Tag Archives: union contracts

$25 Million Claim Against City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Mike

The widow of Hawthorne police officer Andrew Garton filed a $25 million claim against El Segundo, as required before filing a lawsuit. Officer Garton was killed in the tragic accident where El Segundo Police Sergeant Rex Fowler collided with his motorcycle while both were escorting a funeral procession through Torrance for a Manhattan Beach police officer who died of cancer.

Despite my many warnings, Mayor Busch and Councilman Fisher enthusiastically voted to approve new three-year city union contracts guaranteeing raises and no layoffs, leaving the City dangerously vulnerable to large unbudgeted, uncontrollable expenses including lawsuit judgments and settlements.

I warned against new contracts lasting more than one year, and that give away their management authority over staffing decisions and layoffs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Doug Willmore's Great Chevron Shakedown, 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, Police Union Corruption | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on $25 Million Claim Against City – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

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

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Mike

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 →

Posted in El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Letters to the Editor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on New Contracts Unsustainable – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Michael D. Robbins

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

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Mike

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

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Mike

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