stop in Glendale, so we can actually activate the Glendale B line to shuttle people to the nearest bus stop in Burbank and also in Eagle Rock, without putting a target on our backs.”

Balekian also said Glendale needs to make its own building rules easier to understand. He said local codes have become too complicated and discourage smaller builders from working in the city.

“What we really need to do is take that entire code, simplify it using AI, just make it very, very simple, get rid of all the repetitive, esoteric stuff,” Balekian said.

On the budget, Balekian said the city should start by reducing overtime. He said his professional experience managing physician groups and staffing a hospital gives him experience with workforce scheduling and cost control.

“I manage two physician groups, and I staff a hospital, and I make sure that we have the appropriate ratio of doctors to patients,” Balekian said.

He said overtime across city departments reflects inefficient staffing and deployment.

“All of these overtime expenses that we have, they are inefficient deployment of our existing workforce,” Balekian said.

Balekian said the city should review how employees are scheduled and whether departments can use staff more efficiently before cutting services. He described overtime reduction as “the lowest hanging fruit.”

He also tied budget decisions back to his housing and transit position. Balekian said Glendale could direct the City Attorney’s Office to challenge the BRT plan because the city did not agree to the project under the current housing rules.

“The goal posts have been moved since we agreed to it,” Balekian said.

Transportation brought Balekian back to one of his sharpest campaign themes: reckless driving.

He said Glendale should prioritize how people actually move through the city. He said many residents drive out of necessity, while he believes most people in Glendale bike for recreation.

“People in Glendale don’t bike to work, they bike for leisure,” Balekian said. “People drive out of necessity, so we need to prioritize necessity over leisure.”

Balekian said he does not oppose transit, but he opposes removing traffic lanes for dedicated bus lanes on corridors such as Glenoaks, Central and Broadway. He said reducing lanes would push cars into nearby neighborhoods and create new safety problems.

“If you replace the car lanes with bus lanes, you displace that traffic one block north and one block south,” Balekian said.

He said streets such as Glenwood Road could turn into cut-through routes, creating more danger for children and families.

Balekian said the city should first focus on dangerous drivers before expanding discussions about bike lanes or other street changes.

“We need to crack down on those reckless drivers,” Balekian said.

He called for motorcycle officers and larger fines for reckless driving.

“Once you get those reckless drivers to slow the hell down, then you can say, okay, more people are going to ride their bikes, more people are going to walk,” Balekian said.

Balekian ended the interview by directing voters to his campaign website, VoteDrAlex.com.

Candidate profile

Alex Balekian
Race: Glendale City Council.
Election: June 2, 2026.
Profession: Physician.
Background: Balekian’s campaign biography describes him as a lifelong Glendale resident who grew up in the city, attended local public schools and built his life and career there. His campaign also identifies him as a former 2024 congressional candidate.
Key campaign themes: Reckless driving, electricity rates, local control, opposition to dense housing near single-family neighborhoods and small business parking lots, and withdrawal from the BRT plan.
Interviewed by: Silva Harapetian, Inclusive Voices Media.

Inclusive Voices Media candidate interview protocol

Inclusive Voices Media has interviewed all but one of the Glendale City Council candidates.

In the interest of fairness and equal treatment, Inclusive Voices Media followed the same protocol for every interview.

All candidates were invited and given the opportunity to select a time slot on the same interview day.

Each interview was limited to 10 minutes.

All interviews were conducted live-to-tape. That means they were recorded continuously without stopping, editing, retakes or do-overs.

Each candidate was asked the same questions. No candidate received the questions in advance.

The interviews air in alphabetical order.

Inclusive Voices Media says its goal is to provide voters with a fair, transparent and consistent platform so they can hear directly from the candidates and make an informed decision at the ballot box.

All candidates were reached and given the same opportunity. All but one candidate participated.