The following letter to the editor was published in the Daily Breeze newspaper (DailyBreeze.com) on Friday, October 14, 2012 in the Letters section. The Daily Breeze had a recommended 300-word limit at the time, but has since changed it to a strict 150-word limit. Are they trying to model their Letters to the Editor section after Twitter?
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_19109058
Daily Breeze
dailybreeze.com
LAX TO L.A. HARBOR
Friday’s Letters to the Editor
Posted: 10/13/2011 06:39:27 PM PDT
Updated: 10/13/2011 07:39:17 PM PDT
Unions influencing El Segundo
As I predicted last July, El Segundo Mayor Eric Busch and his City Council majority 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.
Busch tried to rush the official contract approval with less than 24 hours for the public to even see the contracts, because the contract terms are still excessive, unsustainable and almost entirely one-sided in favor of the fire and police unions.
The contracts give automatic longevity and annual step pay raises, and excessive and unsustainable six-figure compensation and pensions, including redundant special compensation and automatic overtime pay. They also guarantee no layoffs for three years, even if it bankrupts the city.
This bankruptcy trap ties the hands of the current and next City Council, taking away their most effective cost-control and bargaining tool.
The contracts include conditional cost-of-living-adjustment raises if revenues increase when any available revenues should be used to replenish reserve funds depleted during the recession.
The city manager’s poor negotiation results show he was outmatched and outwitted by the union negotiators and attorneys, he and some council members had a conflict of interest, or both.
Busch and Councilman Bill Fisher received thousands of dollars of campaign support from the fire and police unions. One fire union campaign letter sent on official letterhead threatened voters with “the possibility of our paramedics not being available when you need them” if Busch, Fisher and a third endorsed candidate were not elected.
The new fire union contract even pays educational costs and lifetime “special compensation” for a political science degree, which is unrelated to the job, except to run more effective campaigns to elect politicians who will maximize the union members’ compensation and pensions.
– Michael D. Robbins
Former councilman, El Segundo
El Segundo Police Officers' Association (ESPOA) Exposed