Over the years, Artesia’s budget process has gone through a very puzzling evolution. Prior to the current City Manager Bill Rawlings, the City’s budget was straight forward and easy to understand. In fact, it actually won awards for those traits! Shortly after Rawlings started, he hired a woman named Tracy Fuller to act as a consultant of sorts, and one of her duties was to assist with the City’s finances. Together, they created a budget that to this day makes both auditors and laymen scratch their heads. Fuller is no longer with the City, but Rawlings is still responsible for creating the budget. A Balanced Budget in 2020?   In June 2020, the City Council passed a budget along with a new contract with the employee union, which was a stark difference from what most other cities were doing. In the middle of the pandemic, most cities were preparing for a huge economic downturn and employee layoffs due to a massive decrease in revenue. Artesia was different. Yes, there was a project...

In Artesia, residents and employees are asking the same question Artesia, California. Mid-March has passed, marking the one year anniversary of the pandemic lockdown for many American workers.    In the City of Artesia, workers in Public Works and Public Safety have been working onsite throughout the pandemic, and even City Hall and Parks employees have been working most of the year on a rotating schedule, all of them keeping the City running and looking good. Even City Managers, the municipal equivalent of a CEO, are supposed to be on the scene. Throughout the nation, these appointed heads of cities are showing up at their respective offices to oversee and assure that their cities are being run efficiently. But in Artesia, City Manager Bill Rawlings has not been seen for almost an entire year. Employees and residents are wondering, “Where’s Bill?” “Good question,” said Andrew Perry, President of the Artesia employee union, AFSCME Local 1520. “I have heard that he works remote...

   'Your Slate' Candidates' Campaign tore up opposition signs of candidates Francisco Noyola and Hank Trimble.   HAWAIIAN GARDENS - In their bid for three available City Council seats, nine candidates are locked in a vicious battle. One faction has become infamous for their unethical and crooked election tactics. Three candidates banding together under the banner of "Your Slate" are seeking and destroying the signs of opposition candidates, and undermining the election by trying to replace a key city elections official.  These candidates are Victor Farfan, Myra Maravilla, and Maria Teresa Del Rio. Dirty Politics Behind their slick videos, the three candidates known for their tagline #yourslate have been seeking out the signs of opposition candidates and cutting them or tearing them up.  According to ethics professors around the world, this breaks Rule #1 of campaigning and probably life in general: Don't be a jerk.   According to Washington Post's Jai...

Artesia employees are currently negotiating a new contract. One of the staples of having a union is the ability of employees to draw up a contract with their employer. This contract, also known as an MOU (for Memorandum of Understanding), covers all the  major aspects of being employed, like salary and benefits; along with all the perks, like education reimbursement or bonus pay for certifications. An MOU also lays out the nature of discipline, firing, performance evaluations, step increases, safety, and many other important things. Basically, it covers all the stuff that entices you to continue working for a specific employer.  Being that our professional life is so intertwined with our personal life, the MOU is extremely important. It’s also one of the reasons why union employees are paid much better and enjoy more benefits than non-union employees. So, it’s important to have a great negotiating team. The Negotiating Team The negotiating team should not be too large....

Hello everyone, to start this blog off right, I thought it would be good to give a mission statement or some sort of intent. The value that guides me is simple, and it’s taken directly from the oath I took when I assumed the office of President for my Local, which is 1520 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (aka AFSCME).  That portion of the oath that acts as my lodestar is ‘to organize the unorganized.’ My intent for this blog is to provide real world lessons for other workers and especially other union employees in the world on a wide variety of subjects, from work-related issues to community involvement. Essentially, I’m hoping to be helpful and influential for the labor movement at large.  But in doing that, I believe this blog will also be helpful and influential for the community that this Local serves - Artesia, California. Speaking of which, on this date - Valentine’s Day 2020 - this is my 15th anniversary working for th...