2nd District Report
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| Chris Mahon |
San Luis Obispo Residents Vote on Binding Arbitration, Pension Reform
A battle over binding arbitration and pension reform has been brewing in San Luis Obispo.
In April, San Luis Obispo City Council voted 4-1 to call a special mail-in election on August 30th in an effort to repeal binding arbitration from their city charter and reduce retirement benefits for city employees.
Since then, San Luis Obispo Firefighters Local 3523 has been at battle, setting up Facebook pages, special websites (www.slotruth.org) and starting a campaign with the help of FireStar Productions and the Firefighters Print & Design.
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| Television and web-based spots -- produced by FireStar Productions -- emphasized Measure B's public safety risks. |
"The Print and Design shop has been an invaluable resource during this campaign. They have catered to all of our campaign needs with signs, banners, mailers and drop pieces. Our success has a lot to do with the quality work coming from the Firefighters Print & Design," said San Luis Obispo Firefighters Local 3523 President Erik Baskin. "In addition, having a company like Firestar Productions definitely gives every local a distinct advantage when it comes to running a full media campaign. It is a luxury that cannot be taken lightly."
The local has been putting on presentations for mobile home communities, retirement communities, local community recreation rooms and targeting other high propensity voters in their city to educate them about what a yes on Measure A (pension benefits) and Measure B (binding arbitration) would mean for their city.
"I think the average citizen knows what they read in the paper," said Baskin. "It's incumbent on us to really educate and do as much as we can to dispel myths about public pensions and binding arbitration. The San Luis Obispo firefighters and police have been out in force making contact with voters by knocking on doors and making sure the voters at large understand what the election is really about."
So far, the community reaction they have received has been very positive.
"When a firefighter or police officer makes face-to-face contact with the public, like we are doing, the confidence that we have in making this election a success grows," said Baskin.
Ballots hit the mail August 1st and voting will take place all month.
El Segundo, LA County FD Merger on April 2012 Ballot
In El Segundo, firefighters have been under fire.
To help balance a $10 million shortfall, daily staffing at the El Segundo Fire Department has dropped from 19 to 18 to 17 to 14, reducing service by 27%. They eliminated a four-person truck and a four-person engine. Response times increased.
When a City Council-issued survey found that merging with LA County Fire Department would save El Segundo $5.7 million a year and increase fire protection, the City Council refused to give up local control and refused to vote in favor of a merger.
El Segundo Firefighters Association Local 3682 responded by filing for an initiative to mandate a transfer of fire protection if it was passed by a vote of the people. Then they had over 20% of registered voters to sign the petition.
"It was a way to provide political cover so politicians could say that all of these people signed the petition to maintain fire protection," said Local 3682 President Chris Thomason. "The hope was that residents could vote on this issue before public employee groups went into negotiations."
But the City Council chose to delay the vote until April 2012 because the city didn't want to pay for a special election. Even when Local 3682 offered to pay for the cost of the election (up to $60,000), the city council refused. One councilmember accused firefighters of trying to buy the election.
And so Local 3682 recently began negotiations by doing something different: they started with mediation.
"We met with the City and both sides had the opportunity to express their issues. The City wants to reduce the staffing levels to control costs and we want to maintain them to continue delivering quality service" said Thomason. "Even though a merger with LA County Fire solved the City issues, the city manager would not even consider the merger as a viable solution. He stated that it is a non-starter due to the direction given to him from the City Council."
The people will vote on the fate of the merger in the April 2012 election.
An Update from Montebello
Times are still tough but there is a small silver lining in Montebello: Fire Station 56 is back in service, as of July 1.
The station has been closed for six of the last 12 months. It has since reopened as a three-member paramedic assessment engine.
"We've been in negotiations for one year and we finally got it reopened. That's a success. It's still not a full paramedic assessment, but we are back up and running," said Montebello Firefighter Association Local 3821 President Craig Barker.
Local 3821 is now looking to November elections to campaign for firefighter-friendly candidates.
Meanwhile, the city of Montebello remains under investigation from agencies including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the State Controller's office for mismanaging funds.