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El Segundo Flyer #3 – Vote “NO” on Measure A, and Against BILL FISHER!

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

April 7, 2014

Three flyers containing verifiable factual information about Measure A were distributed to residents and small businesses on the weekend of April 5, 2014.

Click on each of the links below to view, download, and print them. Please share them with your friends and neighbors in case they did not get all of them.

Flyer #1: Vote “NO” on Measure A – Eleven Tax Hikes in One Measure! – Distributed on Saturday, April 5, 2014. (119 KB PDF file)

Flyer #2: 36 MORE REASONS TO VOTE NO ON MEASURE A – Distributed on Saturday, April 5, 2014. (206 KB PDF file)

Flyer #3: Vote “NO” on Measure A, and Against BILL FISHER! – Distributed on Sunday, April 6, 2014. (168 KB PDF file)


Below is the content of Flyer #3, with added photos, links, and information documenting the facts contained in the flyer.


Vote “NO” on Measure A, and

Against BILL FISHER!

Measure A is ELEVEN Permanent Tax Hikes in a Single Ballot Measure

Have the Measure A Supporters Earned Our Trust?

The “Yes on A” campaign has lost the debate. Their arguments have been refuted, and many have been shown to be outright deceptive and dishonest. So they switched to using the campaign slogan, Measure A is “supported by people you know and trust”. But if you really knew most of them, you probably would not trust them.

"Measure A - Supported by People You Know and Trust" slogan on a "Yes on Measure A" campaign mailer delivered on 3/29/2014.
“Measure A – Supported by People You Know and Trust” slogan on a “Yes on Measure A” campaign mailer delivered on 3/29/2014.

See PublicSafetyProject.org for more information, details, and proof.

Sandra Jacobs, one of two “Yes on A” campaign co-chairs, was one of a slate of three Fire and Police Union sponsored City Council candidates.

See the details on the below, including the $46,204 in campaign money.

Joe Harding, one of two “Yes on A” campaign co-chairs, was AGAINST the tax hikes when he was a Hacienda Hotel employee. NOW, this ex-employee is FOR the tax hikes that will be devastating to his former employer.

Harding spoke out strongly against smaller Utility Users Tax (UUT) and Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) hikes at the 8/3/10 City Council meeting. Anyone can verify this by watching the City Council meeting video at PublicSafetyProject.org or ElSegundo.org. Here are his quotes from that meeting:

“Joe Harding, representing the Hacienda Hotel and also a resident of El Segundo.” “Most of you have seen first-hand what our industry has endured over the past 27 years.” “Our industry just can’t handle any increase.” You must say ‘No’ to the hotel killer tax!” “A TOT and a UUT would hit us twice. That’d be like kicking us when we’re down, and then running us over for good measure. “The City must make unpopular and difficult adjustments to their payroll and expenses.” “Leave the TOT where it is.”


Click HERE to see the video of Joe Harding making this speech at the 8/3/10 El Segundo City Council meeting, and to read a transcript of his speech.


Looking down the “Yes on A” campaign’s list of supporters (“People You Know and Trust”), we find:

(Click HERE for more details and documentation on these “People You Know and Trust”.)

  • Four were City Council candidates sponsored by the Fire and Police Unions, who get huge pay raises and pension increases in return for their campaign support
  • One tried to steer a City contract to a friend for nearly twice the price – for $120,000 when the more qualified bid was $65,000 for the same job
  • One was a no-show El Segundo City Clerk who worked full-time for another city, but collected TWO government paychecks
  • One is an ESUSD school teacher union member who misused school district facilities, public resources, and students to campaign for a City Council candidate
  • One resigned his elected City Treasurer office due to his extra-marital affair with a current school board member who is also on the list
  • One is a police captain who made the news for bullying and harassing a city resident at his workplace for posting the public record Police and Fire Union salaries on his website
  • And missing from the list are the following employee union Measure A supporters who donated a total of $17,500 to the “Yes on A” campaign as of 3/23/14 (from FPPC filings):
    • El Segundo Firefighters PAC donated $5,000 on 2/11/14
    • El Segundo Police Officers Association PAC donated $5,000 on 2/25/14
    • El Segundo City Employees Association donated $5,000 on 2/28/14
    • California Teamsters Public Affairs Council donated $2,500 on 3/11/14
  • Do you trust all the City employee union members who donated $17,500 (thus far) through their unions – to get a whopping $6.6 Million per year in return to pay for their past and future excessive pay raises and resulting pension increases?

Bill Fisher’s Forgotten History

Let’s go down the memory hole and recover Bill Fisher’s forgotten history. Fisher’s political career was launched by the Fire and Police Unions when they ran a three-candidate slate including Fisher and Sandra Jacobs (“Yes on A” campaign co-chair).

Fisher claims he knew nothing about the union support. However, Fire Union president Kevin Rehm’s cell phone number was on the campaign signs for each of the slate candidates as the contact number for campaign sign management.


Firefighters union president Kevin A. Rehm managed the delivery, installation, and maintenance of the campaign yard signs for all three candidates – Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch. A sticker appeared on every sign with his cellular phone number. It read:

“This sign has been placed with the permission of the owner. If you have any problems with this sign please call: (310) 422-9411 We will fix the problem ASAP. Thank you!”

I called that number during the election campaign and Kevin Rehm answered. I spoke with him and asked him questions about the firefighter union’s candidate endorsements. You can do an Internet search for the following keywords to see that this is Kevin Rehm’s phone number: (310) 422-9411 Kevin Rehm.

See the photos of the three candidate’s campaign signs with firefighters union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on them below. The first two photos show the entire signs at a distance to make it clear the close-up photos of the sticker on the corner each sign are of the same campaign signs.

The El Segundo firefighters union installed triple the campaign signs for City Council candidates Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch at an apartment building on the far east end of Mariposa Ave.
The El Segundo firefighters union installed triple the campaign signs for City Council candidates Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch at a house on the east side of town.

The El Segundo firefighters union installed double the campaign signs for City Council candidates Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch at a house on the east side of town.
The El Segundo firefighters union installed double the campaign yard signs for City Council candidates Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch at a house on the east side of town.

See the photos below of the campaign signs with firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number (310-422-9411) on them as the sign placement and maintenance coordinator. His phone number sticker was on all the campaign signs for Bill Fisher, Sandra Jacobs (one of the two Measure A co-chairs), and Eric Busch.

Bill Fisher's City Council Campaign Sign.
Bill Fisher’s City Council campaign sign with El Segundo firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on it.

Sandra Jacobs' City Council Campaign Sign.
Sandra Jacobs’ City Council campaign sign with El Segundo firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on it.

Eric Busch's City Council Campaign Sign.
Eric Busch’s City Council campaign sign with El Segundo firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on it.


The unions sent out slate campaign mailers featuring studio portrait photos of all three candidates, with color-coordinated backgrounds.


See the scanned images below of the campaign slate mailer postcard sent to El Segundo voters by the two unions.

The front side of the campaign mailer shows photos of a firefighter standing next to a fire engine and a police officer standing next to a police car. It reads:


“What do El Segundo Firefighters and Police Officers Have in Common?”

The back side has the photos and names of El Segundo City Council candidates Eric Busch, Sandra Jacobs, and Bill Fisher. It reads:


“Firefighters – Police Officers – Paramedics
Support
BUSH – JACOBS – FISHER
The Best Choice For Public Safety
On April 13th Support
Eric BUSCH – Sandra JACOBS – Bill FISHER
Paid For By The El Segundo Firefighters Association – PO Box 55 El Segundo, CA ID #1231824″

The firefighters and police unions claimed that they endorsed “The Best Choice For Public Safety”. That was a lie. They endorsed the candidates who would give them the biggest pay raises and pension increases, and then raise taxes and fees on the residents and businesses to pay for it all.

Click on each picture for a larger view (will open in a new browser window or tab).


Front side of the slate campaign slate mailer sent by the El Segundo firefighters and police unions for Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch in the 2004 El Segundo City Council Election. The firefighter and police unions spend thousands of campaign dollars each election cycle to get millions of extra tax dollars in their paychecks and pensions each year.


Back side of the slate campaign slate mailer sent by the El Segundo firefighters and police unions for Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch in the 2004 El Segundo City Council Election. The firefighter and police unions spend thousands of campaign dollars each election cycle to get millions of extra tax dollars in their paychecks and pensions each year.

When then Councilman Bill Fisher was confronted at a City Council meeting about the conflict of interest created from his firefighter and police union campaign support, given that he votes on their pay raises and benefits increases, he claimed he did not know the unions were supporting his campaign!

Notice how the firefighter and police union campaign slate mailer has professional studio photos with color-coordinated matching backgrounds of Bill Fisher and the other two union-endorsed candidates. Clearly, Fisher posed for his professional photo and a copy of it was sent to the unions for use in their campaign mailer. Also, Fisher wants us to believe he did not know who was distributing, installing, and maintaining his campaign signs around the city throughout the his campaign.


Rehm sent a deceitful campaign mailer on official Fire Union letterhead, threatening seniors with “the possibility of our paramedics not being available when you need them” if the three union-approved candidates were not elected!


The El Segundo firefighters union even sent out a campaign letter on their official union letterhead, signed by union President Kevin Rehm, 1st Vice President Breck Slover, and 2nd Vice President John Bilbee, threatening senior citizen voters with “the possibility of our paramedics not being available when you need them” if the three candidates approved by the union were not elected!

See the scanned image of this letter and the envelope it was sent in below.

Click on the letter below to see a larger image of it (will open in a new browser window or tab).


Click HERE to see a larger image of the El Segundo firefighters union campaign letter threatening senior citizen voters, then click the BACK button in your browser to return to this web page.


Letter that the El Segundo firefighters union used to send their campaign letter threatening senior citizen voters.

Click HERE for an analysis and the text of the Senior Scare Letter on our old web site. Then click the BACK button in your browser to return to this web page.


The mysterious “Committee To Continue The Progress Of El Segundo” spent $46,204 including union and out-of-town donations campaigning for the slate. Fisher narrowly lost that election, but was APPOINTED to the Council two years later. That election was CANCELLED due to lack of candidates. The unprecedented campaign spending intimidated potential challengers.


View or download a PDF file containing the FPPC Form 460 filed by the “Committee To Continue The Progress Of El Segundo”. (6.71 MB PDF file)


Fisher rewarded the unions well with 11.25% to 23% in pay raises during the Great Recession, including retroactive pay raises effective nine months before the date of approval, plus additional 5% annual “step-raises”, jacking up compensation and pensions. Fisher also supported single pay raises of 14.9% to 32.3% for the non-union managers (Deputy Fire Chief, Fire Battalion Chiefs, Police Chief, and the Fire Chief) to avoid “salary compaction”.

The pay raises were approved in secret in one or more closed session City Council meetings, and were made public and given a public vote of approval as a mere formality in the April 7, 2009 and December 2, 2008 open session City Council meetings, after they were already a done deal.


These pay raises included the following:

JOB CLASSIFICATION PAY RAISE DATE APPROVED CONSENT AGENDA ITEM
Firefighters 11.25% April 7, 2009 E11
Fire Engineers 11.25% April 7, 2009 E11
Fire Captains 11.25% April 7, 2009 E11
Police Officers 15.0% April 7, 2009 E12
Police Sergeants 15.0% April 7, 2009 E12
Police Lieutenants 18.0% April 7, 2009 E8
Police Captains 23.0% April 7, 2009 E8
Fire Battalion Chiefs 16.9% December 2, 2008 E8
Deputy Fire Chief 14.9% December 2, 2008 E8
Police Chief 23% December 2, 2008 E8
Fire Chief 32.3% December 2, 2008 E8

In addition to the above pay raises, the firefighter and police employees were (and still are) given 5% annual “step raises” in each of the first four or five years after the year they are promoted or assigned to a new position.

In addition to the above pay raises, the firefighter and police employees were (and still are) given periodic “longevity” raises every so many years.


Rehm’s pension pays him $172,516 per year. Measure A will only pay for more union rewards!


Kevin Rehm’s annual CalPERS pension from working as an El Segundo firefighter is $172,516.08 per year according to the CalPERS Database on the FixPensionsFirst.com website at:

http://www.fixpensionsfirst.com/calpers-database/?first_name=&last_name=&employer=EL+SEGUNDO


Fisher hoped to get appointed to City Council again without an election, but a third candidate emerged the last day of the filing period. Please Vote NO on Measure A and AGAINST Bill Fisher on April 8th. For voting information, see ElSegundo.org or contact the City Clerk.

This flyer is a response to late campaign mailers and late campaign contribution reports.
Check the PublicSafetyProject.org web site for documentation, proof, and responses to any last-minute hit pieces.
Authored by Michael D. Robbins. Not authorized or endorsed by any candidate or committee.
Paid for by Michael D. Robbins, P.O. Box 2193, El Segundo, CA 90245. 4/4/2014 Rev. 1


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, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Measure A - 5 New Taxes and 6 Tax Inceases, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Union Corruption, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on El Segundo Flyer #3 – Vote “NO” on Measure A, and Against BILL FISHER!

Feels Measure “A” Too Important – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Scott Houston

NOTE:

This letter to the El Segundo Herald newspaper is proof that Scott Houston supported the ELEVEN tax hikes in Measure A on the April 8, 2014 El Segundo General Municipal Electionu ballot.


Feels Measure “A” Too Important – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Scott Houston

I wanted to stay quiet. But this conversation is too important not to participate in, speak up and urge every El Segundo voter to support Measure A. We’ve been down this road before and, once again, our City finds itself in a precarious financial situation. Even with the additional revenues gained from the Chevron tax settlement agreement, our City will be running significant deficits of nearly $6 million for the foreseeable future if we do not address our structural deficit. That is why I am supporting Measure A.

Our City Council has worked diligently to maintain our services with less. And our City employees have borne the brunt of cuts due to our financial state – in fact, there are now about 20% fewer employees at City Hall struggling to provide the same levels of service we are accustomed to. Something has to give. We cannot continue cutting our way out and decimating the community we love.

While not a panacea, I believe Measure A is a major step forward in the right direction to finally address our city’s ongoing budget crisis. Let’s work together as a community to give our next Council the resources needed to balance our city budget. Please vote Yes on Measure A on April 8.

– Scott Houston


NOTE BY MICHAEL D. ROBBINS:

The City of El Segundo’s taxpayers are probably paying about $8 million per year in excess compensation to the city’s firefighter and police “association” (union) members and their managers. That is a great sum of money for small-town El Segundo. The firefighter and police unions ratcheted up their total compensation (salaries, benefits, and employer-paid pension contributions) to wildly excessive and unsustainable levels by endorsing, contributing money to, and campaigning for the City Council candidates who would give them the largest pay, benefits, and pension increases, and raise taxes to pay for it all.

That is why El Segundo firefighters (and those of many other California cities) are paid about $150,000 to more than $330,000 in total compensation each per year. When the firefighter and police union members get large unjustifiable compensation increases, their managers get even larger increases to avoid “salary compaction”.

Scott Houston is a firefighter and police union puppet. He supports them and they support him. Houston supports Measure A on the April 8, 2014 El Segundo city election ballot to pay for past and future excessive and unsustainable firefighter and police union pay raises and the resulting pension increases. The current firefighter and police union contracts expire on September 30, 2014, and the City Council will negotiate new labor contracts with the unions later this year.

If the voters reject Measure A, the firefighter and police unions will have to give back some of the excessive increases they received as rewards supporting the campaigns of City Council candidates. There is a conflict of interest when government employee unions campaign to elect their own bosses who will negotiate with them and decide their pay raises and pension increases in secret meetings.

Scott Houston ran for El Segundo City Council twice – in April 2010 and April 2012. Each time the El Segundo Police Officers Association (union) gave him their endorsement, a huge cash campaign contribution, independent campaign expenditures, and additional campaign support. Houston lost both elections due to strong grassroots campaigns against him.

Scott Houston supported Measure P, the firefighter union’s initiative (4/10/12 election), which was defeated by 90.1 percent of El Segundo voters. It would have disbanded our local fire department and transferred our fire and paramedic services, and firefighters, to the Los Angeles County Fire Department for inferior services. It would have eliminated 31 percent of our on-duty firefighters, two paramedic squads and all three paramedic transport ambulances, doubling hospital transport times. But it would have protected the firefighters from much-needed pay cuts. … Continue reading

Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Measure A - 5 New Taxes and 6 Tax Inceases, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Feels Measure “A” Too Important – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Scott Houston

El Segundo Measure A Co-Chair Joe Harding was Against the Tax Hikes Before He was For Them

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

March 6, 2014

Joe Harding is one of two co-chairs identified on the “Yes on A for El Segundo’s Future” campaign committee website. Harding is also treasurer of the campaign committee as indicated on the first FPPC 460 campaign finance disclosure filed by the committee with the El Segundo City Clerk.

Harding was against the tax hikes before he was for them. He spoke out strongly against the tax hikes at the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting when he was the General Manager of the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo (HaciendaHotel.com). Now he is campaigning on the opposite side, for the tax hikes which hit hotels especially hard, as an ex-employee of the Hacienda. Here is an excerpt of what Harding said as a Hacienda Hotel employee:

“You must say ‘No’ to the hotel killer tax. … A TOT, and a UUT would hit us twice. That’d be like kicking us when we’re down, and then running us over for good measure. … The City must make unpopular and difficult adjustments to their payroll and expenses. Asking businesses to pick up the bill for the City and its residents in this economy is simply not a fair approach. The Hacienda has been and will remain a stellar business in this community. Help make sure this continues. Leave the TOT where it is. It’s working for us. It’s working for the City. … Thank you.” – Joe Harding, General Manager of the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo, speaking at the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting, before he became an ex-employee of the Hacienda, flip-flopped, and became a co-chair of the Yes on Measure A committee to raise both the TOT and UUT taxes on the Hacienda and all other hotels and businesses in El Segundo, and to impose them on residents.

Here is a video I made for the April 10, 2012 El Segundo City Council Election that includes Joe Harding’s full speech, starting at about time 3:28 to 5:46, followed by a transcript of his full speech. … Continue reading

Posted in Economy and Economics, 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, Tax Policy and Issues, Videos | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on El Segundo Measure A Co-Chair Joe Harding was Against the Tax Hikes Before He was For Them

Sporting Ammunition in a Fire is Safe for Firefighters if it is NOT Loaded in the Chamber of a Firearm

by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project

February 13, 2013

The video below, SAAMI – Sporting Ammunition and the Fire Fighter, “is recommended as an educational tool for fire departments.” Its length is 25:47. It “explains how firefighters face no danger from sporting ammunition in a fire when protected by standard turn-out gear.” Even hundreds or thousands of rounds of firearm ammunition cartridges stored in boxes or other containers are safe for firefighters fighting a fire. Thus, firefighters are safe fighting a fire even in a gun store or target range with lots of boxed or loose sporting ammunition present.

This result is based on extensive testing. “Nearly one million rounds of sporting ammunition were subjected to ten different tests-from open burn conditions to tightly confined burn conditions-to examine what happens to sporting ammunition exposed to severe impact and fire.” A link to an article on the subject follows the video.

“Sporting ammunition includes shot shells up to 8 gauge and handgun and rifle cartridges up to .50 caliber. This video examines sporting ammunition only. It does not address military or law enforcement ammunition, such as tear gas cartridges, tracers, or incendiary projectiles.”

“Note that ammunition loaded in the chamber of a firearm and exposed to a fire IS dangerous just as if the trigger of the firearm was pulled, and the bullet can shoot out the barrel with full velocity.”

Therefore, all firearms should always be treated as if they are loaded and should be pointed in a safe direction.

“CONCLUSION: Projectiles ignited outside a firearm have significantly lower velocities and energies than when shot from a firearm.”

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Video – April 5, 2012 El Segundo Candidates Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters


Watch the April 5, 2012 El Segundo Candidates Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters video here.

Click on the center of the image below.


Get Microsoft Silverlight

April 5, 2012 El Segundo Candidates Forum
hosted by the League of Women Voters (01h 45m)

Click on the rectangle in the lower right corner for full-screen mode.
Press the Escape (“Esc”) key near the upper left corner of your keyboard
to return to small size viewing, especially if the video appears slow or
jerky.


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

Video – Cindee Topar is in an official in the militant AFA union which targeted the customers

Cindee Topar is in an official in the militant AFA union which targeted the customers

Watch the AFA Union’s CHAOS™ Training Video

El Segundo City Council candidate Cindee Cindee Topar is both an official and a member in the militant Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) union, which targeted customers, canceled randomly selected flights without notice, and stranded passengers to create “CHAOS™” for the customers and their employer. Topar’s union was so proud of their anti-social behavior that they even trademarked the name “CHAOS™”.

Cindee Topar at a City Council meeting.
Cindee Topar at a City Council meeting.
Photo copyright © 2012 by Michael D. Robbins.

How would you like it if Topar’s militant union caused you to miss a job interview, business meeting, expensive vacation cruise, or an important once-in-a-lifetime event such as a family wedding, bar mitzvah, or funeral?

The union’s stated goal was to scare away customers to sabotage their employer’s business without suffering the loss of income that a traditional strike would cause. Her union was so proud of stranding airline passengers without incurring the penalty of lost income for their union members that they trademarked the name CHAOS™! The name CHAOS™ stands for “Creating Havoc Around Our System.” If Topar gets elected, we may have CHAOT – Creating Havoc Around Our Town.

Here is the United AFA union’s official CHAOS™ web page:
http://www.unitedafa.org/afa/chaos/default.aspx


How does CHAOS™ work?

When Cindee Topar’s AFA union creates CHAOS™ for customers and management, the following steps are taken. … Continue reading

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



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

Video – Cindee Topar in Solving Our City’s Top Problems 101 – El Segundo – Public Safety Project



Cindee Topar in Solving Our City’s Top Problems 101


Cindee Topar at a City Council meeting
Cindee Topar at a City Council meeting.
Photo copyright © 2012 by Michael D. Robbins.

LALCV PAC MONEY

Cindee Topar has taken thousands of dollars in campaign support from the radical Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters (LALCV). Although the name may sound innocuous, their agenda and the candidates they support are quite extreme, and they divert and squander taxpayer money for their own private agenda purposes. The LALCV is a political action committee (PAC). They do not plant any trees, clean up any parks or beaches, or do any other hands-on conservation-related work. Their sole purpose for existing is to get candidates who subscribe to their extremist political agenda elected to public offices.

An internet search found that LALCV promotes an agenda ranging from banning plastic bags to increasing taxes and trash collection fees to pay for more of their environmental programs, to “Toilet to Tap”.

“Toilet to Tap” would have recycled Hyperion sewage coming out of our kitchen and bathroom taps if a majority on City Council were to successfully promote it. I don’t think we need that, and I don’t think we are ready for that.

Scott Houston, Eric Busch, Bill Fisher, and Jim Boulgarides have also received LALCV endorsements, and likely also received LALCV cash contributions and/or expensive campaign mailers.

For all races, the LALCV Board of Directors uses a rigorous four-step vetting process in making its campaign endorsements to ensure they only support candidates who will actively pursue their radical agenda. The vetting process includes a detailed questionnaire and in-person interview, followed by an evaluation and recommendation by an endorsement team, then finally, a vote of the full Board. In some cases, the Board will also elect to financially support a candidate or ballot initiative along with its endorsement. Only the most extreme candidates running in races where the LALCV has a reasonable chance of influencing the election outcome get both the LALCV endorsement and the financial support.

The campaign support Topar took from the LALCV included large cash contributions and three expensive campaign mailers when Topar ran for El Segundo City Council in 2008. LALCV has contributed or will contribute $750 to Topar for her 2012 El Segundo City Council campaign.

The third LALCV campaign mailer sent for Topar in 2008 was a large full-color card stock campaign mailer that claimed in large bold letters, “Thanks to CINDEE TOPAR, El Segundo has cleaner air, healthier water and more open space.” You can see the front side of that campaign mailer below.


Third LALCV campaign mailer for Cindee Topar in her 2008 campaign for El Segundo City Council.


Video Transcript:Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Video – Cindee Topar in Solving Our City’s Top Problems 101 – El Segundo – Public Safety Project

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



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