Burbank council schedules closed session on two lawsuits, sets 5 p.m. study session on prepaid renewable-energy contract

Madam Mayor opened the Jan. 27, 2026, meeting of the Burbank City Council and announced the council would meet in closed session to consider two pending lawsuits and labor negotiations before reconvening for a 5:00 p.m. study session.

City Attorney read the closed-session agenda, saying, “This afternoon, the City Council is meeting in closed session to discuss 3 items.” He identified the first two as matters of existing litigation under Government Code section 54956.9(d)(1), naming the cases Melody Smalley v. City of Burbank, described as a trip-and-fall case, and Aram Shanazarian v. City of Burbank, described as a motor vehicle accident case. He said the third item is “conference with the city's labor negotiation, Betsy McClinton, management services director, pursuant to Government Code section 54957.6, concerning negotiations with the Burbank City Employees Association.”

The council also announced a study session to begin at 5:00 p.m. that will present a proposed resolution approving a clean energy purchase contract for prepaid renewable energy, to be presented by Burbank Water and Power Department. The mayor told the public the meeting could be viewed online or on television and explained options for providing public comment by appearing in person or calling (818) 238-3335.

When the mayor asked whether there were any in-person public commenters or callers on the closed-session items or study session, the City Clerk replied that there were none. The mayor then declared the public comment period closed and the council recessed to closed session; the televised portion of the closed session later ended.

The study session on the proposed prepaid renewable-energy purchase contract is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, with the regular session set to start at 6:00 p.m. No votes or formal actions were recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.