Category Archives: Firefighter Union Corruption

Articles and information on firefighter union corruption that costs the citizens more of their tax dollars and even their property and their lives.

Video – El Segundo City Payroll Gone Mad, featuring Charles Payne and Mike Robbins on Fox Business Network

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Mike


El Segundo City Payroll Gone Mad, featuring Charles Payne and Mike Robbins on Fox Business Network

El Segundo City Payroll Gone Mad, featuring Charles Payne and Mike Robbins on Fox-T1155

This video features a segment from the Fox Business Network Varney & Co. show that was broadcast on August 17, 2010. The segment is an interview of former El Segundo City Councilman Mike Robbins about the wildly excessive and unsustainable city employee salaries, especially those for the firefighter and police employees.

Note that all the salary figures quoted in the Fox interview are Total Earnings only, and DO NOT include the cost of benefits and CalPERS pension contributions. The much larger Total Compensation figures, which DO include benefits and pension contributions, are available from Mike Robbins at PublicSafetyProject.org.

This video is in part an answer to the totally discredited KCET SoCal Connected propaganda video by producer Karen Foshay titled, “Small Town, Big Oil” produced by Karen Foshay. That KCET video dishonestly and unfairly attacked Chevron and the very honorable City Councilman Carl Jacobson in a very classical news media hatchet-job.

Note that the Fox show was broadcast long before the KCET SoCal Connected propaganda video. The KCET video was based almost entirely on false statements made by fired El Segundo city manager Doug Willmore, whom I have learned is very likely a pathological liar and an unreliable person to use as a basis for any news report or video. In fact, I am quite certain that that Willmore’s habitual lying was one of multiple good cause reasons for which he was fired. The KCET video was also based in part on statements made by an out-of-town, anti-oil political activist that nobody in town has heard of before.

The Fox interview helps explain why the fire and police unions endorse candidates for City Council, and contribute thousands of dollars in cash, campaign mailers, and other campaign support to their approved candidates. The police and fire unions endorse and campaign for the candidates who will give them the biggest pay raises, no matter how excessive and unsustainable, and who will raise your taxes and fees to pay for it.

The fire and police unions are the primary cause of our financial problems in El Segundo, not Chevron, as the fire and police unions want us to believe.

Chevron is a taxpayer, and the fire and police unions are tax takers. Chevron pays plenty of taxes, and the fire and police unions take plenty of taxes – about $8 Million extra per year in wildly excessive and unsustainable salaries, benefits, and pensions. The city does not pay to provide city infrastructure and services on the massive 951-acre Chevron property that it pays a fortune to provide and maintain in the residential and other commercial and industrial areas of the city. In fact, for that reason Chevron’s taxes may actually be too high.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, News, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Video – Vote NO on Measure P Cartoon featuring FIRE HERO and SMART LADY

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Mike


Vote NO on Measure P Cartoon featuring FIRE HERO and SMART LADY

This very funny cartoon was created by one of our Public Safety Project supporters on February 9, 2011. He took a few liberties in making the video, but it is basically correct. All the title slides containing text information are Mike Robbins’ work and contain correct information.

Measure P will permanently eliminate El Segundo’s three city-operated paramedic ambulances forever, because the Los Angeles County Fire Department does not operate paramedic ambulances, and El Segundo will permanently lose its legal grandfathered status to operate them.

This will force city residents to use out-of-town private ambulance companies with significantly increased hospital transport times and ambulance fees. The City currently only charges residents what their insurance will pay.

The following data shows that El Segundo residents rely far more on their city-operated paramedic ambulances than on firefighters putting out fires. There were zero major residential structure fires (defined as having $100,000 or more in damage) in El Segundo from January 1, 2008 through April 30 2011.

During that same period, there was an average of 828 paramedic ambulance transports of victims to a hospital per year (city-wide).

El Segundo residents will be far worse off if Measure P passes and as a result they lose their three city-operated paramedic ambulances.

This data is from public record documents obtained from the El Segundo Fire Department in May, 2011 by Mike Robbins, former El Segundo City Councilman and director of the El Segundo Public Safety Project.

If measure P passes, residents will suffer reduced paramedic services and reduced fire protection services.

Number of Major Structure Fires per Year ( > $100,000 damage ):
2008: 1 (129 Arena St. – Commercial Building fire)
2009: 0
2010: 1 (1970 E Imperial Hwy. / Raytheon Bldg. R1 – Commercial Building fire)
2011: 1* (2000 E El Segundo Blvd. / Raytheon Bldg. E1 – Commercial Building fire due to Helicopter Crash)
*Through April 30

Number of Paramedic Hospital Transports per year:
2008: 777
2009: 737
2010: 674
2011: 281*
*Through April 30

Video Transcript:

VOTE “NO” ON MEASURE P featuring FIRE HERO & SMART LADY

This is a special presentation of the Public Safety Project
PublicSafetyProject.org
YouTube.com/user/PublicSafetyProject

( Watch the cartoon. ) … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Video – Scott Houston in Disbanding Our Fire Department 101 with Measure P

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Mike


Scott Houston in Disbanding Our Fire Department 101 with Measure P

El Segundo City Council candidate Scott Houston has completely misrepresented his true record, politics, and agenda. Houston is a tax-and-spend Progressive (ultra-liberal), not a fiscal conservative.

Houston claimed in his campaign literature that he wants to “maintain local control of our fire department”. However, as demonstrated by the video above and the links to the official El Segundo City Council meeting minutes, Scott Houston urged the City Council to enact Measure P as an ordinance that night, without letting the people vote on it, at the February 15, 2011 El Segundo City Council meeting.

Measure P will disband our local City Fire Department and force El Segundo to contract with Los Angele County for a significantly reduced level of fire and paramedic service, for at least ten years under state law, and under price, terms and service levels dictated by L.A. County under an adhesion contract mandated by Measure P, the fire union’s initiative.

Houston read a script nearly identical to the script read by Bryan Partlow, the fire union representative who sponsored Measure P because he is the only firefighter union member that lives in El Segundo. Both Houston and Partlow urged the City Council, to enact Measure P directly into law without an election, and if not then as their second choice, to schedule Measure P for a vote at an early Special Election within only a few months.

That would have given the firefighters’ union a huge unfair advantage, the union can fund and organize their campaign almost instantly, while the residents would be just ramping up their campaign after the election is over. The firefighters’ union can easily raise $100,000 or more almost instantly from among their union members, and they have dozens of volunteers to work their campaign because the firefighters only have to work two out of every six days, and they get paid to sleep.

Scott Houston was clearly upset when he spoke at the second Public Communications period, at the end of the meeting, because the City Council voted 3 to 2 to schedule Measure P for the next regular election, on April 10, 2012, when the he would run for City Council after he lobbied the Council to enact Measure P directly into law without letting the voters vote on it. Those would be the same voters that he would ask to vote for him!

And Scott Houston had proved by his own actions, that he will represent the fire and police unions rather than the voters and taxpayers. … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Firing of El Segundo City Manager Doug Willmore – Part 2

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Mike

By Michael D. Robbins
Former El Segundo City Councilman
Founder and Director, Public Safety Project

This is Part 2 of a 2-Part Article. The first part covered the controversy Doug Willmore created and the facts surrounding his firing. This second part covers the old 1994 legal settlement agreement to the MRC-Chevron-City of El Segundo tax dispute.

March 18, 2012

There has been much controversy surrounding the firing of El Segundo City Manager Doug Willmore at the special meeting of the El Segundo City Council on February 9, 2012. This controversy has been created by Doug Willmore himself, and by anti-business news organizations he enlisted to smear Chevron, Councilman Carl Jacobson, and the entire city of El Segundo. Carl Jacobson is the only City Council member who voted to fire Doug Willmore and who is running for reelection. Councilman Don Brann is not running for reelection, and Councilwoman Suzanne Fuentes is not up for reelection for another two years.

Regarding the MRC-Chevron-City Legal Settlement

I was on the City Council during the 1994 MRC-Chevron-El Segundo tax dispute legal settlement, and I know first-hand that the decision to approve that settlement agreement with MRC and Chevron was unanimous, legal, legitimate, and reasonable. And the decision was made in a public meeting. … Continue reading →

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, Doug Willmore’s Great City Shakedown, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Long memory – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Mary Olinick

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mike

I laughed when I learned Jan Cruikshank criticized Michael Robbins’ “Candidate Ranking” letter. I will be voting for Robbins’ three top-tier candidates: Carl Jacobson, Dave Atkinson, and Dave Burns.

It’s not surprising Cruikshank supports Robbins’ bottom-tier candidates – Cindee Topar, Cindy Mortesen, and Scott Houston. Houston is allied with the firefighter and police unions. He took police union money and their endorsement in 2010. He read a script almost identical to the fire union representative’s script at the Feb. 15, 2011 City Council meeting, pressuring the city council to enact Measure P into law without letting the people vote on it. And Topar was campaign manager for a firefighter.

Cruikshank was the firefighter union’s candidate back in 1992. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Video – Shows Scott Houston and Bryan Partlow urging the El Segundo City Council to enact Measure P into law without an election

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Mike

This is a very short version video shows excerpts of City Council candidate Scott Houston and El Segundo firefighters’ union member and Measure P proponent Bryan Partlow reading nearly identical scripts at the February 15, 2011 El Segundo City Council meeting.

Both Houston and Partlow strongly urged the El Segundo City Council to immediately enact Measure P directly into law, without letting the voters vote on it. Then they had the nerve to say that if the City Council would not enact Measure P directly into law and thereby deny the voters their right to vote on it, as their second choice, they wanted a special election as early as possible because the voters had a right to vote on it!

What dishonesty!

An early election in May, June, or July, 2011, as Houston and Partlow requested, as opposed to putting Measure P on the ballot for the April 10, 2012 regular election, would have given the firefighters’ union a huge unfair advantage in winning because the firefighters’ union has much more money to spend and many more campaign workers. The firefighters are on 48-hours shifts and work only two out of every six days. They have four out of every six days off from work, and they get paid to sleep a third of the time during their two work days. This gives the firefighters plenty of time to work on their union’s Measure P initiative campaign.

Scott Houston may claim he changed his mind on Measure P, but he cannot change history and gloss over the fact that he very actively tried to deny El Segundo voters their right to vote on Measure P, the most important item on the April 10, 2012 ballot. … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Scott Houston – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Illeen Joscha

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Mike

Scott Houston

Even if a majority votes “NO” on measure P, as they must to save lives and money, it will take only three union-aligned Council members to unilaterally vote to implement Measure P against the will of the voters.

This is not far-fetched. Candidate Scott Houston spoke at the 2/15/11 City Council meeting, during public communications, urging the City Council to enact Measure P as an ordinance and implement it without allowing the voters to vote on it! Houston read a script closely resembling the script read by Bryan Partlow, the firefighter union member who sponsored Measure P because he is the only union member living in town.

Watch the video at the city web site at ElSegundo.org. Under Links, click on “Video”, then on “City Council Archives”, then on the 2/15/2011 Council Meeting View Video link. Or watch the Houston video at http://www.youtube.com/user/PublicSafetyProject.

Houston has campaigned as a pro-business conservative, yet he is a progressive leftist (ultra-liberal, big tax and spender). Houston was endorsed by … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

“NO” on P – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marianne Fong

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Mike

The firefighters’ union has financed a propaganda poll with many false claims to deceive voters into voting for Measure P The pollsters falsely claimed firefighters are paid $100,000 annually.

The firefighters had average total annual compensation of $211,000 (maximum was $342,000), and average annual pension contributions paid by the taxpayers of $42,000 (maximum was $80,000). These figures don’t include Fire Chief Kevin Smith, who had total annual compensation of $358,000 including total annual pension contributions paid by the taxpayers of $84,000.

If Measure P passes, El Segundo will no longer have a Fire Department. L.A. County will provide our fire and paramedic services at a reduced level, without ambulances. … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Save Our City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Mike

The El Segundo firefighter and police unions are putting our city at risk for their Royal Family sized paychecks and pensions. At the Feb. 7 City Council meeting, City Manager Doug Willmore explained how City Hall will be sold and leased back for twenty years, as collateral for a $10.3 million loan to pay for street resurfacing, other routine infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements.

El Segundo used to be a pay-as-you-go city, paying for infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements with General Fund revenues. But that was before the safety unions became very active in City Council campaigns, hired their own bosses, and ratcheted up their salaries, benefits, and pensions to ridiculous and unsustainable levels. … Continue reading →

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Measure P Costs More For Less – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Mike

Voters must reject Measure P this April, or we will lose our local fire department, including firefighters, apparatus, and equipment; and we’ll pay more for less emergency services.

Measure P is not a merger of City and County fire departments, but a liquidation of the City fire department and a complete takeover by L.A. County. If Measure P passes, fire and paramedic services will be greatly reduced. El Segundo will permanently lose its three paramedic ambulances, because L.A. County does not operate paramedic ambulances, and El Segundo will lose its legal grandfathered status to operate them.

Residents will be forced to use and pay out-of- town ambulance companies, significantly increasing hospital transport times and costs in money and lives. … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off