Tag Archives: Joe Shaw

Ideologues in Huntington Beach Reject Pension Savings, Opt for Fire Department Cuts

A periodic update on the Republican war against public employees in the OC

Is Huntington Beach following the Costa Mesa train to Crazy Town, opting for confrontation instead of common sense with their employees?

On Monday, May 2nd, the Huntington Beach City Council, in closed session, voted against a proposal that would save the City almost $1.3 million in pension costs over the next two years and would also create a second pension tier for future public safety employees.

On May 3rd, Council Member Devin Dwyer was telling city employees that if they hadn’t been there very long, they should start looking for another job. He also said that negotiations with the Fire Association had broken down, only to be quickly  corrected by a representative of that group, who expressed an interest in continuing to talk.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Orange County right wing politics, where ambitious young pols like Don Hansen and Matt Harper seem poised to try to get some of the publicity that Jim Righeimer has been garnering in Costa Mesa. Term limits will open up an Assembly, State Senate and County Supervisor seat, and the players want to be seen as pension fighters and union busters to appeal to the hard core of Republican primary voters.

Pictured is the Women’s Club Fire one of four major fires among a total of 36 fire calls in Huntington Beach in April. During the last two weeks, Huntington Beach also had a fatal fire, a fire where 2 victims were rescued with a ladder from a second story window, and a multi-million dollar home fire.

As Mayor Pro Tem Don Hansen said on his Facebook page during the election,

“Let’s take our city back! If you see a police car or fire truck on the mail – that’s code for “union owned” We need taxpayer advocates not union puppets now more than ever!”

Mailers supporting Hansen’s endorsed candidates echoed the attacks on public safety employees and particularly their pensions.

After three months of bargaining, the Huntington Beach Fire Association thought they had a deal that would save Huntington Beach $640,000 a year over each of the next two years. The proposed side letter to their existing agreement would also change the retirement formula for new hires to lower pension costs in the future. After three months of negotiations with staff, Fire Association President Darrin Witt felt that “we had met all of the Council’s goals set out in the strategic planning session at the beginning of the year.”

Instead of taking two scheduled raises, one of which had already been postponed for 18 months,  sworn fire officers would apply that money to their pensions, increasing their pension contribution from 2.25% of their income to 6.75% of their income.

In return, the Firefighters asked for guaranteed staffing levels so that they wouldn’t have to cut the number of paramedics and engine companies that were available to respond to emergencies.  

As the Council kept moving the goalposts, the paramedics and fire fighters included a budget trigger which would void the guaranteed staffing levels if revenues drop, expenses rise unexpectedly, or if CalPERS increases pension rates.

Monday,  May 2, in closed session, the Huntington Beach City Council voted against the savings, moving instead towards further service cuts that would increase response times. Cutting the budget could mean service cuts that might idle one of the eight paramedic engines or one of the two ladder trucks. Budget cuts could also reduce availability of one of the cross-staffed specialized engines. Do you cut one of the paramedic engines which respond to over 12,000 9-1-1 Medical calls a year, or partially idle one of the two ladder trucks which have the ability to put firemen at roof level for the 375 structure fires a year and which also carry additional equipment like the “Jaws of Life”?

Even without more personnel cuts to HB Fire, the annexation of Sunset Beach, coupled with fewer available units for mutual aid in surrounding cities, will put pressure on response times in Huntington Beach. The Fire Department has already reduced six full time employees, including a Batallion Chief, after the City’s revenues dropped substantially during the Great Recession.  

In  neighboring Costa Mesa, it is  Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer who pushes the party line, with staunch ideologue Steve Mensinger at his side, and a bumbling, ineffectual Mayor following along.  Their hasty decision to issue layoffs to half the City has made Costa Mesa a laboratory for right wing political experiments in California, with clear results as the continued exodus of police officers, firefighters and management is crippling the City.

In HB, it’s Mayor Pro Tem Don Hansen calling the shots, with Republican Central Committee member Matt Harper, and former Central Committee member Devin Dwyer as comrades. All three are close allies  of party boss Scott Baugh, a lobbyist and perennial meddler in Surf City politics.  Joe Carchio plays the role of bumbling, ineffectual Mayor, whose deal to become Mayor a year ahead of schedule has been repeatedly questioned.

left to right, Mayor Pro Tem Don Hansen, Council Members Matt Harper and Devin Dwyer

Don Hansen, his Red County buddy Chip Hanlon, and their Tea Party allies were big losers in the 2010 election. Two Team Hansen candidates who paid Hansen’s wife’s consulting business, Red Zone Strategies, lost in the 2010 election.  Measure O, an initiative which would have shifted money away from public safety, also lost decisively.

Hansen, Harper, and Dwyer are seen as the core who have walked away from the deal that would reduce the City’s current and future pension costs, forcing service cuts instead of compromise.

Council Member Joe Shaw, elected in 2010 without support from the fire union, refused to comment on what happened during closed session, but indicated that he strongly supported the recommendations which the City received from their pension consultant, John Bartel.

“We hired an expert who recommended that we work towards a second, lower pension tier for all new hires and move toward getting employees to pick up a greater share of their pensions while holding salaries down. That is exactly what the Fire Association proposed, and it could have been a model for our negotiations with all of our employees.”

The public needs to see this choice debated in public, not hidden behind closed doors. Writing at Chip Hanlon’s Red County, Don Hansen seemed to agree as he expressed his love for country music

One effective strategy is to adopt a set of financial policies that are debated publicly.  These policies are set to guide the labor negotiations prior to commencement.  For example, you could adopt a policy that says “The goal of all labor negotiations will be to increase the employee’s contribution to pension costs.”  In Huntington Beach, we recently gave direction to negotiate the elimination of pending salary increases by the end of February. By taking a public vote in a meeting keenly observed by many of the union leaders, it sends a signal that there is a solid vote for such a solution.

By setting a more transparent policy goal prior to the commencement of labor negotiations, elected officials become more accountable to the ultimate result. Further, if your community leaders are not committed to fiscally sustainable labor policy their position will be publicly vetted as well. The economic consequences of these decisions are too great to keep them hidden.

Because no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.

There are three simple questions for the Council Members who rejected the Fire Department’s concessions.

What policy are you advancing by refusing exactly the type of pension reform that your own expert recommends?

When are you going to have the public debate on whether the residents and businesses in Huntington Beach want to sacrifice response times for your ideology?

Are you looking for sustainable budget solutions or just pandering to Republican primary voters so you can get some of the attention that Jim Righeimer has been hogging?

Joe Shaw — Huntington Beach City Council Candidate

(Joe is a great guy and would make an excellent City Council member. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

This is going to be a diary about my friend Joe Shaw, who is running for Huntington Beach City Council and the Bolsa Chica Wetlands.  It’s a diary I promised myself to write because Joe is one of my dearest friends who has been there for me over the last couple of years in ways that no one else has.  

But let me start with the story of the Blosa Chica Wetlands via the Bolsa Chica Land Trust…

Satellite photo via Google Earth


The Bolsa Chica Land Trust was formed in 1992 by a small group of Californians who believed that one of the last standing wetlands ecosystems in Southern California was worth preserving for future generations. The Land Trust now includes more than 5000 members from throughout California and twenty other states.

The mission of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust is to acquire, restore and preserve the entire 1700 acres of the mesa, lowlands and wetlands of the Bolsa Chica, and to educate the public about this natural treasure. The Land Trust conducts educational programs to build awareness about the role of the Bolsa Chica wetlands system in the natural and urban environment, and tell the story of its rich history. The Land Trust’s Bolsa Chica Stewards have been working since 1996 on the mesa re-vegetation project.  Over 2000 volunteers have spent thousands of hours replanting the mesa. More than 8,000 native plants have been planted at the Bolsa Chica Mesa. Over 15,000 volunteer hours have been logged. Volunteers of all ages are bringing the Mesa back to life.

Huntington Beach is where I grew up and the Bolsa Chicas are a big part of HB life, the beaches, the surfing and the other amazing ecological preserves (Joe is also a docent at the Shipley Nature Center).  And many residents in Huntington Beach and Orange County have fought for years to restore this amazing ecosystem.

Wetlands are important for many reasons, they actually sequester more CO2 than Rain Forests and provide habitats for many migrating birds on their way to the artic, some of which are endangered (Brown Pelicans, Snowy Plovers, Peregrine Falcons, White-tailed Kites, and Light-Footed Clapper Rails).  

Wetlands help prevent beach erosion and also help a great deal with urban run off mitigation before that water reaches our oceans.  It is also an amazing place to find a huge amount of biodiversity, from plant to animal life and is so important as environmentalist to protect and preserve.

But unfortunately, the Wetlands is endanger again from more development issues.  

HB Planning Commission Votes Against Bolsa Chica,

and Allows More Housing on the Mesa

Commission votes 4-3 to change open space zoning to residential

to benefit bankrupt developer Hearthside Homes.

Bolsa Chica, and the people of Huntington Beach lost a round Tuesday night in the battle to maintain open space zoning on part of the Bolsa Chica Mesa; a zoning that protected the area from development.

When Commissioner Elizabeth Shier-Burnett implored her fellow commissioners to explain what public benefit could come from changing the zoning, she got no good answers, but four commissioners voted to change the zoning anyway.

Planning Commission Chair Blair Farely, Commissioner Shier-Burnett, and Commissioner Tom Livengood are to be commended for their votes against the zone change.

Commissioners Janice Mantini, Fred Speaker, John Scandura, and Barbara Delgleize voted to change the existing zoning on the land that protected it from development so Hearthside Homes, the developer currently in bankruptcy, could profit.

This however, is not the end of the story. This issue will be appealed to the City Council. The Trust will work very hard to educate our council members as to the reasons the environmental studies were inadequate, as well as to why the zoning on this land should not be changed. As soon as we know when the City Council meeting on this issue is scheduled, we will let you know!

The Bolsa Chica Land Trust was formed 18 years ago to preserve Bolsa Chica, and we remain true to our mission. If necessary, the Trust will take our fight all the way to the courts to protect the land on the Bolsa Chica Mesa.

This is it, this is why we need Joe.  Three of the four votes on this commission are running for City Council and could very well collect donations from the very developer that could profit from building these homes on the buffer zone that boarders the Bolsa Chicas.

There is a reason for a buffer zone.  And there is a reason why Huntington Beach ensures every time there’s an open seat that they have to run someone who will protect the Bosa Chica’s from further land development.  This battle is never ending.

But why support Joe Shaw?  Joe’s not just some guy in Huntington Beach, he’s a long time Kossack, joeesha user id? 2344. His first diary? I am a delegate.  Joe’s a professed Deaniac and he’s still highly involved in our local DFA chapter.  He emcee’s meetings and I go so I can see him in person now and again.  I said I loved my Joe.

Joe is an environmentalist’s dream.  He got an early endorsement for the Sierra Club for one thing.   He’s served on the board for the Orange County League of Conservation Voters.  He not only planted his own Native Garden, he’s promoting it as part of his campaign (and Charlotte, Gary and I were there to help dig the holes and plant the natives that day as well!).  

Joe also worked his ass off for Debbie Cook’s Congressional campaign in 2008, one of the greenest candidates in Orange County ever.

Joe Shaw also works on other local campaigns, supports so many in the County and is involved in Central Committee and is still a State Delegate.  When my husband Gary ran for State Senate in 2008, Joe was one of the very first people to go to Gary and say, how can I help?

This is Joe Shaw.  This is my dear friend.  He wears his heart on his sleeve and he will jump over the moon to help anyone who needs it.  I want to help him.  I can’t donate money to his campaign because of my own financial circumstances.  I can give time and I can write diaries.  This is the diary I wanted to write.

Joe is also an openly gay man in Huntington Beach, not one of the most liberal cities in Orange County, California.  But he’s out and he’s proud and he is also involved in the GLBT community and has been for years.  I could go on forever why I love Joe and couldn’t ever tell you how much he’s helped me personally over the past few years.  But he has.  So I want to help him.  It’s why I fought Prop 8 so much, it’s why I want to fight here for him.  It’s why I am I so lucky to have people who understand my passion for the environment and who get me, my love of blogging and support that effort (Hello, Joe put up OC Progressive along with Gus so I could write locally).

I don’t know if I have anyone as good of a friend as Joe in my life right now.  And I don’t know if I could think of life without him at this point.  He’s been my rock and if I need someone to talk to, there’s Joe.  If I need a hug, or a scream.  I have Joe.  Everyone needs a friend like Joe.

And here’s what a Snowy Plover looks like, one of my favorite birds of the Bolsa Chicas.  We saw some babies when Charlotte and I visited the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, unfortunately they might be very busy soon because of the River of Oil in the Gulf.  This rescue center specializes in animals affected by oil spills.  Another great resource in the heart of Huntington Beach.

Yep, this is where I’m going to ask you to give five or ten bucks to Joe, for me, for his community and for the Bolsa Chica’s.  Even if I only raise $50, it is worthwhile because I love my Joe.  So does my daughter Charlotte, by the way.