Re “Morale Will Be Devastated if City Workers Flee En Masse”
The candid Mayor of Culver City said this afternoon that yesterday’s essay by his City Council colleague Scott Malsin “saddens me” because “it is very self-serving.
“We can’t allow one Councilmember to believe he is the only one who knows how to move this city forward and the rest of us don’t have a clue.
“The main point is that he is trying to protect himself.”
In a controversial essay that Mr. Malsin sent to the city’s three print newspapers yesterday and to online newspapers today, he criticized the Council for failing to protect veteran workers who stand to lose a slice of healthcare benefits if they remain past Dec. 31. He did not confess he is one of the affected employees.
The Mayor argued that, contrary to Mr. Malsin’s perceived assertion, the City Council has deliberated thoughtfully in determining whether healthcare benefits or jobs should be reduced.
“It saddens me,” Mr. O’Leary said, “because he is posturing.
“There probably is some development that is going to happen in the very near future, and all will come to light.
“I am disappointed he is trying to portray the rest of the Council as anti-employee groups. That is the farthest thing from the truth.
“We have struggled severely with this subject. We have struggled from the perspective of possibly taking away something from employees that they aren’t protected on because we have the bigger picture of the city to care for.
“We must consider this:
“What is better, to take away some benefits or to take away somebody’s job?
“At this time, it is more important to keep people at work than it is to keep all benefits when the city has a structural deficit to deal with.”
Turning to his own welfare and that of his fellow Council members, Mr. O’Leary said that even though he and three of his colleagues are not presently vested, “we will be vested. We know what we are taking away. We know we are taking away benefits to ourselves, and yes, we still are okay with this.
“Just because Scott is the only one currently vested, that doesn’t mean it does not mean anything to us.
“I know this issue is important to him because he is the one with a young child. I mean, I am planning children. He won’t be the only one.
“You know, I am a small-business owner. My wife works part-time. I am taking away something I may need in the future if we have children.
“I don’t like when somebody points the finger when I believe it is self-serving.”
One other member spoke out this afternoon.
Councilman Chris Armenta issued a more succinct statement:
“Out of respect for Scott and his right to say what he wants to say, and out of respect for the collective bargaining process, being a longtime union member myself, I know how important it is to not kind of get in the middle of it while (negotiations) are going on.”
