Editing Burbank, California (section)

==Government==
[[File:BurbankPostOffice.jpg|thumb|[[Downtown Burbank Post Office]], built in a [[Mission Revival]] style 1937–38]]

Burbank is a [[charter city]] which operates under a [[Council–manager government|council–manager]] form of government.<ref name=cc /> In 1927, voters approved the council–manager form of government. The five-member City Council is elected for four-year overlapping terms, with the Mayor appointed annually from among the council. The City Clerk and the City Treasurer are also elected officials.

Burbank is a full-service, independent city, with offices of the City Manager and City Attorney, and departments of Community Development, Financial Services, Fire, Information Technology, Library Services, Management Services, Police, Parks-Recreation & Community Services, Public Works, and Burbank Water and Power (BWP).

Burbank opened its first library in 1913 as a contracted branch of the Los Angeles County Library. In 1938, the Burbank Public Library began operation separately from the county as a city department. Today, there are three public library locations in Burbank. The newest location is the Buena Vista Branch Library, which opened in 2022. In March 2020, the [[COVID-19]] pandemic caused normal life to come to a standstill. The staff at Burbank Public Library adapted and transitioned services to meet the new circumstances. They implemented curbside pickup and virtual programming to connect the community and provide access to resources. They also provided homework help for students and ensured that all students had access to online resources.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://burbanklibrary.org/about/about-library/our-history-through-decades |title=Our History Through the Decades |publisher=Burbank Public Library Department |access-date=January 22, 2023 }}</ref>

In October 2023, Burbank received a grant of $9.95 million from the California State Library. This funding is set to breathe life into the vision of a new Central Library. This planned state-of-the-art library is an integral component of the ambitious Burbank Civic Center Project, a project including the development of affordable and workforce housing, new open space, parking, and city office space in downtown Burbank. The upcoming library will serve as a replacement for the existing facility, a 60-year-old building that faces limitations due to its age and condition. This new library is designed to better cater to the educational, workforce development, technology training, and information and culture access needs of the Burbank community.<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Burbank Awarded $9.95 Million Grant to Build a Modern Central Library |publisher=City of Burbank |date=October 16, 2023 |url=http://www.scppa.org/Downloads/Press%20Releases/may16mppnewsrelease.pdf |access-date=December 9, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728005803/http://www.scppa.org/Downloads/Press%20Releases/may16mppnewsrelease.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first power was distributed within the city limits of Burbank in 1913, supplied then by [[Southern California Edison Company]]. Today, the city-owned BWP serves 45,000 households and 6,000 businesses in Burbank with water and electricity. Additionally, the $382-million annual revenue utility offers fiber optic services. Burbank's city garbage pickup service began in 1920; outhouses were banned in 1922.

Most of Burbank's current power comes from the Magnolia Power Project, a 310-megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle generating plant located on [[Magnolia Boulevard]] near the [[Interstate 5]] freeway. The municipal power plant, jointly owned by six Southern California cities (Burbank, Glendale, Anaheim. Pasadena, Colton, and Cerritos), began generating electricity in 2005. It replaced a 1941 facility that had served the customers of Burbank for almost 60 years.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.scppa.org/Downloads/Press%20Releases/may16mppnewsrelease.pdf |title=6 Southern California Cities to Celebrate Dedication of Magnolia Power Project in Burbank on June 2 |publisher=Magnolia power project |date=May 16, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728005803/http://www.scppa.org/Downloads/Press%20Releases/may16mppnewsrelease.pdf |archive-date=July 28, 2011 }}</ref>

At the height of [[California electricity crisis|California's 2001 energy crisis]], BWP unveiled a mini-power plant at its landfill. It marked the world's first commercial landfill power plant using Capstone microturbine technology. Ten microturbines run on [[landfill gas]], producing 300 kilowatts of renewable energy for Burbank. That is enough energy to serve the daily needs of about 250 homes. The landfill is located in the Verdugo Mountains in the northeastern portion of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.burbankwaterandpower.com/news/landfill-gas-microturbine-generators |title=City of Burbank Expands Landfill Gas Installation |work=Burbank Water & Power |access-date=January 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222043430/http://burbankwaterandpower.com/news/landfill-gas-microturbine-generators |archive-date=December 22, 2008 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> In 2015, Burbank reached its 2007 goal of providing 33% renewable energy to the city five years ahead of schedule. As of 2017, the city was getting 35% of its power from renewables.

Like other cities in [[California]], Burbank has a long history of facing drought conditions and water cutbacks mandated by the state. In September 2021, as the drought worsened, Burbank proactively moved to Stage II in an effort to comply with the governor's challenge to reduce water use by 15% from 2020 levels. Despite these efforts, the drought continued to worsen, and by June 2022, Burbank was forced to adopt Stage III of their Sustainable Water Use Ordinance. With heavy rains in January 2023, the drought conditions eased, even though Burbank remains 100% dependent on imported water purchased from the [[Metropolitan Water District of Southern California]].<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.burbankca.gov/newsroom/-/newsdetail/20124/press-release-burbank-remains-on-stage-iii-of-the-sustainable-water-use-ordinance |title=Burbank Remains on Stage III of the Sustainable Water Use Ordinance |work=City of Burbank|date=January 12, 2023 }}</ref> The Sustainable Water Use Ordinance sets specific targets for water conservation and requires businesses and residents to comply with certain water-saving measures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.burbankwaterandpower.com/component/bwpforms/?task=waterwaste |format=PDF |title=Burbank Power & Water |publisher=Burbank Power & Water |date=May 4, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728005803/http://www.scppa.org/Downloads/Press%20Releases/may16mppnewsrelease.pdf |archive-date=July 28, 2011}}</ref>

According to Burbank Water and Power, over the last 10 to 15 years, Burbank residents have successfully decreased their water consumption by 22%, from 170 gallons per person to 132 gallons per person.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/environment/2021/10/27/burbank-restrictions-on-landscape-water-use |title=Burbank places restrictions on landscape water use as drought worsens |last=Aziza |first=Shuler |publisher=Spectrum News One |date=October 27, 2021 |access-date=January 16, 2023 }}</ref> Previously, the 2015 drought in Burbank lasted for several years and led to a reduced water supply for the city and its residents, causing a focus on water conservation and the long-term sustainability of the area's water resources. Burbank was required to lower water use by 28% of 2013 levels. The state threatened stiff fines for non-compliance.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.marinij.com/2015/06/05/california-drought-jerry-brown-says-10000-a-day-state-fines-for-water-wasting-cities-are-not-bluster/ |title=California drought: Jerry Brown says $10,000-a-day state fines for water-wasting cities are not bluster |last=Rogers |first=Paul |newspaper=Marin Independent Journal |date=June 15, 2015 |access-date=January 16, 2023 }}</ref>

The Burbank City Council lost a court case in 2000 involving the right to begin meetings with a sectarian prayer.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16933 |title=City Council can't begin meetings with sectarian prayer |work=[[Freedom Forum]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=September 10, 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081129065609/http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16933 |archive-date=November 29, 2008 }}</ref> A [[Los Angeles County Superior Court]] judge ruled that prayers referencing specific religions violated the principle of separation of church and state in the First Amendment. While invocations were still allowed, Burbank officials were required to advise all clerics that sectarian prayer as part of Council meetings was not permitted under the Constitution.

In 1977, Californians passed [[Proposition 13]], a property tax initiative, and Burbank and other cities in the state soon experienced constrained revenues. Burbank dealt with the ramifications of maintaining service levels expected by the community but still with impacts on city finances. As a result, Burbank officials opted to cut some services and implement user fees for specialized services and residents in special zoned areas. One fee was an equine license fee for owners of horse property, even if they no longer owned a horse just to keep from losing their rural zoning.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-01-we-1696-story.html |title=Bounty Hunt : Los Angeles Targets Horse Owners Who Haven't Paid Fee |author=Martha L. Willman |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 1, 1987 |access-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505062351/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-01-we-1696-story.html |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===City Hall===
[[File:Burbank City Hall (DSCF0794-DSCF0798).jpg|thumb|right|Burbank City Hall]]

In 1916, the original Burbank City Hall was constructed after bonds were issued to finance the project and pay for fire apparatus. Burbank's current City Hall was constructed from 1941 to 1942 in a neo-federalist Moderne style popular in the late Depression era. The structure was built at a total cost of $409,000, with funding from the [[Federal Works Agency]] and [[Works Project Administration]] programs. City Hall was designed by architects [[William H. Allen (architect)|William Allen]] and W. George Lutzi and completed in 1943.

Originally, the City Hall building housed all city services, including the police and fire departments, an emergency medical ward, a courthouse and a jail. One of the most distinctive features of the cream-colored concrete building is its {{convert|77|ft|m|adj=on}} tower, which serves as the main lobby. The lobby interior features more than 20 types of marble, which can be found in the city seal on the floor, the trim, walls and in the treads and risers of the grand stairway. Artist Hugo Ballin created a "Four Freedoms" mural in Burbank's City Council chambers during World War II, although it was covered up for decades until art aficionados convinced the city to have the mural fully revealed. Ballin's work illustrates the "Four Freedoms" outlined in President [[Franklin Roosevelt]]'s 1941 speech at the signing of the [[Atlantic Charter]].

In 1996, the City Hall was added to the [[U.S. National Register of Historic Places]], becoming the second building in Burbank to be listed on the register. The first was Burbank's main post office just blocks away from City Hall on Olive Avenue. In 1998, Burbank's state-of-the-art Police/Fire facility opened.

===List of mayors===
The current mayor of the City of Burbank is Nikki Perez. Former Burbank Mayor [[Nick Schultz (politician)|Nick Schultz]] was elected to represent the 44th California Assembly District in November 2024.

Burbank mayor Will Rogers led the city from May 1, 2017, until his death on April 19, 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-will-rogers-20180421-story.html |title=Burbank Mayor Will Rogers, 60, dies after battle with liver cancer |author=Anthony Clark Carpio |newspaper=[[Burbank Leader]] |date=April 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424082715/http://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-will-rogers-20180421-story.html |archive-date=April 24, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Rogers had served as a council member since 2015. Rogers' term had been scheduled to end May 1, 2019. Emily Gabel-Luddy was elected as the new mayor on April 30, 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-new-mayor-20180502-story.html |title=Councilwoman Emily Gabel-Luddy appointed as mayor, Sharon Springer as vice mayor |author=Anthony Clark Carpio |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 30, 2018 |access-date=May 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504010431/http://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-new-mayor-20180502-story.html |archive-date=May 4, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to that, she had served as the city's vice mayor and acting mayor following the death of Rogers.

The mayor is appointed annually from among the city council serving a one-year term.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CA/ofc/burbank.html |title=Mayors of Burbank, 1911–2014 |website=politicalgraveyard.com |access-date=June 14, 2020}}</ref>

===County representation===
In the [[Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors]], Burbank is in the Fifth District, represented by [[Kathryn Barger]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Supervisor Kathryn Barger – The 5th District |url=https://kathrynbarger.lacounty.gov/the-5th-district/ |access-date=May 1, 2022 |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207181855/https://kathrynbarger.lacounty.gov/the-5th-district/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Los Angeles County Department of Health Services]] operates the Glendale Health Center in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], serving Burbank.<ref>"[http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phn/docs/HealthCenter/glendale.pdf Glendale Health Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527190336/http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phn/docs/HealthCenter/glendale.pdf |date=May 27, 2010}}." [[Los Angeles County Department of Health Services]]. Retrieved on March 27, 2010.</ref>

===State and federal representation===
In the [[California State Legislature|state legislature]], Burbank is in {{Representative|casd|25|fmt=sdistrict}}, and in {{Representative|caad|44|fmt=adistrict}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://statewidedatabase.org/gis/gis2011/index_2011.html |title=Statewide Database |publisher=UC Regents |access-date=November 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201113744/http://statewidedatabase.org/gis/gis2011/index_2011.html |archive-date=February 1, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the [[United States House of Representatives]], Burbank is split between California's [[California's 28th congressional district|28th]] and [[California's 30th congressional district|30th]] congressional districts,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/downloads/meeting_handouts_072011/handouts_20110729_q2_cd_finaldraft_splits.zip |title=Communities of Interest – City |publisher=California Citizens Redistricting Commission |access-date=September 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930184128/http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/downloads/meeting_handouts_072011/handouts_20110729_q2_cd_finaldraft_splits.zip |archive-date=September 30, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which are represented by {{Representative|cacd|28|fmt=pfl}} and {{Representative|cacd|30|fmt=pfl}}, respectively.<ref>{{Cite GovTrack|CA|30}}</ref> In the [[United States Senate]], Burbank is represented by California's senators [[Alex Padilla]] and [[Laphonza Butler]], both [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]].<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/senators_cfm.cfm?State=CA: California Senators] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320053355/https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/senators_cfm.cfm?State=CA: |date=March 20, 2017}} accessed November 7, 2018</ref>

The [[United States Postal Service]] (USPS) operates the [[Burbank Downtown Post Office]]. Previously the USPS also operated the Glenoaks Post Office in Burbank. Due to area businesses getting postal services, traffic at Glenoaks declined and in 2011 the USPS began considering closing the branch. In 2013 the agency announced that it will close that branch. Congressperson [[Adam Schiff]] opposed the closure.<ref name=Tchekmedyianoff>{{cite web|last=Tchekmedyian|first=Alene|url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/the818now/tn-blr-glenoaks-post-office-in-burbank-to-close-officials-confirm-20130621-story.html|title=Glenoaks post office in Burbank to close, officials confirm |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 21, 2013|access-date=October 21, 2020}}</ref> The closure occurred in 2014. The USPS hoped to save $740,270 over a ten-year period from the closure.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tchekmedyian|first=Alene|url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-xpm-2014-01-30-tn-blr-glenoaks-post-office-closes-in-burbank-20140130-story.html|title=Glenoaks Post Office closes in Burbank |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 30, 2014|access-date=October 21, 2020}}</ref> Burbank Downtown absorbed the functions of Glenoaks.<ref name=Tchekmedyianoff />