Posted on Red County blog: http://redcounty.com/content/brea-fire-union-endorsed-candidates-endorse-each-other
By James Callender 9/22/10 1:35 PM EST
As mentioned in a previous Red County post, the Brea Firefighters Association (aka, Brea Fire Union) is looking to stack the Brea City Council with union “friendly” candidates (aka, those that want to outsource the Brea Fire Department to OCFA). It was learned today that Fire Union-endorsed candidates Ric Clough and Mayor Pro Tem Roy Moore mutually endorsed each other—creating an informal slate (to go along with the “Clough/Moore” signs popping up all over Brea).
It is curious that Moore (now running for his fourth term, even though when he first ran in 1998, it was under an “eight [years] is enough” platform) has endorsed Clough (see Clough’s “supporters” page on his website, which also includes Brea Fire Union steward Dan Gibson).. No one seems to remember a time where Moore has endorsed another city council candidate, much less when he is running in a race for re-election. Moore, generally seen as independent from the fray, seems to be clearly towing a union line to get Clough onto the city council—tipping the scales toward their play to go to the OCFA.
High StakesTo get Moore to endorse his own challenger – Ric Clough -- when he has never done so before, it seems the Brea Fire Union has something over Roy (e.g., free signs, free mail, continued stipends on the Vector Control Board, etc.). Perhaps Republican Roy Moore subscribes to the Brea Fire Union agenda on purely pro-union grounds (e.g. he doesn’t think there are enough six-figure firefighters working the “overtime game”). It’s hard to say. For Clough, his endorsement of Roy Moore must be his heartfelt belief that Councilmember Roy Moore is doing a stellar job on the city council, so much so that Brea residents should elect him to a FOURTH term—“un-change” that you can believe in, right?
More news from little ole Brea shall surely follow. In the meantime, I certainly hope that the Fire Union doesn’t sensationalize any medical emergency tragedies over the next 40 days…claiming that fictional lower service levels are the cause from some poor Brea resident that succumbs a life-ending malady. Frankly, that would be sick.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Plot Thickens....
The following was posted on the Red County blog and carried over as stated: http://www.redcounty.com/content/shari-freidenrichs-confusing-union-courting-strategy
It appears that others see the larger union plot as well.....
Brea Not Immune Either From Union Influence
Submitted by James Callender (not verified) on Mon, 2010-09-20 10:31.
If an “outsider” were to try to make heads or tails of the recent blogs (and comments to blogs) on which special interest groups are supporting which candidates, and how the patchwork of endorsements (i.e. OCGOP, public safety unions, etc.) all adds up to an actual picture of who these candidates really are (and whether they have a consistent “conservative” philosophy), it is fairly clear that they’d be utterly perplexed. Most of it seems to boil down to “who is who” and “who isn’t who”, depending on fairly complex personal allegiances that will likely change in two years.
When it comes to public safety union endorsements, it shouldn’t be about whether they endorse a candidate (Republican, “conservative”, or otherwise), but what the union expects to gain from such an endorsement. Traditionally, candidates of all political stripes have coveted the endorsements of police and fire unions. Historically (but, sadly, not recently in certain jurisdictions), a public safety union could mean a combination of things—chief among them, however, was whether a candidate demonstrated an appreciation of and commitment to, dare I say, PUBLIC SAFETY! It didn’t mean that an endorsed candidate was expected fall in line to a public safety union’s agenda once elected (the ultimate quid pro quo). In many cities, it still doesn’t (but perhaps that’s a “time and place” thing, I hope not).
It’s probably safe to assume that in the vast majority of cities in Orange County, the public safety unions ARE doing the traditional thing… identifying those who support public safety. An endorsement means an “open door” to discuss policy (and contract) issues at a high level.
Yet, there seems to be a short list of hot elections that have the possibility of being skewed by a more nefarious agenda… an election outcome that will result in whether a city council is OWNED by a public safety union or not (toward a obscenely favorable contract or some other self-serving outcome), but certainly not about ACTUAL PUBLIC SAFETY.
Much has been written about the attempted influence of Huntington Beach’s fire union, and rightly so. So much so, it won’t serve any purpose to recount that scene here. But Brea…”little ole Brea”… that’s been relatively quiet… but potentially quite impactful, especially for such a relatively small city…
What’s up in BREA?
In a nutshell, it comes down to money and advancement opportunities for individual firefighters, and not “public safety.” Most of the drama is cataloged in Brea Councilman John Beauman’s measured blog last month. However, in short, the Brea Firefighter’s Association wants Brea to be absorbed by the OCFA. Sure, we’d like to believe that the union leadership loses sleep every night, worried whether Brea residents have the best service or not. Wouldn’t that be great? They pushed for and paid for a fire services study because of their deep concern over Brea residents’ safety, right? Or, maybe, because it is a small fire department (for Orange County standards… but please remember that Brea, at 40,000 residents is bigger than thousands of cities and towns across the country that have their own departments), being absorbed into the OCFA allows union members much greater advancement opportunities by virtue of the sheer size of the agency (and play even more creative “overtime games” by virtue of the sheer size of the OCFA’s service territory).
What does it mean to be endorsed by the Brea fire union in this election? Perhaps “Question 8” of their candidate questionnaire (the most loaded question of loaded questions in the questionnaire) gives some indication:
“If elected to City Council, do you have any plans to re-evaluate Fire Department service levels or the previous fire service options?”
In other words, “If elected, will you do a ‘do-over’ on whether to go to OCFA? Answer ‘yes’, and may get our endorsement.”
Much of the Red County debate, as mentioned, circles around how Republican and conservative bona fides play into public safety union endorsements. So, for the record, the Brea Firefighters Association has endorsed two registered Republicans, Planning Commissioner Ric Clough and Mayor Pro Tem Roy Moore. It is worth noting that the fire union stopped at TWO endorsements when there are three seats open (maybe it is because Republican Councilman Marty Simonoff, who voted “no” on keeping Brea’s Fire Department, is already in their camp—so, that’s the three votes they need to ship fire service to Irvine OFCA headquarters).
This past weekend, fire union paid for “Clough/Moore” signs went up on random properties. Mail to residents began yesterday. Easily the most priceless quote in the “Brea Firefighters to Residents” letter is:
“By voting for Ric Clough and Roy Moore, you will be placing power in the hands of the people of Brea to help ensure and restore our public safety back to our community.”
Translation?
“By voting for Ric Clough and Roy Moore, you will be placing power in the hands of the firefighters to help ensure that our union membership is afforded the greatest opportunity for personal gain while outsourcing Brea’s Fire Department.”
Where is the OCFA Fire Union in all this? Right behind the Brea Fire Union. As pointed out in a blog last week, the BREA fire union endorsement interviews were held at OCFA union headquarters in Santa Ana (see the evidence…). This stunt, while chalk full of moxie, has never occurred before. After candidates Clough and Moore filled out their questionnaires, pledging allegiance to the union agenda, did it ever cross their minds (especially Moore’s, who has been through this process before) that it was odd that they were driving on the 55 Freeway and exiting Warner Avenue to go interview before the “Brea” fire union? Was it a red flag that OCFA union reps were at the interview as well? Well, it should probably come as no surprise that Clough (a former public safety officer) was comfortable with the drive from Brea to Santa Ana. After all, Brea fire union steward Dan Gibson has been listed as a supporter on his website for months. It’s probably a topic for another blog to point out that Clough is the current Brea Chamber of Commerce Chairman. How Republican Chamber of Commerce Chairman Clough reconciles his position as a business leader with such a zeal for heavy handed public employee unions might be worth another blog, but definitely a team of psychoanalysts.
In closing, Brea, oddly, could be foreshadowing of future OCFA union plays…Fullerton, are you next?
It appears that others see the larger union plot as well.....
Brea Not Immune Either From Union Influence
Submitted by James Callender (not verified) on Mon, 2010-09-20 10:31.
If an “outsider” were to try to make heads or tails of the recent blogs (and comments to blogs) on which special interest groups are supporting which candidates, and how the patchwork of endorsements (i.e. OCGOP, public safety unions, etc.) all adds up to an actual picture of who these candidates really are (and whether they have a consistent “conservative” philosophy), it is fairly clear that they’d be utterly perplexed. Most of it seems to boil down to “who is who” and “who isn’t who”, depending on fairly complex personal allegiances that will likely change in two years.
When it comes to public safety union endorsements, it shouldn’t be about whether they endorse a candidate (Republican, “conservative”, or otherwise), but what the union expects to gain from such an endorsement. Traditionally, candidates of all political stripes have coveted the endorsements of police and fire unions. Historically (but, sadly, not recently in certain jurisdictions), a public safety union could mean a combination of things—chief among them, however, was whether a candidate demonstrated an appreciation of and commitment to, dare I say, PUBLIC SAFETY! It didn’t mean that an endorsed candidate was expected fall in line to a public safety union’s agenda once elected (the ultimate quid pro quo). In many cities, it still doesn’t (but perhaps that’s a “time and place” thing, I hope not).
It’s probably safe to assume that in the vast majority of cities in Orange County, the public safety unions ARE doing the traditional thing… identifying those who support public safety. An endorsement means an “open door” to discuss policy (and contract) issues at a high level.
Yet, there seems to be a short list of hot elections that have the possibility of being skewed by a more nefarious agenda… an election outcome that will result in whether a city council is OWNED by a public safety union or not (toward a obscenely favorable contract or some other self-serving outcome), but certainly not about ACTUAL PUBLIC SAFETY.
Much has been written about the attempted influence of Huntington Beach’s fire union, and rightly so. So much so, it won’t serve any purpose to recount that scene here. But Brea…”little ole Brea”… that’s been relatively quiet… but potentially quite impactful, especially for such a relatively small city…
What’s up in BREA?
In a nutshell, it comes down to money and advancement opportunities for individual firefighters, and not “public safety.” Most of the drama is cataloged in Brea Councilman John Beauman’s measured blog last month. However, in short, the Brea Firefighter’s Association wants Brea to be absorbed by the OCFA. Sure, we’d like to believe that the union leadership loses sleep every night, worried whether Brea residents have the best service or not. Wouldn’t that be great? They pushed for and paid for a fire services study because of their deep concern over Brea residents’ safety, right? Or, maybe, because it is a small fire department (for Orange County standards… but please remember that Brea, at 40,000 residents is bigger than thousands of cities and towns across the country that have their own departments), being absorbed into the OCFA allows union members much greater advancement opportunities by virtue of the sheer size of the agency (and play even more creative “overtime games” by virtue of the sheer size of the OCFA’s service territory).
What does it mean to be endorsed by the Brea fire union in this election? Perhaps “Question 8” of their candidate questionnaire (the most loaded question of loaded questions in the questionnaire) gives some indication:
“If elected to City Council, do you have any plans to re-evaluate Fire Department service levels or the previous fire service options?”
In other words, “If elected, will you do a ‘do-over’ on whether to go to OCFA? Answer ‘yes’, and may get our endorsement.”
Much of the Red County debate, as mentioned, circles around how Republican and conservative bona fides play into public safety union endorsements. So, for the record, the Brea Firefighters Association has endorsed two registered Republicans, Planning Commissioner Ric Clough and Mayor Pro Tem Roy Moore. It is worth noting that the fire union stopped at TWO endorsements when there are three seats open (maybe it is because Republican Councilman Marty Simonoff, who voted “no” on keeping Brea’s Fire Department, is already in their camp—so, that’s the three votes they need to ship fire service to Irvine OFCA headquarters).
This past weekend, fire union paid for “Clough/Moore” signs went up on random properties. Mail to residents began yesterday. Easily the most priceless quote in the “Brea Firefighters to Residents” letter is:
“By voting for Ric Clough and Roy Moore, you will be placing power in the hands of the people of Brea to help ensure and restore our public safety back to our community.”
Translation?
“By voting for Ric Clough and Roy Moore, you will be placing power in the hands of the firefighters to help ensure that our union membership is afforded the greatest opportunity for personal gain while outsourcing Brea’s Fire Department.”
Where is the OCFA Fire Union in all this? Right behind the Brea Fire Union. As pointed out in a blog last week, the BREA fire union endorsement interviews were held at OCFA union headquarters in Santa Ana (see the evidence…). This stunt, while chalk full of moxie, has never occurred before. After candidates Clough and Moore filled out their questionnaires, pledging allegiance to the union agenda, did it ever cross their minds (especially Moore’s, who has been through this process before) that it was odd that they were driving on the 55 Freeway and exiting Warner Avenue to go interview before the “Brea” fire union? Was it a red flag that OCFA union reps were at the interview as well? Well, it should probably come as no surprise that Clough (a former public safety officer) was comfortable with the drive from Brea to Santa Ana. After all, Brea fire union steward Dan Gibson has been listed as a supporter on his website for months. It’s probably a topic for another blog to point out that Clough is the current Brea Chamber of Commerce Chairman. How Republican Chamber of Commerce Chairman Clough reconciles his position as a business leader with such a zeal for heavy handed public employee unions might be worth another blog, but definitely a team of psychoanalysts.
In closing, Brea, oddly, could be foreshadowing of future OCFA union plays…Fullerton, are you next?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
OCFA Firefighters' Union Meddling in Brea City Council Election
Are you aware that the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Professional Firefighters Association (union local 3631) is actively involved in Brea's City Council election?
You have the opportunity to share your opinon below.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Just The Facts
OCFA Firefighters' Union
Involved in Brea Politics
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Why is the Orange County Firefighters' (OCFA) Union, Local 3631, in conjunction with the Brea Firefighters' union, playing an active--yet clandestine--role in Brea's City Council election?
Should we even care?
If you care--even a little--about the Orange County firefighters union's attempt to manipulate Brea's elections, it should be sufficient cause for concern.
How do unions gain political clout? By influencing elected officials.
How do unions influence elected officials? Through endorsements and supporting election campaigns with cash, fliers, independent mailers, ads in local newspapers and campaign signs.
How and why are the unions meddling in Brea's City Council elections?
First, it's important to state, this blog is not intended to criticize public safety personnel. We fully support and recognize the importance of public safety and acknowledge our police officers' and firefighters' sense of duty, and the essential services they perform for the community. Most public safety personnel do not meddle in local politics; they just perform their jobs professionally and to the best of their ability.
Our intent is to "unveil" how the Brea and Orange County firefighters' union is actively working behind-the-scenes to manipulate Brea's City Council election...and why.
Have the unions endorsed anyone for Brea City Council?
Yes, they have endorsed two candidates (with the OCFA union's involvement), shown on the Brea Firefighters website at: http://breaprofessionalfirefighters.com/
Which raises the question, is union involvement in local politics a good thing for Brea? The intent of this blog is to show you, while it may be a good thing for the unions, it definitely is not a good thing for Brea.
Public safety endorsements are not new to politics. In an election year, all candidates want to be seen as proponents of public safety. 
- What do the Brea and OCFA firefighters' unions hope to gain? Their intent is to elect council members that would be willing to contract with OCFA for fire services and eliminate the Brea Fire Department.
- For the firefighters this is definitely a single issue election; it has very little to do with the long-term well being of the community in every other area.
- Savings associated with the recently reorganized Brea Fire Department show that for the unions, it certainly wasn't about fiscal responsibility as they backed the more expensive plan.
- If their hand-picked candidates win, it would give the firefighters' union a sympathetic Brea council member on the OCFA Governing Board; someone beholden to them because of their campaign support; someone they can influence regarding future OCFA policy decisions including those related to compensation and pensions.
The Unions hope to use this election to eliminate the Brea Fire Department (BFD)
- This is apparent in the Brea firefighters' candidate-questionnaire and supported by the OCFA union's participation in the interviewing of Brea city council candidates.The interviews were held at the Orange County firefighters' (OCFA) union headquarters in Santa Ana, with an interview panel comprised of Brea and OCFA union representatives.
- Why would Brea City Council interviews be held at a union headquarters outside of the City...something which hasn't been done before.
Which raises an even bigger question:
- Why would, Mayor Pro Tem Roy Moore, a sitting Brea council member, who should understand the implications of meeting with OCFA firefighters on their turf, knowingly go to their union headquarters to be interviewed for a Brea Firefighters' endorsement?
It should be pretty clear, that candidate endorsements are predicated on them agreeing to bring the Brea fire department decision back to the Council for yet another vote. For what purpose? It allows the unions time to increase political pressure to contract with OCFA for fire services, without allowing sufficient time to evaluate the new BFD reorganization, even though it is based on a deployment model that is more efficient and more cost effective. In other words, it's all about the unions and their power! 
The BFD Reorganization plan will save the City $6.5 million over five years--while increasing staffing at Station 4 in Carbon Canyon. The OCFA plan saves the City $2.5 million over five years.
Councilmember John Beauman has a monthly blog that provides an overview of the fire decision and BFD reorganization plan. You can go to his blog at: http://www.johnbeauman2.blogspot.com/
Isn't it time for Brea taxpayers to say "NO" to the unions? If not now, then when? If Brea eliminates its fire department and goes with OCFA, it also gives up control of future fire services budgets, including employee pensions. Can the City still be assured of maintaining a balanced general fund budget, especially if the economy doesn't improve?
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