Re “Smith Should Stay with the Facts”
Let me apologize if I offended any members of the Culver City Fire Dept. in my recent essay.
My personal opinion has always been that the Fire Dept.’s contract negotiators were very smart in their bargaining.
I had always suggested that the Police Dept. negotiators use the same tactics. Instead, the Police Dept. was almost always the perennial last one in and forced to play the bad guy role. I have always said that the Police Dept. should model their organizational structure after the Fire Dept., one that has only a handful of managers and the majority of them are still working in the field.
The truthful facts are that I spent 31 years with the city of Culver City, participating in negotiations in different bargaining groups.
I have many friends within and retired from the Culver City Fire Dept. I am not sure what Jay Jay means by absolutely no ties, but regardless of that, I have a right to comment on any public employee bargaining group. My comments are based on things I have witnessed over the years.
If Jay Jay recently retired from the Fire Dept., he and I have a lot in common.
We both started in the late 1970s making $12,000 a year. We paid all of our Pers 9 percent contribution. We could retire after age 50 and 30 years’ service, and collect 75 percent of our salary. I speak for myself, but I am sure Jay Jay feels the same way:
We would have taken these jobs for a lot less.
We are both retired with excellent retirement incomes and paid health insurance for our families. I do not know about Jay Jay, but when I started I never imagined a retirement like the one I have.
As for the city manager’s job, I have applied several times for the position, never expecting them to get past reading my name at the top of the application.
It is my opinion my honesty, truthfulness and sincerity are the reasons they never get by name on the application.
But you can see from news reports around the state that being honest, truthful and sincere are not priorities for city manager positions.
When my kids ask, “What do you think about me being a police officer?” I always tell them the same thing:
“Be a firefighter.”
Mr. Smith may be contacted at www.scsinvest@sbcglobal.net
