Grover Cleveland, Author at Friends For Fullerton's Future

February 22, 2026February 23, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Meet Jozef Maldonado

First, don’t ask me why the guy spells his name like that, because I don’t know.

Mr. Maldonado is a candidate for Fullerton’s 5th District in the election this fall. At least he has created a campaign committee. That’s the seat that will be left by “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra, the immigrant fraud, woman batterer and general prevaricator.

There’s a connection there. Zahra appointed Maldonado to the Parks and Rec Commission where he has been photo bombing boohoo events lately. He is also some sort of young Democrat Party operative, which makes sense, following in the footsteps of Jordan Brandman, Connor Traut and the like. Except that unlike them he seems to have a real job, being some sort of chemical tester. He’s yet another mid-twenties Fullerton fellow who seems very eager to make Zahra happy.

Is this a real candidacy? Some folks had thought that Vanessa Estrella, Sharon Quirk’s newly minted school trustee might leap into the breach to defend Fullerton Boohooism. She still might, but time is running out. The days of last minute candidacies in Fullerton are pretty much over.

It would also make sense that young Jozef is the Tony Castro of 2026. You all remember Tony Castro – the last minute candidate in 2022 recruited by the Team Zahra to draw votes away from genuine Latino candidate Oscar Valadez. This could be the same slimy strategy to help Estrella, I suppose. At least Maldonado’s candidacy would have verisimilitude. Tony Castro’s did not, and neither did the Dems fake candidate in 2024, Scott Markowitz, who had to plead guilty to perjury.

Curiously Maldonado’s form 501 shows no zip code in a redacted address, which is peculiar. Why would anybody omit that on a candidate statement?

On the other hand maybe I’m being too cynical. Perhaps this will be a real candidacy and maybe Estrella will be happy staying where she is – for now. After all she’s barely been in office for a year.

Maldonado spoke at the February 3rd City Council meeting solely to attack Mayor Fred Jung for some supposedly divisive remarks that criticized his detractors. Poor Jozef was obviously following direction from Ahmad Zahra; and he obviously doesn’t really understand that mindless attacks don’t get you elected and that Zahra is a spent force, if he was ever much of a force to begin with.

This candidacy begs the question of whether or not Fullerton wants or needs another Zahra-type liberal who is more than happy to spend your money, lots of it, on his conscience-causes, from illegal immigrant welfare to boondoggle park projects that have no budget for maintenance.

February 8, 2026February 8, 2026About Us

The Money Game

by Grover Cleveland27 Comments

Money is the mother’s milk of politics – the famous phrase shamelessly coined by Jesse Unruh, former California politician and fixer.

And nowhere is this more true than in Orange County, where Supervisorial districts include 600,000 residents and getting people out to vote (for you) requires lots of investment in media of one kind or another. Setting aside independent political action committees, the politician’s own expenditure is critical.

Since our own District 4 Supervisorial job is up for election in 2026 (the senile and corrupt Doug “Bud” Chaffee being termed out) it is timely, on the verge of a primary campaign, to see how much money the various candidates have raised, and how much they have on hand.

The second half of 2025 finance statements for the D4 candidates are now viewable on line. The results of July-December fundraising are interesting.

The big cash leader is Fullerton’s own Mayor, Fred Jung. He raised a whopping $145,000 bucks in the second half of 2025, and had a cash balance of $354,000. He’d have more but spent almost 50K in 2025 mostly on campaign consultants. That’s a lot of money.

Connor Traut the eager office hopper from Buena Park; the carpetbagger who lusts after politcal office, raised $64,000 and has $225,000 in the bank. Of course $100,000 of that was shifted from his existing campaign account, a move he sleazily pretended was a real 24 hour fundraising effort.

Tim Shaw, the only Republican in the race raised $60,000 and has $69,000 on hand.

Rosie addresses the Boys in the Back (of the) Room; Will they hear her?

The final candidate who I am aware of is Rose Espinosa from La Habra. She raised a paltry $14K, but thanks to one of those personal loans politicians make to themselves, in this case $150,000, she’s got a $160,000 total.

The primary election is June 2nd, so a tsunami of political outreach will probably be starting in a month or so. What are the prospects for these free spenders?

Won’t look you in the eye while you’re trashing him…

Fullerton is in the 4th Supervisorial District, in fact, it is the largest city completely within the boundary of the district. Three of the last four D4 Supervisors have been on the Fullerton City Council. This gives Fred Jung a natural edge over candidates from Fullerton’s much smaller neighbors like Buena Park and La Habra. Jung, however has no help from a political party, if in fact that means much anymore. He is now registered NPP – no political party preference. His record of defying the kooks in Fullerton will help, not hurt him with conservatives and independents.

Connor Traut is the nebbish candidate of the Democrat establishment and has all the usual endorsement from the same people endorsing the thief Paulette Chaffee for NOCCCD board. He has a lot of money on hand, but only 63% of what Jung has stockpiled. Being an elected in Buena Park isn’t much of a help since it is historically apathetic in politics and he moved there just to get into a municipal office.

Tim Shaw, the only Republican running, has zero hope of being elected. He came close seven years ago, but the district has become even more Democrat and less Republican. He is a member of the whackadoodle and opaque OC Board of Education. That will get him some charter school lobby money as a sop. He might do well enough to make a run-off in November by coming in second, but he can’t win in a general election. In 2022 two Democrats made the runoff. Shaw has no path to victory.

Rose Espinoza, another Democrat, has no foreseeable path, either. All the Dems are behind Traut, for what that’s worth, and Espinosa has no name ID outside of small La Habra, where getting elected doesn’t seem all that difficult. Still, as the only woman in the election she’s got that going for her. But she hasn’t raised much money. But she is willing to risk her own dough, apparently, and that says something. Something sort of Paulette Chaffee-esque. She has run for Supervisor two or three time previously way out of the money.

The OC 4th District Supervisor election is likely going to be won in the flatlands of Anaheim where none of the above candidates is very well known. There are lots of Latino voters in these precincts and that might help Espinosa. There could be the better part of 25,000 to 30,000 votes there. Large, but not enough to help an Anaheimer do well. At this late date I can’t think of any who could or would try to run.

January 31, 2026February 1, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Doug “Bud” Chaffee Screws Liberal Supervisor; Fullerton Boohoo Ignores Story

by Grover Cleveland15 Comments

The relentlessly corrupt Nguyen spots unattended cash…

A couple weeks ago the Voice of OC did a couple of stories about the succession of the new Chairman of the OC Board of Supervisors. The first story posited the appointment of the incomprehensively corrupt Janet Nguyen as the new chair, over the then current Vice Chair, Katrina Foley. Foley has been passed over several times. The Voice’s reasoning was that Republicans Nguyen and Don Wagner would vote for the former; Democrats Vicente Sarmiento and Foley would vote for the latter. And our own home-grown rodent, Democrat Doug Chaffee? He has already endorsed Foley’s re-election opponent – a Republican – he thinks so little of her.

Brothers in arms: Chaffee and his mentor, the recently imprisoned Andrew Do.

Not one to miss an opportunity to promote himself (and his wife, Pilferin’ Paulette), the octogenarian made a deal to keep the office for himself another year. The little drama was scripted to make it look like Foley was behind the idea, which is pure nonsense. She didn’t have a third vote and was obviously cajoled into voting for Chaffee so she could remain Vice Chair..

After the little Kabuki was done it was stamped by all five of the Supervisors.

Now here’s a fun snippet from the second Voice article:

Chaffee said he was “looking forward to a little more restful year,” but that he looked forward to using his last year in office effectively.

“I would accept the position if so elected.”

What predictably disingenuous bullshit from this decrepit, evil chipmunk.

But here’s the kicker: there has not been a single mention of Chaffee’s screw job of Foley by the Fullerton Observer that spends so much energy bemoaning the poor travails of “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra who also can’t scrape up that necessary third vote for elevation to the lofty title Mayor of Fullerton.

Personally, I couldn’t care less how the Chairman of the OC Board of Supervisors gets three votes; ditto for the Mayor of Fullerton. Three is three and that’s all that matters. Got your feelings hurt? Stay out of politics. But I have to admit my annoyance (not surprise) by the hypocrisy of the Kennedy Sisters’ refusal to even mention the story of how a liberal woman was kept from her “turn” in their precious uber-liberal rag.

December 17, 2025December 17, 2025A Step in the Right Direction

Mayor Jung, Again, For 2026

by Grover Cleveland38 Comments

Yes, Mayor Fred Jung will be Mayor Fred Jung again. It happened at the Fullerton City Council meeting last night.

The usual assortment of Fullerton Boohoo showed up at the meeting for their annual December moan-fest about how “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra should be Mayor of Fullerton because he is a combination of Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Jesus H. Christ. And also District 5, where Zahra has never got 50% of the vote, is somehow “disenfranchised” because Zahra can’t revel in the lofty title. Sputter, wheeze, etc. Ironically, one Zahra advocate explained as a qualification how the unemployed and family-less Zahra was always at photo-op events.

Comically, many of Zahra’s ardent followers couldn’t pronounce his name right, referring to him as “Za-ha-rah,” thus suggesting they don’t even know him.

But somehow the show seemed pretty muted, and sort of perfunctory; maybe it was because Zahra wasn’t even at the meeting and this meant that his getting three votes wasn’t in the cards.

Zahra minions spoke about the policy of mayoral rotation made years ago by other city councils that must be adhered to, even though the City Attorney had said a council majority could set it aside anytime they want, making the policy meaningless.

What will 2026 have in store for this one…

The endlessly self-impressed gasbag Shana Charles said it was also her turn to be mayor, cuz she had just been Mayor Pro Tem, and ya know, policy. She is running for re-election next years and probably thought, delusionally, that she had a shot at the Title. She didn’t.

In the end Valencia nominated Fred Jung who was appointed Mayor; Nick Dunlap was nominated, and appointed Mayor Pro Tem.

No one within the boohoo tribe has ever bothered to honestly figure out why the council majority has steadfastly refused to appoint Zahra to be mayor. It’s chalked up to selfish personality issues on their part, but we know the real reason. No one whom Zahra hasn’t fooled with his phony immigrant schtick and faux sincerity wants to hear his long-winded, self-praising bloviation and his promotion of his “brand.” They resent his constant condescension toward them, his performance of moral superiority, and his hysterical, behind the scenes behavior.

The same applies to the majority’s opinion of Shana Charles, with her smug, incompetent, speechifying. She loves the sound of her own voice, alright, but nobody else loves the bi-monthy waste of time that just interminably drags out meetings. Even Nick Dunlap, who nominated Charles to be mayor Pro Tem a year ago, has evidently had enough of her tedious monologues.

Speaking of Dunlap, he did excel himself before the vote, noting that the same 40 people (it’s probably closer to 20) who show up at council meetings do not represent the public or the community and that he had been elected to represent everybody. Well done, there, Mr. Dunlap. They won’t get it, but need to be reminded once in a while.

So Fred Jung gets to use the title “Mayor” during his campaign for County Supervisor which is a help in the odd world of local politics where almost nobody is paying attention to real accomplishments or real failures.

December 10, 2025December 12, 2025Ahmad Zahra

Who Wants to be Mayor?

by Grover Cleveland23 Comments

“Dr.” Ahmad Zahra, the immigration fraud, battery and vandalism perp, and false police report submitter, that’s who. He’s craved the title for five years and his record of attacking and insulting and questioning the morality of his colleagues has kept him from getting it.

The Council appointment vote is coming up next Tuesday and one thing I will bet on is that the Dubious Doctor from Damascus will not get the job, no matter how many boohoos show up to wail and gnash their at the horror of the injustice.

Obviously, Fred Jung, our current front man, wants the exalted title since he’s running for County Supervisor.

And then there’s the otiose, self-important windbag Shana Charles. She is (inexplicably) our current Mayor Pro Tem; she might nominate her running buddy Zahra for Mayor, but will be perfectly happy to receive the Mayor title for herself. Can she get three votes? Only if she gets nominated and Nick Dunlap goes along with it, like he did when he bafflingly nominated her to be Mayor Pro Tem a year ago. But if he does that he will surely incur the wrath of the powerful Lincoln Club, a big money Republican outfit that has supposedly endorsed Jung.

My prediction is a third year of Jung’s mayoralty, a year in which a sales tax increase will be the big issue for Fullerton voters. I see Jamie Valencia appointed Mayor Pro Tem, unless for some reason Dunlap wants that, which seems unlikely.

Am I right?

If I am, expect another one of those self-pity party monologues from Zahra about how his enemies (unnamed) are out to get him and how he has worked valiantly on behalf of the dispossessed untermenschen of District 5. Count on a ten minute discourse with many pained and pregnant pauses as he scans the audience and no one in particular.

Tune in to the Council meeting on December 16th to find out.

December 9, 2025December 10, 2025A Manfro All Seasons

Something Fishy in Fullerton

by Grover Cleveland36 Comments

On last Tuesday’s City Council closed session agenda, an item popped up that surely bears close examination.

This is about an appeal regarding a decision involving “post retirement employment.” That means it involves CalPERS the massive pension program for public employees in California. Obviously CalPERS came down on these four individuals listed for violating terms of retirement, terms meant to make retirement a serious decision. I’m moderately familiar with the rules. The basic ones are that if you are officially retired you can’t go back to work for any CalPERS agency for more than 960 hours a year, and you can’t take on the responsibilities of a full-time employee.

Friends may remember Jeff Collier, former City Manager of Whittier, who was the “Interim” City Manager after Steve Danley (an OCERS retiree and therefore eligible), for a while in 2021-22. Did Collier work more than 960 hours? Can an “Interim” qualify to get around CalPERS restrictions? I don’t know.

I don’t remember a Cindy Collins, but a do recall Gregory Pfost, retired head planner from Laguna Beach who washed up on Fullerton’s shore.

Finally, there’s Eddie Manfro, retired City Manager from dysfunctional Westminster who hired on a few years back as an HR consultant, I think, and became the de facto HR Director. He is now the Interim City Manager.

The one thing all these individuals have in common is that they were and are, well-aware of the limitations placed on CalPERS retirees, so whatever the violations are that are being appealed, should have been avoidable.

I would like to know how Fullerton got stuck with this embarrassment and who is paying the legal costs for the waiver process and the appeal. I get the feeling we are paying.

December 4, 2025December 4, 2025Ahmad Zahra

Zahra Agonistes & Observer Silence

by Grover Cleveland23 Comments

That Ahmad Zahra sure puts on a show for his cult followers. During Tuesday’s “council communications” he went on a pathetic 11 minute emotional roller coaster ride, a real self-pity party that was full of his special brand of histrionics – gestures, knowing nods, glances at who knows who, dramatic pauses, pained looks, and near-tears expressions.

Good Lord, what a valediction! Departing hero, victim, saint, champion of the downtrodden and upholder of truth and justice.

Of course it was a damn waste of everybody’s time. But when you’re a self-aggrandizing narcissist that’s the last thing to worry about. In fact, your speech is just the capper to a long conga line of oddball public commenters you have stirred up to attack your political enemies. And he still has a whole year to keep repeating the performance.

Meantime, the Kennedy Sisters who run the pretend news outlet Fullerton Observer still haven’t mentioned Zahra’s decision not to run for re-election. You would think Sanka and Sharon Kennedy would fall all over themselves to shower sickly sweet encomiums upon the object of their infatuation. But no. The proverbial deafening silence.

Zahra put out his statement over two weeks ago and there has been no mention on the Observer site of Zahra’s departure at the end of 2026. We know that the Observer operation is incompetent and completely biased, but this neglect has got to be deliberate. Why?

It’s been speculated, and with some justification, that the Sisters are waiting until the Democrat Machine can find and endorse a replacement for Zahra; and that once all the endorsements are locked up and any District 5 Dem rivals swept aside, all will be revealed and the anointed one revealed to hallelujahs and hosannas.

The anointing oil was greasy and left fingerprints, and didn’t take…

This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. What difference does it make to let Fullerton Boohoo know Zahra’s story – even the implications? That might even look like sort of real journalism.

But hey, these are the same dummies who aided and abetted Scott Markowitz in 2024. Maybe they really believe they need to keep the cat in the bag while they find another Cannabis Kitty Jaramillo to roll out.

November 23, 2025November 24, 2025About Us

The Great Disappearing Zahra and the 2026 Aftermath

by Grover Cleveland31 Comments

Five days have passed since “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra, the Syrian immigrant fraud announced he would not run for re-election to the Fullerton City Council.

Crickets from the Fullerton Observer, whose sisters Sanka and Sharon have republished every utterance of Zahra, and who published his plagiarized articles without apology, have said nothing.

They’ve published a dozen other articles – even one about some woman on Dorothy Lane who has become addicted to putting blow-up figures in her front yard. But not a solitary word about their Hero quitting in 2026.

How come?

Many people are saying it’s because Fullerton Boohoo doesn’t have a District 5 replacement plan yet, and the Observer crowd doesn’t want any surprise ordinary citizens running in next year’s election, so they’re keeping it quiet.

This doesn’t make a lot of sense since very few people in D5 read the Observer. However, common sense is a rare commodity in the precincts of Fullerton Boohoo.

Still, it could be true – that they are getting all the usual OC Dem endorsements in place for the first term school board member Vanessa Estrella, the candidate created for Sharon Quirk and her husband Jesus Quirk-Silva, and only plan to talk about Zahra leaving when she has a party central endorsed replacement in place. Then there’s the worthless politician endorsements to line up: you know, Lou Correa, Josh Newman, the Quirks, Tony Umberg (I forget his first name), the unions, etc., etc.; the ones that ushered Cannabis Kitty over the goal line – in second place. Oops.

In any case, there already is a candidate in running, a man who has already run a close campaign, and who would have won in 2022 except that the Usual Crowd of Dems created a fake Latino candidate by the name of Tony Castro, whom nobody has seen since 2022.

If they do run this Estrella person next year they might rerun the phony Latino dude scam of 2022; or, they might try the phony white guy candidate strategy they rolled out in 2024. They might do both. But 2026 isn’t 2024. Markowitz got pinched by the DA for perjury, and his handlers have cause for pause.

That includes Ajay Mojan the dirty little bastard involved in each earlier scam. And it certainly includes the Dems who collected Scott Markowitz’s signatures for him. Was that Aaruni Thakur? Was it Andre Charles, husband of the otiose windbag, Shana Charles? The self-righteous Diane Vena knows, and so does her confessor, Sharon Kennedy – of the Fullerton Observer.

There may be a reluctance for this rogues gallery to keep creating phony candidates to push their own ideologues, now that every candidate will be subjugated to a decency smell test.

November 1, 2025November 1, 2025A Manfro All Seasons

CHSR Propaganda

by Grover Cleveland21 Comments

A helpful Friend sent in this California High Speed Rail (CHSR) propaganda video. It’s about what will happen in Fullerton if the LA-Anaheim line goes in – a giant boondoggle within a fantastically bigger boondoggle. It’s mindbogglingly stupid.

So Fullerton’s Transportation Center is going to have massive negative impacts for years as CHSR builds ramps and tunnels, removes and relocates south platform parking, shuts down Walnut Avenue, and who knows what all else?

And get this: Fullerton isn’t even a “preferred” site for a stop. That decision has already been made.

The silly sales pitch is laughable: all this disruption will make it easier for northbound commuter trains to get to the north platform without crossing all the tracks – nonsense because they can use the south platform with a little logistical planning.

I suppose we can get some satisfaction that this massive disaster will possibly never be built. There’s no justification for HSR between LA and Anaheim, except that cooked up by people like our old friend, lobbyist and conman Kurt Pringle working for who knows whom. Pringle’s grand contribution to this mess has already been the embarrassment of ARTIC, the $200,000,000 station that is no station at all, but sold to the silly and gullible as a necessary component of the Big Idea.

The travel time between LA and Anaheim for HSR is essentially the same as current Metrolink service. The short distance from Union Station, and Deadman’s Curve in Fullerton militate against high speed travel through densely populated areas.

But never let facts and commonsense stop the CHSR propaganda machine; after all, propaganda is almost all the CHSR has produced so far, plus a few grossly overpriced overpasses around Fresno. Not much to show for 18 years of effort, and billions wasted. Not a single track has been laid; not a single train car delivered.

Will Fullerton put up some resistance, even token resistance? We’ll see if anybody on our City Council has some courage. It’s a damn good issue to go to bat for; which means probably not.

October 29, 2025October 30, 2025About Us

Fred Jung Leaves Democrats Becomes NPP. And 4th District Supervisor Update

by Grover Cleveland36 Comments

FFFF is a little late with this news, but better late than….never mind.

Fullerton’s Mayor, Fred Jung, running for County Supervisor and formerly a registered Democrat, has re-registered as a No Party Preference voter. In other words – an independent.

I see this as a pretty smart move. The Democrat Party leadership in OC – made up of grifters and deadbeats who actually promote useless barnacles like Shana Charles and Ahmad Zahra – had already piled on to the Connor Traut bandwagon.

Jung’s record in Fullerton has been one of generally rejecting the usual liberal Democrat sentimental “who cares if it works so long as it’s expensive” agenda for one of practicality and a modicum of accountability, a stance that put him at odds with the Fullerton Observer/Boohoo criers and moaners and alarmists. As an independent he has the opportunity to connect with the ever-growing independent vote, as well as commonsense Democrats and even some Republicans.

Meantime, another candidate, Democrat Rosie Espinoza from La Habra has put a bunch of money into her campaign account – $150K, it is said. Espinoza is the Mayor and has been on the La Habra City Council for 25 years. This is bad news for fellow La Habran Tim Shaw, a former la Habra councilmember who only had $20K on hand at the end of June and, only scrapped up five grand to lend himself. Now he has to share La Habra name recognition.

If Espinoza decides to actually spend that dough it’s also bad news for nebbish Connor Traut – the Holy Anointed Democrat in the race.

Of course Espinoza, who must be a septuagenarian by now has run for the Supervisor job two or three times already and nose dived.