Tag Archives: police chief

Union Claims Don’t Add Up – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Mike Robbins

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Mike

Union Claims Don’t Add Up

The firefighter and police “associations” (unions) sent a campaign mailer to all city residents. One side contained propaganda urging attendance at the 7/7/15 City Council meeting, and the other side was a “Stop The Cuts” sign to display during the meeting.

The mailer claimed “millions of dollars in contract concessions over the past seven years”. The unions actually received millions of dollars in excessive and unsustainable pay raises during this period.

The already overpaid firefighter and police unions received the following pay raises during the Great Recession, in three-year contracts approved by City Council on 4/7/09 in Consent Agenda items E11, E12, and E8:

El Segundo Firefighters’ Association (ESFA) received 11.25% in raises for firefighters, paramedics, fire engineers, and fire captains.

El Segundo Police Officers’ Association (ESPOA) received 15% in raises for officers and sergeants.

El Segundo Police Managers’ Association (ESPMA) received 18% in raises for lieutenants and 23% for captains.

The following three year contracts gave all city union members pay raises every year.

All of the above raises were in addition to automatic annual 5% “Step” raises, periodic “Longevity” raises, and many types of “Special Compensation” raises hidden in their union contracts for all six years.

Firefighter and police managers received the following pay raises during the Great Recession, to avoid “salary compaction”, approved by City Council on 12/2/08 in Consent Agenda item E8: Fire Battalion Chiefs, 16.9%; Deputy Fire Chief, 14.9%; Fire Chief, 32.3%; and Police Chief, 23%.

Facts are stubborn things.

– Mike Robbins

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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, News, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Union Claims Don’t Add Up – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Mike Robbins

Response to Letter Submitted by Robert Clark Published in the July 16, 2015 Herald

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Mike

Response to Letter Submitted by Robert Clark Published in the July 16, 2015 Herald

My name is Mitch Tavera and I am the Chief of Police of the El Segundo Police Department. On July 16, 2015, the El Segundo Herald published a letter from a Robert Clark in which he accuses an El Segundo Police Officer of threatening and intimidating him after he spoke publicly, several years ago, at a city council meeting. Mr. Clark did not disclose the date of this alleged incident nor did he provide the name of the officer. I would like to address this letter to Mr. Clark.

Mr. Clark- As all allegations of misconduct against my employees are extremely important to me, I ask that you contact me personally, in order to conduct a thorough investigation into your claims. Please understand, in order to conduct a thorough inquiry into this matter, we require your cooperation and additional information from you. Thanks in advance.

– Mitch Tavera, Chief of Police, 310-524-2280

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Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Letters to the Editor, Police Officers Commiting Crimes, Police Union Corruption, Political Corruption, Politics, Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Response to Letter Submitted by Robert Clark Published in the July 16, 2015 Herald

Which El Segundo City Employee was Paid Nearly $600,000 in His Last Year?

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Mike

by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project, PublicSafetyProject.org

March 3, 2014

Firefighter and Police Unions are Breaking the City’s Budget

Generally, El Segundo sworn firefighters and police officers are by far the highest paid City employees. Their “associations” (unions) endorse, contribute money to, and campaign for the City Council candidates who will give them the biggest pay raises and increases in benefits and pensions, and then raise taxes and fees on residents and businesses to pay for it all. Their total compensation, including salary, benefits, and pension contributions paid by the City’s taxpayers, has been about $150,000 to more than $330,000 per individual per year.

The managers’ salaries, benefits, and pensions are increased along with those of their subordinates, to prevent “salary compaction”, and to maintain a minimum 5% higher level of compensation than their subordinates.

Existing sworn police and firefighter employees, including managers, can retire as early as age 50 (police) or 55 (firefighters) with a guaranteed annual pension income of up to 90% of their single highest year salary, including all the “Special Compensation” add-ons in their union contracts for things that are already a requirement of the job or are unrelated to the job.

Thus, Mayor Bill Fisher increased the employee pension income and the pension cost to the taxpayers for the police and firefighter employees (and for all City employees) every year of the Great Recession, because he gave them all excessive and unsustainable raises every one of those years!

City of El Segundo $100K Pension Club

Here is a list of retired El Segundo City employees in the “$100K Pension Club”, i.e., with CalPERS pensions paying them in excess of $100,000 per year guaranteed by the taxpayers regardless of pension fund investment performance:

http://www.FixPensionsFirst.com/calpers-database/?first_name=&last_name=&employer=EL+SEGUNDO

Highest Paid El Segundo City Employee in Calendar Year 2009

Former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings was the highest paid City employee in calendar year 2009. He retired in 2009 with about eleven weeks left in the year, and had total 2009 compensation of about $596,657. This included his City contract income and his CalPERS pension income while he continued working as the El Segundo Police Chief after his retirement. Cummings’ post-retirement City employment contract acknowledged that he would be receiving his $210,000 per year CalPERS pension income while he continued working as the City’s police chief after his retirement. …
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Highest paid El Segundo City Employee in 2009

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Mike

by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project, PublicSafetyProject.org

August 17, 2010

SWORN POLICE OFFICERS

Generally, El Segundo sworn police officers, from lowest level Police Officer up to Police Captain, are by far the highest paid city employees except for sworn firefighters. Police Chief David Cummings was by far the highest paid city employee in calendar year 2009.

    Highest Paid El Segundo City Employee in Calendar Year 2009

Former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings, who retired in 2009 with about eleven weeks left in the year, had total 2009 compensation of about $596,657, including his city contract and CalPERS pension income while he continued working as the El Segundo Police Chief after his retirement. Cummings’ post-retirement City employment contract acknowledged that he would be receiving his $210,000 per year CalPERS pension income while he continued working as the City’s police chief after his retirement.

Below are two tables, one showing how former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings was paid a total of at least $596,657 in 2009, and the second showing how Cummings’ salary, vacation and sick leave payout, and pension were all spiked by the 23% raise he was given about a year before his retirement. Following these two tables is a list of links to related documents.

The following is an in-line HTML table containing the formatted spreadsheet data of former El Segundo Police Chief David Cummings’ calendar year 2009 total compensation and pension income.

Note: This Public Records Act request data was provided by the City of El Segundo, California on December 15, 2010 in response to a PRA request made by Michael D. Robbins on December 5, 2010. It is provided here as a courtesy of Michael D. Robbins and the Public Safety Project, P.O. Box 2193, El Segundo, CA 90245, PublicSafetyProject.org. The estimated (calculated) data and additional data annotations were provided by Michael D. Robbins.

David Cummings – El Segundo, California Police Chief
Paid in Calendar Year 2009
   
Pay and Income for the first 41 weeks (289 days) of 2009
(1/1/09-10/16/09):		  
   
Regular Earnings 225,627
Special Compensation (Uniform Allowance) 480
Regular Earnings + Special Comp 226,107
Leave Payout (Vacation and Sick Leave Payout) 199,668
Total Earnings 425,775
   
   
CalPERS Pension – Employer Contribution – Paid by the Employer (City) 48,894
Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Paid by the Employer (City) 21.6%
   
CalPERS Pension – Employee Contribution – Paid by the Employer (City) 16,755
Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Paid by the Employer (City) 7.4%
   
CalPERS Pension – Employee Contribution – Paid by the Employee 0
Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Paid by the Employee 0.0%
   
CalPERS Pension – Employee Contribution – Total Amount Paid 16,755
Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp 7.4%
   
TOTAL CALPERS PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS PAID BY THE EMPLOYER (CITY) 65,649
Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp – Total Paid by the Employer (City) 29.0%
   
NOTE: CalPERS pension contributions were made for the period 1/1/09 – 10/16/09 (41 weeks)  
   
   
401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan  
401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan – Amount Paid by Employer (City) 11,592
401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan – Amount Paid by the Employee 0
401(a) Deferred Compensation Plan – Total Amount Paid 11,592
Annual Regular Earnings + Special Comp for period 9/27/08 – 9/25/09 231,839
Percentage of Regular Earnings + Special Comp 5.0%
   
Total Insurance Benefits Paid by the Employer (City)  
A D & D 17
Dental 853
Life Insurance 154
Long Term Disability 692
Executive Long Term Disability 1,031
Vision 168
TOTAL 2,915
   
Post-Employment Health Insurance for 11/09 & 12/09 2,302
   
2009 TOTAL EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION 508,233
   
   
Pay and Income for the last 11 weeks (76 days) of 2009 (10/17/09 – 12/31/09):  
   
Estimated Contract Employee Pay 43,956
(At $111 per hour x 36 hours per week average x 11 weeks)  
   
Estimated CalPERS Pension Double-Dipping Income 44,468
(At $210,213.36 per year for 11 weeks)  
   
ESTIMATED TOTAL 2009 EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION AND PENSION INCOME 596,657
(All pension income was obtained while “double-dipping” by working as a contract employee El Segundo City Police Chief)  

    Regular Earnings, Leave Payout, and Pension Benefit Spike

Police Chief David Cummings received a 23% pay increase effective October 1, 2008, about a year before his retirement, which spiked his 2009 total earnings and leave payout, and his annual pension. The raise spiked his regular earnings by $42,190 (from $183,437 to $225,627), and his accumulated vacation and sick leave payout (cash-out) value by $37,336 (from $162,332 to $199,668), for a total earnings spike of $79,527. His annual pension was spiked by an estimated $39,308 (from $170,905 to $210,213).

Police officers and firefighters are credited and allowed to accumulate and roll-over from year to year huge numbers of vacation and sick leave hours, which can be cashed out at a higher pay rate in later years and upon retirement. His total 2009 earnings was $425,775 – consisting of $225,627 Regular Earnings, $480 Special Compensation, and $199,668 Leave Payout. He retired in 2009 with a pension of $210,213.36 yearly ($17,517.78 monthly) according to CaliforniaPensionReform.com, plus medical insurance, for the rest of his life.

The following table summarizes Police Chief David Cummings’ spikes resulting from his 23% raise.

  Regular Earnings Special Comp. Overtime Leave Payout Total Earnings Yearly Pension
Before 23% Raise 183,437 480 0 162,332 346,248 170,905
After 23% Raise 225,627 480 0 199,668 425,775 210,213
Spike Amount 42,190 0 0 37,336 80,007 39,308

The reason given for Cummings’ 23% pay increase that spiked his pay, leave payout, and pension was salary compaction, also known as salary compression, caused by large pay increases given to the police union members.

Links to Related Documents: … Continue reading →

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