Tag Archives: bankruptcy

Entitlement Versus Affordability – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by David Burns

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Mike

Entitlement Versus Affordability

There’s been frequent talk about what El Segundo residents “deserve” when it comes to funding public safety services. The discussion should really be about what we can afford. Residents got what they deserved in past budgets that funded public safety services from 2000 through 2009. Police and Fire enjoyed annual pay raises in the range of 5% to 9+% annually from 2000 through 2009. They received a public benefit of enhanced pensions that saw city costs rise by ten’s of millions of dollars over a decade. By getting what our past City Council’s felt our public safety officials were entitled to or “deserved” nearly bankrupted our city. City Hall’s past culture of entitlement nearly cost us our independent fire department and paramedic ambulance services. El Segundo had a platinum spending culture, unfortunately, our budget couldn’t sustain such entitlements or costs.

That’s the hard lesson residents and elected officials must remember. The City Council has taken a lot of hits for maintaining fiscal responsibility and balanced budget accountability, resulting in a barrage of disrespect from the public safety unions displaying unprofessionalism by name calling and disrespecting city leadership. This must end.

The new City Council must remember the lessons of the past. If Measure B passes, we must look to the future of what El Segundo can afford. What El Segundo deserves is quality public safety services, living within our means, maintaining services that are affordable, and ensuring that public safety is provided with quality equipment, resources, and training.

– David Burns

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Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), El Segundo Measure B TOT Tax Hike, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Fraud Waste and Abuse, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Entitlement Versus Affordability – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by David Burns

Supporting Proposition 32 – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Mike

South Bay and other California cities are at much greater risk of bankruptcy than residents are being told. Unrealistic optimistic revenue projections by city finance directors have not come to fruition, just as I warned would happen in El Segundo. City revenues actually declined.

Voters can and must help protect against city bankruptcies by voting “YES” on Proposition 32. It puts voters first by cutting the money tie between politicians and special interests and ensuring every individual contribution is made voluntarily.

Special interests have already contributed $43 million to defeat Proposition 32 with totally deceptive campaign ads. The same government employee unions that have been driving cities and school districts toward bankruptcy with astronomical and unsustainable salaries, benefits and pensions have contributed 98 percent of that campaign money ($42 million).

Proposition 32 will break the stranglehold government employee unions have on Sacramento and local government — that has blocked real and meaningful compensation and pension reform, and Senate Bill 1530, which would have made it easier to dismiss teachers who sexually abuse their students. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, Letters to the Editor, Political Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Supporting Proposition 32 – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Stockton Syndrome Found – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Douglas Heitkamp

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Mike

El Segundo like many other cities in California appears to have some of the symptoms of an affliction now common throughout California. It has been observed in Vallejo, San Jose, San Diego, San Bernardino County and Stockton. I will refer to this malady as the “Stockton Syndrome”. Some of its symptoms include the lack of a balanced budget, loss of revenue from sales and real-estate taxes, investment income and electric utility tax. Other symptoms include unexpected personnel costs. Annual budges that must also cope with ever increasing yearly growth in salaries, pension and medical costs is common. Moody’s has taken notice of this in their recent announcement to review the bond ratings of all California cities. … Continue reading →

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Herald Letters, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Stockton Syndrome Found – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Douglas Heitkamp

City Council Rescinds Tax Hike Proposal – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Arthur Christopher Schaper

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Mike

City Council Rescinds Tax Hike Proposal

The El Segundo City Council has finally seen the light, the light of limited government that does not pawn off expenses on successful corporations.

The Council may not have yet mustered the political skill to curtail the outrageous pension liabilities that threaten to bankrupt the peaceful community south of LAX, but at least they have rescinded the option of floating a foolish tax hike that would harm a local and very national business in the city’s backyard.

Instead of trying to raise revenue, the El Segundo City Council needs to cut spending, cut entitlements, and cut any other unnecessary fiscal outlays. Like many, I respect the role of public safety officers, but local representatives, who receive a stipend to serve their communities, must step up and cast votes that represent the needs of the current community and future inhabitants, not just placate powerful public unions. … Continue reading →

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on City Council Rescinds Tax Hike Proposal – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Arthur Christopher Schaper

Potential Bankruptcy Trap – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Mike

Exactly as I predicted last July, Mayor Busch and his City Council majority “negotiated” and approved new city employee union contracts in secret, letting the new and unproven city manager do the “negotiating”, then rushed the contracts through a public City Council vote as a mere formality.

Why did Busch try to rush the “official” contract approval with less than 24 hours for the public and Council members to even see the contracts? Obviously, Busch was trying to hide the contract terms, which are still excessive, unsustainable, and mostly one-sided in favor of the fire and police unions.

In some ways, the new contracts are worse than the old ones. … Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Potential Bankruptcy Trap – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Just the Facts – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Mike

As Ronald Reagan said, “facts are stubborn things.” Unlike the extremist rants against me, which now include calls for censorship and threats of death by withholding emergency services, I just deal with the facts in order to prevent my city’s bankruptcy and loss of vital services. The people attacking me resort to these sorts of threats because they have no facts on their side. My information comes from official sources as documented at PublicSafetyProject.org.

If Measure P succeeds in liquidating the El Segundo Fire Department, then all other South Bay Cities will suffer reduced mutual aid emergency services. Even worse, if the voters are deceived into passing Measure P, it’s likely to start a trend of union takeovers of other South Bay cities. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, El Segundo, Firefighter Union Corruption, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Just the Facts – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins