Daily Archives: March 22, 2014

No on Measure A – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Helen Armstrong

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Mike

No on Measure A

Mayor Fisher and his sidekicks, David Atkinson and Marie Fellhauer, want us to believe they may voluntarily reduce our taxes in the future if we approve Measure A and give them four permanent new taxes on residents, permanently increase five existing business taxes, and create a new permanent parking tax.

How can we trust them? They back-stabbed their colleague Mayor Carl Jacobson in a coup they staged at the 5/21/13 City Council meeting. They voted to remove Jacobson from the office of Mayor in the middle of his two-year term, without any legitimate justification!

This break with tradition and decency is unprecedented since at least 1940, and probably in El Segundo history. Jacobson won re-election in 2012 with by far the most votes, despite the sleazy and dishonest campaign against him by fired city manager Doug Willmore, KCET television and the Los Angeles Times.

The Fisher Majority staged their coup so Fisher could run for re-election as Mayor rather than Council Member. This also gives Fisher more clout in negotiating new long-term City employee union contracts and raises later this year after the April election.

I urge everyone to vote “No” on the permanent Measure A Tax Hikes, and for Mike Dugan and Suzanne Fuentes. … Continue reading →

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Letters to the Editor, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on No on Measure A – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Helen Armstrong

Frustration – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Richard J. Switz

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Mike

Frustration

Make no mistake; my ideology is conservative, and I experience frustration daily about runaway spending at the national level. However, this situation needn’t necessarily apply to residents having a 90245 zip code. Currently there is a lot of community unhappiness about the cost of doing business in El Segundo…else, why is Measure ‘A’ on the ballot? Our elected officials must be held responsible, since only they have authority to tax and spend in our town.

Candidates Fuentes and Dugan are both skilled practitioners of modern management and leadership principles used by local major corporations. Such skills are sorely needed to help right the ship, since we are clearly on an unsustainable fiscal path using current practices. Efficient management and leadership provide the key to improvement, combined with a lot of tough love to effect the changes.

Drastic improvements won’t happen overnight. After all, we have experienced nearly two decades of government wherein our representatives seem more concerned about pleasing outside interests and providing employee perks rather than serving the needs and wishes of our voters. Otherwise, how does one explain granting $150K salaries for mid-level managers and shuttering City Hall every Friday … Continue reading →

Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Frustration – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Richard J. Switz

Eleven El Segundo Police Department Positions “Eliminated” were Actually 911 Dispatchers Transferred to the South Bay Regional Public Communications (SBRPC) Authority

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Mike

by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project, PublicSafetyProject.org

March 22, 2014

Mayor Bill Fisher Continues his Campaign of Deception as He Runs for Re-Election

El Segundo Mayor Bill Fisher wants voters to believe he reduced the City’s wildly excessive and unsustainable employee compensation costs by reducing City employee salaries by significant amounts. He also wants us to believe there were substantial numbers of City employee layoffs. These are not true.

The Schedule of Authorized Employees in the Fiscal Year 2011/12 City of El Segundo Adopted Budget (B11 – Employee Summary) deceptively reflects 11 Police Department positions as being eliminated.

11 Emergency Dispatchers who were transferred from the City of El Segundo to the South Bay Regional Public Communications (SBRPC) Authority to handle El Segundo 911 calls appear in the FY 2011/12 El Segundo City Budget as eliminated Police Department positions and implied layoffs.

In fact, those positions were transferred to another government agency. The positions were not police officers. They were 911 emergency dispatchers in the Police Services Support Employees (PSSE) union. They were transferred to the South Bay Regional Public Communications (SBRPC) Authority when the City shut down its 911 emergency dispatch center and went back to its previous practice of contracting with the SBRPC Authority for emergency dispatch services.

Thus, it is misleading to characterize these 11 Police Department employees as layoffs, because each one was still employed doing the same work for the City and ultimately paid by the City. The City still paid their salaries and benefits through the City’s payments to the SBRPC Authority. Each dispatcher was given $3,000 in transfer compensation and a guarantee that his or her base salary will increase or remain equivalent upon transfer to the SBRPC Authority. … Continue reading →

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Eleven El Segundo Police Department Positions “Eliminated” were Actually 911 Dispatchers Transferred to the South Bay Regional Public Communications (SBRPC) Authority