Don't worry, he won't eat much.
The Fullerton Senior Center on Commonwealth was shut down by the County on Thursday after the City of Fullerton allowed a cockroach infestation to get out of control. An inspection report from the Orange County Health Care Agency shows that live cockroaches were found in a food storage area next to the kitchen after a roach sighting was called in by a concerned citizen. The center was shut down overnight and opened back up the next morning, just in time for Friday’s Senior Hawaiian Luau Party.
When it’s not being used to dish out extra crunchy meals to senior citizens, the City rents out the facility to create some healthy taxpayer-subsidized competition for Fullerton’s numerous privately-owned restaurants and banquet halls. These entrepreneurial establishments must pay taxes to the city, only to have the city turn around and use that money to subsidize a facility in direct competition with their own business. That just doesn’t seem right, does it? Fortunately for those business owners, the city is not capable of managing a safe dining facility.
It’s not hard to imagine that many of the city’s customers will be canceling their reservations until the city gets its act together. In the meantime, the old folks who eat lunch there every day should chew carefully.
#1 by The Fullerton Harpoon on August 17, 2009
“the old folks who eat lunch there every day should chew carefully.”
Or very quickly.
#2 by martin b on August 17, 2009
Is it really possible to clean up cockroaches in a few hours? Glad I wasn’t at that party. Nasty.
#3 by We'll Be Back... on August 17, 2009
You can sweep us off the shelves and floor, but the our brothers and sisters in the walls are going to be a problem. And then there’s the eggs…
#4 by The Commissioner on August 17, 2009
So that’s why the tuna sandwich was crunchy.
#5 by Travis on August 17, 2009
Commissioner, you are a brave man. It takes a lot of guts to eat a city sandwich.
#6 by G. Mareli on August 17, 2009
Besides munching on cockroaches, possums can be little garden savior, happily clearing away pests in the dark of night whilst you rest. Perhaps the city should buy a possum and let it stay over night at the senior center.
http://cdin.us/blogsites/who-eats-cockroaches/
#7 by Allan Bartlett on August 17, 2009
Yummy. I like my roaches medium rare please.
#8 by Travis Kiger on August 17, 2009
The Register finally got the story. I guess they had to switch the luau to sandwiches.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/center-kitchen-county-2531161-health-hot
“None of the 150 people at the lunch questioned the (revised) menu,” center supervisor Eloisa Espinoza
#9 by The Fullerton Harpoon on August 17, 2009
Well, good for Barbara. It wasn’t a glossy whitewash per usual and she even alluded to earlier violations. Of course she didn’t bother grilling the supervisor about responsibility, nor Joe Felz about accountability, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
I wonder how she found out about it, since it’s pretty unlikely that the City put out a press release. Does she read our blog?
#10 by Don Ho on August 17, 2009
Not a single one of the 150 people asked how come they were getting ham sandwiches, potato chips and an apple at a luau?
Well I guess now we know how we ended up with the City Council that we’ve got.
#11 by just a guy on August 17, 2009
I enjoyed the fact that nobody questioned the menu change. Were the seniors informed of the cockroach infestation? Unlikely.
#12 by B'rni Wewak on August 17, 2009
Roaches are actaully have a bit of a nutty flavor and are chock full of protein.
If those seniors ate more of them they could probably tell the difference between a ham sandwich and roast pork.
#13 by Willis on August 17, 2009
#6 Mareli:
Bushala has a possum that lives in a palm tree in his back yard. Lets trap it and donate it to the city.
#14 by Willis on August 17, 2009
#12 Wewak:
Troy is having a basketball reunion this fall. Can we get you to do a video welcome address to your old team mates?
#15 by Travis Kiger on August 17, 2009
Harpoon, it’s possible that Barbara Giasone did the story after reading it on our blog first. I sent the story to a couple of Register food bloggers this morning. We also know that she reads our blog because she has commented here before.
On the other hand, she could have known about it on Friday, but had to wait until city hall opened up this morning to get those precious quotes from the staff.
Either way, I appreciate that she covered the story. Hopefully they won’t revoke her hall pass for this one.
#16 by van get it da artiste on August 19, 2009
with the recession/depression cutting into the business and not to mention the profits of most of fullerton’s eateries, it would be fiscally responsible not to divert tax revenue into roach cafes and vermin infested senior centers. Here is a novel idea. To increase business at our local cafes, our city council should divert tax monies from the senior center and use it to fund discount coupons to local cafes/restaurants. Freedom of choice for seniors would stimulate our economy
#17 by Humm... on December 11, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm7fokpOHHU