Category Archives: Political Corruption

News and information about political corruption.

“NO” on P – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marianne Fong

“NO” on P

The firefighters’ union has financed a propaganda poll with many false claims to deceive voters into voting for Measure P. The pollsters falsely claimed firefighters are paid $100,000 annually.

The firefighters had average total annual compensation of $211,000 (maximum was $342,000), and average annual pension contributions paid by the taxpayers of $42,000 (maximum was $80,000). These figures don’t include Fire Chief Kevin Smith, who had total annual compensation of $358,000 including total annual pension contributions paid by the taxpayers of $84,000.

If Measure P passes, El Segundo will no longer have a Fire Department. L.A. County will provide our fire and paramedic services at a reduced level, without ambulances. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “NO” on P – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marianne Fong

Save Our City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

SAVE OUR CITY

The El Segundo firefighter and police unions are putting our city at risk for their Royal Family sized paychecks and pensions. At the Feb. 7 City Council meeting, City Manager Doug Willmore explained how City Hall will be sold and leased back for twenty years, as collateral for a $10.3 million loan to pay for street resurfacing, other routine infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements.

El Segundo used to be a pay-as-you-go city, paying for infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements with General Fund revenues. But that was before the safety unions became very active in City Council campaigns, hired their own bosses, and ratcheted up their salaries, benefits, and pensions to ridiculous and unsustainable levels. … Continue reading

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Save Our City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Measure P Costs More For Less – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Measure P Costs More For Less

Voters must reject Measure P this April, or we will lose our local fire department, including firefighters, apparatus, and equipment; and we’ll pay more for less emergency services.

Measure P is not a merger of City and County fire departments, but a liquidation of the City fire department and a complete takeover by L.A. County. If Measure P passes, fire and paramedic services will be greatly reduced. El Segundo will permanently lose its three paramedic ambulances, because L.A. County does not operate paramedic ambulances, and El Segundo will lose its legal grandfathered status to operate them.

Residents will be forced to use and pay out-of-town ambulance companies, significantly increasing hospital transport times and costs in money and lives. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Measure P Costs More For Less – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

A Holiday Prayer – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

A Holiday Prayer

For more than a year, I have written letters to inform residents about the wildly excessive and unsustainable city employee union compensation and pensions that threaten our city’s future. My facts and information come from official sources, mostly City Hall public records, and are independently verifiable.

One positive result has been the voters’ rejection of millions of dollars in new and unnecessary business taxes and residential trash fees. Another has been some, although greatly inadequate, city employee union concessions. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Holiday Prayer – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

$25 Million Claim Against City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

The widow of Hawthorne police officer Andrew Garton filed a $25 million claim against El Segundo, as required before filing a lawsuit. Officer Garton was killed in the tragic accident where El Segundo Police Sergeant Rex Fowler collided with his motorcycle while both were escorting a funeral procession through Torrance for a Manhattan Beach police officer who died of cancer.

Despite my many warnings, Mayor Busch and Councilman Fisher enthusiastically voted to approve new three-year city union contracts guaranteeing raises and no layoffs, leaving the City dangerously vulnerable to large unbudgeted, uncontrollable expenses including lawsuit judgments and settlements.

I warned against new contracts lasting more than one year, and that give away their management authority over staffing decisions and layoffs. … Continue reading

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on $25 Million Claim Against City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Unions influencing El Segundo – Letter to the Daily Breeze by Michael D. Robbins

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. … Continue reading

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

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

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

Out of touch – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Marianne Fong

Last week’s letter from Neil Snow demonstrates how much government union members and their political supporters are out of touch with the real world where the rest of us work, produce things and pay taxes.

Snow presented ludicrous objections to, and gross misrepresentations of, Michael Robbins’ well-reasoned recommendations to reform El Segundo’s city employee union contracts to keep the city from having a financial catastrophe.

He objected to Mr. Robbins’ recommendation that city employees pay all of their pension “employee contribution,” and at least half the total contribution, which is common in private industry, instead of the city paying the entire “employee contribution” and “employer contribution.” Snow misrepresented that recommendation, claiming that Mr. Robbins wanted to make “employees pay their entire pension.”

Snow is out of touch to expect taxpayers to continue paying all of the government union members’ pension contributions, and to expect that union members should never have to contribute a single dollar into their own pensions. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, El Segundo, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Out of touch – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Marianne Fong

Labor union overreach – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

For many months now, the other side has had no substantive arguments, so all they can do is throw hate speech and deceptive pseudo-quotations at me.

If having highly paid workers with tons of benefits were the key to honesty and good performance, then the term “featherbedding” would never have been invented to describe union overreach that included incompetent, lazy, disloyal, dangerous employees who are getting overpaid to do practically no work.

Would we have better, more honest firefighters by paying each one $10 million instead of $150,000 to $357,000 per year in total compensation? … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, Crimes, El Segundo, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Firefighters Commiting Crimes, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Labor union overreach – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Doesn’t like unions – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Marc Rener

Neil Snow is the epitome of naivete that unions love in their members.

He knows nothing about the payoff and kickbacks (called contributions) made by unions to the politicians who gave them these ridiculous contracts.

Union integrity? Unions can and do recruit aliens, both legal and illegal, as members? S.E.I.U. ring any bells?

So much for the English-speaking Americans workers the unions claim to protect.

The billions of taxpayer dollars to “save” GM? Stockholder shares became worthless, yet 40 percent went to protect the union pensions.

In his letter to the editor in last week’s paper, he “parrots” from union manuals every propaganda terminology and definition. He writes, “‘scabs’ . . . is an euphemism for someone who cannot get a job on their own merit.”

He writes, “Employees who would accept lower wages, no bargaining rights and no job security do an inferior job. Lateness, no show, stealing.”

“Now just imagine those types of employees who would agree to those terms. And now imagine they are firefighters and police,” writes Snow.

Tell that to the non-union waitress at the Kettle restaurant in Manhattan Beach, or the non-union Federal Express Drivers, secretaries, auto mechanics, every person in the U.S. military, the 80 percent (280 million) of Americans in this country who are non-union. Sainthood of unions? … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, Crimes, El Segundo, Firefighter Union Corruption, Firefighters Commiting Crimes, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Doesn’t like unions – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Marc Rener