Long Beach Passes Budget With Cuts To Police & Fire

11:00am Wednesday | The Long Beach City Council last night approved a budget that features the loss of dozens of Police positions as well as rolling brownouts at Fire stations across the city, in order to balance an $18.5 million deficit.

The City is still attempting to negotiate with several employee unions to either forego scheduled pay raises or contribute more to their pensions plans so the City will not shoulder that financial responsibility, but on Tuesday the Council took action based on the assumption that those discussions will not bear fruit.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said that union reform needs to happen immediately, or else the future outlook is very bleak.

"If anybody thinks it's going to be better next year, good luck to you," he said. "It's not."

Long Beach will lose about 18 Fire Department positions and also experience rolling brownouts at several fire stations across the city. Hours will be reduced and one fire truck will be removed from the Department fleet. Firefighters Association President Rich Brandt told City officials that the brownouts strategy is "like Russian roulette" because the station closures will bounce around the city and affect all Council districts. He also said that San Diego is currently experiencing brownouts and is suffering because of it.

On the Police Department side, more than 60 positions are estimated to be lost under the approved budget, with about one dozen saved because Police Chief Jim McDonnell agreed to support the elimination if the Academy program for the next year. "We can't in good faith run an academy knowing that the potential for layoffs is still there," he said, noting that he hopes to reopen the academy next year.

8:30pm Tuesday | During Tuesday night's regular City Council meeting, Mayor Bob Foster noted that the Council directed City Manager Pat West to initiate a "meet and confer process" with the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the only City employee union that has been unreceptive to some kind of agreement to relinquish pay raises or apply said raises to their pension costs.

In order to meet targeted budget goals, Foster said, West should discuss with the IAM the potential of instituting not only layoffs but also furlough days. Foster said the decision was unanimous among the City Councilmembers.

Mayor Foster said this was the only news of note to emerge from the the earlier closed session during which West provided the City Council with an update on City employee negotiations.

During public comment to begin the City Council meeting, one person who identified himself as a rank-and-file member of the IAM said that his group has given enough and the City should not ask for any more from the union. Mayor Foster replied by calling his speech "remarkably irresponsible testimony."

The Mayor said that he has been supportive of the union in the past. "But in this case," he said, "The problems are so steep and so bad that if we don't address them now it will get much worse."

Foster thanked several other City employee unions that have been receptive to negotiations as Long Beach attempts to balance a budget with an $18.5 million deficit. After several weeks of reports that the Police Officers Association would not participate in any plans to delay or forego scheduled pay raises, Mayor Foster said that he had a "great and good, professional conversation" with POA President Steve James over the weekend. While no agreement has been made with the POA, which represents the largest portion of expenditures among City employee unions, Foster said that the two now agree on the problems at hand and he cited this as a major breakthrough in conducting future negotiations.

4:00pm Tuesday | Opening a public Budget Hearing this afternoon, Mayor Bob Foster said that he is "disappointed" in some City employee groups that have refused to negotiate plans that would ease both the immediate and long term financial burden on cash-strapped Long Beach.

"There are some groups that have provided substantial disappointment in terms of their conduct," Mayor Foster said. "What needs to get fixed at the top of the list are public pensions."

The City has been engaged in important negotiations with all City employee groups to possibly forego scheduled raises or contribute more to their own pensions plans, as Long Beach seeks to balance an $18.5 million deficit in the budget that must soon be finalized.

Several employee groups agreed to concessions, Foster said, while the Fire and Police Department unions have shown they are willing to discuss some kind of agreement. However, the Mayor expressed strong disappointment with the International Association of Machinists.

"In terms of the Machinists, I've been very disappointed because they've just said no," Mayor Foster said, nothing that the union will accept a 4-percent pay raise this year, as scheduled.

"I think that's clearly inappropriate and out of line."

Foster said that without continued help from City employees, there will be "a future of layoffs, program elimination and/or substantial salary reductions because there's no other way to fix this."

In a closed session beginning at 4:30pm, the City Council will hear updates on vital union negotiations. The regular weekly Council meeting will begin at 5:00pm.

This article will be updated as the Long Beach City Council progresses with its Budget Hearing and scheduled City Council meeting this evening.

Archived Comments (47)

IAM Sucks!

I'm a City Employee and forced to pay into an IAM agency shop, whether I like it or not. Can someone please explain why we (the dues paying members) were not given any say in this decision. I have no faith in our "negotiators" and would gladly accept 4% into pers and pension reform for future hires, in lieu if collecting unemployment. Get rid of IAM go back to City bargaining units.

And

. . . are the employee groups disappointed with the mayor?

chuck

Why in the world does the city have machinists? Wouldn't it be better done by private contactors when we need it?

PKL

Let the layoffs begin. What makes the employees of the Machinest Union believe in this tough economic times they deserve a raise? Sure, everyone working would like a raise and not furlough days, or more out of pocket costs for insurance premiums but come on people - look at the economy. Think of your fellow union members who has little seniority who will be layed off because you are on that high horse of "I have given up too much" - rationalize that to your fellow union friends who will be losing their jobs.

Paul

If employee groups won't give a bit, the mayor will just have to play hardball and lay some folks off. . . or I guess the city government could make the typical gutless choice and increase existing fees for A-Z on the rest of us, while inventing a few new things to charge us for along the way.

Union members who want their representatives to be less rigid need to get together and confront the union's leadership.

Interesting

Before anyone starts making comments talking about IAM employees are greedy...slow your roll. IAM employees have NOT had an opportunity to vote on this matter. All decisions have been made by top union representatives and the majority of IAM employees do not know what's going on.

history

IAM sucks: You were given say - there were many membership meetings, you were informed, you just missed it or chose not to go. Dont b**** now, you had a chance. Active members got their say; it's not our fault you sat on your hands.

chuck

Maybe it's a good time for the employee's to decertifiy the union, if that's not to dangerous.

City Employee

Let me get this straight: Long Beach citizens want their trash picked up AND the Municipal Band? What if you're forced to make a choice? You'd rather have lay-offs? Most City employees are well under the pay rates that LBPost's CityPay gallantly "exposed." We want to trade a decent day's work for a livable salary. We want to be able to help our family members that did get laid off or the recent grads that can't find jobs. We can't do that if the City pulls the rug out from under us. The City isn't in a bind because of any decision made by a refuse collector or a police office. We didn't support failed developments or put all of the reserve money in one account with Lehman Brothers. I have done without a pay raise for a couple years and can wait it out for a couple more, but I can't do with a pay cut or afford more contributions to my benefits. I live a blue-collar lifestyle (in Long Beach), have worked full time for over 35 years, and have two kids in college. Does that sound familiar to any of you? Is it reasonable to put all City employees on the defensive because of the poor decisions made by a select group of managers?

Bookem104

This bargaining process with unions is not limited to Long Beach. I am a Teamster with Local 399, we negotiated a pay cut to avoid a strike. We all need to look at the big picture.

No pension here

Hey City employee.... I feel real bad for you. you will retire with a pension for life and health Benefits, while the rest of us "white -Collar" Self -employed have to pay for our own family health insurance($1500 per month), No Pension, only a self funded IRA. I have not had a raise in years, I had to take a second job.No Paid Vacation or Paid Holidays. I actually work weekends and Holidays. So yes, City Employees need to "suck it up" like the rest of us and stop living in Fantasy Land.
Unions are what have killed this country!

Fire all the City Union Employees and Hire workers as "at will employees" no health ot pension, then we can do something good here.

Another City Employee

Attention No pension here: Our retirement pension does NOT include life medical. We save up our sick time and at the end of the day, it is converted to pay for retirement health...until it runs out!

Check your FACTS DUDE!

20yr city employee

Everyone wants to be quick to judge us City employees that are in the IAM union. Funny though that the portion of the budget that is our salaries is 3-4 million. We don't get overtime and havn't had raises in a few years and had 5 days of furlough. Look at the budget. 75% of it is police & fire. 15.5 million in Fire OVERTIME and 9 million in Police OVERTIME. You say we have big pensions and will retire with all our salary and health benefits. Well I make $50,000 a year. I don't bring that home after taxes, health benefits, pension, union dues. As for retiring and getting big fat pensions and health benefits. Well you don't seem to understand that in order to retire before 65 when I am eligible for medicare I have to pay my cobra portion for my health insurance which at this time is about $950 per month. So in order to retire at 58 and would have 35 years in with the City which is 7 years before 65 I have to have accumulated about 3000 hrs or more of sick time to pay for my cobra or I have to pay out of pocket. So now, if an employee makes $50K per year and retires today with 35 yrs in the City and is 55 he will get 94.5 % of his salary and would have to enough sick time to pay for 10 years of health benefits. We accumulate 3.7 sick hrs per week. That is 192 per year. So someone would never be able to be sick or have a family member be sick for many years in order to pay for their health benefits. So really why doesn't someone sit down and talk to us City employees that are actually doing the work....that the Managers get the glory and the pay for and listen to what is truth. Also for those of you who are "self employed" or work in private industry you chose your career. For us who are janitors, clerk typists, maintenance workers, etc. we chose to apply for a job at the City instead of private industry. You could have chosen the same path. We have given up raises many times. We are not machinists. That is the union that we have. If someone REALLY knows what is best then stand up and be on our side. Stop putting us down and saying we have big penisions ets. And Mr. Mayor you worked over 30 years at Edison. You have a nice retirement and health package. So everyone look at ALL unions. I believe there are 7 or 9 not just the IAM which represents the miscellaneous employees. Which is a small portion of the budget.

CHARLIE

We all have our good & bad days, including the LBpost, but after watching City Council and the City Unions meeting this evening on CH3, I saw the Council and the Unions really trying to come together to resolve the many problems and issues the City has during these difficult economic times - even the Public Comments were more thoughtful...

Greed Lives

What needs to be done with city employee benefits is peg them to the median that the taxpayers who pay them get. That would give them something to think about. I don't feel like paying for a pension and healthcare that I don't get. Choice was not a issue in what I am able to do.

Squeeze

The City of Long Beach has many revenue sources that other cities don't have such as the Port, a Water Dept., a Gas Dept, and an Airport. Yet it is well documented that the City of Long Beach pays their employees (especially non-safety) well below what other comparable cities pay. Is it because of too many employees or is it because of poor financial management? In either case immediate corrections should be made!

Frmr City Employee

As a former Mayoral employee I can & will say this: Mr. Foster is a GOOD man that is TRYING to do what is in the Cities best interest. For far too long Unions in this city and many others have held city governments & our tax dollars in a choke hold & they are strangling us!! This is NOT to say that I disagree w/having Unions, they are necessary to protect the interests of civil employees. The major problem as I see it is the Union Leaderships, who tend to be more concerned w/hob nobbing with the REAL power players and throwing their weight around to make themselves feel important than doing what's TRULY in the best interests of their Union members & the city as a whole. There are valid points on both sides of the IAM argument & yes the Police DO take up a HUGE portion of our budget but as a citizen I'm more inclined to pay to have Police around when I need them than machinists who, while providing valuable services, can't save my life or home in an emergency. Unions as a whole have become TOO powerful, they hold our cities & elected officials for ransom. Candidates for office are torn between supporting Unions (therefore getting elected) or standing up for what's right for the citizens of their jurisdictional areas. I would encourage all Union members to REALLY look at their leadership & get rid of them if they're not doing what's in your best interest. I would also encourage citizens to fight for legislation that would curtail their chokehold over our elected officials & our city purse strings!!

Just a job is enough!

Long Beach has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and city employees are complaining about not getting raises? Doesn't just having a paying job seem like a benefit in itself?

Done Retired

I am a fortunate person and a retired City of Long Beach employee.After 20 years of faithful service I was able to retire with a small pension.If the city in it's infinate wisdom had not let their greed exceed their need in the past,we,the employee's and the retired would not be having to shoulder this finacial problem.I agree 100% that the IAM should not be representing the faithful city employee's but if not them who?Right now they are the only game in town.Until a new game begins they are the representative that we have.It's better than nothing.The union is important.It should not be disbanded.Even as sorry as it is we need to support it and each other until another union is selected.Mayor Foster has nothing to worry about at all in his future.With the pension that he get's from his prior employer plus his social security plus what he will get from the City of Long Beach when he is done he will not ever have to wonder if his bills will be able to be paid or where his next meal will come from.Now I hear that he might throw his hat in the ring and attempt to run for the State Treasurer's seat.Mayor Foster is a power and control person.He needs to step down and away from the podium and let someone else run the show.He just can not let go, or, he just does not want to.He has so many perk's in his job he probably can not count them withou the help of his aid and the rest of his friends.I think that I have said enough for now, so in closeing the City is guilty of a serious case of the 3 P's, Piss Poor Planning.

@City Employee

@City Employee:
I think your comments demonstrate what a tough job it is to negotiate with your union. Your "reserve money in one account with Lehman Brothers" is factually incorrect on two counts.
I do appreciate your point that you want a fair wage for honest work and that you and your colleagues aren't to blame for the world turning on it's head .... But it's not my responsible home buying decisions nor frugal spending habits that ruined our home's value. But my family still has to pay for it.

City Employee

so in closing the City is guilty of a serious case of the 3 P's, Piss Poor Planning. LB is top heavy, start from the Top why do we need a Mayor, City Manager, Assistant City Manager and a Deputy City Manager. Eliminate at least 3 of them would help save some of Police or Fire.

Lucky to work!

I have been a nurse for 20 years. I was going to retire last year when my husband who was a machinist for an aerospace supplier was laid off. We could not afford for me to retire so I am still working, but now I have to take a mandatory day off every pay period, so I even make less BUT I AM HAPPY TO STILL HAVE A JOB!!! DON"T YOU GET IT? WE ALL HAVE TO MAKE SACRIFICES. No pay increases does not seem so bad if you still have a job.

city employee and residen

I find this entire process sad and frustrating! I am a City Employee, started when I had NO benefits but care about this city and think the work we do is important so I accepted the job. Shortly after we were made City Employees and began to receive benefits, but in turn took a pay cut. I again was happy, because I was doing work that I believed was important to the City. The comment made by my IAM colleague was, in my opinion, counter productive. Yes, we often feel that we are expected to give a lot considering how little of the pie we take (compared with fire, police and management) but to say that we shouldn't have to contribute at all is shameful! But, at the same time to make the rest of the work the City employees do, outside of fire/police, seem unimportant has created an environment of anger and resentment. I am happy to give up some pay, as long as fire, police and managers do to. Especially since what it costs to maintain them is a lot more than it does our services. The pay increase from our managers alone would restore many City services! We need to get our priorities straight and really involve ALL employees in the process.

LBNative

The City Council has done their best in negotiating with these groups. These unions should be dissolved. They seem to think they can hold us hostage. Once again, this smacks of General Motors. Enough time has been wasted, let the layoffs begin and move-on.

Savings Good - Approach B

It's not the Fire Department and Police Department that should suffer (read: Pulic Safety, Security, and Emergency Support) ... Instead it should be a combination of the bureaucrats that mismanage their departments funds (read: Ignorant and/or Corrupt Politicians), and (2) supporting infrastructure for non-critical services (e.g. support for illegal immigrants).

Having said that, I do; however, believe in the FACT that labor unions are ultimately corrupt and have no place in US businesses, or the United States of America for matter. Stalinist Russia, sure. A Free Democracy, hell no (especially when the mantra is "work less, paid more").

Question: In the past three years, since the recession/depression started picking up speed, how much have (1) City Officials, and (2) City Workers been given promotions?

On a Federal side, both the House and Senate gave themselves a 20% pay increase. Wondering if that's the case on a local civic level -

Instead of cutting positions, I would recommend reducing hourly wages to 2007 levels â€' when the rest of the voting public stopped earning pay increases.

I would also recommend firing those "tenured" resources that can't manage their budgets appropriately. I'm also for the stripping of pensions for those resources that have helped drive LB into an $18.5B deficit. They should pay for the short fall. The local government should not sacrifice the public safety & well being.

Julie Whaley

Bravo Mayor Foster! I am reminded why I voted for you in the first place!

Munner413

Unions and dumbed down members - especially machinist members - continue to rape our cities with their unrealistic pay & benefits, and unfunded pensions.

"Live Better (off the backs of others), Work Union (someone else will pay your way)"

munner413

City Manager

@City Employee and resid: What management pay increase? The City Manager has not given his managers an increase in 3 years and there is no scheduled raise in the new budget? Instead the City Manager continues to cut management under his purview. What you should be asking is why does the Harbor need 40-50 managers when they only have 200 employees?

Jon

I just understand why the leaders of the Police and Fire unions don't accept or request compensation cuts to save jobs. Better yet, take a little more of the top and perhaps the City can start hiring again. If all this money is spent of overtime why not just hire more people so that nobody ever needs overtime? Then instead of overtime wages to put the needed people on the streets, the city only pays regular wages. What are the bottlenecks and what stops the city from removing them? I just don't understand how government is run at all.

Greggory

I want to note that our police chief basically BEGGED the city council to mandate medical marijuana cultivation within city limits so that the police could be AS INVOLVED AS POSSIBLE in the process. You'd think that with such limited resources the police would want marijuana to be its lowest-level priority (as has been officially done in Seattle, Oakland, and Santa Barbara, not to mention some small towns in Idaho and Arkansas, to name but a few). Not Long Beach, though.

Erik

All these scheduled unions and pensions were agreed to by our elected representatives. They agreed to pay for something we couldn't long afford and now we all pay the price. I'm glad I'll be moving soon. Enjoy your skeleton police and fire department.

gene debs

yeah, let's blame the working class and unions for everything - the people who do most of the sweating in this country, the people who gave us the weekend, 8 hours workdays, child labor protection - it's all their fault, not the rich financiers who made off with the booty, not the energy companies who suck us dry, not the corporations who open sweatshops oversees where teenagers make a dollar a day, not the rich managers and bureau chiefs, not the residents who expect city services but wont vote to pay for them.

You people are so brainwashed by corporate propaganda! Wake up! The rich elite have turned the working people against each other. City employees got pension increases IN STEAD of wage increases to which they were legally entitled. They've given up much to help the city. Still they barely scrape by. Wake up and stop blaming each other! The real villains have four houses because they took yours!

SICK of it all

Private citizens are getting sick of this pension business. City workers are not underpaid anymore and can save for their own retirements with 401K's just like private industry. That goes for the cops and fireman too. This is not sustainable. The cities will have to tack on assessments to pay these pensions and the property owners are going to file suit so they can't - so you better be saving something on your own because their won't be any money in the kitty to pay for your retirements. For the city - they should start sub contracting the work out and be free of all the pension bs that is sucking the services away from the public. We are SICK OF IT! Also raise the age to the same as social security - currently 67 1/2. 50 and 55 GIVE ME A BREAK!

Tom Martin

Outsource IAM jobs to the private sector, the city services will not be cut, jobs are created, the pension burden is eliminated, the taxpayer wins by getting more services for a lower cost. Everyone wins except the IAM and their leaders.

Harbor Employee

@ City Manager - I agree with the comment about Harbor management but why does that even matter when we don't impact the general fund? That is a different discussion as a whole. The Harbor Department generates profit which helps the City. Also this brings up another point, we continue to bring in revenue for the City yet we are punished with furloughs and pay cuts that do not help the City since it does not affect the general fund. The Harbor generates income and should be treated like a revenue source. Even in this tough economy we continue to generate profit!!! We are growing and managing Billions in Capital projects and being told we need to cut staff and no overtime while police and fire go wild.
The savings look even worse when you remove all of the positions in the Water and Harbor because you are left with even fewer positions affecting the general fund. The Police and Fire are draining the majority of the money. Even the pay of the management compared to the worker bees is unbalanced.
Competition is getting fierce and if we lose our talented staff due to City raids on the Harbor it will only hurt the City in the long run. The tenants of the Harbor pay a premium price to be here and expect excellent service. The Pay of the City is the lowest around and we accepted the position anyway because of the benefits. Now you are asking us to essentially take a pay cut by increasing our income and taxes while we pay more into our pension. I don't see this as helping the City as a whole. You will only have talented people leave as soon as an opportunity arises and new unproductive people desperate to take the lower pay take over.
I am all for new employees getting a new pension deal but existing employees made the choice to accept the City's low pay and better pension when they took the job. Even then it doesn't make up for what I can get in private. Why not take away the City's contribution to Social Security? That can't be cheap and is excessive.

LB Resident

If we need to cut police and fire, plus reduce city employees so be it. We have to live within our means. As residents we do that so should the city. We will servive with fewer high paid employees. Let the employee exodus begin.

Pensions, pensions, pensi

I know that everyone says that it is impossible to reduce existing pensions but I would like the city to find a way of reducing the bloated pensions that it is already paying. Those pensions are depleting this budget and will continue to do so in the coming years. Everyone has to cut back and those who retired before anyone realized how out of control these pensions were should also have to tighten their belts.

chuck

We might be better off contracting out for services such as police and fire. I remember when we contracted with the sheriffs department in East Long Beach a numbers of years age and we loved it.

Me Oh My

@ City Manager, I don't see how somehow who gives the impression they know something about the City could be so off. The Port has 440 or so employees. How is that 200 employees of which 40-50 are managers. Obviously, you have no clue. BTW, the Port of LA does slightly more cargo volume with more than double the employees.

Me Oh My

I'd like to remind you all that the City has approved every one of these contracts with the unions. The unions might ask for the Sun and the Moon, but at the end of the day, it's a negotiation. The City Council votes on every union contract for City employees. Why did they vote "Yes" ?? (I'm not a City employee.)

lbreader

Wow, IAM Sucks!, how generous!
you'ld "gladly accept 4% into pers and pension reform for future hires,"

Nice of you to give up stuff for future hires. How about rolling back pensions for city employees to that of similar jobs in the private sector - and while we are at it, how about staffing city jobs like a private sector business would? I say cut, cut, cut. Eliminate alll the waste in city hall, cut every department by 25 percent (except police and fire) and rent out the excess space in city hall

Anonymous

Does anyone know that over the last several years, the police and fire would not budge on cut backs, while the IAM workers did? The IAM workers have been pressured to give up their raises because they are low on the importance list. The police and fire a certainly necessary but there is more OT in these two budgets than the rest of the city combined. And, that having spoken to several police assigned to 'water operations' on one of the city police boats, it was mentioned they worked 4 - 10's with 12~18 hours OT ea.week on the average. This sounds like a deal. If there are salary cuts to be made, then include higher management as well. A 5% cut on their salaries is far greater than 5% on the regular city worker although it will a greater impact to them. If you really want to cut expenses, then offer a Golden Handshake of 2 or 3 years. The ones who are a couple of years from retirement - and there are quite a few - I believe would take the offer. This would mean their salaries and benefits would no longer be a cost factor to the city. Other communities have done it and they were able to survive financially because of it. It has been my experience that having city workers provide services is a lot more personal than a contractor who doesn't work or live in the city. For the most part, city workers do a good job, have to put up with a lot of abuse from the patrons to maintain being politically correct. They have families they love and care for just like the rest of us. Make it easier to weed out the bad apples instead of having to go through years of intense documentation, hearings and red tape.Lastly, it is unfair to cast any blame on the average worker when in fact it has been management all along who has caused so many of our problems. Remember the city manager that was fired? Why do you think this happened? The Japanese fire from the top down because they value the workers who do well, produce a product or provide a service. If there is chaos at the top, there will be chaos at the bottom.

Paul d

To "Me O My," who said,"Why did they vote "Yes" ??" the reason so crassly said by Val Learch, "I would not get elected, if I did not have POA or Fire support!"

Every councilperson who signed a secret document of support in trade for union money and walkers, during elections sold some of their character that should go to the citizens,and not millionare cops and fire that, for the most part, don't even live here. Shame on them all. It is obvious that this cannot go on.

Ronald Regan fired all of the air controlers. We need to do that to police and fire and hire those who will be happy to work for half the pay and benefits. We could hire enough cops to have, "an armed camp" as Mayor Bob warned. He left out that they would be our arms and not the criminal element that Bob and the Council seem content to put and leave in our neighborhoods.

makes no sense!

I'm sorry, but this makes no sense to me... let me see if I've got this right... If I overspend and/or mismanage my programs budgets me and my staff will suffer cuts and possibly loose our jobs... when the City overspends and/or doesn't manage money correctly me and my staff will suffer cuts and possibly loose our jobs??? And furloughs... could you be more insulting to your employees? Basically you are saying "I believe you can do the same amount of work...even more due to layoffs...in fewer work hours?!?".... makes no sense!!!

At Least We\'re Not Bell

Our new slogan!

"At Least We're Not Bell"

Old Family

So lets see.. Long Beach has since the early 1900's. paid its bills, had fat accounts, Tidelands oil and More. We have survived quite well and have in the last twenty years only increased in population of maybe 20K ? Massive Increase in police and now we are BROKE>
It is Not Rocket Science Folks.

FreedomFan

The Democrat Party once professed to represent the "little guy" -- "have nots" against the evil rich "robber barons". Now they are in the pockets of union goons who push for sky high salaries, health benefits and morbidly obese defined-benefit pensions.

The corrupt Dims now represent the "haves" -- the unionized "civil servants" who make more than twice what their private counterparts earn for the same work. According to the Cato Institute, using June 2009 data from the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, total compensation for state and local workers was $39.66 per hour compared to $27.42 for the private sector -- an astonishing 44% more.

In Long Beach, 574 city employees are members of the $100,000 club, earning over $100,000 per year in salary alone, not counting their massive health care and pension benefits.

More than 20% of LB City Employees have a base salary in excess of $90,000!

Guess who the unions think are the "robber barons" against whom they need the protection of collective bargaining? Why it's YOU the taxpayer.

http://www.lbbj.com/manage/uploads/lbbj_pdfs/Club_2010.pdf

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By Greggory Moore | 05.16.12

Long Beach is a major hub of the alternative-energy world, hosting "the largest gathering of alternative fuel and clean vehicle stakeholders in North America this year": the Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo. The underlying message? For the sake of American security and economi...

Community Hospital Long Beach Marks 1st Anniversary with MemorialCare

By Staff Reports | 05.14.12

Community Hospital Long Beach (CHLB) commemorated one year as part of MemorialCare Health Systems last Friday, May 4, with a community and employee celebration in the property’s historic courtyard. Mayor Bob Foster with Diana Hendel, CEO, Long Beach Memorial, Miller Children’s and Community...

East Village Scores DLBA Grant

By Staff Reports | 05.10.12

The Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) awarded the first of several Capital Improvement and Beautification Grants to the East Village Association (EVA), DLBA President and CEO Kraig Kojian announced yesterday. The EVA’s Alleyway Beautification Project will include numerous art components procured...

LBCC Scholar Honored at Harvard

By Staff Reports | 05.10.12

Long Beach City College has announced that a graduate from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program has been recognized as one of the Companies to Watch, an award given at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City’s (ICIC) annual Inner City 100 Symposium. The award honors exemplary compan...

A Sporting Tour with LBSU -- From Far Away to Back Home

By Dan Barber | 05.14.12

There is one line in the press release on Long Beach State baseball that speaks volumes. "The Dirtbags return to Blair Field for the rest of the season." If you dream of road dusting the in the post season, like tennis did, and golf and softball are about to do, you first have to defend the house. ...

This Week In LBSU Athletics, May 14

By Staff Reports | 05.14.12

This Week In LBSU Athletics. Softball at NCAA Tournament (Tempe Regional) vs. Syracuse, Friday, 3:30pm, Tempe, Ariz. at NCAA Tournament (Tempe Regional) vs. TBD, Saturday, TBA, Tempe, Ariz. at NCAA Tournament (Tempe Regional) vs. TBD, Sunday, TBA, ...

Softballers, Sodas, Subs, and Syracuse on the Menu for LBSU

By Dan Barber | 05.14.12

The Ukleja room was the NCAA pairings show party spot for 49er softball Sunday evening with subs and snacks and sodas all over the table, nervous parents in the background and a head coach who was calm, cool and calculating. With the first 32 teams placed all around the land the next foursome was ...

LBSU Men's Golf Back in the NCAA Swing of Things with Georgia on Their Minds

By Staff Reports | 05.08.12

The Long Beach State men's golf team will be taking part in postseason play as the 49ers received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Long Beach State men's golf team will be taking part in postseason play as the 49ers received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. "The tea...

Dirtbags and Lions Ride the Roller Coaster -- But LBSU Finishes on Top, 7-5

By Dan Barber | 05.08.12

For an odd Monday game the Dirtbags punched around a bit with LMU before the visiting Lions, a game and a half back of first in the West Coast Conference, jumped on Long Beach State, a game back of first in the Big West Conference for three runs in the sixth. It was chilly and foggy and a lot of fol...

All Sports and All Sizes from Mini to XXX-L

By Dan Barber | 05.07.12

Sure, you think it is likely that after a long weekend of sporting activity, I would resort to that always cheap journalistic trick of tossing all the bits and pieces together and calling it "Notes on My Napkin." Shame on you. The Poet Laureate of LB, Trader Joe, composed a sonnet to the napkin and ...