Eddy Polon’s Vision for Burbank

Eddy Polon’s vision for Burbank is a city that honors its history, protects our quality of life, and ensures that local government works for Burbank residents — not against them.

As a community advocate, Eddy’s focus is on delivering real results for working families, small businesses, and the neighborhoods that make Burbank special.

Expand Affordable Housing & Homeownership

Burbank is growing — but too many residents are being left behind. Teachers, studio crews, first responders, and small business workers who make this city thrive can no longer afford to live here.

Eddy believes that if you work in Burbank, you should have the opportunity to live in Burbank.

Eddy’s plan includes:

  • Using city-owned land and underused commercial properties to create small-lot ownership developments and mixed-use housing that fit the scale and character of our neighborhoods.
  • Launching a first-time homebuyer program offering low-interest loans and down-payment support for Burbank residents who work locally — especially teachers, studio workers, and public employees.
  • Requiring that a portion of new housing near transit and business corridors be affordable to middle-income households (earning 80–120% of Area Median Income), not just luxury or very low-income units.
  • Promoting “missing middle” housing — duplexes, triplexes, and small-lot subdivisions — to expand homeownership options without altering neighborhood charm.
  • Creating a rental registry and stronger tenant protections to prevent displacement and stabilize rents for long-time residents.
  • Building housing near jobs, schools, and transit to reduce traffic and help families spend less time commuting and more time together.
  • Partnering with local studios and employers to invest in workforce housing so the people who power Burbank’s economy can continue to call it home.
  • Establishing a public dashboard tracking affordable units built, preserved, or planned — ensuring transparency and accountability.

Keep Film and Entertainment Jobs in Burbank

The entertainment industry isn’t just part of Burbank’s identity — it’s the backbone of our economy. Eddy believes we can fight harder to keep film, television, and digital production thriving right here, protecting the good union jobs and small businesses that depend on it.

Eddy’s plan includes:

  • Continuing to make sure Burbank is the most film-friendly city in California.
  • Partnering with studios, unions, and local schools to train and hire Burbank residents for good-paying entertainment and tech jobs.
  • Supporting mixed-use creative districts that include soundstages, production offices, and local-serving retail.
  • Promoting film-tourism initiatives that highlight Burbank’s legacy while supporting small businesses.
  • Strengthening collaboration between the City, studios, and the Chamber of Commerce to ensure film and media production remains a cornerstone of our city’s future.

Public Safety & Transparency

Keeping Burbank safe means more than promises — it means ensuring our police, fire, and emergency medical services have the resources, staffing, and coordination needed to respond quickly when residents need help most.

Eddy believes in prioritizing a city government that is prepared, responsive, and welcoming of community oversight and collaboration.

Eddy’s plan includes:

  • Better promoting and supporting city commissions and boards to ensure thoughtful, reasonable, and inclusive oversight.
  • Supporting full staffing and modern equipment for first responders to meet growing community needs.
  • Continue to prioritize wildfire prevention, disaster preparedness, and neighborhood evacuation planning.
  • Addressing legacy and new environmental hazards such as groundwater contamination and mosquito abatement.
  • Ensuring coordination between city departments during emergencies so residents receive clear, timely information.

Public safety is a core responsibility — Eddy wants to make sure Burbank delivers.

Improve Quality of Life Services: Putting Burbankers First and Preparing for the Future

Eddy is committed to improving the day-to-day lives of Burbank residents and small businesses for generations to come by making city services more effective, transparent, and accountable.

Eddy’s plan includes:

  • Accountability and Transparency: Setting clear public goals for city departments with regular progress reports, and making contracts, budgets, permits, and spending easy to access online.
  • Safe Streets: Fast-tracking street improvements — especially Safe Routes to Schools — with clear timelines and regular updates.
  • Rebuild Olive and Magnolia Avenue Bridges: These bridges are obsolete and dangerous and must be replaced. The city allocated funds two years ago to begin this process, but no progress has been made. City staff can do better.
  • Better Public Transit: Reimagining BurbankBus with improved service for Burbank families. Burbank currently owns a fleet of buses, many of them sitting idly in city parking lots. Let’s put them to use making our streets less congested and our city more accessible.
  • Modernized Permitting: Streamlining permitting and inspections so residents and businesses can track applications in real time, reducing delays and confusion.
  • Small Business Support: Simplifying city regulations and maintaining open communication to help local businesses thrive.
  • Community Engagement: Hosting regular “City Hall in Your Neighborhood” events for real dialogue between city leaders and residents.
  • Tenant Protections: Improving transparency and enforcement in housing policies to protect renters and stabilize neighborhoods.

Climate Resiliency and Sustainability

Burbank must prepare for the challenges of drought, extreme heat, and climate impacts while building a healthier, greener future.

Eddy’s plan includes:

  • Expanding green space and urban tree canopy across the city.
  • Incentivizing solar energy, water conservation, and drought-tolerant landscaping.
  • Investing in electric buses, EV charging infrastructure, and clean fleet transitions.
  • Ensuring every infrastructure project meets sustainability and resiliency benchmarks.
  • Tracking progress publicly so residents can see results.

Protect Burbank’s Small-Town Character

Burbank is projected to gain 17,000 new households by 2050 (SCAG 2024). Growth is inevitable — but it must be done responsibly.

Eddy wants to ensure that Burbank grows in a way that strengthens, not sacrifices, the small-town feel that we cherish.

Eddy’s plan includes:

  • Updating outdated building codes that block “missing middle” housing and limit design creativity (such as single-staircase reform).
  • Upgrade our parks and green spaces with better recreational amenities.
  • Complete our city’s master bike plan. While Burbank benefits from stretches of high quality paths such as the Chandler Bike Path, it is essential to finally connect the entire network and make bicycling safe in our city.
  • Slowing down local streets to make them safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers.
  • Expanding active transportation options such as bike share, neighborhood shuttles, and walkable corridors.
  • Prepare for future growth through better and more innovative infrastructure planning.

A Stronger Burbank — For Everyone

Eddy Polon believes that together we can do more to support working families, protect our local economy, improve city services, and preserve the character of the community we love.