Red Ink Tsunami

Last night’s budget workshop showed some pretty dire forecasting. Due to exploding pension costs, especially for our good friends in “public safety” Fullerton is going to deplete its reserve funds in five years, just like other standout OC cities such as Westminster and Garden Grove and Stanton.

The “unfunded pension liability” issue has been around for years, despite the public employee union’s efforts to minimize it, but here our Director of Administrative Services, Julia James, informs the Council that the California Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) is still using happy-talk return projections. The City’s cost to pay for our fire and police Heroes is expected to double.

Hmm. Did you catch our lobbyist-councilwoman Jennifer Fitzgerald interrupt Ms. James at the 4:25 mark in a sneering attempt to downplay the crisis as bureaucratic alarmism? Fitzgerald has all sorts of selfish reasons to avoid talking doom-and-gloom, namely, she has been right there over the past four years as the S.S. Fullerton was taking on water and rather than try to plug the holes was happily drilling more. Naturally her pals in the police and fire unions are not going to want to share the pain. And James’s talk about possible revenue sources to staunch the bleeding includes a tax, which would be a likely coffin nail in SparkyFitz’s already dubious political future.

64 Replies to “Red Ink Tsunami”

    1. “she has been right there over the past four years as the S.S. Fullerton was taking on water and rather than try to plug the holes was happily drilling more. Naturally her pals..”

      So tell the readers who her pals really are? If my memory serves me well, was it not Tony’s good pal Shawn Nelson who repeatedly endorsed her? Tony’s pal and paid employee Chris Thompson also went on record supporting her. Tony’s pal Greg and Tony’s pal Bruce had four years to do something to out her? Instead they openly worked side by side with her. Why are all these people supportive of Jennifer? It is because she is true to form and makes good decisions for the community, She approaches issues holistically unlike Tony’s puppet Travis who opened his mouth for five minutes and choked on his own bullshit.

      1. “She approaches issues holistically…”

        Does holistically mean lying without accountability? Then yes she’s very holistic. But her time lying about the budget crisis has run out. Her time lobbying us down the river has run out. Her political clock is winding down, fast. And we will all have a front row seat to watch the melt down.

        1. Let’s say for the sake of argument that you are correct. Alright then, she has four more years on her brand new term. She, along with Doug, and Jesus, are obviously in the same camp. Recalling her will be impossible as she was the top contender. What is this meltdown you refer to?

          1. “Recalling her will be impossible as she was the top contender.”

            Haha! Yes. So was Patdown Pat McPension in 2010. In 2012 – RECALLED!

            P.S. Silva hasn’t voted her way yet, and “Doug” has bailed on her every time Silva has voted the other way. I think “re-elected and all alone” is how The Princess of prevarication put it!

            1. “The Princess of prevarication”

              I bet she lied about that 3AM phone call, too. I bet it was much closer to 1:30AM.

            2. It took a half million dollars and a major media circus to get Mr. McKinley removed. That will never happen again in Fullerton. The people are happy with their local government and voted to keep things the way they are. I am very happy with Jesus, Jennifer and Doug because they have all pledged to support public safety.

              1. “While other cities in Orange County are trying to raise sales taxes to prevent insolvency, in Fullerton, our budget is balanced! Our five-year financial forecast shows a balanced budget to 2020. We’ve done this by making the most of our assets and minimizing our liabilities”

                LIAR

              2. Enjoy it while it lasts, because the $$ Fitztanic is going down. Sparky will get herself as far from this mess as she can be when budget ‘adjustments’ hit.

                1. Not doubt the gullible could buy into almost anything. A Ponzi scheme takes many years before it bursts too. The Plan: i.e. liquidate assets now (we heard on Tuesday’s meeting how at least three city properties will be sold asap). Do not even attempt to cut from the department where 71% of the general fund goes to. Subjugate Fullerton to overdevelopment for the next 10 years because Sparky has blocked and is blocking everything else.

          2. So what is the meltdown you refer too? Do you realize that she has the two largest churches in Fullerton behind her? EV Free Fullerton and Grace Ministries are fully supportive and committed to her endeavors.

            1. “her endeavors.”

              The churches support her feathering her own soiled nest by selling us out through her lobbying? Do tell!

          1. Verbatim from Fitzgerald’s 2016 campaign
            “While other cities in Orange County are trying to raise sales taxes to prevent insolvency, in Fullerton, our budget is balanced! Our five-year financial forecast shows a balanced budget to 2020. We’ve done this by making the most of our assets and minimizing our liabilities”

            1. Fullertonian, there’s more where that came from. Here’s what she said about our unfunded pension liability:

              “With conservative fiscal management and successful revenue strategies, Fullerton has been able to reduce its unfunded liabilities. This is a long-term strategy, with a short-term goal to achieve what is a generally accepted adequate level of funding of 80% of liabilities. Currently, Fullerton is funded at 83% for our largest employee group”

              http://fitzgeraldforfullerton.com/issue/reduced-unfunded-pension-liabilities/

  1. It’s probably inevitable that the City eliminates both Parks & Rec and close/outsource the Library. That would free up, what, $6 to 8 million annually?

    No I don’t want this to happen, but what other choices do we have?

  2. Mr. Harpoon-tang,

    Public Safety workers get into this line of work for many reasons, a couple of which are the retirement and yes…helping people. You and your readership are reluctant to call public safety workers “heroes” or even good human beings for that matter. You made a choice NOT to be a public safety worker and instead hide behind your safe keyboard in your “safe place” with a fake name. Come out and see how our public safety heroes actually do their jobs and deal with people of all types, with professionalism and bravery. YES, BRAVERY. When was the last time you broke up a fight, were involved in a fight, chased a bad guy, went into the dark to find someone hiding who knows that you are looking for them, missed Christmas, worked 2-3 days straight? My guess is never. The only thing you probably sneak up on in the dark is a beer in the fridge. Why don’t you people come out and see how they earn their living and retirement instead of bitching about what assholes they are. I’m sure they feel the same way about you, and if your life was put under a microscope, I’m guessing it would be interesting to say the least.

    1. Well stated. Of course aside from Tony, we are dealing with a few job envy hater critters here. Code enforcement needs to pay a visit to a few of their homes. Some look like they should be condemned, especially over in the Nutwood area.

      1. If you are a law enforcement officer what you are saying is that you are going to target specific people who are freely expressing their community related views on the internet. In order to do thiis you have misused law enforcement internet surveillance powers . The last thing I was expecting was a gestapo-nazi-regime-like conduct in our city of Fullerton

        1. “The last thing I was expecting was a gestapo-nazi-regime-like conduct in our city of Fullerton”

          Not me. It was one of the first things I was expecting from our Heroes.

        2. shortly after 9/11 attack, Fullerton PD off the chain in its surveillance to find terrorists lurking? Malvern Ave., Commonwealth, Harbor Blvd.. Untrained and excited to play espionage, Fullerton PD revealed itself more to the people they were spying on. If memory serves me right, Pat McKinley was Fullerton Police Chief then who built his reputation on terrorizing black men in south central L. A. by labeling them Black Panthers when he was employed by LAPD.

    2. Your job is safer than a 7-eleven clerk. Peddle your bullshit on Behind the Bullshit. Lou Fonsi will write it for you since you probably can’t.

      Bravery? Yeah, killing Kelly Thomas took a whole shit load of that didn’t it? Manny Ramos, Hero! You’re helping us alright. Right into municipal bankruptcy.

      1. RIP Whittier Officer. Too bad he wasn’t working his shift at the local 7-11 instead of trying to serve his community.

    3. Oh boo-hoo. What hardship.

      Fortunately we have a record of you Heroes in Fullerton. Forgetful? Not me. here’s some names you might remember:

      Cross
      Ramos
      Wolfe
      Cicinelli
      Hampton
      Nguyen
      Tong
      Mater
      Siliceo
      Wren
      Baughmman
      Power
      Mejia
      Rincon
      Goodrich
      Coffman
      Bair

      plus all those “good cops” who looked the other way while the shit was going on and knew all about it.

      By the way Hero, please explain why you MADD heroes let a drunk driver off the hook on the morning of November 9, 2016 and even gave him a ride home.

      1. Nov. 9th, 2016……

        I don’t work for Fullerton, but my guess would be professional courtesy. Much the same as if you found your mother drunk behind the wheel of a car; would you call the cops and have her arrested, or assist her in getting home and get her the help she needs so it doesn’t happen ever again? Hmmm, moral dilemma.

        1. Joe Felz was nobody’s mother. He got preferential treatment from you Heroes. There’s no moral dilemma – just the reverse in fact. What there was was a moral dereliction. And a typical one at that.

          1. Fullerton city manager for way too long, rubber stamp Joe Felz would still have his job if the tree he drunkenly crashed into had been made out of rubber.

        2. Let’s see if I’ve got this right Mr. Hero. You think cops arresting a drunk cop constitutes some sort of moral dilemma? Really? Have you told MADD about this moral dilemma?

          Well, folks, there you have it. No moral compass at all.

          P.S. the drunk in question was Joe Felz, our former City Manager.

    4. “You made a choice NOT to be a public safety worker and instead hide behind your safe keyboard in your “safe place” with a fake name.”

      What’s you name, tough guy?

    5. Go screw yourself and uninformed self righteous crap.

      Tell me how much you think our veterans sacrifice on a daily basis with no overtime or glory.

      Why?

      For the honor and privilege of serving our great nation!

      1. Yeah, can you imagine Manny Ramos, Barry Coffman or Andrew Goodrich in Afghanistan? Major pants soiling accident in the first 20 minutes on the ground.

        It’s easy to swagger like a bully when nobody is shooting back and a you have a system that will always protect your malfeasance.

    6. You say “instead hide behind your safe keyboard in your “safe place” with a fake name.” Isn’t that pot v. kettle?
      Thank you for your time.

      1. There is not safe place or safe keyboard when those who work for safety dislike one’s views…Threats to instill fear- and if that does not work- they will “pay you a visit to your home”. We won’t take this in Fullerton, USA 2017

  3. This is of the utmost gravity. A Fullerton Police Officer is saying to a Fullerton resident stay home and don’t go to City Council Meetings. Then he goes on and clearly states that people speaking up up online have been located and officers are going to “pay a visit to their homes”. I honestly don’t know what else there’s left to say here

    1. A little scary is it not? A personal threat against the homes and family members of bloggers and citizens because they have a different opinion of how their tax dollars could be spent.
      The mob called they want their tactics back.

  4. Look, I earned my pension and my pay. Everybody knows that the whole system will come crashing down and someday you will be fending for yourselves. Law and order is expensive. Chaos is free, Just go to Mexico and you don’t have to travel far to get kidnapped, robbed, or even decapitated.

    1. You “earned” by bribing politicians. Just like you earned “POBAR” rights that nobody else gets. Congrats. But don’t come around expecting sympathy.

    2. LOL! Sounds like you’re describing downtown Fullerton on a Saturday night. So what is it were paying for again?

  5. “Everybody knows that the whole system will come crashing down and someday you will be fending for yourselves.”
    I appreciate Anononmous’ honesty. I’ve long suspected that our safety workers clearly know that they are depleting our funds and getting an unfair balance of our reserves to pay for there salary benifits and pension. They have that lazy, defensive look as they look pal together off duty. its hard not to cringe when our triple dipping fire chief goes to council asking for more, or give our former city manager, who let our streets crumble yet another raise for all his accomplishments. I wonder if any of them ever get sick of their gluttony and wish to be rid of the filthy mammon .A pay cut might just help our city workers do a better job actually. I figure those city workers that sit around all the time in the parking structure would start doing more work if they weren’t being payed so much and having such a high estimation of themselves.

    1. blame ridiculously lavish public pensions for Fullerton’s firefighters and police officers on CBS,NBC,ABC . It was these entities, starting in the 1950’s to infinity, that glorified hose jockeys(firefighters) and cops in their banal, fast action, trite characters plethora of cop shows and spinoffs to firefighters that appealed to all ages with a bell curve IQ between 60 and 105, a big chunk of people in American society. Dr. Goebbels of Nazi Germany was right, propaganda can persuade people to believe and even die for illusions.

  6. “I wonder if any of them ever get sick of their gluttony”

    I don’t. The naked greed masked by a veneer of selflessness is nauseating but after awhile you get used to it. Then there’s the fawning politicians who got elected by the unions (Chaffee: “our fire Heroes are second to none”) that is really even worse.

  7. historically , public servants gave up lucrative endeavors in the private sector to serve the public sector. Their compensation for their sacrifice was job stability and a pension not subject,to the whims of nature found in agriculture or economic panics found in industry and business. From these noble origins how did Fullerton’s public servants manage to rob so much money from city o Fullerton’s public coffers.

      1. Apples and oranges job comparison. But that’s to be expected from you People. Call the 7-11 clerk for help next time.

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