Glendale, California-Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian, were the guests of honor as the Armenian Bar Association hosted a reception at the elegant Phoenicia Restaurant on Thursday, June 24, 2010. Nationally-acclaimed attorney Garo Mardirossian, Chairman of the Consumer Attorneys’ Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), was on hand to introduce Mayor Najarian, and Steve Simonian, Mayor of La Habra, introduced Sheriff Baca.
 
"Sheriff Lee Baca and Mayor Ara Najarian have admirably served the County of Los Angeles and the City of Glendale. They both have great integrity, and are committed to serving their constituents. We are proud to honor them for their many years of service to our community," said Edvin Minassian, Chairman of ArmenBar.
 
Minassian and Vice-Chairman Garo Ghazarian, Dean of the Peoples College of Law, served as co-Masters-of-Ceremonies for the evening reception, masterfully conducting the festivities with charm, humor and professionalism. They presented the honorees with original artwork from Seeroon Yeretzian, which included inscriptions acknowledging their many years of public service.
 
Numerous public officials, judges and dignitaries were among the 150 in attendance, including ArmenBar founder Raffi K. Hovannisian, the first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and a current member of its Parliament.
 
Los Angeles City Council Member Paul Krekorian was in attendance and presented Baca and Najarian with proclamations acknowledging their service to the community. Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich addressed the audience, congratulating the honorees, and commending ArmenBar for continuing its mission of community service. Robert Philibosian, former Los Angeles County District Attorney, spoke on behalf of the current D.A., Steve Cooley, congratulating Baca, Najarian and ArmenBar. Also in attendance was Raffi Manoukian, past two-term Mayor of Glendale, and a current Commissioner of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.
 
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judges in attendance included Kevin Brazile, Soussan Bruguera, Gregory Keosian, Ruth Kwan, Mark Mooney, Fred Rotenberg and ArmenBar past Chairman Zaven Sinanian. Brazile and Sinanian are on the Board of the California Judges Association, in which Brazile currently serves as Vice-Chairman. Rotenberg is the site Supervising Judge Of the Glendale Courthouse.
 
Also in attendance were Scott Howard, the City Attorney of Glendale, Gary Schram, Chief of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation and President of the California Police Officers’ Memorial Fund, Gary Markarian, Chief of the Armenian Police Officers’ Association, Felipe Plascencia, President of the Mexican American Bar Association’s Political Action Committee, Roger and Jo-Ann Grace, publishers of the Metropolitan News-Enterprise and Ed Hensen, a representative from the State Bar of California
Members from the Armenia News Media, including Vrej Aghajanian of AABC-TV and US-Armenia-TV were on hand to interview the guests and ArmenBar Directors. The interviews were aired locally and internationally in over 100 countries.
 
Najarian and Baca were delighted to receive the recognition, and both thanked ArmenBar while encouraging members to volunteer for community service.
Najarian was appointed Mayor of Glendale on April 5, 2010, and has been on the City Council since 2005. This is his second term as Mayor, having served in that capacity during the 2007-2008 term. In addition to his duties as Mayor, Najarian is currently Chair of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Board of Directors. He has been a member of ArmenBar since its inception in 1989.
 
Baca was elected Los Angeles County Sheriff in 1998, and was reelected to a third term in 2006. He commands the largest Sheriff’s Department in the United State, and leads a staff of over 18,000 professionals. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is the law enforcement provider to 40 incorporated cities, 90 unincorporated communities, nine community colleges, and hundreds of thousands of daily commuters of the MTA and the Rapid Rail Transit District. Over four million people are directly protected by the Sheriff’s Department.
 
Mardirossian is a decorated trial attorney and is a first cousin of Najarian. He was sworn in as CAALA Chairman in January, and in April, CAALA passed a resolution acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. The organization is the largest association of Plaintiff lawyers in the country.
 
Steve Simonian is a seasoned public speaker, and regaled the audience with humor and wit. In addition to being the Mayor of La Habra, he is the former Police Chief of Montebello, former Chief of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, and the former City Manager of the City of Bell Gardens.
 
"We will continue to honor those individuals who have distinguished themselves by serving our community," said Minassian.