And the Award for Most Ridiculous Awards Show Goes to…

While there is much in government to bemoan and criticize there is apparently much to celebrate as well, at least according to the Association of California Cities – Orange County, who are soliciting nominations for the Sixth Annual Golden Hub of Innovation Awards.


Yes, that’s right. The Government has an award show.

The ACC-OC is giving out awards in multiple categories, including Elected Leader of the Year, City Manager Leader of the Year, Innovator of the year and Public Private Partnerships of the year.
Last year’s winner for Innovator of the Year was the Anaheim Fire Chief who approved an ambulance system to respond to non-urgent medical requests, an “innovation” about fifty years behind almost every emergency response system outside out Orange County. Not to be outdone, 2014’s winner of the Innovator of the Year award was this guy:

A toast to all my good ideas…

The ACC-OC is a lobbying organization, ostensibly created to lobby on behalf of its member Cities in Sacramento, and prevent the passage of legislation harmful to municipalities, but their actual priority seems to be lobbying Cities to implement the kind of statist, crony, public-private partnerships the organization itself prefers. For example, in one seminar sponsored in July 2015, ACC-OC advocated both streetcars and the Poseidon desalination plant in a seminar hosted by no less than Curt Pringle himself. ACC-OC also was one of the driving forces behind the HERO program, which facilitated construction of solar panels by converting the construction costs into high interest tax liens on residences (specifically, eight percent a year high, for a senior lien). So, not only does ACC-OC lobby Fullerton for bad legislation but we PAY them to do so with our own tax dollars.

That aside, in the spirit of this press release, can FFFF come up with its own nominees or, better yet, its own categories for the “Golden Hub of Innovation?” Maybe award Hugo Curiel Procrastinator of the Year for his failure to report the water loss at Laguna Lake until the statute of limitations against the civil engineer that performed the work had run? Perhaps a doublespeak award is in order for the fine folks at the NOCCCD for their efforts to claim that the football stadium they are trying to build with Measure J money isn’t going to be built with Measure J money. ACC-OC also needs a White Elephant of the Year award to honor tireless efforts of some staffers to push expensive and unnecessary infrastructure projects like streetcars, ARTIC or the “Great Park” in Irvine. Truly, the possibilities are endless.

37 Replies to “And the Award for Most Ridiculous Awards Show Goes to…”

  1. ACC – OC is a creation of people like Curt Pringle and Big Lucy Dunn, ostensibly to give OC cities a “less liberal” option than the obnoxious League of Cities. In reality the thing was a way to direct influence in which ever direction the Pringle Klan wants it directed. The early members read as a who’s who in the Crony Captalist zoo.

  2. ACC OC is just a joke – a bunch of electeds having self-congratulatory parties and getting us to pay for the tickets. I’m not surprised felz got some sort of award. His string-puller was Fitzgerald who is paid by Pringle to use her council position to lobby.

  3. Sean,

    I wouldn’t refer to ACC-OC as lobbyists because although this was the stated mission of the group when it was founded, the real purpose was to give local lobbyists more access to local politicians by throwing them together into big happy love-fests paid for by taxpayers – and steer Pringle’s agenda where he wanted it to go (as noted in another comment).

    The locals joined because it was de riguer if you wanted to brandish your Republican bona fides and the excuse to waste money on the dues was that it was a more conservative alternative to the league (also noted above). Many cities ended up wasting money on both, in typical governmental fashion.

    1. I agree, ACC-OC is not a lobby. It is an organization that reinforces a system of indirect governance by lobbies. I would not mind calling it a lobbyist, as long as is understood here as a shortcut term. Let’s use the enlightening and paradigmatic J. Fitzgerald case at the local level. Fitzgerald is not a lobbyist. But insofar as Pringle can not directly sit on any of the five City Council Member Chairs, Fitzgerald functions as Pringle’s (and a few other lobbies’) conduit and facilitator. She is the perfect liaison for the effective indirect lobby governance. She worked for Pringle. She has extensive experience in local government, with knowledge on its inner workings and has formed enduring alliances with key City positions. This is why her nickname is JLo, Jennifer Lobbyister.

      1. “She is the perfect liaison for the effective indirect lobby governance.”

        Yes. There’s no telling how she is peddling influence because she won’t release Pringle’s client list.

        She acts just like Murray in Anaheim who might just as well be on Pringle’s direct payroll. Without Pringle neither is employable. No one needs a robot reproducing sounds that appear knowledgeable but are just phony technical govspeak.

        1. True…Fitzgerald profits are immense. She has a deep $ account from the lobbyists for her campaigns, funds which will be available to her for all her future political endeavors. She could choose to leave public office at anytime and be automatically rewarded in the private sector for her invaluable services (revolving door ) .

  4. new and Improved Categories:

    Best Government Cover-up (Large City)

    Best Abuse of Brown Act (Small City)

    Best Crony Capitalist venture (Large City). Oh wait that category already exists. It’s called public private partnership.

  5. How about the Technology/ E Government category

    Here’s a high tech innovation that might turn the awards judges heads. Maybe someone at city hall can figure out how to take city generated Word documents and save them directly in PDF format. Currently most documents are printed out on paper, then scanned into a PDF. A PDF document that is very conveniently not searchable by key words. So when all of us peons try to search the web site for interesting key words, like contract or fees, we could actually find things.

    Think of all the time and money this would save; no more people having to take piles of paper from the printer and run them through the scanner, then having to shred and dispose of said piles of paper. And the cost of large amounts of paper, toner, and equipment maintenance. AND, Fullerton would be a bit closer to having a transparent city government.

    But wait – people might have an easier time figuring out what’s going on at city hall. We can’t have that.

    Never mind

    1. Never mind indeed. ACC – OC isn’t interested in transparency on the part of its members at all. And those members include the Anaheim Angels and Disney

    2. Talking about lack of transparency… too many meetings and too much decided behind closed doors. At the state level, CalPers loves enriching the private equity investment firms. It goes without saying that the condition to stay a member of a private club is never call into question its practices. Have you heard before that too much wealth is being transferred to the financial sector?
      http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-calpers-board-20170212-story.html

  6. How could I have missed the call for a White Elephant of the Year Award?? Fullerton is a shoo-in for first place AND runner up!

    Nobody can beat the Hillcrest Park front lawn “Bridge to Nowhere” on Harbor. Just think, you can park in the lot next to the old duck pond off of Brea Blvd or in the lot off of Valley View. Then you can walk out of your way to enter the park over the new bridge. Unless you park in the Ralph’s parking lot (which I’m sure will thrill Ralph’s to no end) and cross Harbor at Valley View. Then, you can mix with all the happy people shown in the crudely Photo Shopped propaganda, err, promotional picture the city has posted around the park. Won’t that be fun?

    And as a guaranteed runner up win, just feast your eyes on the wonderful stairway(s) snaking up the hillside above Lions Field. I’m sure it will be thronged with as many people as the Harbor bridge.

    What more can our fair city ask? A first place and a runner up for fine landscape architecture. Oh, watering trees? We don’t need no stinking trees. Money spent for pruning trees, water, or irrigation infrastructure can’t go into the pocket of the favored contractor.

    1. Don’t forget the new elevator bridge at the Depot – right next to the existing one that the city can’t take care of.

    1. They did indeed – Natalie Meeks accepted this gaudy impractical plaque/trophy hybrid on behalf of the City of Anaheim from, I believe, the OCTA. Unfortunately, I can’t find the picture online anymore anywhere but it kind of looked like a Crosley Record Player dipped in bronze.

  7. funny how you bash felz for his drinking problem when half you guys are a bunch of divorced drunks and loser potheads. maybe code inforcement should stop by a few of yur houses?

      1. Tell us all about Tony’s doping. Tell us about Paden too like when he ran around like chicken little screaming about the height of the Fox block to be like Godzilla like 86 feet tall. Good shit you guys smoke before these meeetings. At least Felz managed to clear 200G’s for the rest of his life.

        1. I’ll tell you all about your GED because you have already forgotten about those six years at con school where you learned how hit people and wipe your bottom at least once a day. And that’s all it took to get into the academy!

          1. I dont need school to make 150k, only to go to work to bust losers who cant even take care of their grass get it?

              1. No shit. Look you guys are a joke. We own the council and once in a while we will share them with the builders while you all just spin your wheels and fight with each other. Ha ha and we get to sit back at Jeremy’s and enjoy the view. Tony knows Jeremy can play music as loud as we want him to and there aint shit he can do about it, He will never get those kind of deals for his peeps.

        2. I wonder if Felz committed a felony on November 9th. That might put his pension in jeopardy.

          In any case we’re better off without this incompetent boob. He’s cheaper for us at $200K as a pension than as a salary. He can’t do any more damage. But he can hook-up up with Mike Carona and they can celebrate their pensions together.

        3. A never ending demonizing of any one who dares question thecorrupt crony capitalism in Fullerton.

          Wear it like a badge of honor.

          Do you really want these people to like you?

          Imagine the shallowness of their souls?

        4. If you had to choose between being chicken little for one day or a pig for life…Never mind, you cannot choose.Fait accompli!

      2. Also is it too much to ask that those in law enforcement at least be able to spell “enforcement” correctly?

  8. It is award season after all. You think this is any different from winning a Grammy or an Oscar? Self congratulatory meaningless award for the sake of saying someone gave you an award.

  9. Golden Hub innovation Award Committee member:

    Allan Roeder Costa Mesa City Manager (retired)

    And. There. You. have. It.

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