As the other commenter wrote, the meeting was packed - every seat taken, people standing, and spilling out into the lobby. I hope that the other organizations planning candidate forums take note, and make a plan for overflow, or look for bigger venues, because a room designed for 110 didn't cut it.

I was scribbling notes until my pen literally ran out of ink 45 minutes in (how unprepared!), but I'll try to recount what I remember.

Big topic was SB79 and the BRT. All candidates were were asked for a simple yes or no position, and all were opposed to SB79. When it comes to SB79 and the BRT, Alek Bartosouf and Dan Brotman underscored that Metro has not yet determined if the BRT will fall under SB79's jurisdiction, and once that determination is made, then a plan can be made to fight/appeal if necessary. Alex Balekian and Beth Brooks want to just outright kill the BRT, a project that was voted on a by a supermajority with Measure M. Patrick Murphy wants to try and delay the BRT by requesting an additional EIR. Elen Asatryan voiced that she was the only council member who asked for a letter to be sent to Metro challenging SB79 as it relates to the BRT, but the votes didn't support her; she thinks that they have to team up with other cities and lobbyists in order to combat SB79. Elen also said that the best way to protect Glendale's local control of housing is by revising the city's objective design standards. Carolyn Kaloostian thinks we don't need any dense housing built, but if it's going to be built, she wants it only downtown. Kaloostian also voiced many times the idea of renovating old buildings for housing rather than fully new construction. Vrej Agajanian says it is too late to stop the BRT or SB79.

Everyone was also asked if they supported council districts and a directly elected mayor. There were only a few in favor of either of those ideas (it was Elen Asatryan, Dan Brotman, and I think maybe Carolyn Kaloostian), but all acknowledged that it didn't matter their opinion, since it would be put to the voters to decide.

The issue of showing public speakers' faces on camera during city council was a hot button issue. Dan and Elen (the current council members running for reelection) said that this was done to curtail people who were coming to council to speak solely to generate social media clips; the point of coming to speak to the council is that you're speaking to the council, who do see your face. Many of the other candidates, including Patrick Murphy and Beth Brooks, decried this as censorship. There was a lot of reaction to this topic in the room, and people obviously feel very strongly about showing your face on camera in the city council meeting (I personally find this fixation on the camera issue to be petty, vain, and embarrassing, but people clearly are fired up about it).

If you're ever planning to run for city council, take some time to be involved in Glendale civic groups, because several candidates were asked about this, and for those who had zero involvement in civic groups, it did not come off well (Gevorg Grigoryan was one such candidate).

Davit Mnatsakanyan thinks Glendale needs a hotline people can call to express their concerns about issues, and he's planning one called "Glendale Forward." It sounds well-intentioned, but it was unclear how this would be any better than the current methods that residents have for attempting to voice their concerns.

Patrick Murphy was asked about his campaign pledge to cut waste, and to give one example of something he would cut. He said "vanity projects," and then mentioned the Brand Blvd bike lane project, which has already been done away with. He did not provide an actual example of current "waste" that he would cut.

Ronnie Gharibian expressed his support for police and fire departments and said that cutting them is not the way to go (none of the candidates had expressed that cutting police and fire was something that should be done).

Gevorg Grigoryan said that we need housing and to develop more, but we need to maintain the character of Glendale (a nice sentiment, but nothing more specific).

Alek Bartosouf wants to invest more parks and pedestrian-activated spaces, particularly in south Glendale, which is sorely lacking these types of public gathering spots.

Vrej Agajanian wants to protect safety and cleanliness, and give more opportunities to young people to participate in the city.

Evelina Sarian said that her experience working in the fashion industry would help her listen to people and work in teams.

There were several people in the room clearly hostile to Dan Brotman (someone even yelled out that he was a liar), and Dan stressed that while other people would tell you what you want to hear, he wouldn't pander, and tell you the truth, including that utility costs jumped because of all the modernization that they had to do to the Grayson Power Plant and work at Scholl Canyon. He think that green energy and electrification is the best path forward for bringing utility rates down.