Dan Mariscal Reports on SEIU 721 Finances

I know that it costs money to run a 73K+ member union (according to the 2008 LM-2 stats) but there are some questions regarding who we paid and why we paid this amount. Here is a very small sampling (Note: nearly every 721 staff person got a SUBSTANTIAL raise from 2007, we here in the City of LA, are looking at furloughs and layoffs and the County of Los Angeles is preparing for their contract negotiations, and the County is claiming poverty)

There's a lot more, but I don't want to start a riot or uprising. See for yourself:
http://kcerds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do
721 file DOL Number is 543-613

When examining these charges, take note that some are consistently from out of state. Also, note how much we are being charged in legal fees, yet we have a staff attorney at over $100,000 a year. Check out how many audits we paid for, and why are we renting equipment out of state?

2008 Salaries:
Julie Butcher-$163,292
Bart Diener-$115,219
Jason Elias-$75,241
Cecelia Grejeda-$168,511
Patsy Howard-$113,349
Robert Hunt (General Counsel)-$115,093
James Lauderdale-$79,225
Joe Mendoza (listed as employee and lost-timer)-$56,432
Kathleen Ochoa-$119,423
Jose G. Perez (listed as employee and lost-timer)-$61,930
Jorge Sanchez (research associate, but 100% representational activity)-$85,381
David Sanders $88,805
Keenan Sheedy (listed as employee and lost-timer) $18,637
Bob Schoonover-$12,784
Alejandro Stevens (100% representational activity)-$52,411
John Tanner-$128,188
Jesse Taylor Jr.-$31,811

721
Total Assets-$25,158,346
Total liabilities-$9,842,845
Total receipts-$70,791,999
Total disbursements-$59,957,055
Total membership-73,696
Total dues and agency fees-$50,114,555
Sales of investments and assets-$14,383,405

721 paid to:
SEIU International (contributions, gifts and grants)-$500,000
SEIU International [contributions, gifts and grants (American Dream)]-536,000
SEIU International (Expense re-imbursement)-$71,499
SEIU International (Expense re-imbursement)-7,617 (2X's)
SEIU Local 221 (Financial Contribution)-$167,617
SEIU Local 221 (Financial Contribution)-168,000
SEIU 1021 (Expense reimbursement)-$7,454
SEIU 1021 (Expense reimbursement)-$8,750
SEIU 1021 (Expense reimbursement)-$15,834
SEIU 1021 (Expense reimbursement)-$7,870
SEIU 1021 (Expense reimbursement)-$8,715
Disney Resort (Special events)-$79,694
Disney Resort (Special events)-$23,500
Disney Resort (Special events)-$18,300
Disney Resort (Special events)-$13,200
Disney Resort (Special events)-$6,400
Disney Resort (Special events)-$6,100
Disney Resort (Special events)-$5,800
Disney Resort (Special events)-$5,300
Access VG, L.L.C. Utah (Access recreation)-$25,513
MRC rent (per month)-$15,751
Shop Stewards Recognition Dinner (Sheraton)-$23,000+
Shop Stewards Recognition Dinner (Sheraton)-$19,852
Shop Stewards Recognition Dinner (Sheraton)-$31,472
Bonaventure X-mas Party-$15,000
Bonaventure X-mas Party-$15,000
Bonaventure X-mas Party-$69,000
Bonaventure X-mas Party-$11,000
SEIU Public Services Division-$54,373
SEIU Public Services Division-$31,472
SEIU Public Services Division-$19,852

Legal Fees
WEINBERG ROGER & ROSENFELD
$10,000
$10,000
$20,252
$10,067
$27,900
$20,252
$20,252
$20,252
$20,252
$20,252
$20,252
$20,252
$20,252
$8,246
$11,624
$7,463
$8,101
$6,935
$12,781
$5,449
$8,437
$14,059
$7,742
$8,099

Audits
LINDQUIST LLP
Auditing Fees
$6,087
$29,000
$9,760
$35,963
$18,550
$11,973

ASH W. SHENOUDA, CPA
PO BOX 2576
ORANGE, CA 92859
$8,500 (Audit Fees)
$8,000 (Audit Fees)

MILLER, KAPLAN, ARASE & CO.,
4123 LANKERSHIM BLVD
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA 916022828
$9,400 (Auditing Fees)

Equipment Rentals
HEARTLAND BUSINESS CREDIT148
DENVER, CO 802910202
$13,930 (Equipment Rental)
$13,930 (Equipment Rental)
$13,930 (Equipment Rental)
$16,425 (Equipment Rental)

DE LAGE LANDEN FINANCIAL SRVCE
PO BOX 41601
PHILADELPHIA, PA 191011601
$7,888 (Equipment Rental)
$7,888 (Equipment Rental)

PITNEY BOWES GLOBAL
PO BOX 856460
LOUISVILLE, KY 402856460
$24,986 (Equipment Rental)
$12,493 (Equipment Rental)
$12,493 (Equipment Rental)

Consultation Fees
RAEL & LETSON
378 VINTAGE PARK DRIVE
FOSTER CITY, CA 94404
$10,000 (Consultation)
$8,450 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$10,270 (Consultation)
$8,450 (Consultation)
$8,450 (Consultation)

JEFFREY A. SACHS ASSOCIATES
870 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA
NEW YORK, NY 10017
$15,000 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)
$18,635 (Consultation)
$17,635 (Consultation)
$17,050 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)
$17,462 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)
$15,000 (Consultation)

URBAN REALTY ADVISORS, LLC
1700 K ST NW STE 600
WASHINGTON, DC 200063816
$10,000 (Consultation)

MYRIAD FORENSIC SOLUTIONS
27762 ANTONIO PKWY L1-614
LADERA RANCH, CA 92694
$5,400 (Consultation)

FACER & STAMOULAS, P.C.
SUITE 1000
1025 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
$9,390 (Legal Property Sale)

 

Notes From City of L.A. Union Summit Meeting April 12 : A LINE IS DRAWN IN THE SAND

Guys

The following notes and impressions are just my very own perspective of what took place on Saturday.

Fair and level playing ground?   Well, my wife accidentally took a spill when she missed a step, bruised her ankle, knee and shoulder.   She is improved today.  The relevance of this incident to each and everyone of us is the consolation that we all have health insurance, sick pay and excused absences for illness and injury because we are part of an organized labor movement.  Some of us are more fortunate than others.   In the City of Los Angeles, our employer pays for our health insurance.   There are members in our local who pay somewhere around $ 700 a month.

Every other Saturday, I make the trip down to the Union Hall for the Governance Committee meetings which start at 10:00 a.m.

So, this Saturday, I had a senior moment and arrived at the meeting which started at 9:00 a.m.   An hour late.   So, I cannot reflect on the first hour of the meeting however I understand from what was shared with me was that in the first hour, many members spoke and gave good input to the group.

When I arrived, the body had broken up into caucuses and discussed different areas of city operations and expenses that can be done differently to save money.

At approximately 11:00 a.m., City Councilpersons Tom La Bonge, Jose Huizar and Parks gave presentations on the state of the budget and its effect on each and everyone of us.   Council person Dennis Zine had a previous engagement and did not arrive until after the meeting ended at twelve noon, however he made himself available to the members who were present long after.   I left very late and Councilperson Zine was still ingratiating with the members.

I came away from the meeting with several concerns.

One, the councilpersons resonated a $500 million deficit this year and possibly a $1,000,000,000 (that's a billion dollars) deficit next year.  If the truth is anywhere near these figures, I am worried.

Second, Councilperson Jose Huizar, indicated that any jobs that were given to the private sector would be done with the assurances of protecting existing city employees.  At this point, I along with others yelled out that outsourcing was unacceptable, not an option and not on the table.

The BIG Question is when and where is the Golden Handshake that so many workers are waiting for.

The BEST Answer that I have been given is that NOTHING is going to be said or done until the budget is submitted by the mayor on April 20.

The SECOND BEST Answer was given by Councilperson Tom Labonge, when he declared unequivocally that he will not be a party of creating a brain drain of the city employees for the sake of expediency.   The City Council is not going to give away its' biggest asset, its' human resource.

CONCLUSION

The meeting was a good union social with a lot of Koombaya.

From the sound of Councilperson Tom LaBonge, he has a well grounded footing on the consequences of losing a disproportionate number of an experienced core of workers.

Councilperson Parks ran for County of Los Angeles Supervisor and SEIU 721 supported Mark Ridley-Thomas.   Councilperson Parks lost the election for County Supervisor and my inclination is o believe that Councilperson Parks has as much loyalty and support for SEIU 721 as he does for the Los Angeles Police Departments Police Union.

Councilperson Jose Huizar is proposing to support selling services presently provided by union members to outside vendors.

This is the line drawn in the sand.   Allowing the private sector to operate the services presently provided by city employees represented by labor is an abhorrent idea.

The consequences of losing a single sector of our members jobs to the private sector is like that first levy that started breaching in New Orleans.   Once the levy breached, the erosion followed and the City of New Orleans was engulfed.

My message to all unionists is to protect the middle class that the labor movement bulwarks by not conceding existing union jobs to the private sector.

I ask that my brothers and sisters involved in COPE not to endorse any politician who supports conceding any existing Labor organized and represented job over to the private sector.

Leave no man or woman behind.

The City has a lot of very intelligent people.   As do the unions that are involved in the City.

What I do not see is vision.   I do not see or hear a Mulholland emanating from City Hall, or a Phillip Randolph, Cesar Chavez or Samuel Gompers in the Hall. 

What I see is the city machinery plodding along, similar to New Orleans, with a civil engineer explaining that the most important issue facing the city was the condition of the levy.

The city machinery had its' own agenda, budget, favors, priorities and blinders.

Once the City of New Orleans was submerged underwater, the civil engineer was proved correct and the mayor, city councilpersons, agenda, budget, favors, and priorities became moot.   And blinders do not work underwater.

California is the leader in innovation and Los Angeles is the second largest municipality in the entire United States.

The City of Los Angeles has to step up to the plate and lead the country with a four day work week.

Many of the municipalities in Southern California already work a 4 day/10 hour schedule.

The City of Los Angeles Police Department works a three day work week.

The City of Los Angeles will save many dollars and many jobs.

In Solidarity,

Rafe

Notes: April 4 Governance Committe Meeting

It appeared to me that the demeanor of everyone attending was significantly more subdued this past Saturday.

The working committee Chair, Charlie Mimms, appeared to make an effort to control the group much better.   I would like to commend and thank Charlie Mimms for his work and dedication to this effort.  Charlie and I do not see eye to eye on many things but I can assure you that it is very easy to take pot shots and throw tomatoes at him then it is to run a  meeting with such a degree of diversity, passion and consequence at stake, as these meetings provide.

In addition the Chairman, I know that everyone else on seated at the dais has worked hard and diligently to provide all of the necessary reports to the members.   I thank you also.

Why can we not get the minutes emailed to us before the day of the meeting?   Is that really too hard to ask for?

You don't have to be a weatherman to have noticed that there was a security guard in the meeting room and this was a good thing.   It appears to have given the Sergeant at Arms a sense of real authority (with the ability to call in the calvary if necessary).

The Governance Committee meeting before this past Saturday's, appears to have violated Roberts' Rules of Order when a simple majority was accepted and a two thirds majority was required for a vote to stop debate on a motion.

This was brought to the attention of the chairman and body meeting this Saturday b;y Arturo Diaz and so noted.

The members who are participating in the Governance Committee are certainly gaining education and experience in Roberts Rules of Order and Parliamentary procedure.

Two weeks ago, I noted that the Parliamentarian Reginald Sawyer-Jones and Sergeant at Arms were wasting time and energy counting members after every vote.

Although, Greg Fritchee assisted with the head counting along with Parliamentarian Reginald Sawyer-Jones, I saw the Parliamentarian doing less of this and referring to his book on Roberts Rules of Order, more. 

I did not take any notes at the meeting and I am only writing what I seemed to have observed, but if I'm not mistaken, some of the votes passed by as little as two members making the difference.  Reminds one of the importance of every single vote.  

I'm not a gamblin' man, let alone an odds maker, but it appears to me that the discipline demonstrated by the Tri-Counties, Inland Empire and Santa Anna, and the City of Los Angeles, is going to trump the County of Los Angeles in future elections.   Whether it's the By-Laws ratification or election of officers.   It seems to me that the other regions realize that if they want to be players in the executive board and officers positions, they are going to have to mobilize their members to be active, disciplined and participate in the politics of this union local.

Los Angeles County is not doing that.  Not when they have 80,000 members who cannot muster up enough of their union members to defend their interests at the governance committee.   The County of Los Angeles has too many fine minds present at the meetings, just not enough bodies to reflect their membership when it comes down to vote.

Nor am I a clairvoyant.   But it seems to me that the writing is on the wall.   SEIU Local 721 is going to have the same non-transparency and non-accountability to its members with the new slate of officers that are going to be selected and voted in by the voting bloc consisting of Tri-Counties, Inland Empire, Santa Anna, and the City of Los Angeles.

Big Brudda, County of Los Angeles, with its' 80,000 members, is going to be like a red headed step child.

I mean, I saw a member of from the County of Los Angeles, who appeared to be campaigning for office.   Instead of getting County of Los Angeles members involved in the By-Law issues representation, dues and democracy in the union , this County of Los Angeles member is directing energy into his campaign.   Wrong fight at the wrong time.

Again, these are just observations and I hope the County of Los Angeles comes to me, further on down the road, and says to me, "Rafe, you were all wrong.   The County showed up and did what it had to do".

But as it stands, the Tri-Counties, Inland Empire, Santa Anna and City of Los Angeles, "quid pro quo" is:

The Tri-Counties, Inland Empire, Santa Anna and City of Los Angeles bloc will vote to ensure the Draft #12 is voted in as it is.

In return, those units that are paying no dues or less will continue to so and the draft will subterfuge the exposure of dictatorial rules and bylaws that are inlaid in Draft # 12 for the benefit of the ruling party.

The losers will be the members who have fought and sacrificed to assure a democratic Local 721.   The Reformers will see no reform.

In my opinion, we are moving at the pace of a tortoise.   So, if you want to see democracy in action and a member driven union moving at the speed of a moving glacier, you will have to attend the governance committee meeting. 

I hope and pray I am wrong about a lot of the things I think I see happening.

But, a rose is a rose, by any other name, it's still a rose.   

Call a shovel a shovel.

Call a bucket a bucket

Call a spade a spade. 

Call it the way you see it.

It is, what it is.

Rafe

SEIU LOCAL 721 REFORMERS BLOG

Brothers and Sisters, 

I'm new at blogging and I'm not sure if this is going to fly.   But as a vehicle to help us grow as members who are dedicated to build a bigger and better Union, I am starting this Blog to assist us communicate at the highest level as quickly and efficiently as possible.

SEIU Local 721 has a psuedo blog.   It is controlled by staff and they only display the party line.  The SEIU Local 721 blog is not a true blog.  

This Blog will be an open forum for SEIU Local 721 issues and Labor issues.

On this Blog, there will be freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to ageee and disagree.

On that note, I shall open the Blog for discussion.

Rafe

Post Script

In the course of navigating through the labrynth of procedure to establish this blog and format the platform, I found an advertising option which I am allowing.  If there is any revenue generated from this blog it will go towards a luncheon for the participants of this blog.