Racist Remarks, Lie, Did Not Hurt a Mayor

In March 2013, current Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan was accused of posting extremely racist, anti-Mexican, Islamophobic and homophobic comments on a You Tube account. For a month, he vehemently denied the posting.

After his remarks were made public by the Glendale News-Press, Mr. Sinanyan lost several key endorsements, including Los Angeles mayoral candidates Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti, along with L.A. City Councilman Paul Krekorian and U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff.

Mr. Sinanyan’s incendiary remarks were “deeply disturbing and not befitting any member of the public, let alone one seeking to represent the city on an elected body,” Mr. Schiff said in a letter.

Intended to mostly bash Armenia’s geopolitical enemies, the mayor also severely criticized gays, Muslims, women and Mexicans.

Mr. Sinanyan said of Mexicans:

“Yet, they learn from Mexicans, and their parents give zero guidance to their kids because a lot of them are lowlifes themselves.”

Finally, after Mr. Sinanyan surprisingly was elected, with the backing of the Armenian community in Glendale, he confessed to posting the comments. Apparently the month-long non-denial and final confession that he posted did not seem to bother current Montebello Mayor Jack Hadjinian, and a City Council candidate.

Mr. Hadjinian never pulled his endorsement of Mr. Sinanyan even after he admitted the accusations.

The two remain best friends.  They help each other whenever they can.

In another sign that Mr. Hadjinian endorses Mr. Sinanyan and the racist, Islamaphobic, homophobic charges, Hews Media Group-Community News has found that Mr. Hadjinian recently donated money to Mr. Sinanyan’s election committee.

Acting on a tip, we pulled Mr. Sinanyan’s 460 “Office Holder” campaign finance documents and found that Hadjinian’s donation occurred sometime in the first half of 2014.

Four other donations were made by others totaling $3,600.

This is not the first time Mr. Hadjinian has assisted Mr. Sinanyan.

Mr. Hadjinian sponsored a fundraiser for Mr. Sinanyan at the Glendale home of Marina and Leonard Manoukian for Mr. Sinanyan’s successful 2013 City Council campaign.

A Facebook picture post shows a smiling Mr. Hadjinian standing with Mr. Sinanyan and the Manoukians in front of a large “Sinanyan for City Council” banner.

One year later, Mr. Sinanyan was still posting pictures of the event on Facebook, with Mr. Hadjinian “liking” the posts and thanking Mr. Sinanyan and the Manoukians for holding the event.

Conversely, Mr. Hadjinianhas enjoyed the support of Mr. Sinanyan several times in the past and continues to do so even to this day.

Mr. Hews may be contacted at loscerritosnews.net