Tag Archives: city council

Hatchet job – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Carol L. Well

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Mike

Hatchet job

Has anyone else in El Segundo been receiving anonymous e-mails re: the upcoming election? The first was from Think. ElSegundo urging all of us to watch “SoCal Connected” and listed all dates and times. We all know what that hatchet job was about. We heard only one side of this story. It’s so easy these days to blame big companies, and especially big oil companies, for everything. A more thorough understanding is needed to understand what was going on, how decisions were reached, and what legal counsel was received, etc. Let’s not pass judgment with only half the story.

The second anonymous group is calling themselves OMG.ElSegundo. I was quite offended by their e-mail and “replied” on my computer asking who they were, who they represented, and what their agenda is. They still would not identify themselves in a follow-up e-mail. They prefer to hide behind the Internet and sling mud, but don’t want to face any consequences.

They don’t feel strong enough about their convictions to stand up and identify themselves. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hatchet job – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Carol L. Well

Video – Cindee Topar in Solving Our City’s Top Problems 101 – El Segundo – Public Safety Project

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Mike


Cindee Topar in Solving Our City’s Top Problems 101

Cindee Topar at a City Council meeting
Cindee Topar at a City Council meeting.
Photo copyright © 2012 by Michael D. Robbins.

LALCV PAC MONEY

Cindee Topar has taken thousands of dollars in campaign support from the radical Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters (LALCV). Although the name may sound innocuous, their agenda and the candidates they support are quite extreme, and they divert and squander taxpayer money for their own private agenda purposes. The LALCV is a political action committee (PAC). They do not plant any trees, clean up any parks or beaches, or do any other hands-on conservation-related work. Their sole purpose for existing is to get candidates who subscribe to their extremist political agenda elected to public offices.

An internet search found that LALCV promotes an agenda ranging from banning plastic bags to increasing taxes and trash collection fees to pay for more of their environmental programs, to “Toilet to Tap”.

“Toilet to Tap” would have recycled Hyperion sewage coming out of our kitchen and bathroom taps if a majority on City Council were to successfully promote it. I don’t think we need that, and I don’t think we are ready for that.

Scott Houston, Eric Busch, Bill Fisher, and Jim Boulgarides have also received LALCV endorsements, and likely also received LALCV cash contributions and/or expensive campaign mailers.

For all races, the LALCV Board of Directors uses a rigorous four-step vetting process in making its campaign endorsements to ensure they only support candidates who will actively pursue their radical agenda. The vetting process includes a detailed questionnaire and in-person interview, followed by an evaluation and recommendation by an endorsement team, then finally, a vote of the full Board. In some cases, the Board will also elect to financially support a candidate or ballot initiative along with its endorsement. Only the most extreme candidates running in races where the LALCV has a reasonable chance of influencing the election outcome get both the LALCV endorsement and the financial support.

The campaign support Topar took from the LALCV included large cash contributions and three expensive campaign mailers when Topar ran for El Segundo City Council in 2008. LALCV has contributed or will contribute $750 to Topar for her 2012 El Segundo City Council campaign.

The third LALCV campaign mailer sent for Topar in 2008 was a large full-color card stock campaign mailer that claimed in large bold letters, “Thanks to CINDEE TOPAR, El Segundo has cleaner air, healthier water and more open space.” You can see the front side of that campaign mailer below.


Third LALCV campaign mailer for Cindee Topar in her 2008 campaign for El Segundo City Council.

Video Transcript: … Continue reading →

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Video – Scott Houston in Raising Taxes 101 – El Segundo – Public Safety Project – T0758

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Mike


Scott Houston in Raising Taxes 101

El Segundo City Council candidate Scott Houston has completely misrepresented his true record, politics, and agenda. Houston is a Progressive (ultra-liberal, big tax-and-spender), not a fiscal conservative. He even described himself as a Progressive when he previously ran for another position.

Houston claimed in his campaign literature that he is for “low taxes”. However, as demonstrated by the video above and the links to the official El Segundo City Council meeting minutes below, Scott Houston urged the City Council to raise not one, but two taxes during the recession, at the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting.

Houston urged the City Council to put both a Utility User Tax (UUT) and a hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) hike on the November 2, 2010 ballot for the legally required voter approval. Houston then criticized Councilman Carl Jacobson for opposing tax increases in favor of controlling city government spending.

And without any proof, Houston claimed these tax hikes would not impact any businesses. However, representatives of the businesses that would be adversely impacted spoke, providing facts that proved Houston was either ignorant or intentionally lying.

Clearly, Houston was in lock-step with the fire and police unions, urging the City Council to increase taxes to help pay for the huge pay raises of more than 15 to 23 percent given to those unions during the recession.

The August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting minutes state, at the top of page 4:

“Scott Houston, Resident; spoke in favor of placing a TOT and UUT increase on the November ballot.”

“Marsha Hanson, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce; addressed the chamber’s concerns regarding the proposed UUT and TOT increases. The Chamber urges Council to find new spending reductions.

“Joe Hardy, Hacienda Hotel; spoke regarding the UUT proposal and stated that slowly increasing taxes on the business community was not the solution to the budget deficit.”

“Lily Craig, Chevron; spoke regarding the UUT proposal, and stated that slowly increasing taxes on the business community was not the solution to the budget deficit.”

“Mike Robbins, Resident; spoke against raising any taxes, and employee compensation.”

You can read the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City council meeting minutes yourself on the official City of El Segundo web site at:

El Segundo City Council Meeting Minutes Index
http://www.elsegundo.org/depts/elected/minutes.asp

El Segundo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 3, 2010
http://www.elsegundo.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=8044

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: … Continue reading →

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Video – Scott Houston in Raising Taxes 101 – El Segundo – Public Safety Project – SHORTEST VERSION – NO ANNOTATIONS – T0333

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Mike


Scott Houston in Raising Taxes 101 (shortest version, without title slides)

Note: This is the shortest version of this video, and it lacks annotations that explain the video.

El Segundo City Council candidate Scott Houston has completely misrepresented his true record, politics, and agenda. Houston is a Progressive (ultra-liberal, big tax-and-spender), not a fiscal conservative. He even described himself as a Progressive when he previously ran for another position.

Houston claimed in his campaign literature that he is for “low taxes”. However, as demonstrated by the video above and the links to the official El Segundo City Council meeting minutes below, Scott Houston urged the City Council to raise not one, but two taxes during the recession, at the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting.

Houston urged the City Council to put both a Utility User Tax (UUT) and a hotel Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) hike on the November 2, 2010 ballot for the legally required voter approval. Houston then criticized Councilman Carl Jacobson for opposing tax increases in favor of controlling city government spending.

And without any proof, Houston claimed these tax hikes would not impact any businesses. However, representatives of the businesses that would be adversely impacted spoke, providing facts that proved Houston was either ignorant or intentionally lying.

Clearly, Houston was in lock-step with the fire and police unions, urging the City Council to increase taxes to help pay for the huge pay raises of more than 15 to 23 percent given to those unions during the recession.

The August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting minutes state, at the top of page 4:

“Scott Houston, Resident; spoke in favor of placing a TOT and UUT increase on the November ballot.”

“Marsha Hanson, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce; addressed the chamber’s concerns regarding the proposed UUT and TOT increases. The Chamber urges Council to find new spending reductions.

“Joe Hardy, Hacienda Hotel; spoke regarding the UUT proposal and stated that slowly increasing taxes on the business community was not the solution to the budget deficit.”

“Lily Craig, Chevron; spoke regarding the UUT proposal, and stated that slowly increasing taxes on the business community was not the solution to the budget deficit.”

“Mike Robbins, Resident; spoke against raising any taxes, and employee compensation.”

You can read the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City council meeting minutes yourself on the official City of El Segundo web site at:

El Segundo City Council Meeting Minutes Index
http://www.elsegundo.org/depts/elected/minutes.asp

El Segundo City Council Meeting Minutes for August 3, 2010
http://www.elsegundo.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=8044

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT (including the missing annotations): … Continue reading →

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Invites Houston Back – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Rich Negrete

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mike

Invites Houston Back

Economic decisions, fire department status and three council positions loom large. Of the latter, I’m giving each candidate equal weight, even to one who’s a friend.

I found candidate Houston’s current position on retaining our fire department curious, assuming that it is indeed him that addressed the city council on February [15,] 2011, imploring them to immediately forgo our own stations to county control and then expressing his disappointment in their “kicking the can down the road”. I’m trying to reconcile the words and demeanor of the man from 2011 (video courtesy of You Tube) with his new claim of “unequivocal support” in the opposite direction. His letter in last week’s Herald not only shed no light, but accused opponents of misrepresentation. How so? … Continue reading →

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Candidate Works Hard for the City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Carl Jacobson

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mike

False accusations are flying. It is unfortunate during this important time that I am forced to maintain silence about critical city issues. Due to pending litigation involving a personnel issue, there are many things that I am unable to discuss. Though it would be beneficial to my campaign to talk about the specifics, my responsibility to our city comes before my personal desires.

What’s behind the 1994 Chevron Settlement Agreement? Refineries use or repurpose almost all the product that comes into their facilities, utilizing their waste products to create energy sources and other products. The taxation structure of a refinery is unique because it uses its own source product to generate electricity. … Continue reading →

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Long memory – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Mary Olinick

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mike

I laughed when I learned Jan Cruikshank criticized Michael Robbins’ “Candidate Ranking” letter. I will be voting for Robbins’ three top-tier candidates: Carl Jacobson, Dave Atkinson, and Dave Burns.

It’s not surprising Cruikshank supports Robbins’ bottom-tier candidates – Cindee Topar, Cindy Mortesen, and Scott Houston. Houston is allied with the firefighter and police unions. He took police union money and their endorsement in 2010. He read a script almost identical to the fire union representative’s script at the Feb. 15, 2011 City Council meeting, pressuring the city council to enact Measure P into law without letting the people vote on it. And Topar was campaign manager for a firefighter.

Cruikshank was the firefighter union’s candidate back in 1992. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo Election Coverage, 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 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Long memory – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Mary Olinick

Dangerous consequences – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Marianne Fong

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mike

I witnessed the aftermath of a car accident in Gardena. A car was overturned, and a man sat in the street, missing his legs, surrounded by five Gardena city police cars positioned to prevent him from getting hit again. He moaned in pain and screamed for someone to help him, but nobody there could help.

There were no paramedics yet, and no ambulance, because Gardena uses the L.A. County Fire Department, just as El Segundo will if Measure P passes.

Measure P eliminates our city fire department and contracts with the L.A. county fire department for at least ten years. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dangerous consequences – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Marianne Fong

Legal and reasonable – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Mike

I served with Carl Jacobson on City Council and have known him for decades. Carl has always been an extremely honest, hard-working, and productive councilman, giving much of his life to our community. He is independent of unions and other special interests, and votes what he believes is best for our city.

Fired city manager Doug Willmore enlisted anti-business news organizations to smear Chevron and Carl with a dishonest propaganda campaign.

There was plenty of good cause to fire Willmore. … Continue reading →

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Candidate Ranking – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Mike

Here’s my candidate ranking from best to worst:

1. Carl Jacobson – Extremely intelligent, honest, experienced, dedicated. Independent of city unions, special interests. Votes what is best for city. City’s organizational memory.

2. Dave Atkinson – Intelligent, valuable experience turning around businesses, independent of city unions, special interests. Fiscal conservative.

3. Dave Burns – Intelligent. Early critic of Measure P and unsustainable safety union contracts. Open on issues.

4. Mike Dugan – Intelligent, valuable engineering and business experience, understands city must live within its means. But not committed to any specific city union contract reform. …
Continue reading →

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Candidate Ranking – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins