How much do they make? How much do you pay for each city employee?

State Controller Betty Yee has again posted the salaries and benefits of public employees in California.
Link here to see what employees make in Long Beach: http://publicpay.ca.gov/Reports/Cities/City.aspx?entityid=205&fiscalyear=2014

How to Increase Voter Turnout -- Move Elections to November

Or click on to: http://www.lbbizjournal.com/#!insidecityhall/c1w6p

Is Fire Station 18 at Risk Again?

Coincidence  in Timing of Changes for Zoning? Dense Development Possibly Coming at Los Coyotes and Palo Verde.

 Next Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council is being asked to allow increased density (more condos per square feet) in several areas of the city now zoned as “institutional.” This new zoning called Planned Unit Development (PUD) will increase the number of residences allowed from 7 per acre to 13 per acre.

In 2004, the Long Beach Community College Board of Trustees purchased 5.78 acres of land and medical office buildings  located at 3320, 3340 Los Coyotes Diagonal and 3325 Palo Verde Ave. They paid around $9 million and told the public it would be used for a Culinary Institute.  Actually, the taxpayers are still paying for the property because funds from a bond measure were used for the purchase – a measure that is paid for by an increase in local property taxes. LBCC put the property up for sale this year for an asking price of $14.4 million.

The property is not currently zoned for homes, but low and behold, the ever accommodating City Council is about to change all of that when it votes for the new type of development zoning next Tuesday.

Sadly, there has been no  transparency about what is going to happen at Palo Verde and Los Coyotes Diagonal. Sources say that a developer was promised the zoning would be changed before he bought the property. Really? Before the public even knew about the zoning change and before the residents living in that neighborhood even had a chance to comment?

Sources also say that the developer plans on building not less than 70 condos/townhouses at Palo Verde and Los Coyotes Diagonal and more if the developer can persuade the church located adjacent to the property on Palo Verde to sell for $2 million.

But there’s more. Remember several years back when I fought Mayor Foster’s proposal to close Fire Station 18 which is conveniently located right where this new development is planned? Has anyone asked the current councilwoman if Station 18 will be closed and sold off too?

If you are concerned about high density in your neighborhood, let the City Council know before November 10^th.

Rethinking Term Limits in Long Beach

Check out my latest column in the Long Beach Business Journal on the issue of how term limits are negatively impacting our local government.
http://www.lbbizjournal.com/#!insidecityhall/c1w6p

It is Shocking About the Power Outages Caused by Edison Equipment

Read my latest column for the Long Beach Business Journal:

It Is Shocking About Edison

http://www.lbbizjournal.com/#!insidecityhall/c1w6p

County Tells LBFD What I Said Two Years Ago -- Rapid Medic Deployment Program Is Unsafe

Thanks to the up to date reporting by my friend, Bill Pearl at www.lbreport.com, I am linking a letter just sent by the County Emergency Medical Services to the Fire Chief ordering the stoppage of the "rapid medic deployment" and the reinstating of the previous model of providing paramedic services.

See link for full letter: http://www.lbreport.com/rmd/rmd.pdf

Okay, so I told you so two years ago when I was on City Council.  I repeatedly stated the program was unsafe. (And being the only health care professional on the council who worked in local ERs and also served briefly as an EMT...I knew what I was talking about.)

No other city in LA County uses the model pushed through by this current Fire Chief and City Manager. From the moment it was installed, firefighters complained that it put patient safety in jeopardy. And guess what. It did.

So let's hope the City doesn't get sued by a patient who claims that response was delayed because someone had the hair-brain idea to change the model of emergency medical services that had served this city and its residents well for many, many years.

Long Beach Business Journal Features Schipske Column

The Long Beach Business Journal is featuring my column (and others) on a newly launched website. This gives readers the opportunity to make comments.

Check it out. I welcome feedback but please be civil.

http://www.lbbizjournal.com/#!insidecityhall/c1w6p

Part II on Civic Center Deal and the Problem with Private Public Partnerships

English: Long Beach, California at night (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week's Long Beach Business Journal is out and on page 4 I continue discussing the proposed Civic Center deal which will encumber taxpayers for 50 years while making someone very wealthy. That's because that's what Private-Public Partnerships do.

Check the column out.

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Why the Civic Center Deal Isn't Good for Taxpayers!

Yes, the current City Hall isn't attractive but it sure looks mighty pretty when you consider what the Mayor and Council are proposing to spend to get a new one. Mind you, the City Hall was only built in 1977. But to make sure the good taxpaying folk of Long Beach are scared enough, city staff has "determined" it is "seismically unsafe." When did they find this out? In 2005? It is 10 years later and not one person has been moved out of City Hall. That's because the data doesn't match the rhetoric.

Take a look at my latest column on page 4 in the Long Beach Business Journal as I explore this boon doogle.

So why is Long Beach Charging Its Own Water Department $10.2 million?

Read my latest column on page 4 in Long Beach Business Journal about the City of Long Beach charging a pipeline fee on its own water department to the tune of $10.2 million.

Tracking Murder in Long Beach

The Los Angeles Times has a website that tracks murders in the Los Angeles County Area.

Filtering for Long Beach, you are able to see that currently the City if 84th most "deadliest"of the 270 cities in the county. Most of the murders are confined to the poorest areas of the City, but nonetheless severely impact the residents who live here.

Check the site out: http://homicide.latimes.com/neighborhood/long-beach

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Hula Hoops, Martinis and Freeways

Read my latest column in this edition of the Long Beach Business Journal: Inside Long Beach on page 4 and get my take on the details of two ideas being floated around City Hall in reaction to the continued problems with fully funding Fire Services: contracting out Fire Services with LA County or setting up a Fire Protection Assessment District.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

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Drug Companies Responsible for Drug Cleanup

Water quality is seriously impacted by the millions of gallons of prescription medicines that are dumped or peed into our toilets. Most water treatment systems cannot effectively remove these medications and that is why the County of Alameda has made the pharmaceutical industry liable to take back unused drugs so that they do not wind up in our water systems.

Apparently the Supreme Court agrees with Alameda that the drug companies have to fund and manage drug take back programs. The court allowed a local ordinance to stand which make pill makers pay for drug disposal.

I worked with Long Beach early on to develop a program with Memorial Medical Center. But the fact remains the Long Beach program is only done once a year and people have medicines they need to dispose of year round.

Long Beach Health Department should now step up and develop a program with the pharmaceutical industry to get rid of unused medication. Meanwhile, please do not flush your pills down the toilet.. You can put them in a coffee can and place wet coffee grounds on top of them. It will destroy them and you can tape the top of the can and place in the garbage.

• High Court Won't Hear PhRMA's Appeal Of Drug Cleanup Law
• Drug Take-Back Laws Stand, Pave Way for More EPR Laws
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Tell the City to Put the American Flags Back

 Memorial Day, 2015 --

It was a sad sight driving down Clark Avenue today, Memorial Day, to see the empty brackets on the light poles lining Clark Avenue, from Wardlow Avenue to Carson Street. (Also a little embarrassing since the TV crews were there to tape the Memorial Day activities and the flags should have been prominent on this day of all days.)

Without explanation, the City of Long Beach had removed the two dozen United States flags that hung for the past three years on light poles.The flags were originally purchased by me when I was Councilmember for the 5th Council district where the area sits.

Clark Avenue was the ONLY street in Long Beach to display the US Flag and the flags were placed there because of the proximity to the military memorial at Rosie the Riveter Park (at Conant and Clark) and Vets Stadium. The flags had been replaced twice since they were installed and were in need of replacement by the current Councilwoman Stacy Mungo.



Contact the City Manager, Pat West at patrick.west@longbeach.gov and stacy.mungo@longbeach.gov and tell them to put the flags back. If need be, I will personally raise the money to pay for the flags.

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• Memorial Day at Rosie the Riveter Park

City Hall Neglects To Remind Residents About Important Military Memorials in Long Beach to Visit on Memorial Weekend

Okay. The Mayor's Office did put out a press release reminding residents that Monday is Memorial Day. The release also told readers to click onto a Los Angeles Times link about the "14 men" from Long Beach who died in service after 9/11.

But what the Mayor failed to remind folks is that right here in Long Beach we have two important military memorials which you can visit.

The first is the Rosie the Riveter Park at Conant Street and Clark Avenue. Not only does it contain wonderful information on the contributions of the women who worked on the home front making the planes at Douglas Aircraft that helped win the war, but it also features a military memorial wall and flags representing all the military services and POWs. The memorial is aptly inscribed: "All Gave Some. Some Gave All."

And while the Mayor's Office mentions 14 Long Beach men who died in military service after 9/11, there are actually 15. I know because I made certain that each of them have a memorial banner hanging on the light poles in Rosie the Riveter Park as part of the Long Beach Hometown Heroes Project I started in 2011.

The men not only are remembered with a banner but you can listen via cellphone as you walk the park to a narration about their lives.

These men and their lives can be viewed at: www.lbhometownheroes.com. 

Down at City Hall we also "remembered" the families who bear the continued sacrifice of their loss. We installed a Gold Star and a Blue Star flag outside of City Hall, making Long Beach the first city to do so.

Take a moment this weekend to stop by Rosie the Riveter Park or City Hall and reflect about these brave men and women.

Council Should Pass a "Taxless Tuesday" Instead of "Meatless Monday"

Yes folks, it was an interesting and very important discussion this past Tuesday in City Council. 

No, it wasn't about restoring services in the police and fire departments. 

And no, it wasn't about the declining oil revenues and the increasing costs of water facing the City.

It was about supporting a movement to encourage residents to go vegetarian by passing (on a 7-2 vote) a resolution to encourage residents to observe "Meatless Mondays."

"Meatless Mondays" isn't the most original idea to come along since many people already have stopped eating meat, either because they can't afford it or they believe eating less meat is healthier.

Having a City Council weigh in on something as personal as what people eat is strange, considering the many serious issues facing the City.

Drafting the resolution took staff time and so did the Council discussion. It will come back to Council for yet another vote. All this time could be put to better use.

For instance, how about passing a "Taxless Tuesday" resolution that pledges that local government will stop looking for ways every Tuesday to tax residents and instead focus on making City government more efficient and frugal?

The next city budget will arrive in a few months filled with increased fees and perhaps additional cuts to service. And you will hear chatter about increasing the utility user tax to make up for short falls. 

Then ask the Mayor and Council why it can spend a million dollars to obtain a Bloomberg grant that won't generate any additional revenue to the City but added more staff to the city payroll.

Ask Council why City employees (more than 5000) still don't clock in and out of work but are allowed to fill in their own time sheets.

Question why real performance measures are missing from budget documents and why the Council won't put the City Manager on notice that he either reports them or is replaced.

The Council needs to get busy with the real business of local government: fiscal reform and performance management.

Stop the theatrics or as Shakespeare wrote" sound and fury signifying nothing."

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• 
  

Key Staff Bailing from Long Beach

Several key staff are leaving the City of Long Beach. 

Kevin Wattier, Executive Director of the City's Water Department announced his retirement after 14 years of service. Wattier is credited with guiding the department during difficult water issues but butted heads with city officials over its taking millions in "pipeline fees" without taking the matter to the voters. As a result of the fee, the Water Department began charging city departments for water -- which has severely impacted the budget of the Parks and Recreation Department which oversees parks, golf courses and street medians.

Apparently City Hall is about to lose the Director of Human Resources, Debbie Mills. Mills who came up through the ranks in the City, was appointed Director in 2010. She and her staff sat at the bargaining tables when council demanded that employee unions and associations begin paying their share of pension costs. Staff recommended that in turn, all employees be given a salary increase.

Mills and her staff should soon have to begin negotiations again for the numerous labor union contracts are set to expire.

An ad on line, points out that her replacement will be paid up to the low $200,000 range. Only five years and a BA are required. (What no certification as an HR Professional which is required by most companies that employ 6,000 employees?)

Parks, Recreation and Marine Department head, George Chapjian announced he is leaving to become Director of Community Services for Santa Barbara County. Chapjian only worked in the Long Beach position since 2011. His department budget and staffing have been slashed to the bone since he first took his job. Talk around city hall is more cuts are planned as the new mayor and council have to deal with reduced revenues and increased expenditures.

City Clerk Larry Herrera-Cabrera retired late April after commuting to Long Beach from San Clemente since 2002. Larry tried to bring many modernizations to a department that had been previously plagued with problems. Some cities actually elect the City Clerk so that he/she can be totally independent from the mayor and council. The City council appoints the Clerk in Long Beach.

WRD is Drowning in Scandals

One of the main reasons I ran for a seat on the Water Replenishment District was because I thought it needed to be "cleaned up." 

Water Districts are governmental agencies that are notorious for not getting a lot of scrutiny from the public. Dare say most people don't even know they exist let alone what they do.

In the past week, WRD has been exposed for two troubling situations -- spending over $5 million dollars suing local cities and today a story about one of its past board members (who I trounced in the election) alleging sexual harassment by another board member while on a junket to Washington, DC.

Oh, and let's not forget there was some alleged hanky panky by yet another board member last year or that apparently some WRD electeds were involved in funding a campaign to defeat Signal Hill Councilmembers who dared refused to pay up when WRD assessed the city.

What galls me about charges of sexual harassment between and by elected officials is that anyone elected or appointed to a commission in California must take mandatory training on how to prevent it.  So did these two ever go to the training? And how much is it going to cost WRD...I mean the taxpayers to settle this lawsuit?

With the current water crisis now on the front page, let's hope these agencies get a closer look so that the public can put a stop to their money going down the drain.

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Stinky Water Back in Long Beach for Awhile

I can always remember the smell of the water that came out of the taps in my Grandmother's home on Santa Fe Avenue in the Gold Star Manor. It was the same smell that was at family friends' homes on Easy Avenue. The smell of rotten eggs  -- hydrogen sulfide.

The smell is back in Long Beach. I asked the Water Department why and here is the official response:

The LBWD's Groundwater Treatment Plant went back into service Wednesday, April 22, 2015 after being out of service for annual maintenance. Some of the local wells that are treated at the groundwater plant have low but detectable levels of hydrogen sulfide, and some customers may have a higher degree of sensitivity to this “rotten egg-like” odor.  Hydrogen sulfide is not harmful. LBWD is working on blending the groundwater with purchased treated water to make it more palatable. This issue should be resolved by May 11, 2015. If a customer has any other questions relating to their water, please contact our Water Quality Lab at 562-570-2482

Glad to read that the hydrogen sulfide isn't harmful...although take a look at the linked article below. Now that I know where the smell is coming from I can stop blaming my dog...

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Memorial CEO Resigns

English: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While this news is slightly dated, the public should closely look at what is happening at Memorial Medical Center. Popular CEO, Diana Hendel, who holds a doctorate in Pharmacy, recently announced her resignation from Memorial.

Hendel, also the President of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, resigned from that post as well and faded out of public view with an announcement that both resignations are due to her need to attend to her own health.

Hendel, considered to be one of the smartest women in healthcare, guided the Memorial giant to expansion of a new Miller Childrens' Hospital and the take over of the financially crippled Community Hospital.

She was also on board during considerable labor strife with the California Nurses Association its affiliate the National Health Care Workers Union, which had filed several actions against Memorial with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging:

• 

  English: Color logo of the National Labor Relations Board, an independent agency of the United States federal government. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  8(a)(1) Concerted Activities (Retaliation, Discharge, Discipline)
• 8(a)(1) Coercive Rules
• 8(a)(1) Coercive Statements (Threats, Promises of Benefits, etc.)
• 8(a)(1) Denial of Access
• 8(a)(1) Coercive Actions (Surveillance, etc)
• 8(a)(3) Changes in Terms and Conditions of Employment

Finally, the CNA was successful in organizing the nursing staff at Community Hospital and winning a first contract.

Following Hendel's departure, several key staff also left, leaving the Human Resources department searching for replacements and upper management having to plot out "succession planning."

The Memorial Medical system based in Fountain Valley is not known for its friendliness towards unions or for anyone who is the least bit sympathetic.

Hendel's presence in Long Beach is missed. 

Tripling Officeholder Accounts Violates Prop M Passed by Voters

The move by the City Council to triple the amount that can be raised annually for "officeholder accounts" may in fact violate the intent of Proposition M which was approved by the voters of Long Beach in 1994 as a way to curb the influence of money in local politics.

Prop M (among other things) limits campaign fundraising amounts for each elected office and limits fundraising to just the year before and during an election. The intent was to make sure elected officials were focusing on their work and not fundraising.

"Officeholder accounts" were added by the City Council in 1995 and under state government code can only be used for "non political" expenditures.

Now along comes a new city council which doesn't seem too concerned about political reform and is pushing through legislation that would triple the amount that can be raised year round for "officeholder accounts" from $10,000 to $30,000 -- thereby opening the flood gates for donors to give money even when a campaign for office is not scheduled. 

Not all cities have "officeholder accounts." Some cities allow an officeholder account only with extra money raised during campaign season.

So three council members opposed tripling the allowable amounts -- they only wanted to double them.

The ethical thing to do now would be to propose (as many other cities have) to put into place a companion piece of legislation: make it illegal for council members to vote on any issue if he or she has received more than $250 in the past 12 months from someone connected with the issue -- usually a contractor or developer. (Can also be extended to a union organization.) 

Come on City Council show the voters what you're really made of. 

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City Staff Effort to Kill Prior Efforts for Transparency -- Stopped by Planning Commission

The Press Telegram announced at the beginning of the year that it would take on "transparency"as a major issue in the City of Long Beach...okay...so where is the editorial criticizing the Mayor-appointed Planning Commission's agenda item that would eliminate the requirements of public notice within 750 feet of a proposed development to 300 feet and completely eliminate notification of tenants and instead require the erection of a large sign?

In 2009, Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske authored legislation that expanded the requirements to notify residents of proposed development from 300 to 750 feet and to make certain renters as well as property owners received notice.

This week, the Planning Commission took up a staff recommendation to reduce the notification requirements but rebuffed the idea on a 4-0 vote.

You can thank the members of the Planning Commission for their votes (click here to see who they are) and make sure to contact your Councilmember and insist this issue not be taken up by the Council, especially since the City is getting ready to start approving a long list of developments.

Here is what the Planning Commission staff recommended. Notice the complaint that the City has "bad addresses." (No one could get the list cleaned up??)

Public Noticing Requirements Staff Report

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Council on 8-0 Boosts Available Fundraising for Officeholder Accounts

Opening the door to continuous fundraising, the City Council on an 8-0 vote agreed to increase the amounts allowed to raise for officeholder accounts and for the individual amounts allowed to be asked for these accounts.

Under the latest proposal, the Council will be able to raise $30,000 a year in $750 increments to fill their coffers. The funds cannot not be currently used for campaign and political reasons (but there is speculation from the City Attorney the courts may rule otherwise).

This action bumps up limits from $10,000 and $500 per individual which in turn makes fundraising for office accounts more lucrative since campaign accounts are limited to $350 per individual.

For City-wide offices such as mayor, auditor, prosecutor and attorney, the limits are bumped up to $75,000 and individuals may give $1,000 annually.

Long Beach voters approved campaign finance reform in 1994 because of concern over the corruption money can bring to politics. Fundraising was limited to only one year before an election so that elected officials would not be tempted to engage in "pay to play."

By increasing the amounts for officeholder accounts, the lines are now being blurred about perpetual fundraising. More seriously, now a contributor can give $3000 to a council member over a 4 year period of time versus the maximum of $350 in a primary election and $350 in the run off.

The Council cannot vote to increase campaign limits (because these were set by voters in Prop M). So the next best thing was to jack up the officeholder account limits to open up the door for a flood of new money.

Long Beach Inside will report as the money is given, provide the Council now insists on stringent, open and public reporting.

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