Glendale, CA – On June 21st at 10am the Glendale City Council held a special meeting to determine who to appoint for the seat vacated by former Mayor Zareh Sinanyan. Sinanyan was appointed as the director of Diaspora Affairs for the Government of Armenia and resigned from his Council position on June 7, 2019. The Glendale City Council was required to either appoint a replacement or call for special elections which carried a cost of $1.1 million. The council decided to appoint and called for an open process and asked those who would be interested in the position to submit any and all information that they deemed necessary for the appointment.
Forty five Individuals applied for the vacant position and fifteen spoke during the special meeting, some were not applicants. All the council members stated clearly that they would not appoint an individual that was considering participating the the March 2020 elections. Mayor Najarian also stated that he would consider someone who understands Glendale, is familiar with the municipal organization, will not be beholden to a particular council member or a group that has a preset agenda and would have an open mind without outside influences. As such he nominated former Mayor Frank Quintero. Council member Gharpetian raised a concern stating that Mr. Quintero would be beholden to Mayor Najarian since they had worked together as council members for over twelve years, However, Mayor Najarian rebuffed his concerns saying that he had more disagreements with Mr. Quintero than any other Council member he had worked with.
The Final Vote was unanimous for former Mayor Frank Quintero.
