Ara Najarian’s ‘Winegate’ “scandal” fizzles at City Council

This is a clip of the full second motion of ‘winegate,’ where Ara Najarian walks the thin line between defaming someone and defamation, at the February 16, 2021 City Council meeting.

Council rejected it in a 2 abstain (Brotman, Devine): 1 no (Kassakhian): 2 yes (Najarian, Agajanian) vote. Mr. Najarian rushed to declare victory, but acknowledged his loss after the City Attorney, Michael Garcia, explained local law to him.

Many consider Mr. Najarian’s political histrionics an embarrassment to the city of Glendale. They are. But worse is that they are a detriment to effective and efficient local government. The scene he created was part of a scheme to remove Francesca Smith, and her strict standards for Glendale development, from the Design Review Board. Additionally, Mr. Najarian was motivated to dramatize his ‘winegate’ scandal in an effort to smear Councilmember Brotman by association of appointment before the 2022 local election.

Mayor Agajanian had nothing important or relevant to add to the discussion, and simply played along with Najarian’s scheme. Mr. Agajanian is also aware that his City Council seat is at risk since he too will run against Dan Brotman in the upcoming 2022 Glendale election. It was Mayor Agajanian who did Ara Najarian’s bidding when he privately called Councilmember Brotman and suggested a request for Francesca Smith to resign. After the rejection of his (private behind the scenes) request, Ara Najarian and Vrej Agajanian proceeded to orchestrate the ‘winegate’ controversy. Their failed effort resulted in nothing more than wasting City Council time, taxpayer money, and highlighting the excellent job that Francesca Smith has done on the Design Review Board in the short time she has served there.

At the time Mayor Agajanian and Councilmember Najarian were performing their exercise in dirty politics, 490 people had died of COVID-19 in the City of Glendale. But their misplaced priorities were not focused on the well being of Glendale citizens, but rather a wineglass and their hidden agendas.