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Dr. Carolyn Kalustian announces Glendale City Council run, cites budget inefficiencies
Summary
Dr. Carolyn Kalustian, a board-certified family physician, announced her campaign for Glendale City Council, saying the city's budget has grown from about $800 million to more than $1.2 billion while deficits persist. She pledged not to support tax increases and to donate her council salary to help small businesses.
Dr. Carolyn Kalustian, a fourth-generation Californian and board-certified family physician, announced her campaign for Glendale City Council and said she will run on a platform of fiscal efficiency and neighborhood engagement. “I'm running for Glendale City Council,” she said.
Kalustian framed her bid around the city's finances, saying the budget has grown from $800,000,000 to "over 1,200,000,000.0" while the city still faces deficits. “This tells me we don't have a revenue problem. We have an efficiency problem,” she said, arguing that better management and data-driven decision-making can address shortfalls without raising taxes.
A UCLA-trained physician who said she holds both a doctor of medicine and an executive master's of public health and leadership and policy, Kalustian described professional roles she said would inform her approach to city government. She said she serves as chair of the quality and standards subcommittee at Keck Medicine of USC and helped develop Los Angeles County's strategic plan for dementia care through the Healthy Brain Coalition. She added that she was named the American Heart Association's 2024 Woman of Impact for Los Angeles County.
Kalustian outlined priorities she said she would bring to city hall: building strong teams, increasing accountability, using data to identify root causes of problems, and engaging neighborhoods so residents "have a real seat at the table in decisions that affect their lives." On taxes, she was explicit: "I will not support raising any taxes," she said, and added, "I will donate my entire city council salary to support small businesses, the heartbeat of our community."
Her remarks closed with an appeal for voters' support. "I would be honored to earn your support and your vote," she said. The remarks in the transcript consist of a candidate announcement and statement of priorities; no formal actions, endorsements or other officials' statements appear in the recorded segment.
