Election Flyer #1 was distributed throughout El Segundo on Sunday, April 10, 2016.

Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #1.

Election Flyers #2 and #3 were distributed throughout El Segundo on Monday, April 11, 2016.

Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #2.

Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #3.

Below is the content of Election Flyer #1.

April 20, 2016 Update:

Note that the El Segundo Police Officers’ Association (ESPOA) and the El Segundo Firefighters’ Association (ESFA), the city’s police and firefighter labor unions, spent more in our City election than the $36,231 cited in the election flyer, which was $17,533.50 ESPOA plus $18,698.00 ESFA spending. That figure was as of March 26, 2016 – the end of the Campaign Disclosure Statement second filing period. It was their combined spending from their second filing period Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Form 490 – Campaign Disclosure Statement, Summary Page, Line 11 – Total Expenditures Made, Column B – Calendar Year Total To Date.

They actually spent $39,247.50 in our local election ($19,033.50 ESPOA plus $20,214.00 ESFA), based on their reported spending as of election day, April 12, 2016, the end of the Campaign Disclosure Statement third filing period. This higher figure includes the ESFA’s amended FPPC Form 460 for the third filing period, which increased their reported campaign spending by $1,500.00.

That is a huge amount of campaign money for a small city like El Segundo with only 11,604 registered voters. That is five times what is commonly spent on an El Segundo City Council campaign, and two times the cost of a very high-end, expensive City Council campaign. Yet it only cost the estimated 58 police union member campaign contributors $328.16 each and the 37 firefighter union member campaign contributors $546.32 each to potentially get millions more tax dollars in pay and pension increases.

YOU MUST VOTE April 12 to STOP IT. All of this information comes from official City of El Segundo public record documents. For more info and proof, see PublicSafetyProject.org.

Background

• The City lured hotels here with a Business Attraction Program and lower Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT); Now after the hotels are built, the City is trying to raise their TOT tax by 50%, from 8% to 12%, which exceeds the excessive 9% Sales Tax
• Measure B will DESTROY El Segundo’s competitive edge and longtime reputation as a business-friendly city
• Measure B piles on top of the new 50% Minimum Wage Hike from $10 to $15 per hour
• Adjacent Manhattan Beach has only a 10% TOT Tax
• Measure B will place El Segundo at 24% above the 9.69% average for 483 California cities and counties that have a TOT as shown in the 12/1/15 City Council Agenda Packet
• Hotel room rates and TOT revenue increased significantly since 1996 (20 years); Annual TOT revenue is UP $1.5 MILLION (38%) since FY 2009-10 Without Raising Taxes (see elsegundoca.OpenGov.com)
• Hotel Operators OPPOSE Measure B – They Can Only Accept a 10% TOT
• City representatives met with the Hotel Operators, and they agreed to accept at most a 25% TOT increase to 10%, after being told the City needs the money
• Tax-and-Spend City Council Members Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson INSISTED on a 50% TOT tax increase, from 8% to 12% (12/1/15 Council meeting)
• City Council Member Mike Dugan and former City Council Members Mike Robbins, Jane Friedkin, and Dick Switz all OPPOSE Measure B

Details

• Permanent Tax Hike – No Sunset Clause (Expiration Date), although new development will provide $2.6 Million in new tax revenue, plus $8.5 Million more from Chevron, EACH year
• TOT Tax is paid by customers – Measure B will Increase Room Prices and Reduce Sales
• Most or All of the new tax revenue will go to Pay and Pension Increases as in the past
• Measure B will INCREASE the City’s Funded and Unfunded CalPERS Pension Liabilities, because EVERY pay raise increases both the Funded and Unfunded Pension Liabilities

Real and Better Solutions

• Stop giving Unions and Managers 11.25% to 32.3% in pay raises over three years as was done during the Great Recession while Redondo Beach cut compensation 6%
• Save > $3.3 Million per Year: Require Employees to Pay Half the Pension Contributions
• Save several Million more per Year: Eliminate automatic additional yearly 5% “Step” Raises, “Longevity” Raises, and Redundant “Special Compensation”

Non-Binding Resolution on How to Spend the Measure B Tax Money

• The City Attorney said a resolution on how to spend the Measure B tax money is not binding, and only language in the ballot measure can be binding
• City Council chose the non-binding route, and proposed a worthless resolution as a ploy
• The tax hike will pay for past and future pay raises and the resulting pension increases, NOT for infrastructure or more police officers and firefighters

Measure B has Bad Timing

• It greatly weakens the City Council’s bargaining position as it continues its ongoing Labor Contract negotiations with the Police Union and other City Employee Unions
• It asks us to raise the TOT Tax before we can see if any cost savings result from those negotiations, or if the unions get more big pay raises as usual
• City Council can come back with a less extreme measure in November – After it negotiates new long-term union contracts and makes them public

Measure B Does Nothing to Solve the City’s Spending Problems and Actually Delays a Real Solution

• Once You See What El Segundo Pays Its Police and Firefighters, You Won’t Vote for Any Tax Hikes!   (See http://TransparentCalifornia.com/salaries/2014/el-segundo/)
• Police and Firefighters are paid total compensation of $150,000 to $375,000+ per year
• 18 City Employees are paid more than $300,000 per year; 35 more than $250,000; 77 more than $200,000; 118 more than $150,000; and 186 more than $100,000
• One City Police Employee got a 23% raise in his last year, spiking his pay and pension, and was paid nearly $600,000 total that year! (See PublicSafetyProject.org)
• City Council raised Chevron’s taxes in 2013 by more than $8.5 Million average per year for 15 years, but the City Council keeps coming back for more taxes!

City Council Controls and Increased Pension Costs in 3 Significant Ways

• Huge Pay Raises and Redundant Special Compensation increased Pension costs
• City pays 71% to 94% of total CalPERS pension contributions instead of only half
• City provides the most extravagant and expensive Pension Plan Options

This flyer is a response to late campaign mailers and late campaign contribution reports.
Check the PublicSafetyProject.org website for documentation 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. 4/10/2016 Rev. 4