Tag Archives: Michael D. Robbins

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

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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KCET and L.A. Times Hatchet Jobs against El Segundo, Chevron and Carl Jacobson exposed as propaganda

I have had the pleasure of serving for four years on the El Segundo City Council with Carl Jacobson, from 1992 to 1996. I have known Carl for more than 20 years. I have the deepest respect for Carl. He has always been an extremely honest, dedicated, hard-working, and productive member of the City Council, giving much of his time and his life to our community.

KCET producer Karen Fochay and L.A. Times writer Jeff Gottlieb both called to interview me because I was a City Council member at the time of the 1994 legal settlement to the tax dispute between MRC, Chevron, and the City.

I made it clear to them that the 1994 tax dispute settlement was completely legal and reasonable.

But the KCET show on Chevron, and the L.A. Times articles, completely ignored my information because it contradicted their anti-Chevron political agenda and bias. … Continue reading

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, Doug Willmore’s Great City Shakedown, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on KCET and L.A. Times Hatchet Jobs against El Segundo, Chevron and Carl Jacobson exposed as propaganda

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

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

Save Our City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

SAVE OUR CITY

The El Segundo firefighter and police unions are putting our city at risk for their Royal Family sized paychecks and pensions. At the Feb. 7 City Council meeting, City Manager Doug Willmore explained how City Hall will be sold and leased back for twenty years, as collateral for a $10.3 million loan to pay for street resurfacing, other routine infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements.

El Segundo used to be a pay-as-you-go city, paying for infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements with General Fund revenues. But that was before the safety unions became very active in City Council campaigns, hired their own bosses, and ratcheted up their salaries, benefits, and pensions to ridiculous and unsustainable levels. … Continue reading

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, 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, Measure P - Firefighters Union Initiative, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Save Our City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

El Segundo making Chevron’s taxes too high – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

El Segundo making Chevron’s taxes too high

The city manager’s Chevron Shakedown must stop, including efforts to extort large “gifts” of money under threat of a $10 million annual tax hike. The city will suffer long-term damage to its reputation as a good city to locate a business.

Doug Willmore used false premises to construct a deceptive one-sided analysis for the Chevron property, rather than a true cost-versus-benefits analysis. It is unfair and dishonest to compare tax revenues generated per acre by the Chevron refinery with that of other local businesses. Land use in other South Bay cities is mostly residential and not three-quarters commercial/industrial as in El Segundo.

In his one-sided analysis, Willmore ignored the cost for the city to provide and maintain infrastructure and services for residents and businesses that would otherwise exist on the massive Chevron refinery property.

If the refinery never existed, that land would be mostly residential and some commercial. Tax revenues would be much less, and the city would have to provide and maintain infrastructure and services for twice as many residents at great expense that Willmore failed to include in his seriously flawed and biased analysis. … Continue reading

Posted in Beach Reporter Letters, Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on El Segundo making Chevron’s taxes too high – Letter to the Beach Reporter by Michael D. Robbins

A Holiday Prayer – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

A Holiday Prayer

For more than a year, I have written letters to inform residents about the wildly excessive and unsustainable city employee union compensation and pensions that threaten our city’s future. My facts and information come from official sources, mostly City Hall public records, and are independently verifiable.

One positive result has been the voters’ rejection of millions of dollars in new and unnecessary business taxes and residential trash fees. Another has been some, although greatly inadequate, city employee union concessions. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Holiday Prayer – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

New Contracts Unsustainable – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

New Contracts Unsustainable

Councilman Fisher claimed city employee unions took a nine percent salary cut. This is untrue. The new union contracts are still excessive and unsustainable. They don’t even rollback the huge 11 to 23 percent pay raises Councilmen Busch and Fisher gave the fire and police unions during the recession, on top of their already excessive and unsustainable salaries and pensions. And the new contracts include three different pay raises plus a guarantee of no layoffs for three years.

The maximum and average total annual compensation were $338 thousand and $202 thousand for firefighter union members, and $304 thousand and $178 thousand for police union members (previous contract). The city paid maximum and average individual annual pension contributions of $66 thousand and $40 thousand for firefighter union members, and $77 thousand and $41 thousand for police union members.

The firefighter and police union pension costs are excessive and unsustainable because they are based on excessive and unsustainable salaries and pension benefit formulas. All firefighters and police can still retire at age 55 with up to 90 percent of their single highest pay year as their annual pension benefit … Continue reading

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Unions influencing El Segundo – Letter to the Daily Breeze by Michael D. Robbins

Unions influencing El Segundo

As I predicted last July, El Segundo Mayor Eric Busch and his City Council majority approved new city employee union contracts in secret, letting the new and unproven city manager do the negotiating, then rushed the contracts through a public City Council vote as a mere formality.

Busch tried to rush the official contract approval with less than 24 hours for the public to even see the contracts, because the contract terms are still excessive, unsustainable and almost entirely one-sided in favor of the fire and police unions.

The contracts give automatic longevity and annual step pay raises, and excessive and unsustainable six-figure compensation and pensions, including redundant special compensation and automatic overtime pay. They also guarantee no layoffs for three years, even if it bankrupts the city.

This bankruptcy trap ties the hands of the current and next City Council, taking away their most effective cost-control and bargaining tool. … Continue reading

Posted in Daily Breeze Letters, 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, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Unions influencing El Segundo – Letter to the Daily Breeze by Michael D. Robbins

Potential Bankruptcy Trap – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Exactly as I predicted last July, Mayor Busch and his City Council majority “negotiated” and approved new city employee union contracts in secret, letting the new and unproven city manager do the “negotiating”, then rushed the contracts through a public City Council vote as a mere formality.

Why did Busch try to rush the “official” contract approval with less than 24 hours for the public and Council members to even see the contracts? Obviously, Busch was trying to hide the contract terms, which are still excessive, unsustainable, and mostly one-sided in favor of the fire and police unions.

In some ways, the new contracts are worse than the old ones. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Firefighter Union Corruption, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Potential Bankruptcy Trap – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

El Segundo, We Have a Problem – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

El Segundo, We Have a Problem

The City Council has been negotiating new contracts with the City employee unions in secret for months now, but will only allow the citizens 24 hours to see these long, complex contracts before final approval. Mayor Busch has set a phony deadline of October 1, start of the new fiscal year, to approve the contracts. There is no legal or other requirement to do so.

Mayor Busch scheduled final contract approval for Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 5:30 PM. This non-standard day and early meeting time reduces public oversight even further. If Mayor Busch and the city employee unions were acting in good faith, they would provide the citizens sixty days, or thirty days as a minimum, to review and debate the union contracts they will be forced to pay. … Continue reading

Posted in El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on El Segundo, We Have a Problem – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins