The Malsin Army, in business to spank City Hall for the way it has rearranged healthcare and pension benefits for city employees, appears to have a new recruit.
He is Stephen Murray, an energy efficiency contractor who became a new father again this week.
A onetime activist before moving to Culver City five years ago, Mr. Murray reacted to a critical blast email from City Councilman Scott Malsin yesterday morning by hurriedly researching the topic himself and then firing off scolding emails to all five members of the Council that arrived at dawn yesterday.
Mr. Malsin is expected to leave the Council — temporarily — next month over the flap with benefits, namely his own — and return weeks later to run for his former seat. Ever since last spring, he has been critical of City Hall for tightening or eliminating certain benefits that affect city workers, but most crucially himself and his family.
“It concerned me,” Mr. Murray told the newspaper, “that there were issues not resolved that Scott wanted to address, particularly that there was not a prepared analysis of other alternatives.”
Mr. Murray, adopting language of rebuke similar to that floridly used repeatedly in public by Mr. Malsin, crafted a 209-word message that effectively said, shame on you.
“It is with much sadness and anger that I've read about the city breaking its commitment and trust with its own workforce. I am not a city employee and I am also not a champion of pensions and extended benefits. But an employer has responsibilities once such agreements are entered into.
“This January 1st benefits changeover does not honor the Culver City's commitment to its employees. The City Council has failed to demonstrate that this is a financially warranted action and provide a sufficient comparative cost/benefits analysis of its effects vs. other solutions.
“Other reasonable and more widely accepted alternatives, such as grandfathering-in or a graduated and delayed implementation of benefit changes based upon seniority, are likely to prove a better all-around choice for the city and employees.
“The city has a luxury of services, many of which can be scaled back, suspended or eliminated if there is truly an impending financial crisis. It is an employer’s ethical responsibility to allow a smooth and simple transition in retirement and medical benefits for those employees that have vested their sweat and intellectual capital in service.
“Go back and find a way that to meets your commitment to your employees, the supported community and the long-term financial stability of the city.”
Mr. Murray may be contacted at stmurray@2pound.com
