Friday Update
Brothers & Sisters,
Today as America waits for ballots to be counted in the Presidential race, Los Angeles County and California also wait for election results to be finalized. Los Angeles County had over 4 million ballots left to count as of last night. These ballots will ultimately determine several races of significance for our membership including Assembly and Congressional seats as well as final totals on state propositions.
We will put out a full summary next week after all the final results have been recorded including any results under appeal. For now, we would like to share a few races and initiatives that will help our members and legislative efforts going forward.
In the State Legislature, we supported Republicans Phillip Chen (AD-55 Diamond Bar) who won his seat by a large margin. Assemblymember Chen is a long-time friend and supporter of Local 1014 members and in particular pension protections for our members. We look forward to his work once again on our behalf. Democrat Josh Newman was elected to Senate District 29 winning his race over Ling Lng Chang, both friends of Local 1014. We also saw our very own retired member Kelly Seyarto, Republican from Murrieta, join the California State Assembly. He knows about public safety pensions and we will help him navigate a Democratically-controlled legislature and Governor to ensure his success. Two races that will unfold as the remaining California ballots are counted are Senate District 21 with Republican Scott Wilk, our endorsed candidate, battles Mueller for the seat, and Democrat Christy Smith in a close race with Mike Garcia for United States Congressional District 25 in Santa Clarita.
While California remains and will largely remain a Democrat-controlled state, as you can see, we support all candidates that support our issues. Our winning endorsed candidates are diverse in districts important to Los Angeles County Fire Fighters Local 1014 members.
Finally in the Board of Supervisors race for District 2, long-time friend and champion from the CA Senate, Holly Mitchell takes the seat to make the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors the first all-woman Board of Supervisors ever. We have relationships with all five Supervisors and we will get to work immediately with our 2020 and 2021 agenda on behalf of our members. Congrats to all who ran excellent campaigns and all who won this cycle.
Congratulations to Class 159
Congratulations to Class 159 on joining us as Los Angeles County Fire Department! The LA County Tower is as hard as ever with 56 recruits beginning training and 42 making it to the finish line. In the graduating class we have former firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement recruits, including six women, and some of our own FSAs. This graduating class will hit the field and help us with staffing, and begin the most rewarding career in the world. CONGRATULATIONS!
Staffing
As we head into this weekend, Local 1014 continues to present ideas and solutions to resolve out problems and systems for the Fire Chief and Administrative Executive Staff. We need to continue hiring, staffing and promoting to keep the ranks full and allow us to accomplish the mission and take care of our members. One of the areas of constant work is exam appeals and Internal Affairs representing our members. Thank you to Internal Affairs and Appeals Chairman Pat Dolan and his crew of Directors for this perspective. See his update below on Captain appeals below.
Potential Captain’s AP Appeals (Pat Dolan)
To the members who filed appeals on their AP’s for the current Captains exam, we have met with the Department on several occasions, and the appeals have been argued for you. Unfortunately, many of you will not agree with the decisions the Department made against you, specifically as it pertains to what was told to you in the Promotional Exam Workshops and how Memo’s would suffice as adequate documentation. The Union argued vociferously on your behalf, and it appears it wasn’t successful. Many of you, will (or have), received your letter from DHR regarding the results of your appeal. Near the bottom of your letter is a paragraph that advises you that if you STILL feel like you have merit to your appeal, to file an appeal with the Civil Service Commission and has a link on how to go about it.
Before you do that, I would strongly advise you to contact Pat Dolan (pdolan@local1014.org) or Jason Cervantes (jcervantes@local1014.org) so we can hopefully give you some advice before you file. We had nearly 40 appeals, so email is preferable to notify us as opposed to a phone call or text. Thank you for your understanding as it pertains to this, and we understand that your future in this organization as a potential Captains is very important to you.
Local 1014 Elections
Local 1014 Executive Board Elections ballots dropped today. All active and life members in good standing will be able to cast a vote to elect the leaders of your Labor Union. Los Angeles County is a heavy labor town and our Union is strong within that family. Electing your leaders is so very important. Take time to listen to the issues, the candidates, and remember to vote! Good luck to all who have stepped up and stepped in to be considered including those who have been passionately serving already.
As always, stay safe and take care of each other.
