Eye On Pioneer interviews Robert Montenez, who tells his story about how Labor Community Services - Los Angeles helped his family after losing their home in the Altadena wildfire in January. Montenez is an employee with the City of Pasadena, and a member of AFSCME Local 858. Montenez lost his home during the LA wildfires, specifically the Eaton fire which burned much of Altadena, Calif. Montenez received invaluable assistance from Labor Community Services - Los Angeles (LCS-LA), the premier nonprofit of the LA Federation of Labor. LCS-LA provides a safety net for worker families with a variety of services, including disaster relief, food programs, and financial literacy,

  Cerritos, California - Cerritos City Manager Art Gallucci is struggling to explain why he authorized an almost $50,000 salary increase for the Assistant City Clerk. This striking salary increase only came to light when an anonymous memo was sent to "All City Employees and City Councilmembers", under the subject line "Ensuring Transparency in Employee Promotions and Salary Survey." The memo is dated May 10, 2023 and is from "An Extremely Dissatisfied and Disheartened Employee."  A Mysterious Memo The memo alleges that City Clerk Vida Barone influenced two councilmembers (Mayor Bruce Barrows and Councilmember Chuong Vo) to instruct Gallucci to authorize the increase. The Eye On Pioneer could not verify if councilmembers would have any say in this. Salary and employment is heavily regulated, and only the City Manager can authorize such an increase. What's upsetting Cerritos employees is that the City is currently in the middle of a salary survey.  A s...