Tag Archives: hospital transport fee

Smear Campaign? – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marianne Fong

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Mike

Smear Campaign?

I would like to assure Marie Fellhauer’s campaign supporter, Jenica Brigham, that I do exist. I am not “the same person” as Mike Robbins as she claimed in her insulting 4/7/16 Herald letter. Brigham attacked me, Mike Robbins, and others with childish name-calling and other baseless personal attacks because we reminded voters of Fellhauer’s record on City Council. She used personal attacks because she could not disprove any of our facts about Fellhauer’s true record.

Brigham claimed the residents “think everything should be free.” In fact, we don’t want to be charged twice for the same things, such as $1,850+ fire department ambulance transport fees when taxes already pay for our fire department.

Brigham described herself as “a young woman”, apparently to attract young voters to vote for Fellhauer. But at age 38, she hardly qualifies as “a young woman”. By 38, you’d think she would have registered to vote. She is not even registered to vote in El Segundo, at least not as of 2014.

Another Fellhauer campaign supporter, Beth Schodorf, submitted a letter calling accurate descriptions of Fellhauer’s City Council record a “smear campaign”. Now who’s doing the smearing? Schodorf even defended Fellhauer by attacking Lou Kutil. That was a mistake. For many years Lou Kutil, an elderly resident himself, has volunteered his own time and money to drive elderly residents to their doctor appointments, wait for them, and drive them back home.

– Marianne Fong

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Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Firefighter Union Corruption, Fraud Waste and Abuse, Letters to the Editor, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Smear Campaign? – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marianne Fong

Feels Neither is Right – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marc Rener

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Mike

Feels Neither is Right

A “fee” over $1,800 to any El Segundo resident, for the transportation and mileage only, to the nearest emergency room, by city paid (taxpayers) paramedics in a city paid (taxpayers) vehicle. Why? the city wants to “recover” back some of the 14 million dollars it pays to the fire department for doing their job. Please note, at 3 a.m. paramedics would still be paid the same whether they responded to a 911 call or were left sleeping.

June 2014, Thursday morning at 7:30 A.M. a special council meeting, agenda page 4, to charge an “additional fee” (unknown to most citizens) for the transportation by El Segundo paramedics. They claimed a “recovery” of $180,000 to the city. I have invoices from Wittman, who’s doing the “recovery” collection, and what was paid to the City from June 2014 to July 2015. $180,000? try over $800,000.

The 9/15/15 council agenda about the budget, on page C-2, states “collecting for fire inspection fees and for non-resident paramedic transportation”. So is the budget fee statement incorrect or the city wrongfully charging its citizens? Either way taxpayers already paying for their city paramedic service should not be charged an “additional fee” if they use that service. What would happen if the people of El Segundo hired someone to “recover” the money for the days, months and years for fire services that they didn’t call for?

Neither is right, yet the city is doing it. Again why?

– Marc Rener Continue reading →

Posted in California, Economy and Economics, El Segundo, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Firefighter Union Corruption, Fraud Waste and Abuse, Letters to the Editor, News, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Feels Neither is Right – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marc Rener

Not Once, But Twice – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by George Hoopes

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Mike

Not Once, But Twice

Marc Rener’s letter to the Editor on July 16 is 100% correct! “Something has to change now.”

As property owners and taxpayers we should not be billed twice for the same service. And to charge $1,853.75 to transport a person 5.3 miles is nothing short of filthy Al Capone gangsterism! It seems to me the El Segundo Fire Department has a vulture mentality – they lay around like buzzards, until someone needs help, then take advantage of the situation and pounce on the poor victim’s bank account like a deranged vulture and then claim “that’s our policy.”

Just who invented that policy? Who is responsible for that policy that whack El Segundo taxpayers in the wallet not once, but twice for the same thing?

– George Hoopes

NOTE: This letter is in response to the July 16, 2015 letter to the El Segundo Herald titled “Feels Bill is Excessive and Unnecessary” by Marc Rener about El Segundo, California paramedic transport bills sent to residents who call 911 and are taken to the hospital, although city taxes already pay for the fire department.

Feels Bill is Excessive and Unnecessary – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marc Rener

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Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter Union Corruption, Fraud Waste and Abuse, Letters to the Editor, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Not Once, But Twice – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by George Hoopes

Call a Taxi? – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Lillian Wendel

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Mike

Call a Taxi?

I just saw the letter about the outrageous ambulance bill. I had the same thing happen to my daughter. Not only was the dollar amount outrageous, but how much of the bill is going to the firm contracted to collect the payment? This city should be ashamed. Next time folks, call a taxi.

– Lillian Wendel

NOTE: This letter is in response to the July 16, 2015 letter to the El Segundo Herald titled “Feels Bill is Excessive and Unnecessary” by Marc Rener about El Segundo, California paramedic transport bills sent to residents who call 911 and are taken to the hospital, although city taxes already pay for the fire department.

Feels Bill is Excessive and Unnecessary – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marc Rener

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Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Fraud Waste and Abuse, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Call a Taxi? – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Lillian Wendel

Feels Bill is Excessive and Unnecessary – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marc Rener

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Mike

Feels Bill is Excessive and Unnecessary

June 6, I made an emergency 911 call, for my mother. The paramedics arrived, then paramedics transported her to the emergency room at Marina Del Rey , 5.3 miles away. She was treated and is now doing fine, until July 3. She received a bill from the City of El Segundo, with a Sacramento address, demanding $1,853.75 “for services”.

It turns out this is an agency hired by El Segundo to collect money for services for transporting her, an El Segundo resident, in an El Segundo city vehicle, by El Segundo City paramedics and that she is responsible for that bill in full.

I brought this up at the 7/7/2015 council meeting. After a discussion with the Fire Chief, he stated this is now the policy in El Segundo, to bill the residences/taxpayers of El Segundo for services by El Segundo paramedics, using El Segundo City equipment, even though the taxpayers of this city continually pay for both.

There are seniors here, on a fixed income, who don’t even make half of $1,853.75 in a month. This collection is not only excessive, but unnecessary.

I find it offensive that our residence/taxpayers who paid, in 2014, firefighter salaries who make between $100,000 to $285,000, that are supplied with multimillion dollar vehicles and the best equipment, that now these same taxpayers will have to pay extra for a service by city employees to do the job they were hired for in the first place.

Something has to change now.

– Marc Rener

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Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Firefighter Union Corruption, Fraud Waste and Abuse, Letters to the Editor, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Feels Bill is Excessive and Unnecessary – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Marc Rener