Firefighters Return Fire
AND THE BEAT GOES ON, AND ON...
The apparently never-ending drama that was ignited by Orange County Register Watchdog reporter, Teri Sforza, last week concerning firefighter salaries in which Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer took exception to some of his quotes and caused her to change at least one of her articles continues today.
FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT BACK
In a new article published today, Costa Mesa Firefighters Association President Tim Vasin corrects the record. You can read the entire article HERE, unless Sforza decided to change this one, too.
PLACING BLAME
Righeimer continues to blame the city employees for every evil known to man when, in fact, it is the actions of this City Council that has created the problems. I'm not going to try to paraphrase Vasin's comments - he states the issues very clearly.
EMASCULATION CREATES EXASPERATION
The core fact at issue here is that Righeimer campaigned as a pension reformer - fabricating crises at every turn - only to find his efforts emasculated by the duration of the current employee contracts. As a result, he continues to make things up and twist facts to suit his personal political agenda.
PUBLIC SAFETY IN JEOPARDY
In my view, nobody in the city is well-served by the volleys of vitriol being shot back and forth on this, and many other issues. In better times members of City management and the leadership of the employee organizations would simply sit down and discuss the common problems and work together to find a solution that worked for both sides. Those days seem to be over. One side - the Righeimer-led City Council - has its heels dug in because of personal philosophies and political priorities, while the other side - the firefighters - simply doesn't trust them to negotiate honestly. It appears that Jim Righeimer is willing to let public safety in our city be in jeopardy as he tries to wait-out the associations until their contracts expire - then clean house and privatize the whole shebang. Nobody can win this way, least of all the residents, businesses and visitors to Costa Mesa. That's a real shame.
The apparently never-ending drama that was ignited by Orange County Register Watchdog reporter, Teri Sforza, last week concerning firefighter salaries in which Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer took exception to some of his quotes and caused her to change at least one of her articles continues today.FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT BACK
In a new article published today, Costa Mesa Firefighters Association President Tim Vasin corrects the record. You can read the entire article HERE, unless Sforza decided to change this one, too.
PLACING BLAME
Righeimer continues to blame the city employees for every evil known to man when, in fact, it is the actions of this City Council that has created the problems. I'm not going to try to paraphrase Vasin's comments - he states the issues very clearly.EMASCULATION CREATES EXASPERATION
The core fact at issue here is that Righeimer campaigned as a pension reformer - fabricating crises at every turn - only to find his efforts emasculated by the duration of the current employee contracts. As a result, he continues to make things up and twist facts to suit his personal political agenda.
PUBLIC SAFETY IN JEOPARDY
In my view, nobody in the city is well-served by the volleys of vitriol being shot back and forth on this, and many other issues. In better times members of City management and the leadership of the employee organizations would simply sit down and discuss the common problems and work together to find a solution that worked for both sides. Those days seem to be over. One side - the Righeimer-led City Council - has its heels dug in because of personal philosophies and political priorities, while the other side - the firefighters - simply doesn't trust them to negotiate honestly. It appears that Jim Righeimer is willing to let public safety in our city be in jeopardy as he tries to wait-out the associations until their contracts expire - then clean house and privatize the whole shebang. Nobody can win this way, least of all the residents, businesses and visitors to Costa Mesa. That's a real shame.Labels: CMFD, Jim Righeimer, Teri Sforza, Tim Vasin
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 3/14/2012 03:28:00 PM
6 Comments:
If forced to make a choice, who would you trust your life savings with- Righeimer or Vasin?
Me: Vasin.
Better yet, who would you trust to call when you have a heart attack? Riggy or the Fire Dept?
Nobody cares, until you're in a situation where you need help and call the Fire Dept for assistance.
So to all the Coun-sell supporters, when that day comes when you need help, and it will someday, don't call 911, call Riggy or Messy.
Geoff, you're right - the vitriol doesn't serve anybody.
i would call who i pay taxes to do the job. it's got to be good for 300k/yr. paid for it so might as well use it.
If Piggy could have it his way, he'd have his campaign supporter's ambulance company serve the city as paramedics and hire water trucks to put out fires. I sat in during the OCFA presentation and let me tell you, Piggy and his dog Messy don't have a clue about the public sector and how government works. They didn't understand something as simple as mutual aid and Mensinger belittled the entire OCFA organization.
This sad, sorry, pathetic and utterly lame mockery of a council with their puppet doggy Hatch must go.
When the employees win their lawsuit and when we residents take our city back, we will all remember who sold their souls. Spineless Hatch and the countless internal moles they've strategically placed around city hall and the employee association will get theirs. The world always has its way of dealing with people...
I take exception to the thought this is vitriol. Sforza from the OC Register finally looked at and printed both sides of an issue dealing with Costa Mesa, and guess what? What Righeimer and his ilk are spouting is a bit far away from the truth. I see this as healthy in that Vasin was able to provide facts, dates and essentially a timeline to show how dishonest Righeimer is and has been. Unfortunately, it has only gotten to this point because of what the council has done.
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