$$upport
Vanguard as it begins its
3rd year of publication. The news media with a
voice for the good of Glendale
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Vanguard
Weekly
News Vol II
Week of September
30, 2007
City of Glendale, CA Edition
www.vanguardians.org
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“Accountability”
Glendale’s
Watchdog
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HEADLINES
Public Is
Outraged Over GFD
Salaries
BREAKING NEWS!
Legal
Defense Fund
The four
stages of Vanguardians "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you,
then they fight you, then you win."
Mahatma
Gandhi describing the stages of establishment
resistance to a winning strategy of nonviolent activism
When WE
are complacent THEY win!
In the
last analysis, of course, an oath will encourage fidelity in office only to the
degree that officeholders continue to believe that they cannot escape ultimate
accountability for a breach of faith. James L. Buckley
Come visit
at www.vanguardians.org check out
all the Southland
events for September
News in Brief:
·
If
you received a parking ticket in the Isabel Street Parking lot, contact Vanguardians.
·
Staff
wants the issue of candlesticks at 3612 Linda Vista to go away and fall off the
agenda
·
Join
Vanguardians and Fifty Fifty Leadership for a cruise to nowhere this fall.
Ready, Set, Sail…contact Barry Allen for details – 818 243 1502
·
Psst…Some
Council members are unhappy with the self-serving lobbying efforts of staff.
·
$$$
457 City employees make over $100,000 a year, for a total of $57,110,620.85
Read it yourself $100K
Club
·
GWP
rates going up for two reasons – usage is down and they need more money
·
80
Foreclosures in Glendale – people that have default notices
·
Advertising
slots available on Vanguardians website and Vanguard News – See #4
Vanguardians
Provides the Possibility of an Accountable, Responsible and Responsive
Government
Through Grass Roots Involvement, Engagement and Advocacy.
Breaking News
Vanguardians has established a fund for the legal defense of
the defendants in the lawsuit by the Montrose Collection. Make checks out to
Vanguard, note on the reference line, Defense Fund. You will
receive a receipt for tax deduction. Mail to POB 11202, Glendale CA 91226. Credit cards for not less than
$100 (due to merchant fee expense) can be accepted by calling 818 243 1502.
Vanguardians is in discussions about entering this lawsuit as a party in
interest, Amicus Curiae. Vanguard is hard at work
developing a policy to defend advocates for community accountability and will keep
advocates posted.
Only when WE are vigilant are THEY accountable!
If you have issues with the
City and you fear retaliation or intimidation, bring them to Vanguardians and
we’ll share them with the appropriate department assuring your anonymity. One member
of a City Advisory Committee was fearful about speaking out against the
rebuilding of fire station 26 because, “I have a project in the planning stage
and the GFD could hold the project up another 6-12 months.” Plan check payback.
City Council
Criteria:
Responsiveness to the community, knowledge and understanding of the issues,
placing the needs of the public before the needs of the special interests
including city employee associations and attentiveness and accountability.
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Weekly Council Scorecard
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Council
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9-23
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Overall
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Drayman
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A
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B
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Najarian
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C
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C
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Quintero
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B
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B
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Weaver
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C
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C
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Yousefian
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A
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B
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Overheard: Civil Service Commissioner sitting with GFD Chief Officer. Following Bruce
Philpott’s Oral Communications about the $100K Club. “I wonder how
Starbird will pull this one out for us?”
Giving
money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenagers’ P.J.O’Rourke
Council & Staff
Comments:
Staff should present their complete reports at
the Council meetings and stop lobbying Council. What they are doing may well be
a serial meeting, which is a violation of the Brown Act. Even
if they call it a briefing. The criteria that are missing…It must be for
the good of the Glendale
public. In the past, staff has only promoted self-serving urgency ordinances
that give more pay and benefits. The public isn’t aware of the real costs and
the unnecessary use of consultants. The publication of the $100K Club makes it
obvious why the City joined an amicus to prevent the public from knowing. One
well meaning person expressed how fortunate that a former Battalion Chief gave
of his time so freely being unaware that the time was all overtime, about $50K
worth.
Why did the City bargain away the exempt from
overtime status for the Battalion Chiefs?
Answer because they don’t care about taxpayer dollars. It is time to
look at the questions Council asks the staff about the pay raises. Guaranteed
that this issue will be tops during the next election cycle.
Turn off those Blackberry’s. The public knows
that you are receiving direction from staff, families and friends. Remember, if
it is electronic we all can partake of the messages. Isn’t technology great?
Watch for a selection of these messages on the Vanguardians web site.
Council needs to represent the public not
management. Council needs to avoid Brown Act violations of serial meetimgs by staff called ‘individual briefings.’
Commissioners: If you feel that Council and
Staff are impeding or directing your action, you need to speak out and speak
up. You are not prohibited from addressing Council during Oral Communications.
That is your right!
From Apathy to Advocacy & Accountability
Fire Department
GFD can’t reduce overtime but they have assigned a
firefighter to design the two fire stations. The use of the community room at
station 21 has been for public safety, AYSO and one neighborhood event
according to public records, See letters #2 The 173 fire department employees
showing up as members of the $100K Club drove the Vanguardians and Opengovernment
(Hal Weber) website to record hits and downloads.
Comments Received Regarding Bruce Philpott
and the New Model for Municipal Fire Protection
Police Department
“As an LAPD officer for more than 20 years - with two
brothers on fire departments - all I can say after seeing that salary list
posted on your site is that every cop in Glendale has to be
totally insulted by this. Out of the fifty highest paid people on Glendale's payroll,
only 3 are cops, only 12 are city administrators, and a whopping 35 are
firefighter types. That is the most AMAZING thing I have ever seen.
35 firefighters vs. 3 cops??? Is the fire union
mowing the mayor's lawn and washing the CAO's cars?
What a slap in the face to your police chief and even the
fire chief himself to be out paid by a non-management fire captain.
So, the argument is always made that these fire guys are
working a lot of hours - big deal - I’m sure the other city staffers appearing lower
on the list work a heck of a lot of extra hours too, they just don't happen to
get paid for it.” KS
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the
support of Paul. - George Bernard Shaw
Vanguard is
working for you.
HEADLINES
Outrage is demonstrated in
the letters section, #2
Vanguard is published
independently by Vanguardians,
Leading and Preserving– Our vision is to
live in a community where all people,
regardless of
geography, background or economic status, can enjoy accountability, integrity,
effectiveness and responsiveness
from our
elected officials and each of the city's departments, through grass roots
involvement, engagement and advocacy.
CONTENTS:
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You may agree or disagree with the views below. Feel free to
comment on them.
Who runs the City, the Council or Staff? It appears that staff is usurping the Council’s
authority by bringing its issues in front of the requests of the Council that
gets its direction from the public. Staff has briefings for the Council to give
their side of an issue and to determine that Council members vote. Tuesday evening
CM Weaver moved to note and file a report from LA
County on gasification plants (see articles #2). Before there was a second he
was reminded that this was the report that had to be heard. Check the instant
replay. Just a faux paux. Council will tell you they
had no idea how much money City fire personnel are making yet they never questioned
a contract. Hopefully they learned several things: 1) Do their own research and
2) Ask meaningful questions. For instance – is there a justification for new
fire stations? Will they get the emergency equipment there faster? Answer,
No!
The police department has kept pace with change and technology. Years ago before 2-way
radios, the police would stay at the station and wait for a phone call before
they raced to the scene. They added precinct stations later to be able to
respond quicker. Now with sophisticated radios the police patrol their
districts so they can arrive at calls in seconds. The fire department can
patrol instead of sleep. With shorter shifts (12 hours instead of 24) they
won’t need beds and sleeping rooms. With patrol vehicles as was reported in
Vanguard before, they can be visible and act as a deterrent to fire, criminal
activity and respond to emergencies in seconds instead of minutes.
The new fire chief. Will
he or she be a stand for the needs of the community or the fire staff? Will the
emphasis be on adopting a new model or will the Chief work to get more money
and bigger TVs for his staff? What will the Council do when the fire department
and management lobby them, just capitulate and wait for campaign contributions?
City Manager Starbird looked shocked when he heard that a fire captain made just a few
thousand less than he made in 2006. The fire captain (equivalent to a police
sergeant) made more money than the police chief and fire chief. When there
isn’t enough staff to fill the shifts, the GFD awards overtime. Fire management made the decision to pay huge amounts
of OT instead of properly staffing.
CM Yousefian displayed the frustration that many members of the public have endured dealing
with the city bureaucracy. Yousefian needs to be acknowledged for really
representing the public. The issue Tuesday night was the failure of City Staff
to properly communicate with those affected by the GIS and proposed zoning
setback change that there would be a long term cost as the setbacks would
disallow the property owner from making future changes without variances. The
GIS maps were in error, something that is only being admitted privately. The
entire issue was brought before Council 9 months ago (election time) by CM
Weaver on his own initiative. The Council member has been willing to step up to
the plate regarding the decaying electric power infrastructure before the
public is hit with $500,000,000 bond – more than a third of the City’s
liquidity. As further acknowledgement
of his interest in the community, Yousefian pointed out the $174,000 SNAFU the
week prior regarding the mixed messages on a tree and he supported the
residents of 3612 Linda Vista that await the Staff to put their safety issue on
the agenda.
Yousefian is taking a
stand for all of us. He needs to better articulate the importance of the issues
he brings before Council without his emotions getting in the way, as he is
knowledgeable and interested in the well being of the community. He has shared
his frustration with the system, we need to support him and encourage him to
participate in more transparent debate to pinpoint the problems and to force
management to stop feeding egos and become more user
friendly to the public. The editorial in the GNP was the result of political
motivation by a Council member who will be running for re-election.
Integrity starts with the individual
TAKE ACTION – GET INVOLVED – BE
INFORMED -- READ VANGUARD
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Announcements – Letters – Calendar -- Articles
Letters
ED – Letters published do not necessarily express the
opinion of Vanguardians, this publication, the
organization or Barry Allen. Names are used only when requested.
I am still speechless after reading the $100 thousand club
list on your site. What is wrong with our city management paying these
ridiculous overtime amounts for people to sit, watch TV, shop, and sleep at
fire stations, as Mr. Philpot pointed out? How come the cops and utility
workers don't get paid as good as these firemen? They're the ones we see
working every day. This is silly. I don't care how much the fire
chief tries to defend this, it's an amazing waste of our money and there's
nothing to show for it but a bunch of firemen with big houses, new motor
homes, large boats, fancy vacation homes, fast cars, and fat bank
accounts. How on earth can a supervisor level fire captain make two
hundred thousand dollars or anything close to it when you have management
people in other city divisions making far less? There are not that many
fires in Glendale so we know
this overtime is not for fighting fires. It is for standing by and
waiting for an alarm to go off or sleeping in a comfy firehouse bed while
getting paid big bucks. This stinks!
TA
No word other than OUTRAGE came to
mind when I read the top 100 paid employees for the city. The fact that
there are so many firemen at the very top of this list among executive staff
and administrators really fly in the face of logic and reason. I could
understand it if they were being paid overtime to fight fires, but these
people are being paid that overtime to eat, sleep, and watch television while
their co-workers go to the beach. And why on earth are Chief officers for a fire department being paid overtime and shift
differentials? Aren't they management or even administration? Just
how powerful is this fireman's union in Glendale?
I don't get it. My brother
is a fireman for L.A. County. He
doesn't get it either. He made well UNDER $100 thousand last year working
for a much larger, much busier fire department, and he too is a fire captain. He
even has a college degree, while most of the Glendale firemen
and captains he said he knows have only high school diplomas. Sour grapes? You bet!
As you point out, Barry, a fire
captain is the same as a police or sheriff sergeant and I sure don't see
many police people anywhere near the top of this list. Fire battalion
chiefs are the same as police and sheriff's lieutenants, too, and look
at the pay difference there! I am told these are by far the
highest paid chief positions in the entire county and the only ones he knows of
who get a huge shift differential percentage when they have to work a 40 hour
week. If a Glendale battalion
chief goes from working only 9 days a month at a fire station to a regular
Monday through Friday schedule like the rest of America works,
they have to pay them something like 12% more in bonus money? That is
INSANE. Who thought of that one and why on earth would you?
What ever happened to the humble
civil servant who gladly worked for a modest wage, who took pride in their
accomplishments, and who reveled at being seen as local heroes? They
are lost to greed. These people don't care about us, only their wallets.
Just look at a fire station parking lot and tell me what you see.
Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infinity. And few, if any, even live anywhere close
to the city they serve! Do they even have to live in the same county?
Maybe this city needs to think
about contracting to the county and instilling some fiscal responsibility in
our system. I don't care what reason the fire chief may give for paying
this many people this much money, if it wasn't to actually fight a fire it was far
too much! Knowing that so many of Glendale's firemen are
getting paid huge sums of overtime to warm their overstuffed recliners, watch
big screen televisions, and sleep while just waiting for a bell to ring does
NOT make me feel any safer! Just walk into your local fire station after
lunch and see where you find them. I did one afternoon last year with my
daughter. It was like her naptime at day care. But I've now noticed
they lock their doors after lunch to keep us out. Isn't that quaint!
I am sickened and I am angered by this report. What's
even more frustrating is I fear my brother, the devoted fireman himself,
assures me there is nothing to be done. Once you give it up, you never
get it back and that sadly includes the taxpayer’s money.
But, I have to say what I feel and want to note I also was
told that this fire department allows half of its people to be off every
day using a call-in system and they don't even have to ask a supervisor if they
can be gone. This place is amazing! Half is a lot of firemen to
hire back I am sure and all at overtime??? And to make things even
crazier if you look on line at the labor agreements for the firemen and the
fire managers they get 270 hours a year for vacation even if they only work a regular
40 hour week. 270 hours??? The rest of the city gets only 160 hours
from what I can tell. No wonder the overtime is crazy, the vacation leave
is crazy. And I looked more into the shift pay my brother told me
about. The on line contract says the battalion chiefs and deputy chiefs
get a 13% bonus just for working a 40 hour week. 13% on top of those
huge salaries and then they get overtime too? That is insane! And do they
even work a regular 40-hour week or one of the alternate work schedules? Why
are they given this money? Don't they have to work where their chief
tells them or do we have to bribe all of our civil servants with bonus pay to
work an honest day? More people need to read these contracts! DN
The number of $100,000 plus salaries listed is shocking! No
wonder the City claims they can't afford a community pool, animal shelter or
park maintenance! There's a feeding frenzy in City Hall and the public is left
with the crumbs. WOW
GH
How can a city justify such greed? Glendale, with a
population of a little over 200,000 had 457 employees taking home $100,000 or
more in 2006. And most of these are men: 425 of them.
I am very interested in pay equity for women, so my first
thought was that of outrage that only 7% of the 100K club was women. As a
resident and taxpayer, however, my rage focuses on the out-of-control spending
that is happening at city hall. When is this going to stop? When
are our elected officials going to stop pandering to these abusers? Accountability, accountability, accountability.
In reviewing the list there are several positions that earn
every penny they are paid, but so many are not. I hope you receive a lot
of letters about this and publish them so the city council members will see
that there is a groundswell of fury at their cavalier spending of our hard
earned money to people who spend far too much time doing something other than
running our fine city. PF
Saw Barry on Larry Zarian Forum.
Barry and Larry work so well together and you handled those calls really well.
On the Section 8 housing your comment to call Chahe
was perfect; the advice you gave on the school issue was absolutely on target.
The caller that insisted you do a ride-along must have been a firefighter. You
said why you hadn’t done one and he didn’t get it. You have gored their ox and
they don’t like it. I saw Philpott do his first part
on the fire department and am waiting to see more. Change is needed. Twenty
firemen show up at a false alarm and there are no consequences or charges. Two
paramedics took my neighbor to the hospital and there is a bill for a couple
thousand dollars. Seems strange to me. I hope Larry
has Philpott on soon. MR
Calls
There
were numerous calls about the $100K Club. Asking questions about how this was
allowed to happen. Also that the GFD has really milked the
system. People are incensed that firefighters get paid to sleep and they
are not willing \ to invest in new sleep facilities. There were several calls
about the drama at the end of the Council meeting.
Articles
The next
generation of generation
plants is gasification
LINKS Click here for Vanguard
Archives by Hal Weber
Open
Government Guide See www.vanguardians.org for more
CALENDAR
Monday, October 1
Glendale Water & Power Commission
– 4:00 pm, City
Council Chambers, City Hall, 613 E. Broadway, Glendale. 548-2107
Tuesday, October 2
Glendale Housing Authority – 2:30 pm, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 613 E.
Broadway, Glendale. 548-2060
Glendale Redevelopment Agency -- 2:30 pm, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 613 E.
Broadway, Glendale. 548-2005
Glendale City Council -- 6:00 pm, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 613 E. Broadway,
Glendale. 548-4844
Wednesday, October 3
Zoning Administrator's Hearing -- 9:30 am, Municipal Services Building, Room 105, 633 E. Broadway, Glendale. 548-2140
Special Meeting – Community
Development Block Grant Advisory Committee – 2:30 pm, Room 105, Municipal Services Building, 633 E. Broadway, Glendale. 548-2060 * NOTE – This meeting will be taped
and aired at a later time
Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Commission -- 3:30 pm, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 613 E. Broadway, Glendale. 548-2000
Thursday, October 4
Committee for a Clean & Beautiful Glendale – 8:15 am, Perkins Community Room, 141 N. Glendale Ave., Glendale. 548-2060
Design
Review Board #2 – Room 105, Municipal Services Building, 633 E.
Broadway, Glendale. 548-2140
Open
Government
We would like
to thank the City Attorney for providing Vanguard with the many public
documents that are being made available to the public so they too can
participate in open government.
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The
Future of Glendale is an online presentation -- certain to get your juices
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