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Public commenters urge Burbank to work with Metro on bus rapid transit; caller raises potential SB 79/FPPC conflicts
Summary
In public comment, Braden Day urged the city to cooperate with Los Angeles County Metro on dedicated bus rapid transit lanes, noting construction has started elsewhere and the projects 2028 deadline. Caller Ben Hillman asked the city attorney to confirm whether council members have been screened for conflicts under FPPC Rule 18702.2 and SB 79-related TOD rules.
During the general public comment period, an in-person speaker urged the City of Burbank to stop fighting Los Angeles County Metro and help complete a regional bus rapid transit (BRT) project.
"The Los Angeles County Metro is suing the City of Burbank over its refusal to help ... give the bus rapid transit dedicated bus lanes," Braden Day said, noting that "as of last Wednesday, the project has already broken ground in Pasadena" and urging the council to "work with Metro instead of against them." Day told the council the project must be finished in time for the 2028 Olympics.
A phone caller, Ben Hillman, asked the City Attorney to confirm whether the mayor, vice mayor and council members have been screened for conflicts under FPPC regulation 18702.2 and raised SB 79/TOD-related conflict concerns. Hillman told the council that, based on public maps, "at least three members" live close enough to affected transit-oriented-development areas to require analysis and urged that any qualifying officials should not participate unless the city publicly explains why participation complies with law.
The comments referenced an ongoing legal dispute between the City of Burbank and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority that city counsel listed as a closed-session item earlier in the meeting. The transcript does not record any response from council members or the City Attorney to Hillman's request for a public explanation during the televised excerpt. The public comment period was then closed and the meeting moved to closed session; the council planned to reconvene the regular session at 6:00 p.m.
