February 1, 2011 Dear Chamber Member, As the firefighters and police officers who take pride in serving and protecting our community, it the annual Chamber of Commerce Public Safety Awards has been a great honor to participat Luncheon for over a decade. We are honored and touched by the appreciation and support for our members that the members of the Chamber provide with this luncheon. That is why it was a difficult decision for San Luis Obispo City Firefighters Local 3523 and the San Luis Obispo Police Officer Association to not participate in this year’s program. Due to your long term support, we wanted to reach out directly to you to share with you the reasons that our members have ‘chosen not to be a part of this recognition of the role that public safety and our members play in San Luis Obispo. ‘As you may know, the Chamber leadership has consistently taken a position at odds with the best interests of public safety in our community. Although the leadership represents only one percent of the Chamber, that minority has worked for over a decade to further an agenda which is anti-employee and puts our community at risk. This was clearly illustrated by their participation in the City Manager's Sustainability Task Force. The recommendations that came from that Task Force were the same agenda that the Chamber's Leadership, specifically Dave Garth, Bill Thoma, Pierre Rademaker, Erik Justesen, Michael Gunther, Amy Kardel, and former member Chip Visci, have advocated for throughout the last 10 years. With the vitriolic rhetoric heating up in the media and increasingly hostile communications to our groups from the Chamber leadership, itis impossible for our dedicated firefighters and police officers to participate in the Public Safety Awards Luncheon in the spirit in which such dedication should be recognized. We recognize that San Luis Obispo, like California and the nation, is experiencing a difficult economic recovery. That is why for years we have tried to be part of the solution both at the negotiation table and in the community (like salary freezes for the past two years, paying for the increases in health insurance, and holding positions vacant longer than is safe). As we face increasing hostility from a small number of individuals at the City and in the Chamber leadership, itis now time for us to respond. We can no longer allow this minority to continue to let their personal agendas against public employees continue without an answer, and unfortunately this is one of the things we cannot let go unchallenged. As a member of the Chamber, isn't it time to ask your leadership why they continue to pursue this hurtful agenda rather than focusing on policies and programs to increase commerce and help local businesses? The recommendations that they have made will put public safety and our individual members at risk. At the same time, they seem to be pursuing an agenda to line their own pockets with preferential treatment and special projects from the City that will only benefit a few. Please think about how these recommendations not only slow response times, endanger the public and responding personnel, but also about the other ramifications such as the ratings used todetermine insurance for businesses and homes and the ability of our departments to retain experienced, trained personnel with low turnover rates. We appreciate your continued support of public safety and our firefighters and police officers as we continue to be proactive in helping the City get through these challenging times, but we will no longer continue to sit quietly while your leadership attacks us at every turn, Sincerely, Erik S. Baskin Matt Blackstone President, Local 3523 President ‘san Luis Obispo City Firefighters ‘San Luis Obispo Police Officers Association