Gevork Gevorkian says Glendale needs planned housing, faster permits and safer streets
In an Inclusive Voices Media interview an Inclusive Voices Media interview, Gregorian said Glendale should protect neighborhood character while adding housing where infrastructure can support growth
Gevork Gevorkian says Glendale needs more housing.
But he says it needs a plan first.
In an interview conducted by Inclusive Voices Media’s Silva Harapetian, the Glendale City Council candidate said the city must add housing without damaging the character that makes people want to live there.
“We need properly planned,” Gevorkian said. “Because we all understand that the city is growing, and we need more housing to have affordability here in the city.”
Gevorkian is running for Glendale City Council as a housing advocate. In the interview, he said he owns an architectural business and has experience in planning and development. He also described himself as a former army surgeon from Artsakh and said that experience shapes how he views public safety spending.
His campaign message centers on housing affordability, infrastructure, public safety, better planning, faster permits and support for local businesses.
Gevorkian said Glendale needs housing so young people and middle class families can stay in the city.
“Our younger generation can stay, can afford to stay here in Glendale, and they don’t leave Glendale,” Gevorkian said.
But he warned that growth cannot come at the cost of Glendale’s identity.
“If we destroy the character of Glendale, we all will leave Glendale,” Gevorkian said. “So we need to protect the character of Glendale.”
Gevorkian said the city should place larger housing projects in areas that can handle them. He pointed to downtown Glendale, the Civic Center area and the San Fernando corridor near train stations as places where more housing could work.
He also said Glendale should prepare for SB 79, the state law that could allow more housing near some transit stops. Gevorkian said most candidates oppose the law, but he believes the city now needs to manage it carefully instead of pretending it can stop it.
“It’s too late,” Gevorkian said. “We don’t have the time to oppose it. We need to properly manage to get the benefits from the SB 79.”
He said every policy has tradeoffs, and the city’s job is to protect neighborhoods while using the parts of the law that could help Glendale.
“Nothing in the world has just bad sides,” Gevorkian said. “You have good sides and the bad sides.”
Gevorkian said he has spoken with residents in single family neighborhoods who worry about nine story apartment buildings on smaller streets. He said those concerns make sense because emergency vehicles need room to respond.
“In these small streets, we can’t have a nine story apartment building,” Gevorkian said. “During an emergency, our firefighters, our police officers, they are not going to be able to come and save you.”
Gevorkian said Glendale also needs housing for the middle class. He said the city has programs for low income residents and wealthy residents can afford Glendale, but many middle class families have fewer options.
“We don’t have anything managed for the middle class,” Gevorkian said. “That’s one of my main concerns.”
On the budget, Gevorkian said the city should not cut police or fire funding.
He said his experience in Artsakh taught him the importance of protecting the people who protect the public.
“As a former army surgeon from Artsakh, where I served, this was a 30, 35 years war area,” Gevorkian said. “I know firsthand that you can’t reduce the budget from those people who are protecting you in the city.”
He said that means police and fire should remain protected from cuts.
“You can’t cut the budget of your heroes,” Gevorkian said.
Gevorkian said the city should first look for misspending. He pointed to the North Brand Boulevard bike lane project as one example. He said the project cost about $2 million, including roughly half a million dollars for design.
“We lost $2 million over there,” Gevorkian said. “The half million of it was just a design.”
As the owner of an architectural business, Gevorkian said the design cost did not make sense to him.
“I would love to see a design that costs half a million, just for a street,” he said. “It’s not a building, it’s not a high riser.”
Gevorkian also questioned whether the city reused designs when it considered other street projects. He said Glendale should review spending more carefully before cutting core services or raising taxes.
“At the first, we cut the misspendings, then we will not have the deficit,” Gevorkian said.
He said Glendale also needs more revenue. But he said the city can raise revenue by helping businesses open faster, not by raising taxes.
“Businesses are leaving Glendale right now because of the high sales tax,” Gevorkian said.
He said the city’s permitting process takes too long and discourages new businesses from coming to Glendale. He compared Glendale’s process with Los Angeles and said business permits can take years in Glendale.
“Why does it take two months over there and two years here?” Gevorkian said.
He said faster permits would help attract businesses and bring more tax revenue into the city.
“When we expedite the permitting process, a lot of new businesses will join the city,” Gevorkian said. “Then we can collect more taxes without raising taxes.”
On transportation, Gevorkian said Glendale needs better planning before it removes lanes for bicycles or buses.
He said reckless driving creates danger for pedestrians and cyclists. He said the city should not place bike lanes in areas where drivers already speed or behave dangerously without first addressing safety.
“If you face the reckless driving on this street, and you bring somebody with a bicycle over there, you’re bringing danger to this person’s life,” Gevorkian said.
Gevorkian said the question is not whether bike lanes should exist. The question is where they make sense.
“Let’s plan properly where to put these bicycle lanes,” he said.
He also raised concerns about bus lanes. Gevorkian said the city needs stronger bus infrastructure before removing car lanes for dedicated bus lanes.
“If we remove just a lane to add buses there, so it means we remove a lane from the cars,” Gevorkian said. “But because we don’t have buses, we’re just having an empty lane over there.”
He said Glendale should first expand bus service and show people that buses can become a useful way to travel.
“Let’s at the first grow the infrastructure for the buses,” Gevorkian said. “Have more buses, teach the people that we can travel with the buses as well.”
Gevorkian said the city should protect buses only after it builds a system people use.
“If we don’t have a bus, who are we protecting?” he said.
Gevorkian ended the interview by directing voters to his campaign website and Instagram account. He said he hopes to earn support in the June 2 election.
“I hope to earn your support during this race,” Gevorkian said.
Candidate profile
Gevork Gevorkian
Race: Glendale City Council.
Background: Gevorkian identifies himself as a housing advocate. In the Inclusive Voices Media interview, he said he owns an architectural business and has experience with planning and development. He also described himself as a former army surgeon from Artsakh.
Key campaign themes: Housing affordability, middle class housing, protection of neighborhood character, infrastructure planning, public safety, faster permits, business growth, cutting misspending and safer transportation planning.
Campaign website: ElectGevork.com.
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.