2015 – The Year In Review

Coalition Meetings Held

1) During the year, we held 11 General Meetings for the members and guests. The meetings are open to the public and anyone is welcome.
2) The Board of Directors has meet over 42 times, often to include invited guests such as prior City employees, elected City officials, and informed citizens.
3) We held our second annual members’ barbeque and raffle. The food and drink were free to all attendees, paid for by the Coalition. Raffle prizes were donated by our friends and sponsors.

Organizing Within The Coalition

The Coalition is incorporated under the laws of California as a 501 c (4) corporation. The Coalition has a Non Profit status approved by the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS).
The Board of Directors is currently comprised of 4 Directors and a Chairman. The Coalition’s officers are President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
1) During the year, one of the Directors moved out of Glendale and was no longer eligible to serve on the Board. (That Director, no longer on the Board will continue with the Coalition in his position as Treasurer.) Per our By Laws, the remaining Directors nominated, and unanimously elected, Seda Khachaturian as his replacement to serve on the Board.

Public Relations

1) The Directors have written, and had published, numerous letters to the local news paper and have had personal contact with the news paper’s local reporter.
2) The Coalition maintains an informational web site on the Internet and where it solicits input from citizens.
3) The Chairman and Directors have attended and made informational presentations to various home owners’ groups to explain our make up and
purpose.
4)The Directors and members set up a booth, passing out brochures and talking to citizens at a major City event (Cruise Night) attended by thousands of people.

Law Suits

The Coalition currently has two active law suits filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the City for acting illegally in violation of State Law and the City’s own Charter.
1) The first law suit was filed in 2015 for the illegal transfer of Utility fees to the General fund. We are expecting this to go to trial this year after numerous court hearings and rulings by the judge on various aspects of the suit. Note: Similar law suits filed by groups similar to ours in other cities have been won by those groups. We are anticipating an outcome in our favor.
2) The second law suit, filed this year is for the illegal creation of tiered pricing on water rates. This violates State Law and the City is using a defense that the tiers encourage water conservation during this time of drought. The Coalition is also in favor of conservation, but feels there are other ways legally to accomplish it. We are hoping to get a trial date this year.

Note: Similar law suits filed by groups similar to ours in other cities have been won by those groups. We are anticipating an outcome in our favor.
Also, please note, The Coalition and its members are asking nothing for themselves in these law suits, only that the illegally taken moneys be returned to the Utility and to the Utility customers. (Note: These law suits are costing the Coalition thousands of dollars and we are dependent on member dues, donations, and sponsors for funding. There are also people who have volunteered their time. We thank all those who have helped us.)

General Activities

1) Leading up to the past election, the Directors attended numerous candidate forms and talked with the candidates. Prior to the City Council election, five of the candidates attended one of our General Meetings and spoke to the members.  (Note: The Coalition as an organization did not endorse any City Council Candidate. The Directors and members were free to indorse/support any candidate(s) of their choice.)
2) Some of the Directors have spoken at City Council meetings on a variety of issues. Some of the Directors have also met with some City officials/management in private to discuss issues of concern.
3) The Coalition believes that Term Limits for the Council Members would help keep the Council fresh and prevent cliques and special interests from becoming entrenched in the Council. We have begun lobbying Council and talking to the public to have the Council consider passing an initiative with limits.
4) At the end of the year, it was brought to our attention that there may have been some irregularities in a promotional exam administered by the City. Those irregularities at a minimum would be an ethical violation, and may actually be illegal. We are conducting an investigation and expect an outcome this year.
5) The Coalition web site has been updated with a bulletin board where anyone can post a question, make a comment, or discuss issues.
6) The Coalition filed an Amicus Brief with the California Supreme Court supporting a group in Redding, California which had sued the City over the illegal transfer of utility funds (a case similar to our suit against Glendale). The City of Redding lost the suit in both Superior Court and the Appellant Court and has appealed the case to the California Supreme Court. The brief was accepted and we are awaiting the decision of the Court.
7) It came to the Coalition’s attention that the City was not keeping their Utility Bond holders updated on actions that could effect the bonds. The Coalition filed a formal complaint with the Securities Exchange Commission requesting the commission look into the City’s lack of action.
8) The Coalition joined with a home owners group and concerned citizens and worked with them to prevent an illegal development at Brand & Dryden, which would have violated numerous zoning and building codes. We were successful in getting the City to reject the project.

Measure “C”

Last year the City Council had an initiative (Measure “C”) placed onto the ballot that would allow the Council to set their own salaries with no limitations. They claimed they only receive about $17,000 per year for all their work…when in fact, some of them were receiving over $60,000 per year in benefits and collateral income, for their part time job of meeting once a week with holidays and vacation time off.
The Coalition mounted an aggressive campaign against Measure “C”. The Coalition adopted the slogan, “Stop The Greed”. The Coalition had printed,
and placed, 300 signs opposed to the measure through out the City, went door to door talking to people and explaining the Measure, and paid for several ads in the local Glendale News Press opposing the Measure. The Measure was defeated by the voters in a 3 to 1 margin!

Thank you for your continued support. We welcome your input, questions and comments. We look forward to seeing you at a General meeting.
General meetings are held the third Monday of each month in the evening.