Local Troublemaker Makes Cover of OC Weekly
Posted by Mr. Peabody in A Step in the Right Direction, About Us, CSUF, Home Town Hero, Our Town, The Fullerton Recall on May 16, 2012
Our “millionaire many times over” admin makes the big time last week with a cover story by Brandon Fergeson in the OC Weekly. Here’s how it starts:
Tony Bushala first met Manuel Ramos more than 20 years ago when Bushala played drums with Teatro Cometa, a theater group that performed bilingual one-act plays in Fullerton in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Ramos, who was about 10, was the son of one of the actresses; his uncle, Bushala’s best friend at the time, directed the troupe. Occasionally, Ramos would sit quietly in the audience and watch rehearsals.
Bushala, now 53 and a millionaire many times over, eventually moved on from drumming to managing his father’s extensive properties in Fullerton and elsewhere, becoming a real-estate developer and a vocal opponent of city government. In 2006, Bushala was riding his bicycle when he bumped into Ramos, who was now a hulking, overweight guy in his mid-30s, dressed in the uniform of the Fullerton Police Department.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
A Brief Respite
Posted by Chris Thompson in Home Town Hero, Photo Fun, The Fullerton Recall on May 16, 2012
In a campaign that has been long on issues and short on joy, I thought it would be hopeful to post a couple of the sweetest images I have seen in this campaign.
Travis’ little girl, Selah, exalting in unbridled joy at the sight of her dada on a door hanger:
and Sean Paden’s beautiful daughter sitting next to her mommy and taking a picture of her daddy making a speech. Sean is a winner no matter what happens in this election.
Dan Hughes Has A Problem. So Do We.
During public comments at last night’s council meeting, at least two members of the public remarked that during the protests of the Kelly Thomas killing last fall, then captain, now Acting Chief Dan Hughes told them to wait until the video came out, and then they would see things differently.
Well, now that these people have seen the video, their reaction is not exactly what Mr. Hughes seemed to be waiting for. And this begs a very important question that goes to the heart of both Hughes’ character and the FPD Culture of Corruption.
First let us suppose and dispose the notion that Hughes’ admonition to the protesters was nothing more than a ploy to stall for time. Coming from a department in turmoil that hadn’t got a clue what to do or how to do it, temporizing may be seen as an understandable, if pathetic strategy.
But now let’s give the situation a little more thought. By his own remarkable admission, Hughes had seen the video 400 times. That’s ridiculous of course, but he obviously watched his boys kill an innocent man lots of times. Dozens? A hundred? Enough times perhaps, that he became inured to the unnecessary and inexcusable brutality. In a mental effort to defend the indefensible and picking apart the video like a defense lawyer in order to come up with plausible explanations that would get the killers off the hook, Hughes may well have lost sight of the murder of a human being played and replayed in front of his very eyes. And that’s bad.
But it might be even worse. It may very well be that in watching the video our Acting Chief saw nothing wrong going on, nothing outside of the policy and training that he espouses. After all, there is a reason that the cops went to work the very next day as if nothing untoward had happened. There is a reason that four of the aiders and abettors still remain on paid leave, a weird limbo in which they continue to be remunerated until the Gennaco report can be used to justify some action or other. It’s as if there is no procedural mechanism in place at all to deal with the sort of cops who stand around as the object of their brutality is dying, untended, a few away.
For those who mistakenly believe that Sharon Quirk and Hughes have ushered in some new period of reform in the FPD I suggest you think again. Apart from some alleged sensitivity training I assert that nothing has changed in the FPD’s culture at all, a culture that recently rewarded a loyal purveyor of disinformation with a promotion.
The Culture of Corruption Has A Price Tag. And It’s Big
Posted by The Fullerton Harpoon in "Dick" Ackerman, Behind Closed Doors, Chronic Failure, Dead heads, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Ed Royce, I Ain't a Swallerin' That, Law 'N Disorder, Pat McPension, Repuglicanism, Setting The Bar Low, Sharon Quirk, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Culture of Corruption, The Fullerton Recall, Watch Your Wallet on May 15, 2012
At tonight’s Fullerton City Council meeting the City Attorney announced that the council had unanimously voted to pay $1,000,000 to Cathy Thomas, the mother of Kelly, who was beaten to death by members of the FPD who bashed in his face, and ribs, tased him, sat on his chest, and then stood around while the homeless man died in the gutter.
A million bucks. It’s hard to begrudge the Thomas family of the settlements that are coming their way in this obscene killing. And yet for those of us who have criticized the obvious Culture of Corruption in the FPD it rankles to contemplate the fact that we are responsible for the bill; and that other enormous payouts are coming our way.
Pat McKinley created this unholy mess as police chief while Don Bankhead and Dick Jones sat on their fat behinds all these years as the department festered under the incompetent and indifferent leadership. We get the bill. And Acting Chief Hughes can only act like nothing is wrong, even as Joe Wolfe, the apparent instigator of the Thomas murder breathes the air of a free man on paid vacation.
First there was the sexual battery cases against Albert Rincon. Those cost $350,000. We now know the Thomas murder will probably cost us at least $3,000,000. And there’s no telling what the other violent and criminal episodes perpetrated by thugs like Kenton Hampton, et. al., will cost.
I also note that once again PatMcPension voted to approve a settlement to make on of his embarrassing problems go away.
Really folks, haven’t you seen enough of this rogue’s gallery? The answer is crystal clear. RECALL.
Reading is Fundamental. Thinking Not So Much.
Posted by The Fullerton Harpoon in Chronic Failure, Dead heads, Dick Jones, The Fullerton Recall on May 15, 2012
Tuesday Haiku
Posted by Yoshii The Bushido Poet in Arts & Architecture on May 15, 2012
A noisy, cold wind
Whistles through the jail windows
A lonely monkey
Are “Conscience” Dems Abandoning Doug Chaffee?
Posted by Grover Cleveland in "Dick" Ackerman, Behind Closed Doors, Boohooism, Chronic Failure, Repuglicanism, Setting The Bar Low, The Crime Beat, The Culture of Corruption, The Fullerton Recall, The Observer, Watch Your Wallet on May 15, 2012
Could be. Since July 2011 Recall candidate Doug Chaffee has been the invisible man. No presence at protests, no support of the Recall, no denunciation of the recall, no comment on the Culture of Corruption in the FPD, no defense of the McKinley police regime, either.
Matt Rowe
Some Democrats who supported Chaffee in 2010 are jumping ship – to independent candidate Matt Rowe. They are claiming that Chaffee is just a mealy-mouthed guy who wants to get elected without saying a damn thing substantive.
Here is a letter from Stephan and Noelle Baxter, and William Zdan sent to our friends at The Fullertonian. It’s a hard-hitting piece, born of the frustration of a politician who is so petrified of saying anything that he says nothing, and evidently stands for nothing.
The choice of Rowe over Doug Chaffee is the proverbial no-brainer. When you check out Chaffee’s supporters you’ll you’ll see the Old Guard Left like Molly McClanahan and Jan Flory who sat on their hands and kept their mouth shut in the wake of the Kelly Thomas murder. Many of his supporters actually oppose the recall and that speaks volumes about what they expect from their boy. He’s even being supported behind the scenes by repuglicans like Dick Ackerman and his sleazy ilk who apparently see in Chaffee their Main Chance.
STAND & DEMAND
Posted by admin in A Step in the Right Direction, Bruce Whitaker, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Pat McPension, Sharon Quirk, Strange But True, The Crime Beat, The Culture of Corruption, The Fullerton Recall on May 14, 2012
Stand with Kelly’s Army and demand answers! From Ron Thomas:
Now that everyone knows the truth that I have been carrying inside of me for many months, please join me at the Fullerton City Council meeting Tuesday night May 15th at 6:30pm. The city council, and Cpt. Dan Hughes (the acting Chief) need to finally come clean and give us, the people, the answers that we have been asking for. First, how did Cicinelli get hired as a full time patrol officer with only one eye? With this knowledge, how come they let him endanger the public by letting him drive Code-3 for ten years without any left side vision? Why, after seeing the city video many times did the police department including Capt. Dan Hughes allow all six officers to remain on duty for six weeks until Kelly’s Army pressured them to take them off of the streets (Bruce Whitaker also made this happen)? Why is it that Capt. Dan Hughes STILL after seeing the City Video over 400 times (his admission) has not fired Joe Wolfe? No matter where you live, come out and demand the answers. Become part of Kelly’s Army and help us get justice for Kelly.
Even if you can’t physically attend, please show your support by accepting the invite. That way it will post to your page and others will become aware. We’ll also be posting links to the council meeting so you can watch it live.
O! The Bitter Irony, Part 2
Posted by The Fullerton Harpoon in Boohooism, Chronic Failure, Fullerton BooHoo, I Ain't a Swallerin' That on May 14, 2012
Be it ever so humble...
About two-and-a-half years ago my predecessor wrote a post about how the Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Shelter (F.I.E.S) had gotten an agreement from the owner of the property at 504 W. Amerige to sell/give his land to them so they could expand their adjacent compound.
Apart from the fact that the increasing scope of the operation appeared to be dodging California environmental impact laws, there was another problem, to wit: the site already housed numerous housing units that were providing what just about anybody would consider “affordable” housing to families with kids and even an infant.
A little dust up followed in which the Fullerton Observer, right on cue, ran cover for the embarrassed non-profit.
I haven’t got a clue if any of the displaced tenants received any sort of assistance finding new homes, but I do know what the property looks like now.
Empty...
Today the property is vacant, a weedy eyesore between mowings. It’s been scraped to the dirt for a subsidized housing project if funding can ever be found; the property of a non-profit, it’s been taken off the tax rolls forever; and half a dozen truly affordable units have been permanently removed from Fullerton’s housing stock.
Why Recall Jones, Bankhead and McKinley? Take Your Pick.
Posted by admin in Dead heads, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Pat McPension on May 14, 2012
There probably isn’t enough room on a 9×12 postcard to list all of the reasons to recall F. Dick Jones, Don Bankhead and Pat McKinley, but this commendable attempt landed in Fullerton mailboxes over the weekend.
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