Vallejo, CA Bankruptcy Looms

This is a really big story that is not getting much press coverage. Astute LAAG readers have seen this coming for some time. The question is really whether or not this will spell out the future for many small California cities that are being held in a chokehold by public employee unions who refuse to bend during the downturn in the economy. Their feeling is just raise taxes. The hell with the taxpayers. We want our six figure retirements! We are the new elite in CA. This will be a big showdown and Vallejo needs to be watched to see if it is the model for future bankrupt cities. I am sure Long Beach is watching closely. I hope the public unions are.

Vallejo, California, Residents Foresee Cuts as Bankruptcy Looms

By Michael B. Marois and William Selway
More Photos/Details

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- As Vallejo, California's home prices plunged, the once-humming Navy town on the north edge of the San Francisco Bay seemed like a good place to settle down, said Tim Medrow, a manager at a store that sells floor and bathroom tiles.

Then came the city council meeting Tuesday night, when elected leaders voted to turn Vallejo into the largest California city to declare bankruptcy. ``It's crippling the city,'' said Medrow, 32. ``It's already feast or famine. And it's only going to get worse now.''

Vallejo, with a population of 117,000, is being squeezed by declining home sales that have rippled through its economy, cutting into the taxes it relies on from local retailers and home owners. It has been pushed to the breaking point, city officials say, by union contracts with firefighters and police it can't afford or renegotiate.

After talks with unions stalled, the seven members of Vallejo's city council decided unanimously to approve filing for bankruptcy. According to a report by City Manager Joseph Tanner, the city would otherwise face ``draconian'' cuts to close a $16 million budget shortfall that would leave the community faced with deteriorating roads and public buildings and rising crime.

``This is dire,'' said Councilwoman Erin Hannigan. ``We are at rock bottom.''

Bankruptcies Rare

Cities and towns rarely go bankrupt. Since 1937 there have been 543 municipal bankruptcies, two-thirds of them small districts established to sell municipal bonds for projects, according to James Spiotto, a municipal bankruptcy specialist at Chapman and Cutler LLP in Chicago.

The last California city to go bankrupt, Desert Hot Springs, a town of 20,000 near Palm Springs, did so in 2001 because it was hit by a legal verdict it couldn't afford to pay. Orange County, California, was felled by bad bets with leveraged investments in 1994.

Vallejo residents worry that a filing will hurt a city that struggled even in the best of times, when median home prices more than doubled between 2000 and 2005, according to the city manager's report. In interviews, they said they were concerned it could scare away new residents, hurt city services, and push Vallejo deeper into the hole.

``What business is going to want to come to a city with no money?'' said Josef Klaus, the owner of a vacuum and janitorial supply shop.

Vallejo, on the San Francisco Bay, was home to the West Coast's first shipyard, and residents and business owners say its economy never recovered after 1996, when the facility was closed by the U.S. Navy as the military pared spending following the end of the Cold War.

Housing Slump

The area has since been one of the hardest hit in Northern California by the housing market slump. Home prices in Solano County, which includes Vallejo, dropped 26 percent in March from the year before, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a firm which tracks real-estate markets in the state.

That helped fuel a projected sales tax drop of 7 percent to $12.4 million, according to city figures, while the taxes collected when property changes hands are expected to fall by more than $1.6 million.

Vallejo is also being hurt by its contracts with unions, which have wielded clout in the blue-collar town. As budget shortfalls emerged this year, the city has been unable to wrest permanent concessions from the police and firefighters that account for $58 million, or 69 percent, of the city's general fund budget last year.

Seeking Concessions

The permission to file bankruptcy may give the city more leverage with unions concerned that a federal judge might order more onerous cuts. Joanne Schivley, a city councilwoman, said Vallejo may stave off filing for protection from its creditors.

``We can pull the plug on bankruptcy at any time,'' she said.

Should Vallejo file, a federal bankruptcy judge must decide whether the city is actually insolvent. Assistant City Manager Craig Whittom said a plan to emerge from bankruptcy might include asking voters for more taxes.

Without additional revenue, he said, spending for road maintenance, libraries and health clinics may be curtailed. He said police and fire fighting services are already at minimum levels because of previous layoffs aimed at cutting public safety labor costs. Police no longer have enough officers to investigate property crimes, he said.

Businesses Suffer

Megan Bolton is feeling the squeeze. Bolton, who owns a commercial and residential window business with her husband, said building and remodeling fees rose fourfold last year, and she's had to pass it along to customers.

``Vallejo doesn't value businesses,'' said Bolton, 28.

Ivonne Johnson, a 38-year-old cheerleading and dance instructor, moved to Vallejo in October from San Francisco, looking to get away from crime and high-priced real estate. She stepped back from buying a home after she saw $80,000 cut from the asking price of one she was looking at. After this week's news, she's set her sights elsewhere.

``If city services are going to lose funding, and that means there might be less police officers who can respond, we're afraid it might turn into the kind of place we just left,'' she said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael B. Marois in Sacramento at mmarois@bloomberg.net; William Selway in San Francisco at wselway@bloomberg.net.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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The "smokeshop" arrives in Lakewood

I guess the moral of the story is be careful what you wish for. A few months back we were complaining about the "Gotham Comics" bookstore on South St. near Bellflower Blvd., home of the former Von's market and Itana Furniture (aka "the dilapidated warehouse") The comic book store was in poor shape and attracted a bad element, not to mention all the "wonderful people" that hung out next door at the "Hide-a-way" bar. And dont forget the lovely liquor store just a few doors down from the Hide-a-way (so you can get your fix after the bar closes). Well now the folks over at the Hide-a-way will have some new friends...customers of the "smokeshop" which is moving into the newly renovated Gotham Comics store. There is only one problem. The "smoke shop", as the new owners call it, is not going to just sell tobacco, but that special tobacco, known to some as pot, mary jane, ganja etc. (call it what you like). So really its more of a 'headshop" than a smokeshop. Our sources tell us that the "smokeshop" received a "permit" from the city of Lakewood. Seems odd as the city tried to deny a simple liquor licence to Joe's Sushi a few doors down. With these three "wholesome" business all in the same block perhaps they can attract other similar businesses. "Fritz That's It" strip club lost its lease in Bellflower, perhaps they could move into the beautiful former Von's store that the city only took three years to force the owners to clean up. Its amazing what blight can do for a city's business culture? Lets see what next for South and Bellflower? I think Long Beach is chasing child molesters out of their city (due to Halfway houses running up against Megan's law). Perhaps we could put a halfway house in at the old Von's store. It is truly amazing how much the city fawns all over Lakewood Shopping Center and the new Costco yet falls flat on its face when it comes to shopping centers a mile away and not across the street from City Hall.

I can't wait for this July. Lakewood residents can go buy their pot, walk across the street to get their "safe and sane" fireworks and have a rip roarin' 4th. One book of matches keeps a whole family entertained all night.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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"Fresh and Easy" no so fresh and easy?

Well quite frankly we are not surprised by this news below. There is nothing "fresh" or "easy" about Fresh & Easy. Most of the produce is packaged in environmentally unfriendly plastic bubbles. Oh and they give you a nice "free" re-usable big PLASTIC bag upon checkout. I would not make a big deal over this fact but for the reason that the chain makes such a big deal about their environmental "consciousness". There is no selection (due to the small store size) and you have to check yourself out. So its not "easy". Also I would have spent less time just going to Pavillions or some other major chain store and getting all the items I wanted rather than just 50% of what I wanted. How is going to two stores to get what you need "easy"? Also the parking lot is 1/3 the size of Pavillions (which is across the street) so really its harder to find a parking spot not "easier". (well that really is not true most of the time as no one is in the Fresh & Easy store most of the time). Oh and of course there is the one "hybrid" parking spot front and center. What a joke. I wonder what "enviro-marketing" guy came up with that and what it cost them. I really dont understand this whole concept of a "mini" store with 1/3 the items and I suspect in a year this location in Lakewood will be gone. Oh and finally the prices are no great deal either so Food 4 Less and Costco see no competition here. Time for the red coats to pack up and go back to the UK. The Revolution is over.


Tesco Puts The Brakes On U.S. Expansion Of Fresh & Easy
March 31, 2008

By Steve Goldstein

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Britain's Tesco is halting for three months the expansion of its U.S. operation Fresh & Easy, the food-retailing unit meant to carve out a niche between convenience stores and the massive warehouse-style retailers.

Tesco said the suspension of its expansion of the 59-store chain was planned and that it was "pleased" with its performance.

"We've given ourselves a little bit of time to kick the tires, smooth out any wrinkles, and make some improvements that customers have asked for," the company said in an blog entry.

Improvements made over the last few months include accepting American Express credit cards alongside those of MasterCard and Visa, the company said.

Fresh & Easy operates on the West Coast, with stores in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego.

It focuses on ready-to-eat meals and fresh products, and its arrival put a scare under firms ranging from Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) to Kroger (KR) to Whole Foods Markets (WFMI).

"Tesco suggested it wanted Fresh & Easy to have the convenience of Walgreens, the value of Wal-Mart, the fresh food quality of Whole Foods, and the differentiated product range of a Trader Joe's," said Credit Suisse analyst Andrew Kasoulis in a note last year.

"We think the format largely seems to have achieved that."

But the Sunday Telegraph, which first published the news about the delay, said there were rumors that the concept had missing internal sales forecasts. The report suggested that Fresh & Easy wasn't getting the customer traffic it needed to drive sales growth.

Shares in Tesco dropped 3.5% on Monday, one of the worst-performing FTSE 100 stocks -- underperforming even Terminal 5-ravaged British Airways.

Clive Black, an analyst at the U.K. brokerage Shore Capital, said the operation needs to be seen in context.

"The business is tiny within the context of the group, and even if it did fail (which we're not assuming), a 1 billion-pound cost within a business that has a market capitalization of over 30 billion pounds needs to be reflected upon," he said.

"Tesco management has consistently said to us that this is a risk-reward equation that is manageable and favorable, and this can remain the case."

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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Time to clean house over at LASD

We really do think its time to clean house over at LASD. The policy should be that deputies get two strikes. If they take some action that the Office of Independent review says was wrong or a violation of policy and it results in a settlement or verdict against the LASD then the officers involved should be fired. Period. No opportunity for review or appeals allowed. These bad apples have to go as they are costing us a fortune and as there is no downside for them personally they are not going to learn. Also the policy needs to be that LASD cant hire anyone that has had the same problem at another department. And if a prospective deputy fails to disclose these prior incidents he can be fired on the spot.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-taser22mar22,1,7795673.story
From the Los Angeles Times
L.A. Sheriff's supervisors investigated in Taser incident
An unruly 21-year-old man in custody fell and broke his back after a deputy used a stun gun to subdue him.
By Richard Winton and Scott Glover
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

March 22, 2008

Los Angeles County sheriff's officials have launched a misconduct investigation of two supervisors who authorized the use of a stun gun on a 21-year-old arrestee because he was unruly and refused to submit to electronic fingerprinting, The Times has learned.

As a result of being shocked with a Taser, Blake Dupree fell off the top of a jail bunk bed and broke his back. The injury has left him temporarily paralyzed and he could be crippled for life, his attorney said.

According to sheriff's officials, Dupree, who showed signs of being mentally ill or under the influence of drugs, had been generally "uncooperative" for hours before a lieutenant at the Lakewood sheriff's station approved the use of the Taser, which delivers a 50,000-volt shock.

The investigation into the Feb. 27 incident -- much of it captured on videotape -- will determine whether use of the Taser violated department policy.

Department rules prohibit using the device on "persons in danger of falling or becoming entangled in machinery or heavy equipment which could result in death or serious bodily injury." Despite the prohibition, the policy does allow for supervisors to decide whether use of a Taser is warranted on a case-by-case basis.

Lt. James Tatreau Jr., who authorized the use of the device on Dupree, has been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation, sources said. A unnamed sergeant who was involved in the decision has also been reassigned.

Tatreau, a former driver and bodyguard for L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, received some unwanted attention last year after The Times disclosed that he had organized a game called "Operation Any Booking" in which deputies competed to see how many people they could arrest.

The competition was decried by civil libertarians, disavowed by Baca and made fun of by "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno.

Tatreau did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Baca said his preliminary assessment of the recent incident was that "common sense" should have dictated that using the Taser on Dupree was inappropriate while he was on the bunk and likely to fall as a result of being shocked.

Baca added that he was concerned, because of Dupree's demeanor, that deputies and supervisors may not have sufficiently explored alternatives to the stun gun.

"If someone is off balance mentally . . . call the mental health evaluation team in," Baca said in an interview Wednesday, shortly before departing on a trip to Saudi Arabia. "Those with the most experience should deal with them."

Dupree, a Bellflower resident, was arrested Feb. 26 on suspicion of carjacking his mother's vehicle.

According to his attorney, Stan Sanders, Dupree and his mother were at a Jack in the Box restaurant when Dupree took his mother's car without her consent. Concerned that her son was acting erratically and might hurt himself, she called police, Sanders said. Sheriff's deputies found Dupree at Bellflower High School, where he was looking for his sister, the attorney said.

Dupree was not charged with carjacking, according to a district attorney's representative. Rather, he was charged with violating his probation on an earlier conviction for gun possession.

After his arrest, Dupree was taken to the Lakewood station; there, deputies said, he failed to cooperate with routine instructions and behaved strangely. As a result, he was placed in a cell by himself where he began throwing mattresses around the room, authorities said. This behavior continued until the morning after his arrest.

When Dupree refused to submit to electronic fingerprinting -- a process in which a suspect's digits are scanned into a computer database -- Tatreau authorized the use of the Taser if Dupree continued to resist, according to two Sheriff's Department sources familiar with the incident.

At the time, Dupree was on the top bed of a double bunk about 4 feet off the ground and refused to come down. He was given a verbal warning by Tatreau, who had conferred with the sergeant on the scene, and a deputy was ordered to fire the equivalent of a warning shot by activating the Taser so Dupree could hear its buzz, according to Sheriff's Department reports obtained by The Times.

After the warnings, Dupree stood on the bunk and began to move toward the edge, in the direction of the deputies, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. It was then that the unidentified deputy shot Dupree with the Taser, causing him to fall to the floor.

Baca said he was convinced that no one intended to "punish" Dupree by shocking him but that the potential consequences of doing so should have been clear.

"We have to do better," he said.

Sanders, who has filed a legal claim against the Sheriff's Department in connection with the incident, said Dupree suffered extensive damage to his spinal cord and cannot move his legs. He said doctors have told him that the condition is likely to be permanent.

"This is a young man . . . with many years to live," Sanders said. "He's now paralyzed."


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

loss of $56 million in property-tax revenue

Well this is part two of the story. Salaries and benefits for public employees continue to rise and are not tied the overall economic picture. Property tax revenues are the majority of the revenue for local government, and in California this tax revenue is going to disappear in the subprime meltdown. With government budgeting based on a bubble prone area of the economy you would think that elected officials who create these budgets would take these issues into account. Another reason why public officials cannot be trusted when doing long term back room secret deals with public employee unions.

L.A. homes being reassessed
REAL ESTATE: Lower home values to lead to $660 in tax savings for many.
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/20/2008 10:18:25 PM PDT

Due to significant drops in Los Angeles County home values, Assessor Rick Auerbach said Thursday that he's in the process of reassessing the values of 310,000 homes.

So far, he said, he has reduced the assessed value of 41,000 homes by an average of $66,000 each. That means a typical property-tax savings of about $660.

Auerbach said not all of the revaluations have come at the request of homeowners. Market conditions - and the growing likelihood that some properties are overassessed - have spurred him to review recent sales.

"We are basically looking at all single-family homes and condos that have a purchase date, whether purchased new or resale, between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2007, because those are the ones we think might deserve a reassessment below their Proposition 13 values," Auerbach said.

The 41,000 reviews were from that July 1, 2004-June 30, 2007, period, he said.

"I'd like to stress we will compete this review in June and will notify property owners by July 1 if they have received a reduction," he added.

Homeowners who disagree with the reassessments can file an appeal with the county's Assessment Appeals Board from July 2 through Nov. 30.

"We applaud county Assessor Rick Auerbach for being proactive in calculating ... reductions in value rather than waiting for individual property owners to apply for these reductions individually," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

"We understand that other assessors are likewise being proactive, and California homeowners are grateful they are doing so."

The reassessment comes after the median price of a home in the county peaked in February 2007 at $616,230 and has since dropped 23.8percent, to $469,420, said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

"We expect prices to continue to slide down, and a lot of that downward pressure will come from foreclosed homes," Kyser said.

"The assessor will continue to have to do this, and for local government this is not good news. They are getting hit with a one-two punch."

Mary Funk, president of the Southland Association of Realtors, supported Auerbach's decision to reassess the home values.

"The property tax reductions, lower interest rates and higher conforming loans will help first-time homebuyers, as well as those looking to refinance and stay in their homes," she said.

Auerbach estimates the reassessments will reduce the county's assessment roll by $5.6billion, which will translate into a loss of about $56 million in property-tax revenue for local and state governments. County government receives about one-third of those revenues.

"Each city in the county will be impacted, depending on what the values are like in that particular city," Auerbach said.

Homeowners whose properties were not included in the review and who want a revaluation can download an application at the assessor's Web site at http://assessor.lacounty.gov.

Applications also can be obtained by calling 888-807-2111.

troy.anderson@dailynews.com, 213-974-8985



Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

Its time for a reality check in "public safety"

Surely you have read about problems in Vallejo, Orange County and a number of other municipalities that are facing huge funding shortfalls due some very poor choices by elected officials who gave away the store in back room private deals struck with greedy public service unions, mostly representing police and fire union members. These deals and their true cost were hidden from the public by elected officials as they thought they could hide these deals until they got out of office. But alas were are now in a clearly foreseen public funding meltdown (spurred by inflation stock prices, the subprime meltdown and other causes) and now these little deals are coming to light as public officials scramble to find the dollars to fund them. But the dollars are not there and now they must sell tax increases on the poor schlep voters. In most cases they cant even cut back on the numbers of these employees. So its either raise taxes or cut the budget in other areas. Like LAAG loves to say..."well you got what you voted for"!


Thomas Elias: Warning signs for California cities
Vallejo's not alone when it comes to financial problems
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/earthquakes_61643___article.html/warning_elias.html
March 18, 2008 12:01:00 AM

Like a swarm of small earthquakes that might — just might — turn out to be foreshocks of a Big One to come, the spate of near bankruptcies and other fiscal woes befalling small and medium-sized California cities this spring could be an early warning of far more serious trouble to come.

The city with the worst difficulties so far has been Vallejo, a medium-sized town on San Pablo Bay about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco that has never been quite the same since the Mare Island Naval Shipyard — opened in 1854 — shut down in 1996.

Under pressure from union contracts whose terms it simply could not meet, Vallejo came within days of declaring bankruptcy in late February, bailed out only when police and firefighter' unions agreed to trim a contracted pay raise from 10 percent to 2 percent. Firefighters also agreed to relax staffing requirements, allowing the city to operate two fewer fire companies each day than before.

But that might turn out to be only a stopgap measure, as Vallejo is like many other California cities, counties and school districts that will likely see revenue drop this year. State budget cuts already partially in force mean there will be less state money coming to localities in the next year. Falling property values will reduce property tax funds, while the overall near-recession means less sales tax money for everyone and stock market losses will mean fewer capital gains tax receipts.

Every restaurant meal forgone by cautious families, every home repair put off, every new car purchase delayed because of the slumping economy means less money coming into local government coffers just as surely as it means increased pressure on the far more publicized state budget.

Besides Vallejo, warning signals this spring have already come from Orange County, where supervisors warn of a possibly serious shortfall at budget time two months from now. The West Contra Costa Unified School District covering Richmond, El Cerrito, Kensington and several other cities, warns it has enough money to cover payroll and bills through June, but might not meet all its obligations beyond then.

Contra Costa County warns that some local sales tax receipts are down as much as 50 percent so far this year, while property taxes have not risen. But retiree health care costs are skyrocketing, with about 4,000 county employees due to retire over the next 10 years.

In Fresno County, officials warn their retirement plan may soon need to borrow money, just four years after taking a $400 million bailout loan. One consequence is that county employees will pay about 14 percent more into the plan this year than before.

The city of San Diego is putting new limits on retiree pensions in its effort to avoid a brush with bankruptcy. Employees who have not yet retired will no longer be able to collect benefits exceeding their annual salaries and will have to work longer to reach the top benefit level.

The Fresno suburb of Clovis warns it will have a $3 million deficit heading into the 2008-2009 fiscal year. To avoid bankruptcy, that small city will try for an 8 percent across-the-board spending cutback, and will ask for some employee "give backs" and voluntary furloughs.

It all adds up to an entirely new scene for government workers in California and their unions.

The days when savvy labor contract negotiating meant figuring out ways to extract maximum dollars and benefits are gone. Things become more complex when unions have to worry about making sure they don't take so much that they bankrupt their employers, thus forcing them to renege on many longstanding contracts and obligations.

It's almost like Aesop's old fable about the goose that laid golden eggs. The goose was in no danger of stopping until its owners got greedy and decided to check its innards to see if they could mine a large amount of gold all at once rather than settling for one egg per day. They cut it open, killed it and stopped the flow of gold altogether.

Similarly, public employee unions have not been satisfied with excellent jobs, good working conditions, solid pensions and health care plans, but continually press for more. Their greed is one big reason for the looming crisis threatening both state and local governments. Widespread bankruptcies would be the equivalent of the dead goose, as the big payouts public employees now get might quickly dwindle.

So it behooves them to give a little ground in this time of foreclosures and recession or near-recession, or the voting public might turn against them and install elected officials who won't go along with the steady increases to which unions and workers are now accustomed.

Thomas D. Elias writes on California politics and other issues. His syndicated column appears Tuesdays. E-mail him at tdelias@aol.com.


The bottom line of safety
Article Launched: 03/17/2008 06:12:24 PM PDT
http://www.sgvtribune.com/opinions/ci_8606407

PUBLIC safety is always the No. 1 concern of those who live in our region.

Public safety also costs big bucks, more of them every year.

Right now, many local cities are confronted with ever-higher costs for police and fire employees - especially for their retirement packages. After decades of work on the part of these indispensable people and their unions, their salaries and benefits are at extraordinary levels befitting their extraordinary performance.

But there's a point beyond which taxpayers cannot go. While no city wants to sacrifice public safety, many are being squeezed by aggressive bargaining tactics from public safety employee unions on one side, and reduced tax revenues from a slumping economy on the other.

Cities are required to balance their budgets; they can't borrow their way into the black, as the state Legislature and governor do far too often.

That's why it is crucial - today more than ever - for cities to take a strong stand against unreasonable demands for compensation from employee unions. Granting pay raises to police and fire employees that jeopardize fiscal solvency or lead to cuts in other services is foolish and irresponsible. When the budget tilts too much toward employee compensation, police and fire included, we believe the quality of life in the small and medium-sized cities of southeastern Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Valley deteriorates.

Today, the city of Monrovia, population
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39,900, is getting prepared to take a courageous stand for fiscal responsibility. After months of considerate, reasonable negotiations, its City Council is ready to impose a one-year contract with the Monrovia Police Officers Association, albeit one that the union has already rejected.

We think the city has negotiated in good faith. We also see the city's offer of a 5.5 percent pay raise over 3.5 years - 16.5percent overall - as not only reasonable, but generous. Any other employee group in the private sector would be thrilled with such an offer during these troubled economic times. But the police officers' association reportedly wants a 23.2 percent raise.

The one-year offer to be set tonight will hike the salary of a police officer by 4.68 percent and a sergeant by 6.19 percent. Top scale for each would go to $71,064 and $91,512, respectively. The city's offer also increases the city contribution to retirees' medical benefits, which for employees of 25 years or more would be a one-time lump sum of $4,000. The city already offers the most generous retirement benefits of "3 percent at 50," which means an employee of 30 years, multiplied by 3percent, gets 90 percent of his salary upon retirement as part of the CalPERS system.

Again, these are generous benefits. In fact, we're concerned that cities are shortchanging other services to pay hefty salaries and benefits to city employees.

Monrovia's police union has used scare tactics in its campaign to get the largest pay raise possible, telling residents in 11,000 "robo calls" that the city has "ignored" officers' request for "the resources to make our city more secure." By taking advantage of a spate of gang shootings in December and January, the tactic is a new low in campaigning. We're not convinced that more officers is the solution. In fact, some union members have suggested not filling the four officer vacancies and distributing the savings to the existing members through raises, a councilman told us.

If more officers is not an answer, more pay for existing ones is no answer, either.

After 30 or so community meetings, city officials and neighborhood leaders say there needs to be a more comprehensive anti-gang effort, one that Mayor Rob Hammond says should include suppression combined with intervention programs, such as Monrovia's Youth Employment Service or summer job program.

These programs cost money. Expanding them costs money - money that Monrovia would not have if it went above and beyond a 16.5 percent increase.

Monrovia is acting responsibly in its budget decisions. It's time for Monrovia's excellent - and well-compensated - police officers to do the same.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

Must we keep paying for LASD to make the same mistakes over and over?

Well hopefully we wont be having shootouts in Lakewood anytime soon, but with LASD who knows. Shoot first ask questions later. Correction ....shoot 120 times first then ask questions. I think the sheriff's Office of Independent Review, who concluded that deputies violated tactical and pursuit policies summed up the situation and the LASD in general when they said the scene was "mass confusion." But not to worry. The deputies are on their way to management I am sure and big fat pensions. Meanwhile guess who foots the bill? That's right. Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. We pay the Sheriffs AND the victims. Now all we need is to pay for the sheriff's who sue the county for disciplining them when they screwed up. (oh and yes that happens quite regularly in all law enforcement agencies...its called the triple jackpot) Maybe we send all these sheriff's who screw up in shootouts to Iraq. At least in Iraq there are no trial for victims (just ask Blackwater).


http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-hayes8mar08,1,5503103.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Man wins case over L.A. County deputies' barrage of gunfire

Shot at more than 100 times in Compton after a low-speed pursuit, he is awarded $1.3. million by a jury.
By John Spano
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 8, 2008

As a young man in South Los Angeles, Winston Hayes got to know the Compton courthouse well, getting hauled before judges more than a dozen times to answer charges of arson, assault and other crimes.

On Friday, Hayes, 46, was back in court, but this time he walked out $1,326,468.60 richer after a civil court jury decided that Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies used excessive force on him three years ago.

"Justice was done," Hayes said after the verdict, his left eye drooping from injuries he received as a result of his encounter with deputies.

During a four-week trial, Hayes showed jurors nine bullet wounds he suffered when deputies fired 120 shots at him at the end of a low-speed pursuit on May 9, 2005.

A total of 66 bullets struck Hayes' sport utility vehicle. Eleven bullets struck the deputies' own patrol cars, and another 11 pelted nearby residences.

In the end, only Hayes and a deputy were hit. The deputy was wearing a bulletproof vest and was not seriously injured.

"We do hope this verdict acts as a catalyst for building relationships between the Sheriff's Department and the community it serves," said Hayes' attorney, Brian Dunn, whose client had turned down the county's offer of $500,000 to settle the case. County lawyers declined to comment

On the night of the shooting, deputies had been investigating a report of shots fired in a Compton neighborhood when they saw Hayes' vehicle and approached to question him. Hayes, who was high on drugs at the time, said he panicked when he saw deputies and fled.

At the heart of the trial was a videotape shot by an amateur photographer showing the end of the 12-minute, low-speed chase. It showed Hayes in his SUV, his path blocked by squad cars, and a dozen deputies closing in on foot with guns drawn. Deputies testified that they fired at Hayes because they believed he had tried to run them down. Each said he fired to save his own life or that of a fellow deputy.

But to many residents and police observers, the shooting appeared excessive and dangerous, imperiling the safety of deputies and residents.

Sheriff Lee Baca quickly disciplined all the deputies involved with suspensions of up to 15 days. He also made changes to the department's shooting policy.

The incident prompted a report by Michael Gennaco, head of the sheriff's Office of Independent Review, who concluded that deputies violated tactical and pursuit policies. He described the scene as "mass confusion."

After 10 days of deliberations, jurors agreed that only two of the 10 deputies involved -- Michael Haggerty and Vergilian Bolder -- had used excessive force.

It was Hayes himself, his past and his motives that dominated deliberations, jurors said.

When he testified on his own behalf, he sounded defensive as he attempted to explain his past convictions for assault, arson, theft and resisting arrest -- and his use of cocaine and marijuana the night he was shot.

"There was a lot of disagreement," said jury forewoman Julia Christmas of Paramount.

She said she was persuaded from the beginning that deputies used excessive force, but it took 10 days to persuade nine of the 12 jurors -- the minimum needed to reach a verdict.

Christmas said the video was the key evidence.

"The shooting was excessive. At the time, they didn't have a clear shot," she said. "They weren't at a place where they needed to shoot."

Ultimately, the victim was less important than the deputies, she said.

"That's what I had to keep reminding jurors," Christmas said. "This wasn't about" Hayes. "It was about the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department taking responsibility for their actions."

Deputies "should have waited a little bit more," said juror Curtis Martin of Lakewood.

"I would not want this to happen in my neighborhood," he said. "It could have ended in a different way. The police could have had more patience."

john.spano@latimes.com


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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Murder rate not affected by police force increases

The underlying (implied) message here is that murder rates grab the headlines but is one of many violent "crimes of passion" (or crimes of opportunity) not deterred by an increased police presence, nor deterred by prosecutions or finding the suspects. The murder rate is more likely tied to the weather than it is police staffing levels, yet police love to use these headlines to get taxpayers to fork out more money for overtime and police pensions. Wake up people. Its a scam. The police and the news media (the "drive by" "sound bite" TV media at least) work hand in hand to instill fear in taxpayers hearts: if you dont give into the demands of the police union the boogey man will get you...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homicide19mar19,0,3057227.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Jump in homicides not tied to racial animosity, LAPD says
No single factor can explain the increase, officials say.
By Joel Rubin
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 19, 2008

Los Angeles Police Department officials, alarmed by the continued rise in the homicide rate this year, sought Tuesday to debunk the notion that racial animosity has been at the heart of many of the killings.

A detailed analysis of each of the homicides this year leaves little doubt that race is not the prime factor and that "the most likely suspect is one that looks just like their victim," Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said in a presentation to the department's civilian Police Commission.

By Monday, 93 people had been killed in Los Angeles this year, compared with 69 during the same period last year -- a nearly 35% increase. As the weeks pass, the bloodshed in 2008 grows worse than the previous year. Two weeks ago, for example, the increase in the homicide rate over last year stood at 27%. The rise is also outpacing those in New York City and Chicago -- cities that have seen significant, but less dramatic, increases this year, according to Det. Jeff Godown, who oversees the LAPD's extensive effort to analyze crime statistics.

In addressing the commission, however, Beck and Godown hammered on a message that top police officials have been sounding for weeks: that neither race nor any other single factor can explain the increase in homicides.

In fact, they said, department statistics for this year found that in cases in which police have information about the suspect, the vast majority of alleged assailants in the killings of Latinos were other Latinos and the vast majority in killings of blacks were other blacks.

Of 57 Latinos killed this year, 87% are believed to have been struck down by other Latinos, the LAPD data show. (Those statistics do not include several cases in which the race of the suspect is unknown and one case in which the assailant is white.)

Nearly two-thirds of black homicide victims, meanwhile, are suspected to have been killed by other blacks. In about one of every three cases, the killer is thought to be Latino -- up from 14% over all of 2007. But even in instances in which a Latino is believed to have killed a black person or vice versa this year, police insist that there is no evidence that points to race being the primary factor in the homicide.

Police Chief William J. Bratton is counting on those raw numbers to deflate what several commissioners and police officials called the "rumors" and "myth" of violent racial tensions between blacks and Latinos. True or not, that sentiment has gained credence in recent weeks with several high-profile slayings and injuries in which suspected Latino gang members killed blacks. In one case, a 6-year-old black boy was shot in the head when two men flashed gang signs and opened fire on the SUV the boy was riding in. Days earlier, 17-year-old football standout Jamiel Shaw Jr. was gunned down on the sidewalk near his home, allegedly by a member of the notorious 18th Street gang. The attacker shot Shaw after demanding to know if the teenager belonged to a gang.

The question of race-related homicides has been a prickly one for Bratton. At a recent news conference about several high-profile slayings, he angrily rebuked a television news reporter for suggesting that the crimes spoke to racial tensions.

"He's full of [expletive]," Bratton said of the reporter.

Black civic leaders, although agreeing that there is no evidence to support the notion of a full-scale, widespread race-driven battle between Latinos and blacks, cautioned Bratton and others not to downplay the idea that race has played a role in some of the killings.

"Anyone who is saying that race is not a factor at all is not completely in touch with the feelings of people on the streets," said John Hope Bryant, chairman of Operation HOPE. Referring to Shaw, Bryant said police would be "hard pressed to tell people on the streets that it is not about race . . . when two Hispanics approach you with a clear energy that is about race and shoot you dead."

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a political analyst who heads the Urban Policy Roundtable, echoed Bryant.

"They do not want to inflame tensions; I understand that," he said. "But . . . they also must not disarm a community by not fully coming to grips with the possibility" that race is a factor in some cases.

Despite the new numbers from the LAPD, authorities have said in the past that race-based violence has been a problem in some L.A. neighborhoods. Federal prosecutors last year charged members of a Latino gang with a violent campaign to drive blacks out of the unincorporated Florence-Firestone neighborhood, which allegedly resulted in 20 homicides over several years.

In the Harbor Gateway district of L.A., police launched a crackdown last year on another Latino gang accused of targeting blacks, including 14-year-old Cheryl Green, whose death became a rallying point. In 2006, members of the Avenues, a Latino gang, were convicted in federal court for a series of assaults and killings in the early 1990s targeting blacks in Highland Park.

But both police and some academics who have studied L.A. homicide numbers have long insisted that interracial violence is still relatively rare.

Apart from dissecting each homicide in search of common denominators, Bratton and his deputies have been at a loss on how to counter the rise in killings this year. In many ways, the homicide rate appears to be an anomaly, because other violent crimes, and crime overall, are down in the city.

With the so-called precursor crimes -- such as assault with a deadly weapon and shootings -- down, Bratton and Beck said they still expected homicides to taper off as the year goes on. And the city is struggling with the perception of widespread violence in part because there was a record low number of killings last year. Compared with the homicide rate for the same period of 2006, this year's figures are up only 7%.

Regardless, it has been a frustrating year, police said. "If I could find a pattern, if I could find something that I could immediately impact . . . I would," Beck said. "But the truth is that so far there is not a lot of connectivity" between the killings.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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Want to know what state employees make? We did

Well this was too good to pass up. Now we hope this will enlighten the public about where their tax dollars are going. We need databases like this for county and city employees as well as well as a database to tell us how much they will cost us when they retire at 50 with full health care at 90% of their pay. Here is the link to the database. Thank you Sacramento Bee! We need more papers like you.

Public Editor: Public is public and there is just no hiding that
By Armando Acuña -
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, March 16, 2008

The fallout from The Bee's decision to post a searchable-by-name database of state worker salaries at sacbee.com continued last week, dominating reader feedback for a second time.

There were, however, a few new twists that weren't apparent in the initial days after the database and the accompanying story about state salaries were published March 4.

While the overall tenor of response from state workers remains critical – though the number of complaints has significantly declined – an increasing number of state employees and just plain citizens say they support the paper's decision to create the database.

And it's more clear than ever that, overwhelmingly, almost every negative response has come from state workers, their spouses or relatives.

The number of complaints from regular folks to my office literally can be counted on one hand.

Meanwhile, the total page views at sacbee.com/statepay have reached about 4 million.

There was also some news as the paper's editors responded to reader requests for database changes.

Added were categories for searches by pay range, job title and agency.

As explained in an editor's note published last Tuesday, you can now "see who makes the most in a department, the pay for everyone in that department with a certain job title, and the number of workers there who make over $100,000 – or under $30,000."

This is an important addition, in my opinion, as it helps satisfy a legitimate complaint that it was difficult to compare and analyze inequities in state salaries on a large scale using the original database.

In addition, new links were added to state worker salary databases in other states, to a searchable database for federal employees and to national data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics comparing public- and private-sector salaries.

These were all things readers asked for, yet many missed the editor's note about the changes, judging from some of my e-mail.

The paper also has added legislative employee salaries to the database.

In case you were unaware, there was also a protest by about 100 state workers, who picketed in front of The Bee on Wednesday. The protest was organized by one of the public employee unions.

And speaking of the unions, one reader sent a copy of an online newsletter from a unit of the California State University Employees Union. The newsletter tells employees concerned about the database who to complain to at The Bee, including my office.

The newsletter concludes, however, with this: "On the positive side, this should help with researching those equity issues."

It then provides links to The Bee's database and state salary story.

I agree with them. It is one of the positive parts of having the searchable database.

A relatively small but growing number of readers – a few dozen as opposed to hundreds of critical state workers – have sent e-mails or left phone messages supporting the paper's efforts.

Several have been highly critical of the complaining state employees, saying The Bee should also include all benefits – such as retirement contributions, health care, vacations, etc. – to more accurately show total compensation and better compare public- vs. private-sector pay and benefits.

Some want to know whether the paper will expand its database to include the salaries of county, city and public school employees. The answer is yes, though full implementation may take awhile.

A number of responses have come from former and current state workers.

"All of the dust-up over printing state worker names and salaries is a tempest in a tea cup as far as I'm concerned," wrote a reader from Elk Grove. "From 1984 to December 2004, I worked as a staff employee for the Assembly and then for the Senate. About two times a year, a local weekly paper (Capitol Weekly) ran the names, positions and salaries of all California legislative employees. No problem.

"We were – and are – being paid with tax money and our names, positions and salaries were and are public data. We found these printings to be of great interest to see who was being paid what. A real education!"

Wrote a woman who works for CalEPA:

"Please don't paint all state workers with the same brush. I have worked for the state for years and did not complain or comment on the salary database because I think my employers should know how much they pay me," she said in her e-mail. "I work for the taxpayers of California and they are all free to know anything about the work they pay me to do."

A woman from Elverta, who said she's read the paper for 45 years, e-mailed to say, "I feel The Bee's intention in making the information more readily accessible to the public is in the community's best interests."

I've excluded the names of these readers to shield them from some of the vitriol and name-calling directed at me by some of those vehemently opposed to the database that might come their way if they were identified.

It comes with my territory, not theirs.

As this situation continues to play itself out, it's apparent some state employees don't understand, as I tried to explain last week, that an important role of the newspaper is to gather and disseminate public information. That includes making it easier for people to find and use public information.

Last Wednesday, a woman said in her e-mail that she and her husband are state workers. She said they were angry at the paper for, among other things, making public information public.

"The Bee states this (salary database) is public information, then erroneously concludes that since it is public, the public should know."

I will let that speak for itself.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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Inglewood may ban Fireworks in 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-guidelocal20jan20,1,3405926.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california

Not all of next month's local ballot measures deal with taxes, however. Voters in Inglewood, CA will decide whether to ban fireworks in their city.

Although Inglewood plans to continue its official Fourth of July pyrotechnic celebrations in Vincent Park, Measure F would forbid members of the public to buy or use fireworks. Proponents of the measure cite regular incidents of injuries and property damage from the fireworks and claim "the frightful pandemonium taking place in many of our neighborhoods will now hopefully come to an end," according to arguments filed in favor of the measure.

Opponents say laws already prohibit the kind of fireworks that cause most injuries and property damage, and a ban would only hurt the nonprofit groups that depend on their sales of permitted types of fireworks to help fund important services.

Inglewood, Measure F:

What it would do: Ban the sale and use of fireworks within the city

Who supports it: Councilwoman Judy Dunlap, Parking and Traffic Commissioner Lynnette Lewis, Citizens Police Oversight Commissioner Nannette Marchand

Who opposes it: Retired Police Chief Ronald C. Banks; Olivia Patterson, immediate past president of the Inglewood Rotary Club; The Way The Church

What it needs to pass: Simple majority


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email