Re “I Can’t Reconcile How Malsin Can Quit and Return”
I have tried to stay out of this.
But I can’t. I think people are starting to see the truth.
My articles have cost me jobs in the past few years because of what I have written.
People from city government have said a lot of untrue things about me and potential employers have decided not to hire me.
The last one was in November. After a very successful interview with several high- ranking city officials, they were very positive about offering me a position in their new Internal Affairs Office. They spoke to several people in Culver City government and then decided to hire someone else.
I still believe that the success of the team is the most important thing when you are playing the game. You may not agree with management or the coach. But you play the game their way.
However, when you retire from the game and become a spectator, still supporting the same team, you have a right to your opinion of how the team is managed and coached. After all you played the game for 31 years.
Several articles have been written lately about former City Councilman Scott Malsin, and I have to admit the residents of Culver City – with a few exceptions –are beginning to see the real Scott Malsin.
I liked Mark Campbell’s letter yesterday. He was right on the money. Mr. Campbell raised the question:
If Mr. Malsin is re-elected to the City Council in Culver City or takes employment with any organization in the state of California that participates in PERS, the Public Employees Retirement System, will he have to give up his current PERS medical plan and accept the new city active PERS plan?
This is the way PERS operates its contracts – with participating agencies all personnel must have the same benefits. When City Manager Mark Scott came to Culver City, he had to relinquish his PERS retirement plan from Beverly Hills so he could accept employment with the city. When he left Culver City, he had to retire again under a current benefit plan. Shouldn’t these same standards apply to Mr. Malsin?
Or is he is operating under a special agreement with the city that only City Council members receive?
Can the PERS retirement system be manipulated and loopholes used to increase retirements?
One only has to look at former Bell City Council members and former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo to answer that question. Mr. Campbell also is right about what is best for the team, except in this instance what is best for the city. For too long it has been what is best for the individual, the Fire Dept., the Police Chief, the City Manager, city management personnel, City Council members and others. Culver City has to only look across the street to the City of Los Angeles where the Fire Dept. was caught manipulating statistics to increase the money they would receive in their budget, not to benefit the safety of residents of Los Angeles but to benefit the Fire Dept. This never could happen in Culver City. Then again, that’s a story for another day.
Mr. Smith, who retired after 31 years with the Culver City Police Dept., may be contacted at scsinternationalinvestigations.com
