Evelina Sarian says Glendale should push back on Sacramento and focus on safety, traffic and local transportation
In an Inclusive Voices Media interview, Sarian said Glendale should resist dense housing mandates, cut what she called pet projects and build a stronger local transit system for residents
Evelina Sarian says Glendale should stop acting like it has no power.
In an interview conducted by Inclusive Voices Media’s Silva Harapetian, the Glendale City Council candidate said the city should take a stronger position against state housing pressure, rethink transportation planning and focus city spending on safety, security and basic needs.
“I feel Sacramento is playing a trick on us with developers and trying to flood Glendale people with Sacramento money to move their agenda forward,” Sarian said. “And I’m completely against that.”
Sarian is running for Glendale City Council on a platform she describes as focused on a safer, stronger and family-friendly Glendale. Her campaign materials emphasize public safety, local control, traffic concerns, small business needs and preserving the city’s character.
In the interview, Sarian said Glendale should grow on its own terms. She said she opposes state pressure to build large apartment projects that she believes do not fit the city.
“Our city is beautiful city, and it needs to grow organically and needs housing where we actually need it,” Sarian said. “Not to be pressured to build Eastern Bloc-style high-rises.”
Sarian said she is running to challenge state mandates and push back on Sacramento.
“I’m running to stand up to Sacramento,” she said.
Asked how Glendale could respond when the state controls much of the housing process, Sarian said the city should negotiate more aggressively. She said her business experience taught her that government decisions can change if city leaders take a stronger position.
“I’ve been in a business world for a very long time, and I believe in negotiations,” Sarian said. “I believe that you can negotiate a lot of things.”
She rejected what she called a victim mentality at City Hall.
“You need to be a little proactive, not just be like, oh, well, we’re victims,” Sarian said. “I don’t accept that victim mentality, and I’m not going to succumb to it.”
On the budget, Sarian said Glendale should both cut unnecessary spending and bring in new revenue. She said the city should start by eliminating what she called pet projects.
“Let’s eliminate pet projects,” Sarian said.
She pointed to the Brand Boulevard bike lane project as an example. Sarian owns Gravel, a business on Brand Boulevard, and said the project hurt the area.
“My store, Gravel, is right on Brand, and they put those lanes,” Sarian said.
She also criticized ideas she said lack practical planning, including community gardens near freeways. She said city projects should not sound good in theory but fail in real life.
“Unnecessary pet projects that are just philosophically seem right, but don’t make sense in actual world,” Sarian said. “We need to cut those.”
Sarian said her top spending priorities would center on safety and security. She said Glendale should support police and fire services, reduce reckless driving and take stronger steps to prevent fire hazards.
“We need to support our policemen, we need to support our fire,” Sarian said. “We need to create initiatives that prevent reckless driving on our streets.”
Transportation gave Sarian another opening to argue for local solutions over big regional projects.
She said bike lanes do not make sense in congested areas because they create more traffic pressure. She said Glendale should instead expand local transit options that help residents move within the city.
“Bike lanes, no, in the congestion areas,” Sarian said. “It creates more congestions, that’s a no.”
Sarian said the city should explore smaller clean-air vehicles, including electric or hydrogen-powered minibuses. She said she got the idea from older Glendale residents who told her the Beeline helps but does not reach enough smaller streets.
“We can do mini vents that go in a lot more streets and provide help with elderly,” Sarian said.
Sarian said Glendale should focus first on the needs of people who already live in the city before building transportation systems that bring more pressure from outside.
“I think promoting transportation within Glendale, making it more robust public transportation,” Sarian said. “Let’s look inside and clean our house.”
She said the planned bus rapid transit line could bring new complications, including more pressure for dense housing. She said the city should try to delay it or find smarter ways to respond to it.
“Maybe we need to have smarter ways to deal with it,” Sarian said.
Asked who should get top consideration in transportation planning, Sarian said bicyclists should not come first. She described Glendale as a family-friendly, driver-oriented city and said city planning should reflect how people actually live.
“How many bicyclists you’ve seen in Glendale?” Sarian said. “So, bicyclist is not your priority, definitely not.”
She said families, older adults and shoppers need realistic transportation options.
“How can you put your child, your grandma on the bicycle and take them to shop to grocery store?” Sarian said.
Sarian said she supports smaller buses and more neighborhood coverage, especially for people who want to park once and move around downtown Glendale without repeatedly driving.
“I would prefer to drive my car somewhere and then use public transportation within at least Glendale downtown,” she said.
She said hydrogen-powered transit could give the city a cleaner option without relying on bike lanes as the answer to every traffic problem.
“It’s only a messiah that’s going to come and save us. It’s not true,” Sarian said.
At the end of the interview, Sarian said voters should think about what kind of city they want Glendale to become.
“You have to imagine what city you want to live in and choose candidates according to your vision of the future of the city,” she said.
She directed residents to her campaign Instagram account, Vote for Evelina, and said voters can contact her campaign there.
Candidate profile
Evelina Sarian
Race: Glendale City Council.
Background: Sarian is a Glendale business owner. In the Inclusive Voices Media interview, she identified Gravel on Brand Boulevard as her store and spoke about her experience in business and negotiations. Her campaign materials describe her as focused on a safer, stronger and family-friendly Glendale.
Key campaign themes: Public safety, local control, opposition to dense state-driven housing mandates, cutting pet projects, reckless driving enforcement, fire prevention, small business concerns and stronger local transportation within Glendale.
Campaign contact: Vote for Evelina on Instagram.
Interviewed by: Silva Harapetian, Inclusive Voices Media.
Box 1: 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.