Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

GLENDALE—Through almost three decades as a public servant in this city of more than 207,000 citizens, second-term Council Member Bob Yousefian has acquired the reputation of a builder. He is a builder of parks, school buildings, affordable housing, libraries and art centers. But on a higher plane, Yousefian is also a builder of bridges between the more than 50 different cultures in the third safest city in the United States.

These days, Mr. Yousefian is reconnecting with all the citizens of Glendale in a campaign to get elected for a third term as a councilman during the elections on April 7. "The reason I decided to run again is because we are in the middle of a major financial crisis," he told Asian Journal in a one-hour interview in his modest office. "Everybody is having some issues."

Yousefian has had more than enough experience regarding government expenditures and how to manage them, having served for 8 years in the city’s zoning commission before running for the councilman position for the first time in 1999, an election that he did not win. After that loss, Yousefian almost shied away from running for a political position again. But many of his colleagues in the city government convinced him to try for a second time in 2005, and this time around, he won. Prior to holding an elective position , Yousefian had also worked in campaigns to elect at least two of the city’s former mayors.

"I’ve gained enough experience during the last 20 years, especially in being a councilman during the last eight years. And when it comes to budgets, where the money comes from, where it goes, and what we should spend on, and so on, and so forth," Yousefian tells this writer. "If we are going to resolve these (economic) issues, we need to have somebody who is not in job training. On April 7, that somebody should know what needs to be done. You basically pick up the reins, and move from there."

"You got to have someone who’s able to go in surgically and remove certain expenditures so you can balance the budget, instead of using your blunt instrument and cutting ten per cent from everybody; the police, the fire department," Yousefian continued. "Cutting everything creates a problem; you need to have somebody who has a mindset of like me who is very conservative." He said that when it comes to money, there is a need to go back to the basics.

"My centerpiece is getting back to the basics," said the Armenian immigrant from Tehran, Iran, whose family came to the US on the heels of the revolution in which Islamic revolutionary leader Khomeini was swept to power in 1974. "The first thing that the (city) government needs to provide is safety," he enunciated. That’s number one. Number two is infrastructure, which deals with your parks, roads, libraries, and then after the infrastructure and safety are taken care of, your basic necessities are taken care of, such as your electricity, the water, the trash pick-up, your sewer. Then you can start looking at some of the luxury items."

"Do we want to spend more money for the arts?" he posed. "Subsidize certain businesses?" Yousefian said that in bad times, government must take care of the basic necessities of the public, especially the ones that are finding themselves in hard times. "There are families who no longer have the means to survive. So I am starting to put money into non-profits to help them," Yousefian explained. "Food banks, homeless shelters, any kind of organizations that help with childcare facilities, so that the parents can go look for jobs."

And how does he address the Fil-Ams’ perceived invisibility and non-participation in local government? "I think the other council members, with the exception of council member Dave Weaver—who is married to a Filipina—have kind of stayed way from the Filipinos, and also the Koreans, because they are much invisible," Yousefian theorized. "They just pay attention to their own issues. They go to work; they come home; they go to church, they take care of their own; they are very clannish," he commented.

"But they are no different from Armenians. They happen to be the same way," he added. Yousefian declared that it is his duty to reach out to all 207,000 people who live in Glendale. "Over the years, I’ve tried to do this by appointing Filipinos to commissions," he said. "I have Zen Lopez (former Arts and Culture commissioner). "Former mayor Larry Sarian appointed Art Trinidad, who had been there when I came in and we’ve served together."

Yousefian declared that his goal is to be inclusive. "This is the reason why five years ago I started a new program called the Unity Fest. It brought all the ethnic groups together and it showcased their art, dances, culture, and food in a two-day festival," Yousefian said.

"I have come to believe that in this country, you could have your say and protest and to try to make a difference," the self-made, public official said in conclusion. "Nobody is going to knock at your door, and next thing you know, you disappear. Do not think that politics is a dirty word. It is a way to make a difference in your communities, especially in local politics. That’s extremely important because 95 per cent of your daily needs are taken care of by local politics."

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Published on March 14, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A5 )