My Comments at City Council - June 10, 2009
I spoke at City Council on Wednesday, June 10th and my comments caused a little stir of controversy. Several people contacted me to say that they really liked what I said. One person even said I was "terrific". However, other people were not so pleased about it and some of them contacted the Republican Party to complain. I was contacted about these complaints and said that, yes, I was very tough on the City Council, but I still felt that I was right.
Instead of being a bad representative of the Party, I feel that I am one of the few still defending it and its principles. Conservatives have been playing defense since Nov 2008. I'm just here to remind them that we exist.
Yes, even in the blue state of California.
My comments, delivered at Los Angeles City Hall on June 10th, 2009.....
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Good Morning Councilmembers.
My name is Phil Jennerjahn and I would like to start today with a quote from Gerald Ford, who in 1974, said "A government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take from you everything you have." Unfortunately, a lot of people here in Los Angeles are learning this the hard way. Yesterday hundreds of City employees came here to cry and to complain. They are learning that Socialism has the magical power to make everyone equally miserable.
The City says that they need to give furloughs and make layoffs. Well... of course they do! It is the intrinsic, age old problem that has always plagued Socialist societies ... eventually, you run out of other peoples money.
City and Union employees yesterday were adamant about how important they were. About how vital their services were. Well, I have a suggestion for them if they aren't happy...
Quit! Quit en masse. Take your services to the private sector. See what they will pay you to be a Parks and Recreation manager, a Parking Enforcement Officer, a wastewater management worker, an office file clerk.
Certainly , if you are valuable, the private sector will pay you much, much more for your services.
But no...City employees....you won't do that.
You prefer the soft tyranny of Socialism!!
A mighty and powerful nanny-state government that sees all, knows all, controls all, and decides all!!
And now...you are complaining that you don't like it anymore!
Well, excuse me, but you are not going to be getting a lot of sympathy from me.
Most of you have chosen the path of your own destruction!!
Yes, I'm talking to you...
... members of the SEIU, EAA, UTLA, AFSCMA, AFL-CIO !!
You voted for this! Your unions donated money to the Mayor and to many members of this City Council.
83% of the registered voters decided not to vote in the Mayoral election in March... and now, they will pay a terrible price for it.
There is a solution, however. I am launching a recall action against Mayor Villaraigosa. He spent over 3 MILLION dollars on his Mayoral campaign in March of 2009 and only got 9% of the registered voters to vote for him. Does this sound like someone who should be in charge of the second largest city in America??
I am building a website... Recall Antonio . Com ...and I plan to organize a protest at the Mayors swearing in ceremony in July. If you wish to be involved, leave messages for me at the Mayor Sam website. Thank you.
************************
Later, in the same session, the subject of the City being sued by laid off or furloughed employees came up.
I said in my comments...
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This subject is about the City being sued. My answer to this is, if the workers want to sue,.. then let them sue! I think the courts should throw out these suits. The City has no budget to pay them with.
The City government has no obligation to employ people. OK? It has no obligation to give obscene pensions to them, either. Alright?
Ronald Reagan , he once said - quote, "When government expands, liberty contracts" unquote.
That is an important quote because every city job is paid for by taxpayers. OK? So losing a few jobs isn't going to bother me. I think that paying for these jobs robs people of their freedom to do other things with their money.
Now, you might already know that I'm kind of a contrarian. Most visits I come here to City Council and I don't ask you to spend money on things...I almost always ask you to not spend money on things.
I want to see courage at City Council!
I want to see backbone at City Council!
Just for an example... last week when I was here these red-shirted Socialists from ACORN came here and they were demanding free housing or reduced housing. Instead of telling them to get lost, you caved to them..!!! You said "Oh...we will try to take care of you." Even Council President Eric Garcetti got up there and said "We will try to get that Obama money for you." That is a whole 'nother disaster...I won't even go into that.
One of my heroes, Alexander the Great, he once had a quote that "In order to be a truly great leader, you have to be willing to be cruel to people that you love." What he meant by that is that you have to be tough on people... you can't give them the warm blanket of Socialism and say "I'll take care of you."
Just once. Just once when I come here to City Council I would like to see you address all these people who come here and say "I want...I want..I want." Just once I would like you to look at them and say "You are NOT getting what you want...because it is not the job of government to give that to you!!" Thank You.
Posted by Phil Jennerjahn @ 6/11/2009 07:53:00 PM
39 Comments:
Congratulations Phil! Good for you. It is better to stand for something than to sit back and go along with the status quo. You should be proud of yourself for announcing the recall effort. You have great courage. People are not always going to agree with you, but as long as you know you are doing the right thing, which will make the difference, that is what is important. At the end of the day, a man (or a woman) is only as good as his (or her) word. If we look at the mayor and the promises he made, he is truly not worthy of the second term he was elected to serve.
I agree with Foxy LA Lady. Congratulations Phil! Your heart is in the right place.
RECALL - Get the pens ready.
God, you are a boring twit.
I'm sorry. I'm on the "God,I came back to Mayor Sam after a month and AAAHH, what did I come back to?"
Phil, you are boring. Most of us watch the council meetings. We don't need to hear your name-calling testimony repeated here. Jesus fucking christ. If you think it helps when you call ACORN, socialists, then go crazy... Have fun with it. I have too much to do.
Bye all.
you need to learn to make your points in a sensible manner. you forfeit whatever credibility you might have when you rant, rave and redbait like this.
LA needs real leadership, not asinine buffoonery.
Well put 12:27.
Phil, do us Antonio haters a favor and don't mention his recall again. You are doing us no favors and by trying to take the lead on his recall you are just sacrificing any credibility that such a movement will have. Don't you remember your last campaign? Just go back to being a bonehead gadfly - representing only yourself and the handful of votes you may have recieved. Do you think you are really scaring Antonio? What pathetic illusion sof grandeur.
Too long a thread but I get the point. I'm sick and tired of all this bullshit of political correctness not to offend someone. Bullshit, we have freedom of speech and if your republican party had any clue they would want to slam them as much as the rest of the city. You go Phil!!!
Phil, do you understand that no one give a rat's ass what YOU think?
N-O O-N-E !!!
Phil,
Had you spoken this well at the forums I would have voted for you; unfortunately you didnt, and I couldnt.
Republicans.
Believe there is nothing wrong with the "free" market allowing the CEOs of screwed up companies to make $60 mil a year
but
get extremely upset when membership in a union bumps a city worker's salary from $33,500 to $34,858.
Hey, amateur: CEOs have a union too. It's called their sycophantic boards. I didn't hear you crying when Bush and Paulson did the least free market move, and bailed out companies that had failed, and their lame CEOs.
You have no problem with those tools making gazillions of dollars so that their grandchildren can become celebutantes.
God forbid some city worker makes it to the middle class and has a somewhat easy life.
First we have that idiot zuma dogg using up every possible second allotted to him for public comment, 7 minutes a day of his idiocy, not counting the other repeat idiots to be listened to and council staff paid for -- all of which he reposts on this blog, his blog and YouTube. While begging for money so he can turn up their and waste taxpayer money to get onto Ch. 35 as an attention whore, and run for office.
Now all of this can also be said about Phil, except the begging, and that is probably not going to happen since he's a Republican who doesn't believe in charity. But you're still wasting taxpayer money to campaign for yourself, Phil. And make the Republicans look even more wingnut. But that part is great -- to the extent that you're their mouthpiece, you're campaigning for Democrats.
Since when are City employees the enemy? City employees are just working people like those in private industry. The difference is that they get paid less money in exchange for the security that civil service gives them. I just don't get it.
I may be retarded, but why are Phil's public comments relevant?
If this is going to happen again, let me know now so I can hang myself in the television room here at the group home.
Go Zuma Dogg!
Phil is a buffoon.
It's sad to see a man wearing a suit with nowhere to go after city council concludes
12:27 a.m. said:
LA needs real leadership, not asinine buffoonery.
. . . but would we recognize it if it ever did appear? It's been so long, and with such an endless line of "ass-buffs" in between?
Several thousand people ACTUALLY voted for a clueless raving-lunatic homeless dude for mayor a few months ago, and some didn't even make it sound like they were doing it as a "protest" symbolic vote. A few actually thought a guy who calls himself "Zuma Dogg" could be taken seriously in solving municipal problems -- a guy who thinks if we just cancel all fee waivers and stop giving out vinyl-covered certificates of appreciation to volunteers that the City will return to its former glory.
Even more voted for an obvious racist xenophobe whose main claim to fame was that he ISN'T Antonio Villaraigosa.
Maybe we don't deserve the right to vote!
CALL THE TV STATION AND TELL THEM THOSE ARE NOT LAKER'S FANS THEY ARE DISREPECTFUL ILLEGALS OUT CREATING HAVOC ON OUR STREETS AND CAUSING EXTRA POLICE COST AND HEADACHES.
First we have that idiot zuma dogg using up every possible second allotted to him for public comment, 7 minutes a day of his idiocy, not counting the other repeat idiots to be listened to and council staff paid for --
First of all, a very large amount of what Zuma Dogg says is plainly and directly TRUE- although it many not be your cup of tea. To let the CMs do what they want, unchallenged, is a huge mistake.
Next, the SALARY of the CMs- like a lot of approved city spending- is out of control. Their predecessors set it to follow state judges salary to be guaranteed a too-high amount and regular and generous raises that have nothing to do with any need for a raise and they can say "I dind't do it" for the raise.
They could change that with a charter amendment for the voters to decide, a favorite Garcetti phrase, "It should go to the voters to decide." Fat chance.
ZD is not the one wasting anything- look at the choices that the CM choose to spend time on. And you criticize Zuma? Again, it's the messenger AND the message that many here don't like.
Check some L.A. Weekly articles and tell us of all the honesty in government. MORE not less opportunity for the public should be held. Too many things are decided in committees, missed by the general public and very little notice is seen about those events unless you are adept at studying agendas and the euphemistic language that disguises some of the real actions taken.
Since when are City employees the enemy?
Are you kidding? City employees like all the clowncil staffers are the biggest group of illerate morons, over paid staffers who get free cars, blackberries, gas, holidays and more. They are suppose to attend community meetings and never do. They are suppose to be there for the people are never are. Add the city employees who are lazy and don't do shit on our tax dime. Not one has been laid off and the private sector is carrying the load for everyone.
Some good comments about too=large government. But It doesn't connect well to a recall of the Mayor. They really have very little to do with one another. And if Phil (or Rush or all the rest) made the statements without tagging it all as "socialism" or "liberalism" he (and they) might actually retain the attention of a broader public. When you use labels intended to scare or insult, you pander to your current audience and gain no growth or momentum whatsoever. It actually galvanizes against you those who might agree with your points but lean toward the label he brands them with.
To succeed with change or recalls you must reach out to a broader audience without insulting them.-NK
Vinnie
Your comment was deleted because you said something that was factually incorrect.
I never said Jesus or Hitler "inspired me to leadership".
I pointed them out as examples of people who ended up changing world history, even though they were mocked and ridiculed and had no supporters when they started.
Since when does this blog delete things that are factually inaccurate?
I'd like to know. There are thousands of examples to the contrary.
Phil,
Ar you actually comparing yourself to Jesus? Jesus actually made sense.
As for Hitler, I believe he got waymore votes than you could ever dream of.
Phil:
Check your facts. The City of Los Angeles is legally obligated to keep its pension fund solvent. The City of Los Angeles is legally obligated to pay workers under labor contracts (often referred to in Cityspeak as MOUs or Memorandum of Understanding).
If the City of Los Angeles swears it does not have the money to pay its employees what it is obligated to pay them under contracts approved by the City Council and Mayor, then the City should declare bankruptcy and liquidate its vast assets including extensive land holdings in Los Angeles and the Owens Valley.
If you are going to enter into a recall effort against our current Mayor, you will find more help from City unions than you will from any other group as City employees are the ones who are most disappointed with the curent Mayor and most likely to want to use their furlough days to help your recall effort.
Alternatively, you can continue to demonize working people who support families and whose jobs are admittingly the cream of the crop in tough economic times.
phil.
both of those guys had charisma.
and to the zuma hater: yes, Zuma couldn't run a municipal government by himself, but, given the staff and resources available to the incumbent, yes, I think he'd make better executive decisions, regardless of anything. better decisions than anyone there right now.
and I agree that Democrats should show Phil Jennerjahn tapes at democratic conventions...just to open with a laugh, if nothing else.
so I'll say it one time, if you want to help the City, its ok, but we got the comment covered, if you want to help Republicans,,. join Hari Krishna, then they can explain you away. right now I'm sure they're more than concerned.
even Arnold, and Obama,, both recognize the value in bipartisanship at this point in time. you are just trying to divide the community with party based doctrines, not real solutions for the current actual reality.
Matt Dowd, is that you being a hypocrite?
You say you've "got the comment."
Why then do you keep coming to city hall and doing the same routine over and over and over?
How come you want to HINDER COMMENTS when it relates to Zuma Dogg, but it doesn't APPLY TO YOURSELF in city hall?
Sounds like a hypocritical position. You are the KING of repetitive comments, and you're asking me to move on?
Matt Dowd has been making repetitious comments about fee waivers for years and years.
How dare he say that the zuma hater give it up!
And talk about hating! Ever swear at city council? Ever get reprimanded? Ever get snotty with tom lobong, eric garcetti, jack weiss? Hating against them is no different than hating against zuma.
i agree 5:14 Dowd gets up there to deliberately blabber without making a scintilla of a point sometimes. Right matt?
come on matt! you r the biggest hater on the planet after zuma doggt
June 12, 2009 9:45 AM
I know you are, but what am I?
Anon @ 2:55
The City should be able to lay people off. Taxpayers have no obligation to bear the financial burden of ineffective or non-working City employees.
I don't like that they go to City Hall and act like they can't be replaced. EVERYONE who works for the City can be replaced.
Instead of demonizing working families, I'm standing up for them. I'm trying to reduce the size of government. That has always been my goal.
Matt Dowd,
You should talk...your comments are boring as hell and the other day you made a snotty and very petty wisecrack about Garcetti. You have also been kicked out of Council for swearing.
Do you think with behavior like yours that they even listen to you anymore?
They tune you out.
Phil, your post about insulting city council members is important. We do have to remember that they represent the people and have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders, regardless of the state of affairs in the city. Thank you for bringing it up. One of the reasons we have the type of city government we do, is because government has forgotten the purpose of government, which is to serve (not service) the people. Being elected is not the glamorous job it used to be. I can’t imagine the councilmember’s are looking forward to being in the chamber everyday having to await public comment and being insulted and downgraded by a disgruntled citizen. We must remember many of them are serving second and third terms because they DID keep their promises. We don’t elect them to be abused. Let the process be their judge.
Back in ’05 when voters elected our hopefully soon to be ex-mayor, a lot of those who voted for him were brainwashed by the predatory lending in the housing market and this somehow created an atmosphere of belief that government could get their hands on all this imaginary money to conduct all these grandiose undertakings. All we needed was a Pied Piper named Antonio Villaraigosa who would lead us all to this great wealth and educational structure, which lead us to job losses, layoffs, furloughs and a whole lot of broken promises instead. The people of Los Angeles ended up being nothing more than his daydream.
The entire time we allowed him to get into our hearts and minds, as he awakened our core doubt about ourselves. Some of us put our passions aside, gave up on our dreams and realized we needed to go back to school because we were not educated enough to keep what we have. But then one morning we wake up and we see him failing to take over the school district…and we wonder. Why did we elect him?
We needed to recycle, buy energy efficient appliances, cars and what ever else we can afford because we were not doing enough for our environment. But then one morning we wonder why there aren’t more trees in the city, after having been promised 1 million new trees. Again we wonder…why did we elect him?
We knew we needed to invest into our Police Department because it was not strong enough at 9,200 plus officers, when it had to face 39,000 gang members. But then we watch the May Day Melee…and again we wonder.
We believed it was wise to give up on a centralized check-in at LAX International and gave up on the $11-billion dollar investment of redeveloping LAX. And we wonder…what happened to the money?
Our city was analyzed, assessed, micro-managed and consulted, so that the mayor would have a list of “valid” reasons to be elected to the mayoral post. Many of the mayor’s promises have not come to fruition and those which have are only at a half measure. Oh the list goes on and on because we know his promises were infinite.
The mayor of Los Angeles is supposed to be about progress, not stagnation and frivolous spending. About results and the building of a better community, of which we can be proud. Not pushing for one’s own agenda or party affiliation on the national stage. The mayor put too much on his own plate, made his own bed and slept in it with the wrong people.
As he was elected into office, we saw how his big bright smile and rock star status turned onto a frown. Maybe he realized he bit off more than he could chew? I wonder if he even knows how much a loaf of bread, or a gallon of gasoline costs!
Phil, if your recall effort is going to be successful, you must remember that it is about our city. That we must come back to reality and assess what is Los Angeles. We do not want scary, stagnant, underhanded, glad-handed, blowhard, carpetbagger government. We want a mayor who is going to go to work to bring the focus back on the people of Los Angeles. A mayor who knows how to be an executive with a feel for what will be good for the people. A mayor who will be remembered for what he did, not for who he was. We must take back our Los Angeles and place it in the hands of someone who understands it and the vision of its people.
Phil:
Check your facts again. Civil Service rules allow for displacement by seniority. A "layoff" in Cityspeak just means eliminating a position, not a person. That person then can revert to a prior position they held and the lowest person in that class then gets bumped and so on and so forth. Management can layoff for legitimate reasons.
But remember Civil Servants have property rights to their jobs which means they can claim severance for giving up their permanent employment. This is well established law. The intent of which is to protect the public by insulating municipal workers from the whims of politicians or their appointees. The check and balance are career employees who understand the legalities of policies and procedures the politicians rarely touch Earth to master.
In short, the reason things aren't even more corrupt than they are is because every once in awhile a bold civil servant will blow the whistle on attempt to keep everyone honest.
But hey, why don't you try and get elected and find out how much you don't know about how City operations turn. Then maybe you'll have some respect for the people who actually do the hard work it takes to provide City services to the public.
But in the meantime kiss the support of City workers goodbye you pompous moron because there is not enough money in the world to hire people to deal with the likes of you and your armchair view of how government should operate.
Foxy LA Lady
That is why I think the recall is going to work.
Too many people are feeling hurt and betrayed.
Of course I can't do it all by myself...
But I think I'm going to have hundreds of volunteers to start... and once it gets rolling and popular, I will have a few thousand helpers.
11:52
Property rights to their jobs??
Permanent employment??
What world are you living in?
We do not have a Communist government.
At least, not yet.
IF it was up to me , there would be ZERO City employees and the City would subcontract out for all its services to private companies. If the companies didn't produce desired results, their services would not be renewed in the following contract years.
The words you just mentioned...
"Property rights to their jobs" and
"Permanent Employment" is part of the reason our government is so inefficient.
Words and attitudes of entitlement like yours create very ineffective and disfunctional workplaces where people do the bare minimum to get by and not get fired. Some don't even do that.
The Private sector does everything better.
It always has...and it always will.
Running for Mayor really went to Phil's already inflated head. Ranting and raving like a lunatic won't get you any respect in this town. You just become another Zuma Dogg wearing a suit. Attacking everyone and their mother also won't make you any friends in this town. If you're just a middle aged white guy going through a personal crisis, how about taking up boxing instead of ranting at council. You'd save the city money if you talked less.
It must be extremely hard on this blog to find intelligent people who can go head to head in a professional debate without attacking their oppononet in a derogatory mannwer using profane language. Get an education and get a life people!
Those of you who are doing it, know who you are and you know you are guilty. I must tell you, you are the ones that are pathetically boring and should knock it off!
Oh Zuma, that was great. Next time remember, "I'm rubber. You're glue. Everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you."
Rock on Pee Wee!
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