Give or take a few venerable icons and epithets of Fullerton’s past, I generally like what I see and hear from our Council dais. Efforts to communicate with our elected officials, in a way they may listen, and accede to dissenting viewpoints, is what needs to continue to happen.

Friends for Fullerton’s Future is a useful, productive way to share good ideas, engage in rough-and -tumble debate on sticky issues, and hopefully
reach out to our Council members in a way which a sometimes stressful three minute public comment, or hurried street-side meeting may not allow.

But I appreciate your vote!

The Enabler

If McDonald’s Six Million Dollar Redevelopment expenditure indeed requires more Council or Planning Commission oversight, then your effort to continue to stump this issue hasn’t gone in vain.

I’m ambivalent to the entire Fox Redevelopment scheme. I do applaud Jane Reifer and her plucky band of preservationistas, who’ve demonstrated grassroots organizing works. That they’ve chosen a suspect architectural specimen, probably unworthy of conservation, when so many other proud period pieces already exist in Fullerton, never ceases to amaze me. We need lovely older buildings to be reminded of our storied past, but not in a way to paralyze or jeopardize our futures.

Burning issue at hand isn’t whether to painstakingly save or lovingly adorn Fox Theater, but that City of Fullerton has willfully chosen to throw its largesse–our money–to a global corporation who intends to do us long-term harm.

Maybe Fullerton doesn’t need another so-called insipid condominium complex in its downtown, but residents could also use a little relief from expensive, potentially unproductive, even unsuitable public consumption of its street corners and taxable parcels.

McDonald’s and its franchisees have rights to lawfully locate restaurants, subject to necessary approvals, and operate them based on prevailing laws and regulations. This isn’t in dispute.

What’s at issue is an apparently poor job by City staff on cost-benefit breakdowns, on a proposed large public expenditure. Three Council members–Bankhead, Quirk, Keller–who voted for this initiative, no doubt did so with confidence their vote was supported by extensive analysis which prudently considered what was best for Fullerton’s voters, its children, and its future.

Contrastingly, Redevelopment staff, in cloven effort to accommodate McDonald’s Corporation, might well have well had Golden Arches emblazoned on its shirt pockets! No thought was given to ask one of 100 largest global corporations, under guise of a local businessman, to pay going rate for another adjacent lot! No thought was given to impropriety of giving one restaurant special preference over others! Lastly, no thought was given to absolute wrongness of financially aiding and abetting a company which thrives by reducing long-term health and longevity of its young customers!

As I did before on this important civic issue, I again ask our three esteemed but errant Councilpersons to carefully reconsider their votes to provide relocation and redevelopment assistance to McDonald’s Corporation. I ask Council Members Bankhead, Quirk, and Keller to do the right thing, and put Fullerton first!

Respectfully Submitted,

The Enabler

Is this some kinda Ronald McDonald joke? Or the Ghost of Galvin? Earth to Don/Sharon/Pam–why would you even consider this fiasco?

Jones & Nelson–hold your ground!