On this installment of J.T. the L.A. Storyteller Podcast we speak with Konstantine Anthony, the former mayor of Burbank and a current representative at the Burbank City Council who is now running to replace Kathryn Barger for Los Angeles County District 5. Keep up with Council Member Anthony’s campaign through his IG, and find your Voting Center or Drop Box for Election Day here.
(0:30) Introductions, welcome Council Member Anthony to the podcast!
(1:20) Konstantine Anthony is the former mayor of Burbank who is now running for L.A. County Board of Supervisors Seat 5
(1:48) Among other things, the Supervisors run the County Department of Public Health and the L.A. County Jails, and also act as the governing body for unincorporated parts of Los Angeles
(3:56) L.A. County District 5 is also home to at least 83 unincorporated communities. What’s Burbank’s relation to this structure, for example?
(5:14) Burbank did a lot of work without too much support from the County, actually
(8:06) Let’s hear some more about Council Member Anthony’s time as a mayor for the city of Burbank, especially as the city’s first-ever Democratic Socialist Mayor
(10:53) Governance as a matter of pushing back in both directions
(12:29) Council Member Anthony’s rescinding of his endorsement of Adam Schiff as California’s next Senator
(13:48) The popularity contest
(15:06) Council Member Anthony’s persistent presence on the picket lines
(17:22) To be sure, re: the issue of homelessness and rent insecurity in Burbank…
(20:42) L.A. City Council’s governing power on homelessness
(22:36) How did decriminalizing homelessness in Burbank sit with the Burbank Police Department?
(24:34) The importance of fiscal responsibility on the job, actually
(26:32) Taking on the L.A. County Sheriffs at the Board of Supervisors
(29:02) On L.A. District Attorney George Gascon.
(33:49) On the question of rent burden in Burbank, as well as the housing plan over the next ten years
(37:03) Stronger rental protections in Burbank, as well as the right to counsel for tenants
(38:32) What affordable housing needs to look like going forward, especially for immigrant families
(40:38) On housing versus jobs in County District 5
(44:10) Mixed-use housing with commercial space for jobs
(46:42) Speaking with residents in L.A.’s more expensive and unincorporated cities and getting their buy-in on more housing in their neighborhoods
(48:36) The importance of water conservation for County District 5, or the high desert region(53:07) To be sure, for the voters out there who just learned that there is such a thing as County District 5
(56:20) Thanks a ton again for your time, Council Member Anthony
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