Posts Tagged ‘mike fine’

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: CRISIS CREATION WITH A BAND-AID RESOLUTION: DECIPHERING THE CITY BUDGET: A GOVERNMENT FOR PUBLIC WORKERS?

Posted: February 25, 2020 in Uncategorized
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When looking at the City budget, one can see that the primary expense to the taxpayer is public worker salaries.  Again, considering you have public unions deeply involved with the campaign process while negotiation their member’s contracts, who actually comes out to bat for us, the taxpayer? We all need to ask the question: have cities now become government entities that benefit their workers’ quality of life as opposed to the quality of life of their employers (the taxpayers/constituents)?  Does government exist solely for the purpose of benefiting those directly and indirectly employed by it?

BUDGET 101 FOR THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE

Commentor Karen Renfro made the following opinionated insight based upon on her analytical perspective of the relationship between the City of Riverside government and public employees on the Nextdoor website.  Many in the community who are voiceless feel the same way, despite propaganda spewed by the City.

(click image to enlarge)

Back on February 22, 2018, the Budget Engagement Commission members were perplexed by the need for almost 50% of Measure-Z Sales Tax Money going to help a shortfall im pension obligations.

From Measure Z, $13 million was to be transferred to the General Fund: the Chief Financial Officer and City Manager are asking for $5 million of that $13 million to cover anticipated shortfalls due to unfunded unsustainable pension liabilities.

We also refer to an opinion piece in the Daily Bulletin by Sal Rodriquez.  The following are excerpts, you can read the whole article by hitting this hyperlink.  There is simply no question in my mind that local government has been hijacked and those responsible have created a financial abyss for the taxpayers.  It’s a scheme that benefits no one but themselves and with the illusion that it directly benefits their members and taxpayers.  Onward with Sal Rodriquez’s excerpts:

“Public employee unions exist to advocate for their members, often campaigning for policies at odds with the best interests of the general public. The so-called public safety unions are in a unique position.  Representing some of the most esteemed and highest paid of government employees, they have lots of money to dole out and are more than comfortable exaggerating threats to public safety if it helps their cause.”

“Cases in point: ballot initiatives in Hemet, Riverside and San Bernardino tainted by undue influence from public safety unions.”

“In Riverside, the city, which last year was boasting about a $1 million surplus and felt so good it decided to give police officers a $4 million raise the city hadn’t actually budgeted for, has put on the November ballot a one-percent sales tax. Expected to raise about $50 million a year, Measure Z is touted as necessary for the future of Riverside.”

“With a name like “City of Riverside Public Safety and Vital City Services Measure,” it certainly sounds important. Of course, if passed Measure Z revenues can be spent however the council likes and there are no guarantees about how the money will be spent, with one notable exception.  On Tuesday, the City Council approved a contract with the city’s police union which, among other things, will give police officers a bigger raise if voters approve a tax increase. It’s quite the incentive.”

“According to recent filings, the police union has already contributed $12,500 to the Measure Z campaign. Firefighters union president Tim Strack told The Press-Enterprise that he already had $100,000 in commitments for the campaign. Behind any talk of the need for more money for “public safety,” is really just a desire for bigger raises and budgets.”

Even, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) had something to say about the conflict of public worker unions and doing the work of the people in this in a letter:

“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress. Accordingly, administrative officials and employees alike are governed and guided, and in many instances restricted, by laws which establish policies, procedures, or rules in personnel matters.”

TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE REGIONAL COUNTIES MOST, “SCANDALOUS,” “NEGATIVE,” “WARPED,” “RAUNCHY,” “LOW CLASS,” “VISIONS OF GRANDEUR,” “FULL OF B.S.,” “REPREHENSIBLE,” “IGNORANT,” “MISGUIDED,” “BULLYISH,” “INDECENT,” “REPUGNANT,””IMMORAL,” “FILTHY,” “VILE,” “SICK,” “PERVERTED,” “DEFAMATORY,” “STUPID,” “PATHETIC,” “DESPICABLE,” “DISAPPOINTING,” “BELOW THE BELT,” “A NEW LOW,” “SHOCKING,” “OFFENSIVE,” “OBNOXIOUS,” “INAPPROPRIATE,” “HURTFUL,” “MEAN SPIRITED,” “DISTASTEFUL,” “EMBARRASSING,” HORIFFIC,” “SLANDEROUS” “FIT TO BE VIEWED FROM THE REAR” AND MEZZSPELLED, “MISSPELLED” AND “OPINIONATED” BLOG SITE! YES WE ADMIT WE OUR ALL OF THAT AND MORE, WHICH IN CURRENT TERMS IS KNOWN AS “UNPOLITICALLY CORRECT.” TEMPORARILY BLOCKED BY THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE AT PUBLIC ACCESS SITES WITHIN THE CITY, THEN UNBLOCKED. I GUESS YOU CANNOT DO THAT ACCORDING TO THE ACLU. RATED ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY APPROVAL RATINGS.. … AGAIN, THANK YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT! CONTACT US: thirtymilescorruption@hotmail.com

EXCLUSIVE: CITY OF RIVERSIDE: THE RUSTY FILES….HOW MANY WIVES?

Posted: March 12, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Love my enemies, bless those who curse me, pray for their salvation.  – Book of Mayor William “Rusty” Bailey, circa at exactly February 12, 2018, 8:27am

THE RUSTY FILES: [queue eerie music] We present a few of the personal notes reflecting on a cornucopia of thoughts the Mayor wrote to himself for future reference as he brooded over the Russo/Geuss/Soubirous/Melendrez/MacArthur-led coup just days before.  In others words, “Did anyone get the license plate of that truck?”

      

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE JUST A SMIDGEN OF THE RUSTY FILES

Well, the City of Riverside doesn’t have any trouble, someone once said.  Well, we’ll just have to create some, another exclaimed!  See, we at TMC remember waaaaaaay back in 2016, shortly after City Attorney Gary Geuss came on board, back when the hotshot former L.A. litigator dreamt of a hostile takeover of the some of the elected Riverside County District Attorney’s duties.  Of course, it was all about efficiency in the court system.  “Hah!” we said, and thankfully, so did the voters.

A VIEW INTO THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE IF MEASURE A, THE RIVERSIDE CITY PROSECUTOR MEASURES WOULD’VE PASSED

Well according to the Rusty Files, Russo manipulated Geuss to test the waters against D.A. Mike Hestrin and whatever other power structures there were in Riverside County at the time, including seventy-billion-time re-elected former D.A. Grover Trask.  He is a troublemaker.

Moreover, the Rusty Files reveal Russo loves to create controversy, then come in and save the day.  And he loves to get credit for easy wins…such as Measure-Z, the Library, Museum and the Budget.  Rusty asks the question, “Is there a pattern here?” He is a front-runner.

He refers to other city’s where Russo was in the middle of conflict, then left when the going got tough.  He goes on to say that John loves to fight, argue and purposely create opposition just for the sport of toying with them.  He is a manipulator.

Does Russo do what he says he will do?  It appears according to the Mayor, that Russo cannot be counted on.  He says one thing, and does another.  He cannot be trusted.

Then our sweet, beloved, squeaky clean homegrown Mayor drops the bombshell, “How many wives?”  Is it a metaphor for how Russo treats the cities and the public who have paid for his ever-expanding waistline, or should we take this at its literal meaning and infer more?  Does City Manager John Russo have commitment problems?  He is disloyal.

What else lurks in the depths of the Rusty Files?  As a teaser for future TMC posts we’ll leave this at the door: it turns out Cindy Roth, the Chamber Queen and long-time ally of Mayor Rusty Bailey is not a bit amused by being cut from the General Fund gravy train by City Manager John Russo.  Her husband, Senator Roth, who profited as well from the legal gravy train provided by our fair city for many a year, is rumored to have helped the Mayor with his veto defense arguments.  A real State Senator vs. a wannabe State Assemblyman: it’s on like Donkey Kong!

CLICK ABOVE TO ENLARGE PIC

MIKE FINE’S MESSAGE:

Rusty refers to Mike Fine’s message, and to print it out so that the Council will read it.  Mike Fine, former deputy superintendent for RUSD and member of the Riverside Budget Engagement Commission (quickly becoming our favorite citizen-led commission of all-time), apparently had a bit to say about Measure Z monies being spent to fill the pockets of Mr. Russo.  And we have those Facebook messages for your viewing pleasure, including a little tiff with Councilman Andy Melendrez, where Fine takes the Ward 2 Councilman to school.  Some excerpts:

I volunteered to sit on the city’s budget commission as a way to give back to my hometown. I recently spent eight hours over two nights listening to the departments express their plans and needs. There was no mention of a hefty raise and home loan for the city manager. It wasn’t listed as a need. How do I do the job the city has asked me to do as a volunteer who has expertise in governmental budgeting when not all the information was shared? While I can still make a recommendation to the council regarding budget matters, what’s the point when the council acts recklessly in the midst of the budget process? 

My point is simple. The city has many needs -many more than resources will cover. At a time when you will have to consider cuts in services and programs you sent the wrong message to the residents, employees and partners of the city. City vendors are being asked to reduce their prices by 10% at the same time the council is awarding senior management raises and an unwarranted home loan.

You will recall that the city sold voters on a sales tax increase to support police and fire. But now, under the city manager’s direction, they are proposing cuts – to budgets, not taxes!

This is an issue of leadership – more precisely, a lack of leadership.

According to Fine the City is full of contradictions and flouts the perception of transparency but in reality has none.  Sounds to us like Mr. Fine has been listening to longtime city critic advocate Jason Hunter, who coincidentally tells us something B-I-G is coming (we can’t wait).

                        

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE THE FINE COMMENTARY

RUSTY FILES FOR TRIAL:  In a sign of the times Mayor William “Rusty” Bailey filed suit against the City of Riverside on Friday March 9, 2018, with reference to the veto issue , and the batshit, no self-serving contradictory legal opinion expressed by City Attorney Gary Geuss.  According to the City of Riverside’s Salary Regulations Section 2.32.030 the salary plan states, “The basic monthly compensation plan for City officers and employees shall be established by resolution of the City Council.”

We believe there has been malfeasance playing out within the confines of City Hall by the fact that current contracts for both Geuss and Russo accompanied no such ‘resolution.’  For years dear readers, every new contract that included new & improved terms for fatcat bureaucrats included a resolution which authorized the spending on behalf of the City; then all of a sudden, poof, it disappeared.

Why?  Well, our lying eyes have seen the in-fighting that has recently taken place between the Mayor’s Office and the City Manager’s Office, with Council taking sides, and believe this to be the cause.  We therefore presuppose that this omittance was done to strategically counter Bailey’s impeding veto.  See folks, according to City Charter, Rusty can legally veto a ‘resolution.’  Without the ‘resolution’ in the contract, technically, Rusty’s veto might not be valid.  This was orchestrated by design.  But it appears our Mayor is not in the mood to take any prisoners this time.

          

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW BAILEY’S FULL LAW SUIT

UPDATE: 03.12.2018: PRESS ENTERPRISE: RIVERSIDE MAYOR SUES HIS OWN CITY IN BATTLE OVER ‘EXPENSIVE’ CITY MANAGER’S CONTRACT

UPDATE: 03.12.2018: LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS: NEW RETIREES IN GARDENA, PASADENA AND RIVERSIDE MAKE OVER $200,000 PENSIONS

UPDATE: 03.12.2018: PRESS ENTERPRISE: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S AVERAGE PAY HIKE? $2 A WEEK

The Ides of February 2018 came and went.  The day of the veto, Rusty Bailey probably felt a bit like Caesar did when his Council Buddies were waiting for him at the Council Forum on that cold Tuesday afternoon…

TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE REGIONAL COUNTY’S MOST, “SCANDALOUS,” “NEGATIVE,” “WARPED,” “RAUNCHY,” “LOW CLASS,” “VISIONS OF GRANDEUR,” “FULL OF B.S.,” “REPREHENSIBLE,” “IGNORANT,” “MISGUIDED,” “BULLYISH,” “INDECENT,” “REPUGNANT,””IMMORAL,” “FILTHY,” “VILE,” “SICK,” “PERVERTED,” “DEFAMATORY,” “STUPID,” “PATHETIC,” “DESPICABLE,” “DISAPPOINTING,” “BELOW THE BELT,” “A NEW LOW,” “SHOCKING,” “OFFENSIVE,” “OBNOXIOUS,” “INAPPROPRIATE,” “HURTFUL,” “MEAN SPIRITED,” “DISTASTEFUL,” “EMBARRASSING,” HORIFFIC,” “SLANDEROUS” “FIT TO BE VIEWED FROM THE REAR” AND MEZZSPELLED, “MISSPELLED” AND “OPINIONATED” BLOG SITE! YES WE ADMIT WE OUR ALL OF THAT AND MORE, WHICH IN CURRENT TERMS IS KNOWN AS “POLITICALLY INCORRECT.” TEMPORARILY BLOCKED BY THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE AT PUBLIC ACCESS SITES WITHIN THE CITY, THEN UNBLOCKED. I GUESS YOU CANNOT DO THAT ACCORDING TO THE ACLU. RATED ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY APPROVAL RATINGS.. … AGAIN, THANK YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT! CONTACT US: thirtymilescorruption@hotmail.com

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: CFO CLAIMS $603 MILLION DOLLAR SHORTFALL DUE TO HIGHER CALPER’S FEES AS UNFUNDED PENSION LIABILITY HOUSE OF CARDS BEGINS TO CRUMBLE

Posted: March 4, 2018 in Uncategorized
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The pension problem in the City of Riverside was brought to the attention of the City Council and the Executive Management as early as 2014 by the very active public and TMC.  We want to make this very clear to our readers: all the political rhetoric that is currently being spun is bullshit.  Assistant City Manager Marianna Marysheva tries to spin the fact that her brilliant team has just discovered our current dire pension problem.  No Marianna, we found it, years before your arrival on the scene from Oakland Maywood Lynwood Mammoth Lakes…wherever (damn girl, you’ve been around!).  If you are claiming you just found it, we are going to claim you are a waste of money.

Not only did we find and report the break down in this system, we were ignored.  Now, no one will be held accountable for their lack of professionalism and enormous cost to the taxpayer.  So what do these ever-increasing pensions costs mean to the public?  You will no longer get your trees trimmed, potholes filled, parks maintained.   So, what does this mean to City Hall?  You will have your $200,000 salary for the rest of your life!  Make no mistake about it, we are going to get nothing, and they – the public employees – are going take everything.  These brilliant professional minds at City Hall are going to ask for more money, and you the stupid taxpayer are going to continue to pay it.  At least that’s the plan…

The pension problem was created in the 1990’s by Governor Davis when he increased the formula for payouts for State employees based upon his thoughts that the tech bubble would never pop. Every municipal agency soon followed.  Because our government is stacked with pro-labor sycophant’s who apparently don’t care about the future nor understand math, instead of adjusting these formulas back downwards, it became clear post-housing bubble we couldn’t afford them.  Hence, CalPERS began forcing larger and larger contributions from both municipalities and employees, while not addressing some of the outrageous pension-spiking abuses in a timely fashion.  And while the issue is now finally getting the attention it deserved 10 years ago, we at TMC believe the problems are now so large they are virtually unsolvable absent drastic measures or miracles, as baby boomers are retiring in droves.

Riverside CFO Adam Raymond at the last Budget Engagement Commission meeting on Thursday February 22, 2018 stated that shortfalls in the General Fund are simply due to CalPER’s increases in contributions.  City records indicate that forecasted City revenues will be inadequate to cover these expenses for the next decade!   As operational costs increase in the next five years in fact City reserves will disintegrate, if of course, we don’t do anything.  And what does that mean?  Will they come back to the taxpayers again, and again for their shortfalls?  But this hasn’t been a secret: unsustainable pension costs have been a popular topic for several years now.  But you know what is a secret until now?  Riverside has no plan to deal with the impending crunch…unless you count sticking it to the constituents as a plan.

As a consequence to escalating pension obligations, our reserves will continue to decrease, and therefore Mr. Raymond suggests to the commission the possibility of investing with slightly higher risk as a possibility (of course with an unpredictable economy, this investment platform may not be the most desirable option).  Measure Z revenues will not be enough.  Mr. Raymond suggests more cuts, after the City had promised that the passing of Measure Z would take care of everything. Just like the water transfer tax, the hotel tax, etc., etc., before it…wash, rinse, repeat.

Later Assistant City Manager Marianna Marysheva attempts to mitigate the perplexing faces of the Commission about the use of Measure Z monies for pension obligations, by using her well-known by now, “Ice Queen Spin,” which includes a variation of monotone nothing-speak, impossible-to-understand powerpoint slides, along with empty promises.  She tried to show the commission that the shortfall was revealed only after review of the numbers by her crack team, and ‘we are on it’, and ‘that is why we do these five year plans’.  But perception is reality, and the Commission knows it and the Council knows it: the budget crunches will continue ad infinitum due to increasing unsustainable pension obligations.  And we for two wouldn’t be surprises if the City, with the financial help of the unions (our heroes, right?), rams through another tax measure.

Advice for Ms. Marysheva: stop the drama – we know it’s an act, and a bad one at that.  Your boss John Russo is the ‘ultimate drama queen,’ and don’t even try to take that away from him.  There is only one diva allowed at a time.

The Ice Queen brings up her meeting with a bond rating agency. So why is this important? On one hand she says in three years we are going to have challenging financial problems, while on the other hand she is setting us up for borrowing more money. You see folks its never enough. She also mentions that the bond rating agency is impressed with the TEAM…. So who’s the TEAM?  The Mayor, City Council, executive staff, and Budget Engagement Commission.  You mean batting leadoff and on deck are the two principal players in getting us in this fiscal hellhole?  We have to laugh that, little does the bond rating agency know, the MAYOR is no longer part of the TEAM!

Case in point, according to September 23, 2016 Press Enterprise editorial,  “Regrettably for taxpayers, city officials are often reluctant to show fiscal discipline or search for innovative ways to deliver services until they’ve already dug a deep financial hole. Asking for more money is much easier. It’s something taxpayers need to be mindful of …. ”  And hence, taxpayers will be hit with more and more creative ways that cities can tax us in order to continue the gravy train for our so-called heroes.

According to a September 2016 Opinion piece by Sal Rodriguez in the Orange County Register,

Public employee unions exist to advocate for their members, often campaigning for policies at odds with the best interests of the general public.

The so-called public safety unions are in a unique position. Representing some of the most esteemed and highest paid of government employees, they have lots of money to dole out and are more than comfortable exaggerating threats to public safety if it helps their cause.

Cases in point: ballot initiatives in Hemet, Riverside and San Bernardino tainted by undue influence from public safety unions.

Hemet has been plagued by polarizing debates over public safety and taxes for the past several years. In 2014, soon before the November elections, the City Council voted to contract for fire services, deeming it the best available option.

This prompted a flood of money from firefighters unions across Riverside County to help elect candidates favorable to the city’s firefighters union, which opposed contracting.

It worked, and the newly elected council quickly reversed the decision to contract, and has focused on tax hikes ever since.

In June, voters rejected the union-backed Measure E sales tax increase. Rather than reconsider the decision to capitulate to union demands, the council instead decided to put another tax on the November ballot.

In Riverside, the city, which last year was boasting about a $1 million surplus and felt so good it decided to give police officers a $4 million raise the city hadn’t actually budgeted for, has put on the November ballot a one-percent sales tax.

Expected to raise about $50 million a year, Measure Z is touted as necessary for the future of Riverside.

With a name like “City of Riverside Public Safety and Vital City Services Measure,” it certainly sounds important. Of course, if passed Measure Z revenues can be spent however the council likes and there are no guarantees about how the money will be spent, with one notable exception.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved a contract with the city’s police union which, among other things, will give police officers a bigger raise if voters approve a tax increase. It’s quite the incentive.

According to recent filings, the police union has already contributed $12,500 to the Measure Z campaign. Firefighters union president Tim Strack told The Press-Enterprise that he already had $100,000 in commitments for the campaign.

Behind any talk of the need for more money for “public safety,” is really just a desire for bigger raises and budgets.

Note the blatant conflict of interest by our public safety unions.  They give big money to support a sales tax like Measure Z and they give big money to the campaigns of the individual Council members.  These Council members, hence, are responsible for ratifying their contracts.  Shouldn’t this be considered criminal behavior?  They pay to play, and they see us as nothing but feeble-minded simpletons, who will vote based on ’emotion rather than logic.’  They will mobilize and encourage their union members to vote for an initiative because it is good for them financially, even if the action is unsustainable and destabilizing socially in the long term.  They will then cry foul when we as a City cannot deliver.

Make no bones about it, if the public doesn’t take the business of the people seriously, neither will those who represent you.  We think the City should be run as a efficiently as a business, while understanding it is not trying to maximize profits at our expense, and we public salaries should be tied to the outcome of organic tax revenues, not new revenue schemes.  And what will they do next?  Sell our Public Utilities?  But what do we know, as Councilman Soubirous says, we’re just a bunch of hillbillies.  Well that’s what he says people in Los Angeles think of us anyway.

Above you’ll find a list of City of Riverside accomplishments that was recently presented to the Budget Engagement Commission.  In the Finance section of the citywide highlights it states, “For the 14th straight year, the City’s annual budget received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers’s Association.”  How inane, and insane, given how existing City management threw old city management under the bus just 2 years ago for cooking the books.  And it highlights how stupid all these trophies the City seems to lust for continually really are in reality.

TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE REGIONAL COUNTIES MOST, “SCANDALOUS,” “NEGATIVE,” “WARPED,” “RAUNCHY,” “LOW CLASS,” “VISIONS OF GRANDEUR,” “FULL OF B.S.,” “REPREHENSIBLE,” “IGNORANT,” “MISGUIDED,” “BULLYISH,” “INDECENT,” “REPUGNANT,””IMMORAL,” “FILTHY,” “VILE,” “SICK,” “PERVERTED,” “DEFAMATORY,” “STUPID,” “PATHETIC,” “DESPICABLE,” “DISAPPOINTING,” “BELOW THE BELT,” “A NEW LOW,” “SHOCKING,” “OFFENSIVE,” “OBNOXIOUS,” “INAPPROPRIATE,” “HURTFUL,” “MEAN SPIRITED,” “DISTASTEFUL,” “EMBARRASSING,” HORIFFIC,” “SLANDEROUS” “FIT TO BE VIEWED FROM THE REAR” AND MEZZSPELLED, “MISSPELLED” AND “OPINIONATED” BLOG SITE! YES WE ADMIT WE OUR ALL OF THAT AND MORE, WHICH IN CURRENT TERMS IS KNOWN AS “UNPOLITICALLY CORRECT.” TEMPORARILY BLOCKED BY THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE AT PUBLIC ACCESS SITES WITHIN THE CITY, THEN UNBLOCKED. I GUESS YOU CANNOT DO THAT ACCORDING TO THE ACLU. RATED ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY APPROVAL RATINGS.. … AGAIN, THANK YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT! CONTACT US: