Tag Archives: Measure D

Why You Should Vote NO on Measure E – Palos Verdes Estates Parcel Tax

PVE Malaga Cove School Fallen Limb 07-21-2017 - Annotated

Vote NO on Measure E

The Sheriff safely protects every other city on the Palos Verdes Peninsula: RPV, RHE & RH

The Sheriff safely protects every other city on the Palos Verdes Peninsula: RPV, RHE & RH

Click HERE for Publicly Available YouTube videos regarding Measure E

Los Angeles Sheriff:
Twice the Protection
at Half the Price?

(EQUAL RESPONSE TIME vs. PVEPD) 

Who Truly Has Deep Experience with Criminals and Can Enlarge to Engage Sizable Threats?  Every single week, LASD deputies counter criminal activity around LA County that a PVEPD officer may never encounter; in the event of a serious criminal outbreak, the LASD can expand its local PVE force three-fivefold within one hour.

Who Truly Has Deep Experience with Criminals and Can Enlarge to Engage Sizable Threats? Every week, the average LASD deputy encounters a broad array of felony and misdemeanor activity around the Peninsula and LA County — situations to which the PVEPD would be totally unaccustomed and thus unprepared; in the event of an outbreak of crime, the LASD can Expand its local PVE force three-fivefold within one hour — the PVEPD is constrained by its tiny on-duty force. PV Peninsula Expertise includes each LASD squad car accessing the LASD database showing all LASD contacts with potential or witnessed criminals — a network to which outside-the-network PVEPD squad cars have no access. The PVEPD simply would not know if it encountered one of these criminals, potentially allowing him/her to continue within our city.

$15,000 - $30,000 More in YOUR Pocket: Over the 12-year Parcel Tax period, each PVE property taxpayer will save ~ $15,000 - $30,000 by moving to the experienced L.A. Sheriff

$7,000 – $20,000 More in YOUR Pocket: Over the 9-year Parcel Tax period, each PVE property taxpayer will save ~ $7,000 – $20,000 by moving to the experienced L.A. Sheriff

PVE Government Hid the One Crucial Fact from Voters: For the six months preceding the 2017 Measure D vote, Tony Dahlerbruch never gave voters the straight story on cost/benefit

PVE Government Hid the One Crucial Fact from Voters: For the six months preceding the 2017 Measure D vote, Tony Dahlerbruch never gave voters the straight story on cost/benefit

Don't Trust PVE City Council's Lies: There is nothing "cheap," "lowball," or bait-and-switch about the contract offered by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

Don’t Trust PVE City Council’s Lies: There is nothing “cheap,” “lowball,” or bait-and-switch about the contract offered by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

RPV Sheriff Cost Has Remained Flat: contrary to the misinformation from PVECC, there is no evidence that Sheriff's pricing escalates precipitously whatsoever

RPV Sheriff Cost Has Remained Flat: contrary to the misinformation from PVECC, there is no evidence that Sheriff’s pricing escalates precipitously whatsoever (Source:  RPV Budget Report)

Lunada Bay Boys and Other PVEPD Debacles Depreciating Attractiveness of PVE vs. Other South Bay Cities: while other LA County home values skyrocket, interest in PVE homes remains tepid

Lunada Bay Boys/PVEPD Non-enforcement & City’s REPEATED Attempts to Tax Properties Is Depreciating Attractiveness of PVE vs. Other South Bay Cities: while other LA County home values skyrocket, interest in PVE homes remains relatively tepid

Measure D Tax on Residents Taking Its Toll: Listing price on the property fell 25% over five month City effort to pass a parcel tax (Sept 2016 - Feb 2017)

Measure D Tax on PVE Properties Is Taking Its Toll:  Listing price on this property fell 25% over five-month City battle to pass $70-90 million parcel tax (September 2016 – February 2017)

PVE POA Measure D Lawn Sign 02-2017 - Annotated

Illegally Placed Parkway Lawn Signs promulgated by PVEPD group headed by Sergeant Steve Barber: despite Barber’s questionable efforts to gather resident accomplices, PVE voters turned out in 33-year record high numbers to vote down Measure D, saving taxpayers $70-90 million.

KEY STATISTICS
FOR VOTER CONSIDERATION:

Sheriff Protection Twice that of PVEPD:  Since identical number of patrol cars shall be positioned throughout tiny geography of PVE, LASD Response Time Equal to that of PVEPD.  Moreover, the LASD has offered the following as well:

  1. 12% or 50% more patrol service hours from highly trained and experienced deputies, plus one field sergeant in the field each shift (vs. PVEPD sergeant often sitting at desk in PVEPD station);
    PVE Dahlerbruch LASD Staffing Study 09-28-2016 Excerpt

    Sheriff Will Protect PVE for Well Under HALF the PVEPD’s Cost: why vote to tax your own home in order to pay over TWICE what the Sheriff quoted PVE?

    09 28 2016 - LASD Staffing Study-Quote - $4-3MM Excerpt

    Sheriff Will Increase Patrol by 50% over PVEPD for $3 million/year less PVEPD’s $7.5 million/year Cost: the Sheriff will shift Peninsula deployment to PVE acting as a force multiplier for the city, and assign a Lieutenant to PVE Police HQ.

  2. Lomita Station Location Advantages (on Narbonne):  if PVE decides to go with the lower-cost $3.5 million Option A, the benefits would be as follows:
    • Unlike PVEPD officers frequently pulling themselves off street patrol in order to fraternize at closeby PVEPD HQ, the distance to the LASD Lomita station makes that misconduct impractical and infeasible;
    • PVE residences closer to the LASD Lomita Station/RPV (Lunada Bay), which are neglected to the benefit of Malaga Cove streets near PVEPD HQ, now will have a fair chance at law enforcement patrolling their neighborhood and faster response times; and
    • PVE residences closer to the LASD Lomita Station/RPV (Lunada Bay) under the Sheriff will have the benefit of faster access to the entire RPV Sheriff patrol force in the event of an emergency requiring rapid expansion of law enforcement coverage/protection.
  3. Experience stunting hard crime throughout LA County, as compared to low-crime and thus low-experience for PVEPD officers who graduated from Rio Hondo (vs. Sheriff Academy);
  4. Expansion capability:  squad cars in force can multiply 3-5 fold within one hour to accommodate a surge in crime;
  5. Expertise through entire Peninsula, including access to LASD squad car database of criminal interface and contact (PVEPD squad cars have no access to this);
  6. Dan Beringer as station chief with sterling leadership record (vs. Kepley sued for negligence);
  7. Priority LASD Helicopter access; and
  8. Sheriff services that do not even exist within the PVEPD:  SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), gang suppression specialists,  etc.

PVE community programs (PVE-Cares started by PVEPD hero fmr. Chief Dan Dreiling) transferred to low cost and headcount PVE organization.

Sheriff COST Less than HALF that of PVEPD:  For all of the above, $3.4 million annual, contained cost, including liability, vs. PVEPD costing taxpayers $7.5 million, with never-ending, escalating long term pension costs.  Over 9 years, voting down the Parcel Tax in April 2018 is set to save you, the PVE taxpayers, an estimated $30 – $35 million — with PVE residents being in the safer hands of the Los Angeles Sheriff.

PVEPD Simply Doesn't Have the Resources of the Sheriff Department: should PVE residents ever need extraordinary law enforcement, we are going to wish we'd hired the Sheriff

PVEPD Simply Doesn’t Have the Resources of the Sheriff Department: should PVE residents ever need extraordinary law enforcement, we are going to wish we’d hired the Sheriff

BOTTOM LINE FOR VOTERS:  This easy, law enforcement enhancing budget solution of hiring the LASD shall continue to play a significant role in Measure D failing .  Why transfer $70 million of PVE taxpayer money into a police department’s pockets if you simply do not need to do so?  Why not instead save all that money for your own retirement, your family’s regular needs or your kids’ education?  It is important for residents to recognize that PVE is uniquely fortunate not to require a huge law enforcement budget due to the City being inherently safe.  This is due to its remote location away from freeways/dangerous regions, few/narrow entry points, ocean and famously efficient Torrance PD protected borders, and mature/affluent demographics that lead to only rare occasion of PVE resident lawbreaking.  So ask yourself, “Why is PVE spending > 95% of our property taxes, nearly 60% of the entire budget and 400% of what RPV pays per resident on its LASD police force, especially during a budget crisis?”

Barber-Steve-Photo-Day-Headshot-09-22-2015-Cropped-Annotated-McCrary Update

PVEPD Union Head Steve Barber: opposed any cuts to staffing at the PVE Police Department.

 

——————————————————————–
DATE:            March 28, 2017
TO:                   PVE Taxpaying Voters
SUBJECT:    PVE Govt. Moves Closer to Replacing PVEPD w/ Sheriff

 

MEMORANDUM
————————
The Coalition to Save PVE has learned that Palos Verdes Estates municipal government, headed by City Manager Tony Dahlerbruch, over the past week has moved closer to the reasonable determination to replace the PVEPD (click here) with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Lomita Station, headed by highly respected veteran Capt. Dan Beringer (click here).

 

PVE City Hall Has Pivoted Its Response to Demands for LASD Hiring from “False” to “Undetermined” Following $4 Million Savings Document Leak:  As of today on March 28, 2017, PVE city management prudently rectified to “undetermined” from “false” its response to heightened resident demands for the replacement of the 60% budget consuming PVEPD with the  lower cost/higher performance LASD.  To the satisfaction of an increasing percentage of surveyed PVE taxpayers, it appears that Tony Dahlerbruch (click here) may be reacting to the Coalition’s recent procurement and dissemination of a previously sequestered City document.  This PVE staff report (see excerpt in next section below) exposed Dahlerbruch’s obfuscation of the details of a late 2016 LASD contract proposal to provide 12% more patrol service hours than the PVEPD for merely $3.4 million/year vs. the PVEPD’s $7.4 million annual cost.  This recent LASD quote equates to a $4 million first-year savings and less than half the PVEPD’s budgeted cost of $7.4 million/year, despite the LASD’s more experienced officers providing 12% more patrol service hours than PVEPD’s current deployment.  The ~ $4 million annual savings from contracting with the LASD would plug 85% of the $4.7 million budget hole derived from PVE’s residents’ well reasoned March 7th rejection of Measure D’s unnecessary 12-year perpetuation.
PVE Rumor LASD Hiring 03-28-2017

PVE government/Dahlerbruch on March 28, 2017 re-labeled the “rumored” demand for the $3.4 million LASD contract as “Undetermined.”

PVE Rumor LASD Hiring 03-21-2017

PVE government/Dahlerbruch on March 21, 2017 mislabeled the “rumored” demand for the $3.4 million LASD contract as “False.”

PVE Government/Tony Dahlerbruch Obfuscated from PVE Taxpaying Voters LASD Contract at Less than HALF of PVEPD Cost to City:  In what appears to be yet another case of corruption by Palos Verdes Estates government under Tony Dahlerbruch, the City posted on its website ahead of the March 7th Measure D vote fallacious information patently designed to influence the Measure D vote.  This informational array ensconced from PVE taxpaying voters the crucial particular that the LASD offered a contract to PVE with 12% more patrol service hours than PVEPD deployment, and did so at a cost of less than half of the PVEPD’s expense to the City’s resident taxpayers.  Through a formal document request under the California Public Records Act (CPRA), a member of the Coalition to Save PVE obtained the following excerpted summary of Tony Dahlerbruch’s “LASD Staffing Study” dated September 28, 2016.
PVE Dahlerbruch LASD Staffing Study 09-28-2016 Excerpt

PVE Government Hid the One Crucial Fact from Voters: For the six months preceding the 2017 Measure D vote, Tony Dahlerbruch never gave voters the straight story on cost/benefit

PVE voters should make serious note of this date being nearly six months before the March 7, 2017 Measure D vote, despite the key details of this crucial cost/deployment comparison never being provided, much less promulgated by Tony Dahlerbruch and his City Council cohorts Jennifer King, John Rea, Betty Lin Peterson, Jim Vandever and Jim Goodhart.  PVE residents now in possession of this information have concluded that the exclusion of this LASD Staffing Study was intentionally done in order to improperly influence the vote’s outcome. That feared outcome, Measure D failing to be sufficiently approved, was anticipated by Tony Dahlerbruch and his colleagues to make their own, personal jobs more demanding due to a $1 million, 50% cut to their own finance/administration staffs’ budget allocation (click here and see Page 2). Therein appears to lie the true motive behind Tony Dahlerbruch’s self serving actions and inactions as described herein.
PVE Dahlerbruch City Budget Expenditures Excerpt

PVE Police Department Over TWICE the Cost as Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, despite the latter providing 12% more patrol service hours

PVE Government/Tony Dahlerbruch Improperly Sought to Influence Election.  To be clear, as PVE City Hall reportedly became increasingly concerned that voters were leaning against paying an estimated $70 million – $90 million in unnecessary parcel taxes over 12 years (via Measure D), City Manager Dahlerbruch guided the City’s website to post this claim on March 3, 2017 (click here), “In the interest of providing factual information about the special parcel tax and the City’s contract with the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), the City has compiled a set of files and records on the City website for public review.”  However, it seems Tony Dahlerbruch did not want this factual information to include the basic summary of the LASD’s law enforcement proposal for 12% more service patrol hours at less than half of the PVEPD cost.  Clicking through the website (click here) provided access to a plethora of PVE City government hand-selected statistics and documents, including a detailed FAQ page (click here) and numerous “fact sheets” (click here).  Despite Tony Dahlerbuch and his cohorts on the City Council scribing and compiling 1000s and 1000s’ of words, statistics and comparative studies, the Coalition’s review has found not one single instance of Dahlerbruch evincing the crucial swing-vote-determining fact that the highly competent, trained and staffed LASD offered PVE taxpaying residents 12% more patrol service hours at a cost less than half of the PVEPD —  $4 million in savings that would plug 85% of the budget hole caused by the Parcel Tax’s being voted down by wise PVE taxpaying voters.

===================================

DATE:            February 24, 2017
TO:                  PVE Voters & Eligible Captains and Sergeants
SUBJECT:    Palos Verdes Estates Police Department Chief
of Police Retirement/Resignation Demanded

 

MEMORANDUM
———————
The Coalition to Save PVE, following PVE Police Chief Jeffrey Kepley’s POA engaging in alleged fraud (see apparently intentional misrepresentation on POA/Measure D lawn sign below), today demanded the termination of Kepley as PVE Chief of Police.  For nearly two years, the Coalition has held Kepley under investigation relating to perceived ineffective and weak leadership of the PVEPD (see link below).  With the Bay Boys litigation and other signs of incompetence and misconduct mounting, we no longer felt it prudent to defer this demand beyond a deadline of June 1, 2017.

 

PVEPD Is Campaigning for Measure D to Prolong Its Egregiously Excessive Compensation, NOT to “Save” the Department:  The PVEPD knows full well that Measure D (Parcel Tax) being rejected would NOT result in a material, if any diminution in law enforcement efficacy.  As the PVEPD is aware, Measure D/the Parcel Tax deals almost exclusively with fire, and not law enforcement services.  In the fortunate event that Measure D is struck down, PVE’s City Council would continue to fund the PVEPD exactly the same the day after the vote as the day before.  What the PVEPD does fear, however, is that the removal of excess parcel tax revenues from the PVE budget eventually would compel a prudent, reconstituted City Council to examine for inefficiencies  (e.g., overtime) the City’s #1 expense – the PVEPD.  Please don’t trust the Coalition on this view – you may read below what the PVE Mayor (Jim Nyman) who invented the Parcel Tax has to say about Measure D.  What soon should become apparent to PVE voters, with the POA’s distribution of intentionally misleading lawn signs, is that the PVEPD appears willing to do anything to perpetuate the leaking flood of PVE taxpayer savings into the PVEPD officers’ pockets.  With $125,000 – $210,000/year/officer compensation for a 3-day workweek of driving safely in scenic loops around our small, naturally safe city (click here), this all adds up quickly in a department with a staggeringly high headcount (see photo below).
PVEPD Photo Day Entire Dept Waving 09-22-2015 - Cropped & Annotated

 

PVE Naturally Has Very Low Crime:  The Coalition, of course like the rest of PVE’s residents, supports the City maintaining an effective law enforcement operation.  However, the expense of that police operation should correlate somewhat to the naturally, normally low level of crime in PVE.  In parts of Los Angeles (e.g., South Central) with significant hard crime, the residents reasonably may support just about any amount of expenditure on police force.  However, PVE is uniquely fortunate to possess various geographic and demographic traits that provide a natural “moat” around it.  PVE’s remote location away from freeways and inner-city areas, along with few narrow entry points, makes it too difficult a city for most criminals to target.  Furthermore, the Torrance Police Department’s famously strict law enforcement along PVE’s border further buttresses PVE’s “safety moat.”   Lastly, PVE’s mature and affluent demographics tend not to engage in much law breaking, particularly of the hard/dangerous variety.  For emphasis, all of these permanent traits of PVE provide a naturally low crime rate, which should itself give solace to PVE voters focused on peace and tranquility.  A more efficiently structured and managed PVEPD will not result in any material increase in crime.  The extremely unusual burglary wave that hit PVE in late 2015 was neither the PVEPD’s fault nor something that its overpaid, overstaffed department was needed to impede.  If PVE had a police department at half or twice its current bloated size and expense, those burglars still would have shown up and committed their crimes.  In naturally safe cities such as PVE, there is nothing practical any police department can do to prevent this from happening.

 

PVEPD Budget is Out of Control:  Despite all these natural advantages that counter law breaking, in last year’s PVE budget the PVEPD consumed nearly 60% of PVE’s entire budget (up from 41% the prior year) — a total amount of expense that equated to over 99% of all of the property tax revenue received by the City.  Ponder for a minute PVE’s law enforcement budget at nearly 150% of that of RPV (click here), despite RPV having triple the square miles to patrol and triple the population to serve.  RPV spends only 15% of its entire budget and only 38% of RPV’s property tax revenue on law enforcement, despite naturally having more crime due to extensive borders with higher crime areas (e.g. San Pedro/Los Angeles) and less favorable demographics.

PVE Budget 2015-2016 Police 57 percent - Annotated

PVE Police Department Budget Exploding the City’s Budget:  from an already overwhelming $6.5 million cost to PVE taxpayers a few years ago, the 2017-2018 cost of the PVEPD has escalated to $7.4 million vs. the $3.4 million L.A. County Sheriff quote offering 12% MORE patrol service hours over the PVEPD

PVEPD May Be Managed Effectively and Efficiently Under Captain Mark Velez:  The Coalition understands that PVEPD Captain Mark Velez conditionally stands willing and able to run the PVEPD following Jeff Kepley’s termination.  Though we have some reservations, the experiment of bringing someone (Kepley) from the outside to manage the PVEPD has proven disastrous.  Kepley will leave in his wake a city littered with law non-enforcement so rampant that both he and the City have been sued by alleged crime victims who felt they had no alternative due to Kepley’s “indifference.”

 

In the event Velez is not chosen, PVEPD Chief candidates should have at least ten (10) years of law enforcement experience at the captain or sergeant level or higher, with preference being given to applicants who reside or would relocate to reside in Palos Verdes Estates coincident with their prospective hiring.  After initial screening by the Coalition, penultimate and final round candidates will be introduced to the PVE City Council, non-sponsoring this process but ultimately responsible for Kepley’s replacement, for further review.  Candidates are encouraged to reply hereto with a resume in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat digital format, along with a separate submission listing references who may be available as part of the pre-Council review process.  Confidentiality of applicants shall be respected; only following applicant written consent shall his/her application become conveyable by the Coalition to any outside party.

 

Please see the PVE Police Department Wall of Shame for more information:

 

 

Jeff Kepley Under Investigtion (see link below):

 

PVE Pay and Benefits – 2015:
PVE POA Measure D Lawn Sign 02-2017 - Annotated

Illegally Placed Parkway Lawn Signs promulgated by PVEPD group headed by Sergeant Steve Barber: despite Barber’s widespread efforts to gain resident accomplices, PVE voters turned out in 33-year record numbers wisely to vote down Measure D, saving taxpayers $70-90 million.

From: Jim Nyman
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 4:38 PM
Subject: Measure “D’ PVE Parcel Tax

 

Dear Friends,
 
On the ballot on March 7 will be the re-enactment of the PVE Parcel Tax to fund fire services.  I know quite a lot about this tax as I ‘invented’ (authored?) it about 30 years ago.  Trust me, at that time we really needed the money!  But the tax was an interim measure and was not supposed to last forever.  Now they are using the full resources of the city to push through 12 more years of this tax with an authorized annual increase of 6.2%.  Plus the City is actively pushing a campaign of deception to attempt to make people think that everyone else pays more for than we do.  This is a lie and they know it is – I guess I should say ‘factually incorrect.’
 
These are the facts:
 
·         No other property owner in PV or CALIFORNIA pays this tax.  Fire services are funded out of the 1% (Prop 13) property tax that we all pay.  I have provided sample tax bills from PVE, Rancho (redacted), and San Pedro.  So, you can verify that we (only) pay this tax. (My PVE tax is $1213.60 – the first example tax bill – no one else has this line item or tax!)

 

·         The “Citizen’s Advisory Committee was a total joke – they didn’t find $1 in savings nor did they attempt to do so.  A casual look at the property tax revenues in PVE would have shown that the property tax revenues are forecast to grow at 8.44% this year alone (PVE staff estimate) and they a have grown at about 7% for the last 30 years – so, with any amount of decent management the fire tax could sunset/disappear in a very short time.

 

·         When you view the property tax income in PV it immediately becomes apparent that something is horribly wrong: the other 3 cities all receive about 23.3% of the property tax dollar while PVE gets 11.3% ..AMAZING BUT TRUE. Why?  I have no idea but this has been going on UNQUESTIONED for 39 years (since 1978). And, all four cities have the same School District, the same Library District, the same Community College District and the same (County) fire services.  Ask your elected officials why PVE is getting the short end of the stick!  By the way, even Hermosa Beach gets 20%!  If we only got our fair share we could fund the fire contract and have money to spare – yet the Citizen’s Advisory Committee did not study this nor recommend any change!  Incredible.
 
Please forward this message and attachment to everyone you know in PVE and please ask questions.  Look, it’s like your kid is addicted to cocaine (except our City is addicted to our money).  We need to vote this down then immediately put together a REAL Citizen’s Advisory Committee and immediately task the City Attorney and City staff to find out why PVE is not getting its fair share of the tax dollar and immediately institute a hiring freeze and other measures to try to find a path to fiscal solvency.  I think the new, smaller, revised, fire tax could be eliminated within a short time – about 4 years. 
 
Vote it down – send it back to the City – REJECTED!