Tag Archives: election

Wrong Choice – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Bob White

No congratulations on your first endorsement of a proposition. The column has total emphasis on that old emotional manipulator, education. Voters should be aware that Proposition 30 has no guarantee of funds going exclusively to education. It will only provide more money to a state that is already spending too much in the wrong direction. Priorities are badly scrambled. Not many students are likely to be taking the “Bullet Train” to class. … Continue reading

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

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

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“Empty Chair” Obama After the Election Tsunami by Michael D. Robbins

Thank you Clint Eastwood for your sensational dialog with “Empty Chair” Barack Obama during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. Here are photos of “Empty Chair” Obama after the coming Election Tsunami on November 6, 2012. … Continue reading

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State Ballot Measures – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Please vote “yes” on Proposition 32 (bans direct union and corporate contributions to candidates) and “no” on Propositions 30 (income and sales tax hike), 34 (repeals death penalty), 36 (three-strikes dilution), 38 (income tax hike), and 40 (gerrymandered redistricting plan).

Proposition 32 helps prevent El Segundo and other South Bay and California cities from being pushed toward bankruptcy by city employee unions and corporations that buy influence with politicians who then pay them back with our tax money and raise our taxes and fees to pay for it. Typical payoffs are one million tax dollars for every thousand donated.

Corrupt and wildly overpaid firefighter and police unions are spending millions of dollars in deceptive campaign ads to defeat Proposition 32. These unions have been bankrupting our cities and jacking up our taxes and fees, so they can get total compensation of $150,000 to more than $300,000 per year, and retire at age 50 or 55, with a guaranteed pension paying up to 90 percent of their single highest year salary. … Continue reading

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Thank You to the 90 Percent of Voters who Voted Against El Segundo Measure P, the Firefighter Union’s Initiative

by Michael D. Robbins Director, Public Safety Project May 18, 2012 Thank you to the 90 percent of El Segundo voters who voted against Measure P, the firefighter union’s initiative, and to those who campaigned against it. I campaigned against … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Thank You to the 90 Percent of Voters who Voted Against El Segundo Measure P, the Firefighter Union’s Initiative

Thank You – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Helen Armstrong

Thank You

I am delighted that Carl Jacobson has been reelected to serve our community and has been selected by four of our five city council members to be our mayor. Only Marie Fellhauer voted “No.”

Carl has selflessly served our community with integrity and distinction for many years, giving much time out of his life for altruistic reasons. He has the experience and motivation, and now enough support on the council with Suzanne Fuentes and David Atkinson, to help get our city back on the right track.

I am also delighted that ninety percent of the voters rejected Measure P, and instead voted to keep our local fire department and paramedic ambulances.

Mike Robbins led an informative and persistent campaign against Measure P since mid-2010. It took much of his time and effort to educate and motivate our community on this important issue, and our city’s future will be better as a result of his efforts.

I am grateful that our community has good citizens who give so much of themselves and expect so little in return. I am also grateful for those in our community who cared and supported them and their efforts. … Continue reading

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Vents about Public Employee Unions – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Kip Haggerty

Vents about Public Employee Unions

I would like to congratulate the citizens of El Segundo on their stinging electoral rebuke to the public employee unions. To vote Carl Jacobson back in with the most votes after the vicious attack perpetrated upon him and then for the Council to elect him mayor speaks volumes. The shellacking that Measure P took is indicative of the mood that many shared, that the lies the Fire Department pollsters told in their early push poll were irrelevant, only local control mattered.

I saw Marie Fellhauer’s first act was supporting Bill Fisher for Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. This reminded me of Don Brann’s support for Eric Busch because it was “his turn” to be Mayor. She’ll be a one termer too. While I appreciate that Marie and Don have given up their time to serve, the mindset a public employee brings to the Council is inconsistent with fiscal responsibility and their natural tendency is to represent public employee unions instead of the citizens.

I hope that the public employee unions have learned their lesson. You can’t shake down your neighbors for excessive pay and benefits in a down economy. The money simply isn’t there. I also hope they will listen to Dave Atkinson on pension reform ideas because the same sad fate may befall them as many private sector union members. When their companies went bankrupt, they got only a fraction of their pension … Continue reading

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Progressives Don’t Like Facts – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Mary Olinick

Progressives Don’t Like Facts

Meredith, an admitted progressive, made an attack against Robbins in your April 19 issue. It was typical progressive diatribe, in which he used personal attacks with no basis in facts. But then it’s difficult to argue against factual evidence showing progressives in YouTube videos demonstrating their true beliefs.

He goes too far in his suggestion that those he disagrees with indulge in cannibalism. Is he really saying that the majority of voters in El Segundo would “eat our young” here? Based on his letter, he’s the one who really needs professional help.

Fortunately, the voters were intelligent enough to have rejected Meredith’s beliefs. Since he doesn’t like El Segundo’s choices, I would invite him to leave and settle in a more “progressive” city such as San Francisco, West Hollywood, or Santa Monica, which would be more to his liking. … Continue reading

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Reelecting Jacobson – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Helen Armstrong

Reelecting Jacobson

I am delighted that El Segundo City Councilman Carl Jacobson has been re-elected to serve our community and has been selected by four of our five City Council members to be our mayor. Only Marie Fellhauer voted “No.”

Carl has selflessly served our community with integrity and distinction for many years, giving much time out of his life for altruistic reasons. He has the experience and motivation, and now enough support on the council with Suzanne Fuentes and David Atkinson, to help get our city back on the right track.

I am also delighted that 90 percent of the voters rejected Measure P, and instead voted to keep our local fire department and paramedic ambulances.

Mike Robbins led an informative and persistent campaign against Measure P since mid-2010. It took much of his time and effort to educate and motivate our community on this important issue, and our city’s future will be better as a result of his efforts.

I am grateful that our community has good citizens who give so much of themselves and expect so little in return. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Reelecting Jacobson – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Helen Armstrong

Election recap – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Election recap

Thank you to the 90 percent of voters who voted against Measure P, the firefighter union’s initiative, and to those who campaigned against it. I campaigned against Measure P since at least August 2010, and the results are spectacular.

The firefighter union gave up campaigning when their professional polls determined it would lose by a wide margin, due to our early and sustained campaign against P. They did not give up as a favor to residents. We continuously campaigned against P to ensure success, because of the likely loss of life if it were to pass.

We defeated the two candidates endorsed and funded by the self-serving police union – progressive candidate Scott Houston, who falsely campaigned as a conservative, opposite his true record, and Cindy Mortesen. I wonder how the police officers and firefighters can be trusted on their jobs when they are blatantly dishonest in city election campaigns.

Carl Jacobson is vindicated and is mayor. Cindy Topar finished last. Topar and/or her campaign supporter, Peggy Boulgarides – wife of firefighter Jim Boulgarides – were responsible for the anonymous El Segundo Herald ad urging voters to watch the discredited KCET propaganda video attacking Chevron and Jacobson. Boulgarides called me on March 24 to take responsibility, but may have been covering for Topar.

I campaigned using facts, logical reasoning and proof including videos (at http://PublicSafetyProject.org/) for the best candidates, and against Measure P and the worst candidates. Bruce Meredith and other progressives may find that “dangerous,” but our community is safer as a result. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Election recap – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins