More Help on the Way – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Richard Switz

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Mike

The following letter to the editor was published in the El Segundo Herald newspaper (HeraldPublications.com) on Thursday, April 21, 2016 in the Letters section on page 3. The El Segundo Herald has a strict 250-word limit, including the title.

More Help on the Way

Many thanks to the Voters of El Segundo for electing candidates last week to aid existing City Council members in continuing the positive changes started two years ago…well done El Segundo voters!

– Richard Switz

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Elections, Letters to the Editor, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on More Help on the Way – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Richard Switz

Final Vote Count for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Mike

Updated on April 28, 2016 by Michael D. Robbins.

The uncertified final election results are in for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election. They will be certified when the current City Council adopts a City Council Resolution certifying the final election results at the next regular El Segundo City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. The meeting will be held in the City Council Chamber at City Hall, starting at 7:00 PM.

The traditional peaceful transition of power will then be made, with the outgoing City Council members stepping down and the newly elected City Council members being administered their oath of office by the City Clerk, and then stepping up to assume their seats at the dais in the City Council Chamber. The City Clerk will chair the City Council meeting until the new City Council votes to choose the new mayor. The Mayor will then chair the meeting, and the City Council will vote to choose the Mayor Pro Tem.

The final vote counts, campaign spending, and cost per vote for each candidate and for Measure B are provided in the tables below.

The remaining uncounted ballots were canvassed and then counted by machine today, Thursday, April 21, 2016, at City Hall in the West Conference Room near the City council Chamber. City Council candidate Don Brann, the only candidate that could possibly lose the election after winning in the election night preliminary vote count, was present with his campaign staff to observe the counting of the remaining ballots.

As expected, the election outcome has not changed from the election night preliminary vote count. As previously reported, 543 ballots remained to be counted. Those were provisional ballots cast at the polls on election day, and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by election day and delivered to City Hall before the first Friday after election day or held for delivery until Monday because City Hall is closed every Friday. The uncounted ballots were canvased and counted today, Thursday, April 21, 2016 at City Hall in the West Conference Room near the City council Chamber.

Here are the uncertified final election results for the April 12, 2016 City of El Segundo General Municipal Election for City Council, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and Measure B.

Image of a table showing the uncertified final election results for the April 12, 2016 City of El Segundo General Municipal Election for City Council, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and Measure B.
Uncertified final vote count from a PDF file posted on the official City website at ElSegundo.org. Click the image to see a larger image.

The City Clerk’s office posted a PDF file containing this information on the City website at ElSegundo.org. (Local archived copy.)

The following table summarizes the final vote count and campaign spending for each City Council candidate and for Measure B, the 50 percent increase in the Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from 8 to 12 percent.

CANDIDATE/ MEASURE VOTES CANDIDATE SPENDING UNION SPENDING TOTAL SPENDING
Drew Boyles 2,686 $27,538 $20,248 $47,786
Carole Pursztuk 2,467 $3,311 $20,248 $23,559
Don Brann 1,642 $29,485 $23,248 $52,733
Marie Fellhauer 1,450 $13,264 $0 $13,264
Dave Atkinson 800 $528 $0 $528
Measure B 2,534 $0 $12,500 $12,500

NOTES:

  1. Union Spending and Total Spending columns are higher than the amounts shown, due to total ESPOA and total ESFA campaign spending being substantially higher than the amounts they itemized in their FPPC Forms for the three City Council candidates and for Measure B.
  2. The Union Spending amounts for candidates assign the entire cost of a slate mailer to all three candidates rather than one third of the cost to each candidate, on the basis that each candidate gets all or most of the benefit of the entire cost of the mailer.
  3. The incumbent candidates were Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson. Challengers must spend considerably more campaign money than incumbents to level the playing field, due to the many advantages of incumbency, including name recognition and more frequent contact with potential campaign supporters.
  4. Challenger candidate Don Brann served on City Council from 2008 to 2012, but he did not run for reelection and he lost name recognition over the following four years. Also, he was recovering from a leg injury and lost considerable time walking door-to-door during the beginning of the campaign, before vote-by-mail ballots are received by voters.
  5. The amounts are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar to improve readability.

The following table summarizes the final vote count and cost per vote for each City Council candidate and for Measure B.


CANDIDATE/ MEASURE VOTES CANDIDATE COST/VOTE UNION COST/VOTE TOTAL COST/VOTE
Drew Boyles 2,686 $10.25 $7.54 $17.79
Carole Pursztuk 2,467 $1.34 $8.21 $9.55
Don Brann 1,642 $17.96 $14.16 $32.12
Marie Fellhauer 1,451 $9.14 $0.00 $9.14
Dave Atkinson 800 $0.66 $0.00 $0.66
Measure B 2,534 $0.00 $4.93 $4.93

NOTES:

  1. Union Spending and Total Spending amounts used in calculations, and therefore the Union Cost Per Vote and Total Cost Per Vote columns, are higher than the amounts shown, due to total ESPOA and total ESFA campaign spending being substantially higher than the amounts they itemized in their FPPC Forms for the three City Council candidates and for Measure B.
  2. The Union Spending amounts for candidates assign the entire cost of a slate mailer to all three candidates rather than one third of the cost to each candidate, on the basis that each candidate gets all or most of the benefit of the entire cost of the mailer.
  3. The incumbent candidates were Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson. Challengers must spend considerably more campaign money than incumbents to level the playing field, due to the many advantages of incumbency, including name recognition and more frequent contact with potential campaign supporters.
  4. Challenger candidate Don Brann served on City Council from 2008 to 2012, but he did not run for reelection and he lost name recognition over the following four years. Also, he was recovering from a leg injury and lost considerable time walking door-to-door during the beginning of the campaign, before vote-by-mail ballots are received by voters.
  5. The amounts are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar to improve readability.

NOTE:

This post was updated on April 28, 2016 by Michael D. Robbins to include the uncertified final vote count after the manual count (by hand) of Precinct 18 (to audit the machine count from one precinct), as received from the El Segundo City Clerk’s office and posted on the City website.

The original vote counts after counting the provisional ballots and remaining vote-by-mail ballots, but before the manual re-count of Precinct 18, is given below. They were superseded by the new uncertified final vote count information after the manual re-count of Precinct 18, which is given above.

The following vote counts were changed by the manual re-count of Precinct 18: City Council candidate Marie Fellhauer went from 1,451 to 1,450 votes, and unopposed City Clerk candidate Tracy Weaver went from 2,697 to 2,701 votes.

The PDF file pointed to by the link on the City’s website at ElSegundo.org was replaced with an updated file at the same link.

Here is the uncertified final election results for the April 12, 2016 City of El Segundo General Municipal Election for City Council, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and Measure B.

Image of a table showing the uncertified final election results for the April 12, 2016 City of El Segundo General Municipal Election for City Council, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and Measure B.
Uncertified final vote count from a PDF file posted on the official City website at ElSegundo.org. Click the image to see a larger image.

The City Clerk’s office posted a PDF file containing this information on the City website at ElSegundo.org. (Local archived copy.)

Note that the 33.4% figure for Overall Voter Turnout in the bottom line of the chart appears to be incorrect, as 3,625 divided by 11,604 is 0.3124, or 31.2%.

Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), El Segundo Measure B TOT Tax Hike, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Final Vote Count for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election

What are Provisional Ballots, Why are They Useful, and Who Should Use Them?

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Mike

California state election law allows voters to request and vote a provisional ballot at a poll on election day if their name and address do not appear on the roster of registered voters at that poll, or if their name and address are marked as a voter who was sent a vote-by-mail ballot.

What are provisional ballots?

Provisional ballots are special ballots that are cast at the poll on election day, but like vote-by-mail ballots, are placed in a sealed envelope with the voter’s name, address or other information, and signature on it. Each provisional ballot is placed in an envelope to keep it identified and segregated from all the other ballots cast on election day, to allow it to be verified that the person who voted the provisional ballot is:

  1. A registered voter in the election district;
  2. Is the registered voter in whose name they voted; and
  3. Did not also vote and send in a vote-by-mail ballot which would be a duplicate ballot.

Provisional ballots and vote-by-mail ballots are verified in the same way. The signature on the envelope of a provisional or vote-by-mail ballot is compared with the signature on the voter registration card. And it is also verified that the voter did not vote both a provisional ballot and a vote-by-mail ballot.

After the provisional ballot is verified, it is removed and separated from the envelope to maintain the privacy of how the voter voted, and it is counted towards the final election vote totals. In some jurisdictions, uncounted provisional ballots and vote-by-mail ballots may not be counted if they are insufficient in number to change the election results, i.e., which candidates and ballot measures won or lost. The reason cited is to save money. However, every vote should be counted, even if it won’t change the election outcome, both as a matter of principle, and for the practical matter of knowing by how many votes a candidate or ballot measure won or lost.

Why are provisional ballots useful?

Provisional ballots allow registered voters to vote at their assigned poll even if their name does not appear on the roster of registered voters, or at another poll if they don’t know their assigned poll or cannot make it there before the polls close. Provisional ballots also allow registered voters to vote at a poll on election day if they lost, did not receive, or do not have access to their vote-by-mail ballot.

Who should use a provisional ballot?

Any registered voter who shows up at their assigned poll and is told they are not on the roster of registered voters should request and vote a provisional ballot. Alternatively, if time permits before the polls close, such voters can find out if they were assigned to a different poll and go there to vote.

Any registered voter who cannot vote at their assigned poll and goes to another poll in the same election district to vote.

Registered voters who requested a vote-by-mail ballot, or who are on the permanent vote-by-mail list, and who did not receive their vote-by-mail ballot, or who lost it or do not have access to it, should go to the poll for their residential address, or another poll in the same election district, and request and vote a provisional ballot.

If you do not know your polling place, go to the official website for the city clerk or county clerk for your address, or call the information phone number for the city clerk or county clerk.

Note that the entire City of El Segundo is within the same election district.

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Elections, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What are Provisional Ballots, Why are They Useful, and Who Should Use Them?

543 Ballots Remain to be Counted for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Mike

By Michael D. Robbins

Due to a new California election law, vote-by-mail ballots will be counted if they are postmarked on or before election day, and they are delivered to City Hall on or before the Friday after the election. Although City Hall is closed every Friday, the City has a special permit or arrangement for the Post Office to hold all mail that would have been delivered on Friday had City Hall been open, and deliver that mail on Monday segregated from the regular Monday mail delivery.

The total number of uncounted ballots, including provisional ballots cast at the polls on election day, and vote-by-mail ballots received by the new deadline, has swelled to 543 ballots. All of these ballots must be verified that they are not duplicate ballots for the same voter (e.g., if the voter voted both their vote-by-mail ballot and a provisional ballot at the poll), that the signature on each ballot envelope matches the signature on the voter’s registration card, and for provisional ballots, that the voter is registered to vote.

It is possible but highly unlikely the election outcome will change. The only possible change is for City Council candidates Don Brann and Marie Fellhauer. The outcome for the other City Council candidates, and for Measure B – the 50 percent increase in the Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from 8 to 12 percent – cannot change.

Based on the preliminary vote count on election day, Brann won in third place, with 1,439 votes, while Fellhauer lost in fourth place with 1,238 votes. Thus, Brann was ahead of Fellhauer by 201 votes, which is less than the 543 uncounted ballots. However, the uncounted ballots will likely have a vote distribution the same as or similar to that of the counted ballots cast on election day, making it extremely unlikely the election outcome will change.

The remaining 543 ballots will be canvassed and counted on Thursday, April 21, 2016. Canvassing will begin at 9:00 AM at City Hall in the West Conference Room in City Hall near the City Council Chamber, followed by a machine count by the City’s election consultant, Martin & Chapman, at 10:00 AM, also in the West Conference Room. A manual recount by hand of Precinct 18 will begin at 1:00 PM in the West Conference Room, to audit the machine count for one of the three precincts. All of these activities are open to public observation.

Note: This article was updated on Thursday, April 21, 2016 to reflect the following. The public notice posted at City Hall indicated the canvassing and counting of the remaining uncounted ballots was to take place at City Hall in the City Clerk’s office. However, the location was changed to the West Conference Room in City Hall near the City Council Chamber, and signs were posted to indicate the location change.

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), El Segundo Measure B TOT Tax Hike, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 543 Ballots Remain to be Counted for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election

April 12, 2016 El Segundo Election Preliminary Results: Boyles, Pirsztuk, and Brann defeat incumbents Fellhauer and Atkinson; Measure B passes

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Mike

by Michael D. Robbins

April 12, 2016
Updated April 20, 2016 with campaign spending data.

The April 12, 2016 City of El Segundo General Municipal Election preliminary results are in. The ballots were counted in the City Council Chamber at City Hall after the polls closed.

For the three City Council seats up for election, Challengers Drew Boyles, Carol Pirsztuk, and Don Brann are the winners. Incumbents Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson are the losers.

Losers Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson were caught up in a perfect storm that led to their defeat. The police and fire unions were out to defeat them because the City Council did not offer them as big raises as what they demanded during their long and protracted labor contract negotiations. The fiscal conservatives, who push back against the police and fire unions’ excessive and unsustainable pay and pensions, were out to defeat Fellhauer and Atkinson because of their poor judgement, poor decisions, and poor behavior on City Council. And all three challenger candidates – Drew Boyles, Carol Pirsztuk, and Don Brann – ran very strong campaigns, with Boyles and Brann each far out-spending all the other candidates combined.

Boyles came in first place with 2,330 votes after spending a whopping $27,538, and Brann came in third place with 1,439 votes after spending an even larger $29,485.09. These figures are in addition to the $39,247.50 spent by the police and firefighter unions in our local election ($19,033.50 ESPOA plus $20,214.00 ESFA), campaigning for City Council candidates Drew Boyles, Don Brann, and Carol Pursztuk, and for the Measure B tax hike, to provide more tax money for their pay and pension increases.

Carol Pirsztuk came in at a high second place with 2,135 votes after spending only $3,311 and walking the entire city door-to-door.

Marie Fellhauer came in fourth place with 1,238 votes after spending $13,264.31. And Dave Atkinson came in fifth (last) place with 692 votes after spending $527.53 and spending much of his time campaigning door-to-door for the Measure B tax hike.

Another winner in the City Council race, who didn’t spend a dime, was Marie Fellhauer’s newly adopted young baby. Fellhauer carried that baby along the campaign trail as if it was a stage prop, apparently hoping to gain votes. But that may have backfired. Some voters felt sorry for the baby and wondered where its mother would be between her job as an LAPD police officer and City Council meetings if she got reelected.

The following table summarizes the preliminary vote counts and the campaign spending for each City Council candidate and for Measure B, the 50 percent increase in the Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from 8 to 12 percent.

CANDIDATE/ MEASURE VOTES CANDIDATE SPENDING UNION SPENDING TOTAL SPENDING
Drew Boyles 2,330 $27,538 $20,248 $47,786
Carole Pursztuk 2,135 $3,311 $20,248 $23,559
Don Brann 1,439 $29,485 $23,248 $52,733
Marie Fellhauer 1,238 $13,264 $0 $13,264
Dave Atkinson 692 $528 $0 $528
Measure B 2,197 $0 $12,500 $12,500

NOTES:

  1. Union Spending and Total Spending columns are higher than the amounts shown, due to total ESPOA and total ESFA campaign spending being substantially higher than the amounts they itemized in their FPPC Forms for the three City Council candidates and for Measure B.
  2. The Union Spending amounts for candidates assign the entire cost of a slate mailer to all three candidates rather than one third of the cost to each candidate, on the basis that each candidate gets all or most of the benefit of the entire cost of the mailer.
  3. The amounts are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar to improve readability.

Unchallenged incumbents, City Clerk Tracy Weaver and City Treasurer Crista Binder, easily won re-election as they only needed one vote each to be guaranteed re-election, and they can vote for themselves. Incumbents running unopposed normally get a large majority of the votes, especially if they are perceived as doing a decent job.

Measure B passed, imposing a 50% hike in the Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), from 8% to 12%. Apparently, the most persuasive argument in favor of Measure B was that El Segundo voters would not have to pay it, and that it is paid by the hotel customers like the sales tax is paid by store customers. Voters took the bait of a “free lunch” that someone else is forced to pay for. However, the TOT tax raises the price to the customer for hotel rooms, and raising prices reduces sales. Fewer hotel customers will result in fewer customers and sales for other local businesses.

Perhaps Kip Haggerty said it best in his letter to the editor in the April 7, 2016 El Segundo Herald:

“To my dismay, I see the City Council has come back to us yet again with the immoral proposition of gouging hotel customers for the crime of not being us. The argument in favor is based on the bromide “every one else is doing it.” Anything higher than the sales tax rate is just plain wrong and I hope we have the collective wisdom to vote it down again.”

Here are the preliminary election results itemized by precinct and by vote-by-mail or precinct ballots:

Photo of the screen of the laptop PC that was used by the City Clerk's staff to update the vote count on the large screen display on the wall of the City Council Chamber. Photo ©2016 by Michael D. Robbins
Screen of laptop PC that was used by the City Clerk’s staff to update the vote count on the large screen display on the wall of the City Council Chamber. Photo ©2016 by Michael D. Robbins.

Screen shot image from the City Clerk's office of the final preliminary vote count displayed in the City Council Chamber on election night.
Screen shot image from the City Clerk’s office of the final preliminary vote count displayed in the City Council Chamber on election night.

Click HERE to view or download a PDF file made from the spreadsheet file containing the preliminary election results. (Local archived copy.)

This preliminary vote count does not include:

  1. Provisional ballots cast at the polls that need to have the voter’s signatures verified, and
  2. Vote-By-Mail ballots that have not been received or have not had the voter’s signature verified.

However, it is highly unlikely the outstanding ballots will change the election outcome.

Related Article

543 Ballots Remain to be Counted for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election. They will be canvased and counted on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at City Hall in the City council Chamber.

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), El Segundo Measure B TOT Tax Hike, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on April 12, 2016 El Segundo Election Preliminary Results: Boyles, Pirsztuk, and Brann defeat incumbents Fellhauer and Atkinson; Measure B passes

Election Information Flyers Were Distributed Throughout El Segundo

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Mike

Election Information Flyers were distributed throughout the City of El Segundo to inform voters about Measure B and the City Council candidates before the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election.

Election Flyer #1 was distributed on Sunday, April 10, 2016.
Election Flyers #2 and #3 were distributed on Monday, April 11, 2016.

Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #1.
Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #2.
Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #3.

Click HERE to view Election Flyer #1 as a web page.

Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, 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, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Election Information Flyers Were Distributed Throughout El Segundo

Election Flyer #1 Distributed Throughout El Segundo on Sunday, April 10, 2016

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Mike

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.

Vote “NO” on Measure B

The Bait-and-Switch 50% Tax Hike !

The Police and Fire Unions Spent $36,231 in OUR City Election.

They Want to RAISE TAXES and THEIR PAY and PENSIONS !

All the firefighters and about three-fourths of the police don’t even live in town.

This grass-roots flyer contains all you need to know about Measure B

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

(CONTINUED ON BACK SIDE)

(CONTINUED FROM FRONT SIDE)

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

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Election Flyer #1 Distributed Throughout El Segundo on Sunday, April 10, 2016

Important Information for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Mike

May 4, 2016 Election Update

Final Election Results Certified at the May 3, 2016 El Segundo City Council Meeting

The old El Segundo City Council conducted minimal City business and adopted a resolution certifying the April 12, 2016 General Municipal Election results. The outgoing City Council members stepped down from the dais, the newly elected members were sworn in, and they voted to choose the new mayor and mayor pro tem. Then they voted on a proposal by Mike Dugan and Carol Pirsztuk to change to a rotating mayor and mayor pro tem with only one-year terms.

For more details and the results, see:

New El Segundo City Council Members Sworn In, Council Voted for Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem

April 21, 2016 Election Update

UNCERTIFIED FINAL ELECTION RESULTS:

The Uncertified Final Vote Count for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election is now in. The vote counts have increased, but the election outcome has not changed. The campaign spending and the final cost per vote for each candidate and for Measure B have been calculated and summarized in two tables.

April 20, 2016 Election Update

543 UNCOUNTED BALLOTS

543 Ballots Remain to be Counted for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election. They will be canvased and counted on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at City Hall in the City council Chamber.

April 12, 2016 Election Update

PRELIMINARY ELECTION RESULTS:

And the winners are … challengers Drew Boyles, Carol Pirsztuk, and Don Brann.

And the losers are … incumbents Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson.

And Measure B passed … imposing a 50% increase in the Hotel TOT tax, from 8% to 12%, which far exceeds the excessive 9% sales tax in Los Angeles County.

For more details, see:

April 12, 2016 El Segundo Election Results: Boyles, Pirsztuk, and Brann defeat incumbents Fellhauer and Atkinson; Measure B passes

Election Information Flyers were distributed throughout the City of El Segundo to inform voters about Measure B and the City Council candidates before the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election.

Election Flyer #1 was distributed on Sunday, April 10, 2016.
Election Flyers #2 and #3 were distributed on Monday, April 11, 2016.

Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #1.
Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #2.
Click HERE to download a PDF file containing Election Flyer #3.

Click HERE to view Election Flyer #1 as a web page.

Arguments Against Measure B – El Segundo’s Bait-And-Switch Tax Hike

Once You See What El Segundo Pays Its Police and Firefighters, You Won’t Vote for Any Tax Hikes!

And you will know why the El Segundo Police Officers’ Association (Police Union) and El Segundo Firefighters’ Association (Firefighters Union) PACs spent $30,175 as of March 27, 2016 to influence our votes in this election. (Source: FPPC Form 460 Campaign Finance Statements filed with the El Segundo City Clerk’s office.)

None of the firefighters and only about one-fourth of the police live in our city. (Source: City of El Segundo, in response to a Public Records Act request.)

Articles on the City Council Election and Candidates

Letters to the Editor of the El Segundo Herald and The Beach Reporter

Letters on Measure B

Letters on the City Council Election and Candidates

Letters on Marie Fellhauer’s City Council Agenda Item to Allow Very Large Homes on Small Size Lots, Blocking Sunlight and Air Flow

Letters on Marie Fellhauer’s City Council Agenda Item to Reduce or Eliminate City Council Member Salary and Benefits

(Marie Fellhauer put an item on the April 15, 2014 City council agenda that read, “Consideration and possible action to discuss the salary and benefits that the City Council members receive and whether such should be reduced or eliminated either voluntarily or through formal action.” Note that Fellhauer gets generous pay and benefits off the taxpayers from her police job at LAPD, and she did not include the elected City Clerk and City Treasurer in her agenda item.)

Letters on the City Charging Residents More Than $1,850 for Each Fire Department Paramedic Ambulance Transport to the Hospital

(Incumbent City Council candidates Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson voted to start charging El Segundo residents for Fire Department paramedic ambulance transports to the hospital, and had residents speaking against it at City Council meetings. They had plenty of time to stop charging this fee, but refused to do so. These fees are based on the City paying firefighter union members $150,000 to more than $375,000 each in total annual compensation. See http://TransparentCalifornia.com/salaries/2014/el-segundo/.)

Letters on the Police and Firefighter Associations (Unions)

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, Economy and Economics, 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, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Important Information for the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election

Where to Find What El Segundo Pays its City Employee Union Members and Managers

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Mike

Here is where to find out what El Segundo pays its City employee union members and managers. Make sure to see the explanatory information below to understand what the data represents.

By far, the police and firefighter employees have the most excessive and unsustainable salaries and CalPERS pension contributions. Most of the El Segundo employee benefits cost is the City-paid CalPERS employer contributions for police and firefighter employees, plus the City-paid CalPERS employee contributions for police employees.

This is discussed further below.

Transparent California Website (TransparentCalifornia.com):

Here are links to Total Pay and Benefits cost data for El Segundo city employees, provided to Transparent California (TransparentCalifornia.com) by the City of El Segundo. The .csv (CSV, or comma-separated values) files can be opened directly from common spreadsheet and database programs, including the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program.

2014 El Segundo City Employee Total Pay and Benefits:
http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2014/el-segundo/
http://TransparentCalifornia.com/export/el-segundo-2014.csv

2013 El Segundo City Employee Total Pay and Benefits:
http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2013/el-segundo/
http://TransparentCalifornia.com/export/el-segundo-2013.csv

2012 El Segundo City Employee Total Pay without Benefits:
http://TransparentCalifornia.com/salaries/2012/el-segundo/
http://TransparentCalifornia.com/export/el-segundo-2012.csv

2011 El Segundo City Employee Total Pay without Benefits:
http://TransparentCalifornia.com/salaries/2011/el-segundo/
http://TransparentCalifornia.com/export/el-segundo-2011.csv

City of El Segundo website:

http://www.ElSegundo.org/

There is a “City Employee Compensation Information” link near the bottom of the left column:

http://www.ElSegundo.org/home_nav/city_employee_compensation_information.asp

Note that the PDF files mislabeled as “2012 City Total Compensation”, “2013 City Total Compensation”, and “2014 City Total Compensation” contain only Total Earnings, NOT Total Compensation.

Total Earnings = Regular Earnings + Special Compensation + Overtime (at 150% of the regular pay rate) + Vacation and Sick Leave Cash-Out.

Total Compensation = Total Earnings plus all other forms of compensation, including CalPERS pension contributions paid by the City, deferred compensation, healthcare, dental, and vision care insurance benefits, life insurance, car allowance, cell phone allowance, personal membership and subscription costs, etc.

The California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) Employer Contribution is a specified percentage of Regular Earnings plus Special Compensation. It is significantly higher for safety employees (police and firefighters) than for miscellaneous (non-safety) employees. The police and firefighter Employee Contribution has been fixed at 9% of Regular Earnings plus Special Compensation, but the City was been paying all of this 9% for police employees, and is still paying most of it.

The file labeled “CalPERS El Segundo Employer Contribution Rates per Year (last 12 Years)” shows how El Segundo’s CalPERS Employer Contribution percentage increases each year and is projected to be about 50% for 2016:

http://www.elsegundo.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=13973

The City of El Segundo was paying about $40,000 to $85,000 in CalPERS pension contributions per individual police and firefighter per year a few years ago, when the employer contribution was only about 26%.

Public Safety Project Website (at PublicSafetyProject.org):

Some of the City of El Segundo employee compensation data obtained by Mike Robbins under the California Public Records Act (CPRA), Government Code Section 6250 et seq., has been posted on the PublicSafetyProject.org website. Some of the union contracts and other information has also been posted at PublicSafetyProject.org. However, many of the documents and data obtained under the CPRA has not yet been posted, but will be as time permits.

Click HERE to see how one El Segundo City employee got a 23% raise and was paid nearly $600,000 total in his last year.

http://publicsafetyproject.org/blog/2014/03/03/which-el-segundo-city-employee-was-paid-nearly-600000-in-last-year/

Additional Information:

The TransParent California website, TransparentCalifornia.com, provides compensation and benefits cost data for government employees of cities, counties, the state, and other government entities.

Transparent California provides Total Pay and Benefits data for the City of El Segundo for the years 2013 and 2014, but does not include the benefits cost for 2011 and 2012.

Also, all of the compensation data does not reflect the full annual salary for employees that did not work the entire year or that got raises in the middle of the year. It is necessary to know the employee start and end dates during the year, and preferably how many days and hours each employee worked during the year.

Keep in mind that El Segundo firefighters are on-duty for 48 hours, and are off-duty for four days. They get payed to sleep and eat, including regularly scheduled overtime at 150% of their regular pay rate.

Also, the data will vary for calendar year (e.g., 2014) versus fiscal year (e.g., FY 2014-15), where the start and end of the fiscal year is determined by the City.

El Segundo police and firefighters get full retirement after only 30 years of service, as early as age 50 (existing police employees) or 55 (existing firefighter employees), with CalPERS pensions paying $100,000 to more than $200,000 per year, plus annual COLAs. If they claim a disability retirement, real or fictitious, as 55% of El Segundo’s police and firefighters do, then half their pension income is tax-free.

Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Police Union Corruption, Politics, Public Records, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Where to Find What El Segundo Pays its City Employee Union Members and Managers

Additional Arguments Against Measure B – El Segundo’s 50 Percent TOT Tax Hike

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Mike

Here are the Additional Arguments Against Measure B, El Segundo’s 50 Percent TOT Tax Hike from 8% to 12%, on the April 12, 2016 El Segundo General Municipal Election ballot.

These arguments are in addition to the Sample Ballot Argument Against Measure B and Rebuttal to the Argument in Favor of Measure B.

Seven Additional Arguments Against Measure B:

  1. Measure B Piles On Top of California’s New 50% Minimum Wage Hike from $10 to $15 Per Hour – The California State Legislature just passed a bill, and Governor Jerry Brown signed it into law, to raise California’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. This will be damaging to El Segundo hotels, which employ many unskilled and often poorly educated workers whose labor is not worth $15.00 in a free competitive market. The Measure B TOT tax hike will pile on top of the minimum wage hike, artificially driving up room prices and further reducing room sales.
  2. Measure B has Nothing to Do With Safety and Everything to Do With the Police and Fire Unions Further Enriching Themselves at Taxpayer Expense – The El Segundo Police Officers’ Association (ESPOA) and El Segundo Firefighters’ Association (ESFA) are the city’s police and firefighter unions. Their purpose for existing is to maximize their pay and pension increases, to continuously increase their pay and pensions, by raising our taxes and fees to pay for it, no matter how excessive and unsustainable.

    That is why the police and firefighter unions are bankrolling the Measure B campaign. They have already spent more than $36,000 dollars in this election, including Measure B and their support for three City Council candidates. This is a huge amount for small-town El Segundo. (For an unusual change, they are actually supporting the good City Council candidates this time, but for their own reasons.)

    None of the firefighters and only about one-fourth of the police live in town. Yet they want to keep raising our taxes and their pay and pensions. For every thousand dollars of campaign money they spend in El Segundo, they get back millions on an ongoing basis.

    For decades, the ESPOA and ESFA unions have involved themselves in our local city elections although most of them don’t live here. They bankrolled the Measure A campaign in our April 8, 2014 El Segundo city election, with $10,000 plus an additional $7,500 from two other City employee unions. Measure A was ELEVEN TAX HIKES in one ballot measure, on residents and businesses. It would have created new utility user taxes (UUTs) on residents for water, electricity, gas, and all forms of “communication services”, including landline and cellular telephone, Internet, cable TV, and satellite. It would have about doubled those existing taxes on businesses, and increased the hotel TOT tax and business license tax, and created a new parking tax.

  3. Measure B Undermines the City Council’s Negotiating Position in its Ongoing Labor Union Contract Negotiations –

    Measure B will weaken and undermine the City Council’s bargaining position in the ongoing labor contract negotiations with City’s police and other employee unions over pay raises and pension increases. The unions will claim most or all new tax revenue as theirs – to further increase thir pay and pensions. Only the El Segundo Firefighters’ Association (the firefighters’ union) has reached agreement and signed a labor contract with the City Council. The El Segundo Police Officers’ Association (ESPOA – the police union for officers and sergeants), El Segundo Police Managers’ Association (ESPMA – the police union for lieutenants and captains), City Employees Association, and other City unions are still in intense negotiations with the City Council.

  4. Measure B Will Increase El Segundo’s Funded and Unfunded Pension Liabilities –

    Most or all of the Measure B money will go to police and firefighter union and management pay and pension increases. The unions will claim the new tax money as their own. Every union pay raise increases the union member pensions, and also increases the management pay and pensions. This increases the funded and unfunded CalPERS pension liabilities. Vote NO on Measure B to stop this vicious cycle.

  5. Adjacent Manhattan Beach has only a 10% TOT Tax –

    Measure B will send El Segundo’s hotel customers to adjacent Manhattan Beach, which has only a 10% TOT tax and no current plans to increase it. Manhattan Beach has a nicer beach and a pier.

  6. Measure B is an Excessive Tax Hike –

    Measure B is excessive, and the City Council can come back with a less oppressive tax hike ballot measure in November. Representatives from the City of El Segundo met with the Hotel Operators in town. The hotel operators graciously agreed to a maximum TOT increase of 25%, from 8% to 10%, with at most an additional half-percent earmarked to promote tourism in El Segundo, based on the City’s representation that it needs the money. City Council members Marie Fellhauer and Dave Atkinson slapped the gracious hotel operators in the face by demanding a 50% TOT tax hike, from 8% to 12%.

    Longtime El Segundo resident Kip Haggerty wrote in his letter published in the April 7, 2016 El Segundo Herald:

    “To my dismay, I see the City Council has come back to us yet again with the immoral proposition of gouging hotel customers for the crime of not being us. The argument in favor is based on the bromide ‘every one else is doing it.’ Anything higher than the sales tax rate is just plain wrong and I hope we have the collective wisdom to vote it down again.”

  7. Business Travelers Will Substitute Tele-Video Conferencing for More Expensive Hotel Stays –

    Economics and common sense tell us that customers consume less, make substitutions or do without goods and services when prices increase. Even classified meetings among defense contractors can be conducted using tele-video converencing. I worked on a highly classified program for a local defense contractor where we avoided most travel expenses by investing in an NSA-approved encrypted tele-video conferencing system in a DOD-approved secure conference room, inside a DOD-approved Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility(SCIF).

Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), El Segundo Measure B TOT Tax Hike, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Additional Arguments Against Measure B – El Segundo’s 50 Percent TOT Tax Hike