Tag Archives: Hermosa Beach Firefighters Association

New negotiation strategy – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Mike

Advice to the Hermosa Beach City Council for fire/police union contract negotiations to avoid bankruptcy:

Start negotiating from a blank sheet of paper to eliminate decades of union lawyer tricks and traps that ratcheted up costs.

Read, analyze, understand and price every provision and phrase in existing and new union contracts. Negotiate a not-to-exceed total contract cost based on specified staffing/service levels. Don’t write blank checks with taxpayer money as pension and insurance costs increase.

Do not base compensation on formulas involving compensation in other cities or costs will spiral upward. Do not give up inherent management rights to determine staffing levels, work assignments and layoffs, which are the city’s most important cost-control and bargaining tools.

Include a burden-sharing mechanism that includes thresholds and triggers which automatically reduce total contract costs by specified amounts, and optionally reopen negotiations, when unbudgeted, uncontrolled expenses and revenue declines exceed specified thresholds. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, El Segundo, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Hermosa Beach, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on New negotiation strategy – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Cut their compensation – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Mike

Hermosa Beach need not and should not contract with L.A. County for fire and police services. Ninety percent of El Segundo voters rejected Measure P, the fire union initiative to force El Segundo to contract with L.A. County for fire/paramedic services.

The real problem is wildly excessive and unsustainable firefighter and police total compensation (salaries, benefits, and pensions). That is the greatest cause of the city’s financial problems. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Hermosa Beach, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cut their compensation – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

Clearing up misconceptions – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Jeff Duclos, Mayor of Hermosa Beach

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Mike

While we prefer to negotiate directly with the employee associations, rather than using the media as a forum for bargaining — a position we have consistently taken — we have a responsibility to address some disturbing misinformation that is being perpetuated by the associations’ public relations campaign.

For starters, let’s be clear on one overriding point: Public safety is, and will continue to be, the No. 1 priority for the city council. The city council is committed to continuing to have local police and fire departments. The agreement it reaches with its associations will ensure the future of local police and fire services. It is regrettable that the associations’ leaders are resorting to scare tactics and attempting to politicize the negotiations with untruthful claims that the city’s bargaining position is seeking to dismantle the police and fire departments.

Collective bargaining is challenging in the economic climate in which all cities are operating, … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Hermosa Beach, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Clearing up misconceptions – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Jeff Duclos, Mayor of Hermosa Beach

Wake up – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Donald Sellek

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Mike

The local papers for years have been full of public sector mandates, ultimatums, teacher, police, firefighter and meter maid demands for unsustainable salaries, retirement perks, benefits, and legacy costs that are driving cities across America into bankruptcy. Last night, Hermosa Beach was front and center on Fox News nationally for the unsustainable costs of “meter maids,” while unmentioned was the ongoing teachers’ demands in the same “me,” “I” and “mine” cauldron of selfishness. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, California, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Hermosa Beach, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, School Teachers Union Corruption, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Wake up – Letter to The Beach Reporter by Donald Sellek