tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post8117012411510100213..comments2023-11-28T20:40:14.193-08:00Comments on Fix Pacifica: New City Fire Assessment - "Tax" or "Fee"?Fix Pacificahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14451072441256706977noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-28267569318678883702011-02-17T19:59:38.481-08:002011-02-17T19:59:38.481-08:00DONT VOTE FOR ANY BENEFITS THAT WILL BENEFIT THE F...DONT VOTE FOR ANY BENEFITS THAT WILL BENEFIT THE FOLLOWING: Teachers, Fireperson, Police Officers, anyone who gets paid through the U.S. tax payers. And, especially do not vote for any tax increases. Politicians continue to rob peter to pay paul.<br /><br />Remember, Government Employee jobs have been saved by the U.S. tax payers, through the $800 Billion Stimilus Fund that Democrat Pelosi forced through congress. Since Pelosi was elected in 2007, right away millions of Americans in private sector started to lose their jobs. Pres Obama promised if we support this 800 Billion Stimilus Fund Act, unemployment will drop below 8%. As of today Unemployment is reported as 10%. More job losses in private sector to come.<br /><br />Since the signing of the Health Care Reform Act, People in the private sector have lost their right to Health Care. They are paying more for less. More job losses to come.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Teachers, Fireperson, Police, all other government employees are crying about having to pay a little more of their health care. Please, allow me to slap that stupid off of their faces.<br /><br />40 Million (creeping higher) Americans are on foods stamps. How much are the unions and these corrupt politicians going to tax us just so they can have a cushy pension and health care? When will you say ENOUGH?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-27451818278118338682011-02-17T01:40:38.090-08:002011-02-17T01:40:38.090-08:00Whoa there sparky. Voting yes? Every cut this city...Whoa there sparky. Voting yes? Every cut this city announces with full and glorious fanfare is the old winkwink kind. We'll be paying for them somewhere down the road. They have yet to face the fact that we all have been living beyond our municipal means for some time. You can make that national or even global. How are we going to pay for all this? The pain hasn't even started yet. Giving more money to these shameless parasites/politicians is not going to keep anyone right side up on their mortgage or create one lousy job. But hey it will keep our council well paid. What a joke. And it's on us if we cave in to scare tactics and half-truths. Enough. Don't vote for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-90811395153066024072011-02-16T08:04:25.560-08:002011-02-16T08:04:25.560-08:00If every city employee took a %5 pay cut right now...If every city employee took a %5 pay cut right now today the savings would more than equal the terms of the fire tax and hopefully no one would need to be laid off. <br /><br />Instead we're hearing Tony Soprano like threats that if we don't pay the fire tax services will be cut.<br /><br />This direction that has been taken is not only cynical it lacks empathy for the public at large by our elected officials and public sector employee's.<br /><br /> If city staff/employee's took an immediate %5 pay cut I would gladly vote for this tax. That is the cost of my vote. Until then I'm a NO vote.todd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-14499154347161847052011-02-16T02:44:29.253-08:002011-02-16T02:44:29.253-08:00Zs, stay bored. The comment was directed to "...Zs, stay bored. The comment was directed to "SlapHappy" (aka: Anonymous). <br /><br />There was irony in both Todd and Lionel's recent comments. Maybe re-read those.Kathy Meehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14000878422176050692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-61078233252823735352011-02-15T23:06:44.433-08:002011-02-15T23:06:44.433-08:00Zzzzzzzzzz............Zzzzzzzzzz............You Bore Menoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-20388806067686779982011-02-15T20:55:42.728-08:002011-02-15T20:55:42.728-08:00There it is, city employee wages by job descriptio...There it is, city employee wages by job description-- that's a keeper. Thanks Anon, 12:28pm! Same information, here's a direct repeat of your link (I hope) <a href="http://lgcr.sco.ca.gov/CompensationDetail.aspx?entity=City&id=11984161400" rel="nofollow">Pacifica employee wages, 2009.</a> In a few days I'll plan to post a "how to make direct links" article, so we can all benefit. <br /><br />"SlapHappy", 10:56am, why would anyone want to take away YOUR optional government tax deferred 401(k) plan you have paid into? Not me. <br /><br />The issue. Such optional and elective tax deferred 401(k), 403(b) and after tax Roth savings plan variations may NOT be sponsored by an employer (hence no plan). The relevance of such consistent savings and life planning may not be fully understood by either the employee or the employer sponsor, because the reward is not in the near future, and its another expense. For the employer its another human resources and reporting hassle. For the employee "life happens", money may be withdrawn from these plans for various reasons to support near-term goals. <br /><br />Social security is the successful long-term core (and evolving) government plan which is funded through shared employer and employee payroll taxes over many years. Social security provides future pension guarantees based upon a paid-in formula (people who do not pay in as much receive less). Upon qualified retirement, social security provides a guaranteed stream-of-income for one's life. <br /><br />The problem. Currently social security is designed to supplement retirement income by 40%. That leaves a 60% gap. People are living longer (sicker of course), and even so financial inflation reduces the cash value over time. <br /><br />To fill the 60% gap, individual pension planning may not be adequate, or may collapse all together. Considering the model for collecting payroll taxes and assuring guarantees-- either social security could advance benefits (by collecting more revenue) and/or a new guarantee benefit plan could form). <br /><br />As a civilized (human and humane) society we pay-- either though "smart planning" or by default. Some current low income defaults include welfare, Medicaid, MediCal, government long-term care, low income supplemented discounts through utilities, city section 8 housing, gaps in care and homelessness. <br /><br />As an evolved, affluent society (although most of us exist in the bottom 15% of US wealth accumulation)-- wouldn't it be better to improve life planning for not just a few, but ALL employees and ALL workers during employment years? The advantages of TIME accumulation of these continued payroll deductions which cannot be invaded is clear. Further, this is "smart planning" of social benefits for our future. <br /><br />SlapHappy, here's the simple Merriam-Webster definition of <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communism" rel="nofollow">communism.</a> That's not what these needed societal social benefits are.Kathy Meehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14000878422176050692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-48795493211792065292011-02-15T12:28:28.940-08:002011-02-15T12:28:28.940-08:00http://lgcr.sco.ca.gov/CompensationDetail.aspx?ent...http://lgcr.sco.ca.gov/CompensationDetail.aspx?entity=City&id=11984161400Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-92036257997684213992011-02-15T10:56:57.081-08:002011-02-15T10:56:57.081-08:00@Kathy, Stay out of our private 401ks. Just becaus...@Kathy, Stay out of our private 401ks. Just because the government has mismanaged public employees pensions and has overpaid these employees does not give you the right to take mine. Sounds like communism to me. BACK OFF!SlapHappynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-87939922418690488552011-02-15T10:50:39.932-08:002011-02-15T10:50:39.932-08:00no. thank you for all you do Lionel.no. thank you for all you do Lionel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-33345012549052881672011-02-15T08:49:57.210-08:002011-02-15T08:49:57.210-08:00I submitted a letter to the council for last night...I submitted a letter to the council for last night's meeting regarding the proposed assessment. I'm against it for various reasons which I'll go into another time.<br /><br /> But I wrote that if the council absolutely feels it must go ahead with the assessment mail-in election, they need to address an injustice in the way in which "non-residential" parcels will bee assessed.<br /><br /> The $678 assessed for each of these parcels doesn't take into consideration the SIZE of the parcel. So, for example, Eureka Square Shopping Center is one parcel and will pay $678 for the whole shopping center. All the shops in Pacifica Manor Shopping Center are one parcel each, small individual parcels. They will pay $678 each.<br /><br />So large landowners will be subsidized by small businesses.<br />Sound fair?Lionel Emdenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-65777732097832600342011-02-15T06:51:16.431-08:002011-02-15T06:51:16.431-08:00Kathy I mentioned the 95% thing because perhaps mo...Kathy I mentioned the 95% thing because perhaps more $75000 a year EMT's are needed locally rather than $257,000 a year firemen. <br /><br />The publicly funded pensions it turns out are not funded hence the budget killing GASB 44/45. <br /><br />It's not the economy of 5 years ago. We all, public sector especially need to own that and adjust salaries and benefits. I'd rather staff and crews get less than have to let people go. There is enough unemployment already. <br /><br />A modest 10% pay cut for all city employee's and senior staff is preferable to laying off employee's, in my opiniontodd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-51747819703955489322011-02-14T16:34:00.031-08:002011-02-14T16:34:00.031-08:00Todd, since the government has done such a good jo...Todd, since the government has done such a good job with government employee benefits, particularly pensions, I think the government should also do the same for the rest of us.<br /><br />True, we have social security and other social benefits, but pension funding is a major unfunded or underfunded private industry liability for individual citizens. FAIR across-the-board would require government involvement, (with consideration of what other civilized industrial countries do, and our own unique hybrid version of course).<br /><br />And, you also mentioned "from what I can find over 95% of the calls are medical in nature (strokes, heart attacks, auto crashes) not fires." I recently completed some continuing education insurance classes which indicate 1 in 7 (14.25%) of us under age 65 live with a chronic disease or injury, and from age 65 that statistic increases to 1 of 2 (50%) of us. Thankfully our Firemen (along with paramedics) are quick responders, and available to save our lives during a medical emergency.Kathy Meehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14000878422176050692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-77418147141339033982011-02-14T14:18:23.041-08:002011-02-14T14:18:23.041-08:00@ Paul Gann said...
"I understand that the m...@ Paul Gann said... <br />"I understand that the mail-out ballots are counted in an interesting way. If you are against a bail-out you HAVE to mail back your ballot otherwise that ballot is counted as a yes!" Unbelievable if this is true, how many folks throw this stuff away with no idea their ballots are being counted as a YES. I really do have a hard time believeing this is legal.Sharonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-72273036484748605552011-02-14T06:47:15.789-08:002011-02-14T06:47:15.789-08:00From what I can find over 95% of the calls are med...From what I can find over 95% of the calls are medical in nature (strokes, heart attacks, auto crashes) not fires.todd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-74191261435678280142011-02-13T23:06:38.114-08:002011-02-13T23:06:38.114-08:00what do the fireman need overtime for? How many fi...what do the fireman need overtime for? How many fires do we have?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-76368383873177721442011-02-13T19:11:20.005-08:002011-02-13T19:11:20.005-08:00Yes Kathy, the state controllers office. The Pacif...Yes Kathy, the state controllers office. The Pacifica page shows the wages and overtime (before benefits) for every position in town. Luckily it does not give names, just the position. BUT... two battalion chiefs earned $240,000 in overtime alone in 2009, a fire captain earned over $40,000 in overtime. I can see why city staff is recommending a parcel tax to pay for firemen if just three of them took home almost $300,000 in overtime between them. Combined their total pay out for 2009 was north of $666,793, for just 3 firemen. Thankfully the police department showed greater restraint in billing us for overtime. Kudo's to the police departament for that.todd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-6679385309389989572011-02-12T15:02:52.108-08:002011-02-12T15:02:52.108-08:00"These public folk need to understand that we..."These public folk need to understand that we are all in this boat together and need to take some serious meetings concerning wage/benefit cuts. Token wage freezes mean nothing."<br /><br />Todd, assume you are referring to <a href="http://www.sco.ca.gov/" rel="nofollow">John Chiang, Controller, State of CA,</a> I'm not quite sure where, maybe you will advise. Another thought, as I recall last year some city employee pay was increased up to the county "average". <br /><br />What you are saying is meaningful, because all these benefits (public sector and private sector) are uneven. Here's a recent article (2/7/11) from US News on <a href="http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2011/02/07/7-reasons-you-dont-have-a-pension" rel="nofollow">"7 reasons you don't have a pension."</a> In reflection, given the socio-capitalist gap in benefits between the public sector and ALL levels of the private sector, this inequality looks like another "make all our lives better" job for government, but get it right.Kathy Meehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14000878422176050692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-16147234126654568342011-02-11T19:05:17.679-08:002011-02-11T19:05:17.679-08:00According to John Chiang's local reports our C...According to John Chiang's local reports our City manager's compensation was $197,722 in 2009 for a city of 40,000. The average cost of a fireman in Pacifica before benefits is north of $120,000 a year. Same for Police. The current county stat for fire calls says over 95% are medical related not fire related. The same Chiang report says the average wage for EMT's is below $80,000 a year. <br /><br />Before I vote to maintain the quality of life for these folks at the expense of my own I would like to see some major realization on the part of the public employees that regardless of what they feel they are owed pinching us for more isn't the answer. <br /><br />We are all hurting, losing jobs, losing wages, everything. These public folk need to understand that we are all in this boat together and need to take some serious meetings concerning wage/benefit cuts. Token wage freezes mean nothing. <br /><br />And yes, believe me, we all know how hard it is to do with less. Fire, Police and Senior Staff need to step way the hell up and take some very real meaningful cuts. No one needs to lose their jobs working for the city, but these princess packages for fire, police and senior staff need to be rolled back.todd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-60612386934654379222011-01-28T05:33:24.015-08:002011-01-28T05:33:24.015-08:00Got to work with what we have Lionel. If city staf...Got to work with what we have Lionel. If city staff/employee's and retiree's don't feel compelled to reduce their costs but rather ask to be further subsidized or else we will suffer the consequences... well then they sound more like Tony Soprano and his buddies to me rather than public employee's. <br /><br />As far as we go here there is no more blood available from this stone. The stone isn't even available anymore because it's been pounded to dust! <br /><br />As far as choices go public works employees are far more important to our city than senior staff, fire or police. If senior staff feel balancing the budget requires laying off DPW folks instead of themselves ...todd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-34516022076089687002011-01-27T21:08:44.889-08:002011-01-27T21:08:44.889-08:00Ya know it seems like rearranging deck chairs on t...Ya know it seems like rearranging deck chairs on the you-know-what, but how about a FINANCE DIRECTOR! ya know, someone who's, like, qualified to help the city council in their aimless wanderings through the wilderness.<br />I'm almost convinced it's too late, but maybe there's hope. Maybe.Lionel Emdenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-88823382360959678572011-01-27T11:01:36.905-08:002011-01-27T11:01:36.905-08:00As I've said before, the only way I'll vot...As I've said before, the only way I'll vote yes on this is if I start seeing tangible results from efforts to improve Pacifica's economy. Talk, committees, and plans don't cut it. So far I've seen nothing, and it's difficult to imagine that changing in the next two months. <br /><br />Yet while the city is in financial straits and needs economic development to help bail it out, all the city does is create new impediments to economic development. Monster house ordinances, green building ordinances, a new hotel tax, a styrofoam ban, a ban on payday loan places, et.al.<br /><br />Until I see Council start running Pacifica like a city rather than a big park, I'm not inclined to offer the city new tax money simply so it can continue to please a small group of "we-are-at-one-with-the-earth"-types, while neglecting the economic development needed to keep this city functioning.Steve Sinainoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-45072146133024567642011-01-27T08:59:40.026-08:002011-01-27T08:59:40.026-08:00It will be a hard sell Lionel.
At this time we d...It will be a hard sell Lionel. <br /><br />At this time we don't support it. As you well know to tax ourselves more to ensure city staff quality of life is financially beyond our means even if it is only $85 a year. $85 is a lot more money today than it was back in 2003. <br /><br />I know the funds will be targeted, but our property tax bill currently has approx. $1500 of add ons. we've supported everything the city and school districts and county have asked for but until we see substantial wage concessions from senior staff and benefit reforms from current/future retiree's we will not be supporting any further assessments. It's a little reminiscent of Feudalism.<br /><br />It will be a hard sell, and that the ballot will be decided by a majority of ballots received will require a good campaign for either position to get those ballots returned. Not returning a ballot is not a no vote, it's just not counted as part of the majority. That message will have to be conveyed loud and clear. <br /><br />I should hope the city makes that point as part of it's pitch. If I'm still not convinced by the cities argument that is the message I'll be sending out, namely to send in your NO ballot or be dinged by a handful of YES votes.<br /><br />But I'm still very much open to being convinced.todd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-57980290972666603512011-01-26T20:42:20.068-08:002011-01-26T20:42:20.068-08:00Todd,
I shall pay attention, as it seems there is ...Todd,<br />I shall pay attention, as it seems there is a lot of uncertainty. Not surprising given the really amateurish financial shenanigans of our dear city.Lionel Emdenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-80232215532598515872011-01-24T18:42:18.468-08:002011-01-24T18:42:18.468-08:00Smoke
Mirrors
I'm sure there will be a lot of...Smoke<br />Mirrors<br /><br />I'm sure there will be a lot of "corrections" along the way.<br /><br />Pay attention to the details.The Watchernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481238059942383326.post-21599712814366394242011-01-24T16:34:09.935-08:002011-01-24T16:34:09.935-08:00A correction I received from the city, "...fu...A correction I received from the city, "...funds going into fund 8 are $1.2 million and those will be used for the operation of fire suppression services. The reserve for fire station replacement will be in the General Fund out of GF money that is available when some of the fire costs are being moved out of the GF to Fund 8."todd brayhttp://fixpacifica.comnoreply@blogger.com