Tag Archives: El Segundo

Reelecting Jacobson – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Helen Armstrong

Reelecting Jacobson

I am delighted that El Segundo City Councilman Carl Jacobson has been re-elected to serve our community and has been selected by four of our five City Council members to be our mayor. Only Marie Fellhauer voted “No.”

Carl has selflessly served our community with integrity and distinction for many years, giving much time out of his life for altruistic reasons. He has the experience and motivation, and now enough support on the council with Suzanne Fuentes and David Atkinson, to help get our city back on the right track.

I am also delighted that 90 percent of the voters rejected Measure P, and instead voted to keep our local fire department and paramedic ambulances.

Mike Robbins led an informative and persistent campaign against Measure P since mid-2010. It took much of his time and effort to educate and motivate our community on this important issue, and our city’s future will be better as a result of his efforts.

I am grateful that our community has good citizens who give so much of themselves and expect so little in return. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Reelecting Jacobson – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Helen Armstrong

Election recap – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Election recap

Thank you to the 90 percent of voters who voted against Measure P, the firefighter union’s initiative, and to those who campaigned against it. I campaigned against Measure P since at least August 2010, and the results are spectacular.

The firefighter union gave up campaigning when their professional polls determined it would lose by a wide margin, due to our early and sustained campaign against P. They did not give up as a favor to residents. We continuously campaigned against P to ensure success, because of the likely loss of life if it were to pass.

We defeated the two candidates endorsed and funded by the self-serving police union – progressive candidate Scott Houston, who falsely campaigned as a conservative, opposite his true record, and Cindy Mortesen. I wonder how the police officers and firefighters can be trusted on their jobs when they are blatantly dishonest in city election campaigns.

Carl Jacobson is vindicated and is mayor. Cindy Topar finished last. Topar and/or her campaign supporter, Peggy Boulgarides – wife of firefighter Jim Boulgarides – were responsible for the anonymous El Segundo Herald ad urging voters to watch the discredited KCET propaganda video attacking Chevron and Jacobson. Boulgarides called me on March 24 to take responsibility, but may have been covering for Topar.

I campaigned using facts, logical reasoning and proof including videos (at http://PublicSafetyProject.org/) for the best candidates, and against Measure P and the worst candidates. Bruce Meredith and other progressives may find that “dangerous,” but our community is safer as a result. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Election recap – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Kudos to El Segundo voters – Letter to the Daily Breeze by Michael D. Robbins

Daily Breeze

dailybreeze.com

LAX TO L.A. HARBOR

Letters to the Editor for Monday, April 23, 2012

Posted: 04/22/2012 02:02:23 PM PDT
April 22, 2012 9:27 PM GMT
Updated: 04/22/2012 02:26:15 PM PDT

Kudos to El Segundo voters

Thank you to the 90 percent of El Segundo voters who rejected Measure P. We saved El Segundo City Fire Department from selfish firefighters only interested in maximizing their salaries and job security. Measure P would have disbanded our Fire Department, contracted with Los Angeles County for significantly reduced emergency services and endangered lives. The firefighter union quit campaigning when their professional polls determined it would lose by a wide margin because of our early and sustained campaign against P. They did not give up as a favor to residents. We defeated the two candidates endorsed and funded by the self-serving police union: Progressive candidate Scott Houston who falsely campaigned as a conservative and Cindy Mortesen.

— Michael D. Robbins, El Segundo


Note: This letter was edited down by the Daily Breeze from the original 150 word letter that was submitted. Here is the original letter as it was submitted:

El Segundo Election Victories

Thank you to the 90 percent of voters who voted against Measure P, the firefighter union’s initiative, and those who campaigned against it. We saved our city fire department from selfish firefighters only interested in maximizing their salaries and job security. Measure P would have disbanded our fire department, contracted with L.A. County for significantly reduced emergency services, and endangered lives.

The firefighter union quit campaigning when their professional polls determined it would lose by a wide margin, due to our early and sustained campaign against P. They did not give up as a favor to residents.

We defeated the two candidates endorsed and funded by the self-serving police union – Progressive candidate Scott Houston, who falsely campaigned as a Conservative, opposite his true record, and Cindy Mortesen.

I wonder how the police officers and firefighters can be trusted on their jobs when they are blatantly dishonest in city election campaigns. … Continue reading

Posted in Daily Breeze Letters, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, Firefighter Union Corruption, Letters to the Editor, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Kudos to El Segundo voters – Letter to the Daily Breeze by Michael D. Robbins

Carl Jacobson selected as new El Segundo mayor, Suzanne Fuentes as Mayor Pro Tem – Marie Fellhauer and Bill Fisher lose first two key votes

by Michael D. Robbins April 18, 2012 The newly elected El Segundo City Council members, City Clerk, and City Treasurer were sworn in at the April 17, 2012 City Council meeting, one week after the April 10 El Segundo General … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Carl Jacobson selected as new El Segundo mayor, Suzanne Fuentes as Mayor Pro Tem – Marie Fellhauer and Bill Fisher lose first two key votes

Video – April 5, 2012 El Segundo Candidates Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters


Watch the April 5, 2012 El Segundo Candidates Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters video here.

Click on the center of the image below.


Get Microsoft Silverlight

April 5, 2012 El Segundo Candidates Forum
hosted by the League of Women Voters (01h 45m)

Click on the rectangle in the lower right corner for full-screen mode.
Press the Escape (“Esc”) key near the upper left corner of your keyboard
to return to small size viewing, especially if the video appears slow or
jerky.


Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Video – April 5, 2012 El Segundo Candidates Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters

Marie Fellhauer’s ethics lapses pile up as El Segundo election approaches

Police Union member Marie Fellhauer is running for El Segundo City Council.
Police Union member Marie Fellhauer is running for El Segundo City Council
Photo copyright © 2012 by Michael D. Robbins.


Marie Fellhauer is a Police Union member, and her multitude of ethics lapses make it more likely that she will represent the Police and Fire Unions rather than the Voters and Taxpayers if elected to City Council.

Marie Fellhauer has made at least four known ethics lapses:

  1. Fellhauer’s 32 percent absenteeism rate for Planning Commission meetings she was obligated to attend, and her misrepresentation of her Planning Commission record in her campaign literature.
  2. Much of Fellhauer’s campaign assistance is coming from Mayor Eric Busch, who took $10,900 in campaign cash and other support from the Police and Fire Unions in 2008, and paid them back with millions of extra tax dollars per year in a back-room sweetheart deal, and more than 11 to 23 percent pay raises during a recession when they were already grossly overpaid.
  3. Fellhauer knowingly accepted a $700 contribution from a local businessman who tried to cheat the City out of $55,000, and who was bounced off the Planning Commission by the City Council before his first Planning Commission meeting because a majority of the City Council did not trust him. He tried to steer the Golf Course Construction Management contract to a friend who bid $120,000, when the lowest and more qualified bidder bid only $65,000 for the same job.
  4. Fellhauer got caught in a lie where she tried to cover up her Police Union campaign contribution money at the League of Women Voters Candidates Forum.

Planning Commission Ethics Lapse

Marie Fellhauer’s known ethics lapses start with her Planning Commission appointment.

Fellhauer claims in her campaign literature that her appointment to the El Segundo Planning Commission is an example of Marie's Proven Commitment to Community.
Excerpt from Marie Fellhauer’s Campaign Literature.

Fellhauer claims in her campaign literature that her appointment to the El Segundo Planning Commission is an example of “Marie’s Proven Commitment to Community.”

However, Fellhauer has been absent for a third (32%) of all the Planning Commission meetings she was obligated to attend over the last two years, and absent for a fourth (25%) of all her obligated meetings over the last four years.

There are several problems here.

First, Fellhauer failed to meet her commitments for a very important city function for at least four years.

Second, once she realized she could not or would not meet her commitments, she should have resigned but failed to do so. It appears that Fellhauer retained her seat on the Planning Commission solely to use it as a stepping stone to higher office, i.e., City Council.

And third, Fellhauer misrepresented her record in writing in her own campaign literature to gain trust and confidence from voters. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Marie Fellhauer’s ethics lapses pile up as El Segundo election approaches

Video – El Segundo City Payroll Gone Mad, featuring Charles Payne and Mike Robbins on Fox Business Network



El Segundo City Payroll Gone Mad, featuring Charles Payne and Mike Robbins on Fox Business Network


El Segundo City Payroll Gone Mad, featuring Charles Payne and Mike Robbins on Fox-T1155

This video features a segment from the Fox Business Network Varney & Co. show that was broadcast on August 17, 2010. The segment is an interview of former El Segundo City Councilman Mike Robbins about the wildly excessive and unsustainable city employee salaries, especially those for the firefighter and police employees.

Note that all the salary figures quoted in the Fox interview are Total Earnings only, and DO NOT include the cost of benefits and CalPERS pension contributions. The much larger Total Compensation figures, which DO include benefits and pension contributions, are available from Mike Robbins at PublicSafetyProject.org.

This video is in part an answer to the totally discredited KCET SoCal Connected propaganda video by producer Karen Foshay titled, “Small Town, Big Oil” produced by Karen Foshay. That KCET video dishonestly and unfairly attacked Chevron and the very honorable City Councilman Carl Jacobson in a very classical news media hatchet-job.

Note that the Fox show was broadcast long before the KCET SoCal Connected propaganda video. The KCET video was based almost entirely on false statements made by fired El Segundo city manager Doug Willmore, whom I have learned is very likely a pathological liar and an unreliable person to use as a basis for any news report or video. In fact, I am quite certain that that Willmore’s habitual lying was one of multiple good cause reasons for which he was fired. The KCET video was also based in part on statements made by an out-of-town, anti-oil political activist that nobody in town has heard of before.

The Fox interview helps explain why the fire and police unions endorse candidates for City Council, and contribute thousands of dollars in cash, campaign mailers, and other campaign support to their approved candidates. The police and fire unions endorse and campaign for the candidates who will give them the biggest pay raises, no matter how excessive and unsustainable, and who will raise your taxes and fees to pay for it.

The fire and police unions are the primary cause of our financial problems in El Segundo, not Chevron, as the fire and police unions want us to believe.

Chevron is a taxpayer, and the fire and police unions are tax takers. Chevron pays plenty of taxes, and the fire and police unions take plenty of taxes – about $8 Million extra per year in wildly excessive and unsustainable salaries, benefits, and pensions. The city does not pay to provide city infrastructure and services on the massive 951-acre Chevron property that it pays a fortune to provide and maintain in the residential and other commercial and industrial areas of the city. In fact, for that reason Chevron’s taxes may actually be too high.


VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, News, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Video – El Segundo City Payroll Gone Mad, featuring Charles Payne and Mike Robbins on Fox Business Network

Video – Cindee Topar is in an official in the militant AFA union which targeted the customers

Cindee Topar is in an official in the militant AFA union which targeted the customers

Watch the AFA Union’s CHAOS™ Training Video

El Segundo City Council candidate Cindee Cindee Topar is both an official and a member in the militant Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) union, which targeted customers, canceled randomly selected flights without notice, and stranded passengers to create “CHAOS™” for the customers and their employer. Topar’s union was so proud of their anti-social behavior that they even trademarked the name “CHAOS™”.

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

How would you like it if Topar’s militant union caused you to miss a job interview, business meeting, expensive vacation cruise, or an important once-in-a-lifetime event such as a family wedding, bar mitzvah, or funeral?

The union’s stated goal was to scare away customers to sabotage their employer’s business without suffering the loss of income that a traditional strike would cause. Her union was so proud of stranding airline passengers without incurring the penalty of lost income for their union members that they trademarked the name CHAOS™! The name CHAOS™ stands for “Creating Havoc Around Our System.” If Topar gets elected, we may have CHAOT – Creating Havoc Around Our Town.

Here is the United AFA union’s official CHAOS™ web page:
http://www.unitedafa.org/afa/chaos/default.aspx


How does CHAOS™ work?

When Cindee Topar’s AFA union creates CHAOS™ for customers and management, the following steps are taken. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Video – Cindee Topar is in an official in the militant AFA union which targeted the customers

Vote for independence – Letter to the Beach Reportor by Illeen Joscha

Vote for independence

The newly-released city documents and e-mails tell all. The firefighter and police unions were behind this push to extort $10 million per year in new taxes from Chevron, to pay for their astronomical and unsustainable salaries and benefits that have averaged $211,000 ($342,000 maximum) per individual per year for firefighters and $178,000 ($304,000 maximum) for police.

These self-serving safety unions are supporting Scott Houston (who took a police union endorsement, large campaign contribution, and other support in 2010), Marie Fellhauer (a police union member herself), and Cindee Topar (former City Council campaign manager for a firefighter union member and a militant union official herself) for City Council. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Vote for independence – Letter to the Beach Reportor by Illeen Joscha

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

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