Tag Archives: Doug Willmore

Elect Brann and Pirsztuk – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Mike Robbins

Elect Brann and Pirsztuk

I led the successful grassroots campaign against Measure P, the firefighters’ union initiative to hijack our fire department and contract with Los Angeles County for a significantly reduced level of service, all to lock-in and protect their excessive and unsustainable total annual compensation of $150,000 to more than $350,000 per year. I also led the successful grassroots campaign against the residential trash collection fees, because taxes already pay for that, and against Measure A, eleven tax hikes in one ballot measure, on residents and businesses.

City Council candidates Marie Fellhauer, Dave Atkinson, and Drew Boyles all publicly endorsed Measure A and were featured in campaign mailers supporting it. Candidates Don Brann and Carol Pirsztuk are fiscal conservatives who did not endorse or support Measure A.

I support Don Bran for City Council because he is intelligent and fiscally conservative, has no hidden agenda, he listens, and if he makes a mistake, he learns and corrects it. Likewise, I support Carol Pirsztuk.

Brann voted, together with Fellhauer’s allies and supporters Eric Busch and Bill Fisher, to hire the disastrous City Manager Doug Willmore. Willmore cost our city millions of dollars. He wanted to effectively mortgage City Hall for 10.3 million dollars to pay for the 11.25% to 32.3% in raises Busch and Fisher gave to the already overpaid firefighters and police during the Great Recession. Brann realized his mistake and corrected it before leaving City Council, by voting with Carl Jacobson and Suzanne Fuentes to fire Willmore.

– Mike Robbins


Related Article:

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) honors former El Segundo City Councilman Mike Robbins

October 1, 2014

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), founded by California Proposition 13 sponsor Howard Jarvis, has honored former El Segundo City Councilman Mike Robbins as a “Hometown Hero” for leading the successful campaign to defeat Measure A in the April 8, 2014 El Segundo General Municipal Election. Measure A had ELEVEN tax hikes in one ballot measure!

Here is the article in their official statewide newsletter, Taxing Times, Vol. 40, Issue 3 for Fall 2014:


HOMETOWN HEROES

HJTA was very pleased to receive the following update from former El Segundo councilman Mike Robbins after local Election Day, April 8. Here are excerpts:

We had a great victory in El Segundo last night! The citizens and taxpayers won, and the city-employee unions with lots of campaign money and a significant conflict of interest lost – AGAIN!

Thank you to everyone who helped.

El Segundo Measure A, ELEVEN TAX HIKES IN ONE MEASURE, taxing RESIDENTS and BUSINESSES, lost by 57% NO to 43% YES, despite the “Yes on A” campaign spending a whopping $33,129.87 in small-town El Segundo, including $17,500 from four city-employee unions – $5,000 from the fire union, $5,000 from the police union, $5,000 from the city employees’ union, and $2,500 from the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council in Sacramento (supervisory and professional employees’ union) at a cost of $25.74 per vote.

Measure A would have created new taxes on residents for electricity, water, gas, and all forms of “communications services,” including landline telephones, cell phones, Internet, cable TV, and satellite, to pay for excessive compensation and pensions for city employees. Firefighters and police are paid $150,000 to more than $380,000 each in total compensation per year.

I, together with two other former El Segundo City Council members, and two other long-term city residents, co-authored and submitted an argument against Measure A and a rebuttal to the argument for Measure A, and I authored and distributed two one-page double-sided campaign flyers on Saturday, April 5, and a third on Sunday, April 6.

The HJTA hat is off to Mike and other active El Segundo taxpayers who made this victory possible.

( Continue reading … )


Continue reading

Posted in California, 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, Measure A - 5 New Taxes and 6 Tax Inceases, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Elect Brann and Pirsztuk – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Mike Robbins

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

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

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The City Manager and Finance Director should NOT be negotiating employee contracts or agreements for salaries, benefits, or pensions

Subject: Updated Written public communications for May 1, 2012, 5:00 P.M. City Council meeting
From: Mike Robbins
To: All Council And Clerks; Cathy Domann; Mona Shilling;
Cc: Mike Robbins;
Date: Friday, April 27, 2012 10:48 PM

April 27, 2012

Re: Updated Written Public Communications – The City Manager and Finance Director should NOT be negotiating employee contracts or agreements for salaries, benefits, or pensions.

To: El Segundo City Council, City Clerk, Deputy City Clerk, City Attorney, City Manager, and Finance Director.

From: Michael D. Robbins, long time El Segundo resident.

Here is my updated written public communications for the May 1, 2012, 5:00 P.M. El Segundo City Council meeting.

Please distribute it instead of my previous email to the entire City Council and the City Attorney, City Manager, and Finance Director, and post it instead of my previous email on the official City web site at ElSegundo.org on the City Council Agendas web page, http://www.elsegundo.org/depts/elected/agendas.asp, as is customary.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Robbins
(Email address omitted.)

PublicSafetyProject.org
http://PublicSafetyProject.org/

YouTube.com/user/PublicSafetyProject
http://www.YouTube.com/user/PublicSafetyProject

The May 1, 2012 El Segundo City Council meeting, 5:00 P.M. session, has the following #1 under Special Orders of Business:

“1. Consideration and Possible Action to appoint Greg Carpenter, City Manager and Deborah Cullen, Finance Director to represent the City of El Segundo as labor negotiators with the Supervisory and Professional Employees Association (SPEA).”

The City Manager and Finance Director should NOT be negotiating employee contracts or agreements for salaries, benefits, or pensions, for the following SIX reasons:

1) There is an inherent and unavoidable conflict of interest, because their salaries, benefits, and pensions are based directly or indirectly on those of the employees with whom they are negotiating. City employee bargaining groups negotiate their salaries, benefits, and pensions, at least in part, based on the salaries, benefits, and pensions of the other bargaining groups. And the city manager, department heads, and all other managers are given pay raises based on the pay raises of employees below them to avoid “salary compaction”.

2) They are not negotiation experts. The city employee unions have professional labor union lawyers, negotiators, and negotiation resources to support their labor negotiations with the City, and historically, El Segundo city employees have received greatly excessive salary, benefits, and pension increases even during a recession. While this has been especially true for the firefighter and police unions, it is also true to a lesser extent for other city employee unions (“associations”).

3) The city manager and finance director must work with the employees with whom they are negotiating every day during the negotiations and after the negotiations are completed. If they drive a hard bargain for the taxpayers, there will be more employee resentment against them and less cooperation from the employees. Because of that potential resentment and lack of cooperation, there will be a disincentive for them to drive a hard bargain and negotiate in the best interests of the taxpayers.

4) The city manager and finance director are members of the city staff. They spend most of their time in City Hall in contact with other city staff members and little or no contact with the taxpayers. They have developed day-to-day working relationships and friendships with the city staff members but not with the taxpayers. Therefore, they tend to identify and sympathize more with city staff than with the taxpayers. … Continue reading

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City Manger’s Misconduct – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

City Manger’s Misconduct

New evidence of fired City Manager Doug Willmore’s misconduct was revealed with the latest public records release of city documents and emails (available at ElSegundo.org and PublicSafetyProject.org).

Willmore politicized City Hall. His secretary, Mickie Tagle, used city-paid time and public resources to do political opposition research against Chevron and against residents who criticized Willmore’s efforts to shakedown Chevron for an additional $10 million per year in taxes. One email showed she even tried to dig up dirt on me! Finance Director Deborah Cullen was also enthusiastically involved in Willmore’s shakedown efforts.

The emails show Willmore was doing Mayor Eric Busch’s bidding, taking direction from Busch in his attempt to extort more money from Chevron, without a majority of Council members even knowing about it. The city manager is legally required to take direction only from a majority vote or consensus of the City Council. Busch and Willmore targeted Chevron because they “can’t move” their refinery, and because of environmental politics.

The emails also show the fire and police unions have been behind this push to raise taxes to pay for their wildly excessive and unsustainable compensation and pensions. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on City Manger’s Misconduct – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

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

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

The Firing of El Segundo City Manager Doug Willmore – Part 1

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.


Candid photo of Councilman Carl Jacobson as he speaks with a constituent after the March 6, 2012 City Council meeting. Photo copyright © 2012 by Michael D. Robbins.

It is clear that Willmore is trying to get Jacobson unelected, possibly out of revenge, but more likely for financial gain at taxpayer expense. Willmore has filed a claim against the City, the legally required precursor to a lawsuit. Willmore did not turn in his signed release form agreeing not to sue the City within the time limit specified in his contract. Thus, Willmore has walked away from his six-month severance pay of more than $100,000.


Doug Willmore’s 3-page claim against the city of El Segundo, his former employer, as the precursor to a lawsuit.

After reading Willmore’s claim, and knowing much about the surrounding facts, it is clear that Willmore is trying to shakedown our city and its taxpayers for multiple millions of dollars. By pursuing frivolous litigation against the City, his past employer, in such a high-profile manner in broadcast and print news media, it appears that Willmore does not plan to get another job nor to work another day in his life. Willmore is alleging retaliatory firing and age discrimination, among other things. He is even demanding that the City pay for his psychiatric treatment, even if it is for a pre-existing condition.


A portion of page 3 of Doug Willmore’s claim form, and Doug Willmore at a City Council meeting. Graphic and photo copyright © 2012 by Michael D. Robbins.

Willmore has two allies and supporters on the City Council – Mayor Eric Busch and Mayor Pro Tem Bill Fisher. Busch’s term expires with the coming April 10 election, and he is not running for re-election. This will leave Willmore with only one ally and supporter on City Council, but he needs three to have a majority that will vote to give him a large “settlement” payout as a “gift of public funds” or “hush money”. Willmore must know plenty about Busch’s dealings with the city’s firefighter and police unions.

The safety unions gave Mayor Busch and Mayor Pro Tem Fisher thousands of dollars in campaign support, and received millions of dollars per year in excess and unsustainable compensation and pensions. Where else can someone make a thousand-to-one return on their “investment”? This might be viewed as a form of laundering of public funds into campaign money in a way that is incredibly efficient for the unions and incredibly inefficient for the taxpayers.


KCET SoCal Connected producer Karen Foshay knowingly and intentionally produced a propaganda hatchet-job show attacking Chevron (“BIG OIL”), Councilman Carl Jacobson, and the city of El Segundo (“SMALL TOWN”).

Despite all the fancy artwork and video production techniques, that does not guarantee that anything in Foshay’s KCET TV show is true. … Continue reading

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Are Chevron’s Taxes Too High?

By Michael D. Robbins March 15, 2012 Are Chevron’s taxes too high? Possibly. Fired City Manager Doug Willmore gave a PowerPoint slide presentation at the December 20, 2011 regular meeting of the El Segundo City Council. He claimed that Chevron … Continue reading

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Settlement Scheme? – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Jerry Wellfonder

Settlement scheme?

It appears that former City Manager Doug Willmore has engaged liberal news organizations in a smear campaign against Carl Jacobson and Chevron, to get Carl unelected. Carl has been an honest, hard-working, selfless council member for many years. So why would Willmore smear Carl? Is this Willmore’s revenge against the only council member who voted to fire him who is also running for re-election?

It may be far more sinister than revenge. Willmore has two supporters and allies on city council – Mayor Eric Busch and Councilman Bill Fisher. Busch is not running again, and Fisher is Willmore’s only ally guaranteed to be on council after the coming election. If Willmore can get two more allies elected to the council in April, then he can get a multi-million dollar payoff in the guise of a “settlement” to his frivolous lawsuit against the city. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Elections, Letters to the Editor, Political Corruption, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Settlement Scheme? – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Jerry Wellfonder

Smearing For Dollars – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Jerry Wellfonder

It appears that former City Manager Doug Willmore has engaged liberal news organizations in a smear campaign against Carl Jacobson and Chevron, to get Carl unelected. Carl has been an honest, hard-working, selfless council member for many years. So why would Willmore smear Carl? Is this Willmore’s revenge against the only council member who voted to fire him who is also running for re-election?

It may be far more sinister than revenge. Willmore has two supporters and allies on city council – Mayor Eric Busch and Councilman Bill Fisher. Busch is not running again, and Fisher is Willmore’s only ally guaranteed to be on council after the coming election. If Willmore can get two more allies elected to the council in April, then he can get a multi-million dollar payoff in the guise of a “settlement” to his frivolous lawsuit against the city. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Smearing For Dollars – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Jerry Wellfonder

KCET and L.A. Times Hatchet Jobs against El Segundo, Chevron and Carl Jacobson exposed as propaganda

I have had the pleasure of serving for four years on the El Segundo City Council with Carl Jacobson, from 1992 to 1996. I have known Carl for more than 20 years. I have the deepest respect for Carl. He has always been an extremely honest, dedicated, hard-working, and productive member of the City Council, giving much of his time and his life to our community.

KCET producer Karen Fochay and L.A. Times writer Jeff Gottlieb both called to interview me because I was a City Council member at the time of the 1994 legal settlement to the tax dispute between MRC, Chevron, and the City.

I made it clear to them that the 1994 tax dispute settlement was completely legal and reasonable.

But the KCET show on Chevron, and the L.A. Times articles, completely ignored my information because it contradicted their anti-Chevron political agenda and bias. … Continue reading

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