Don Bankhead
Don Bankhead is a councilmember and current mayor in the City of Fullerton. In his spare time he enjoys playing with toy trains and collecting local membership cards.
Now pay attention to the legend of Don Bankhead in Fullerton…
The Year Was 1988…
Posted by Travis Kiger in Don Bankhead, Fullerton 2010, Fullerton City Council Candidates, Fullerton City Council Election 2010 on September 3, 2010
It's hard to remember.
Here are a few things that happened in annum nineteen hundred and ninety-eight:
- Hulk Hogan lost the WWF title to Andre the Giant
- Florence Griffith Joyner set a world record in the 200 meter dash
- Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” hit the top 10
- Mr. T launched his own television show
- Eddie Murphy’s “Coming to America” grossed $128 million
- The Dodgers won the World Series
- A gallon of gas cost 98 cents
And Don Bankhead began his 22-year career on the Fullerton City Council.
Twenty-two years is more than enough. It’s time to give mayor Bankhead a break.
It’s Your Choice
Posted by Christian in Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Fullerton City Council on August 15, 2010
Here’s a repeat of a post we ran late last year, a public service announcement, you might call it. See, Fullerton’s jurassic councilman, Don Bankhead is running for for yet another interminable term in office. He’s already been sitting there for 22 years, but apparently that’s just not enough for the good old boy. Well, watch this dismal performance and see if you think this is someone you believe ought to be making million dollar decisions on your behalf.
- The Desert Rat
If anyone watched the council meeting to the bitter end, which I just did, you would see an incredible meltdown by the good ol’ boys club.
This clip begins the discussion on the appointment of the member at larger for all commissions. Mr. Mayor says he wants to be in charge of the interviews and Nelson corrects him. Bankhead repeatedly interjects “Mayor” into the new ordinance while Nelson repeatedly tells the Mayor that the word “Mayor” is not included in the ordinance. Then Bankhead starts laughing at Nelson and ranting that its the way they done it for time in memoriam and it works. Then the good Dr. Jones steps in it. The City Attorney tries to save the meltdown but he nor Nelson could keep Bankhead and Dr. Jones in check. Bankhead with his maniacal giggling, chuckling and Jones rambling on about God only knows what… Glad they saved the best for last.
Oh yeah, and a little nugget after the meltdown…Keller wants to hold a study session for right-of-way encroachments to deal with issues on the trails and bike paths.
Bankhead Forgot to Submit an Argument Against Term Limits
Posted by The Desert Rat in Behind Closed Doors, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Fullerton City Council, Sharon Quirk, Victory on August 14, 2010
Weather's gettin' colder...
Measure M will be on the ballot in November, but the arguments presented in the official voter materials will be a bit one-sided.
Nobody submitted an argument against the measure to enact term limits against Fullerton city council members.
Was anti-term limit incumbent Dinosaur Don Bankhead asleep at the switch, or was he actaully smart enough to disassociate him self with that position during an election campaign? Who knows?
I really like spinkles on my frogurt...
Sharon Quirk-Silva authored the opinion in support of the measure, which summarizes them as:
- Term limits increase the number of competitive elections
- Term limits bring in more opportunities to serve in public office
- Term limits disfavor seniority
- Term limits promote fresh ideas
Of course, she missed the most important purpose of term limits: they will end the seemingly endless political careers of staff yes-men: folks like Don Bankhead and Dick Jones, who have tormented taxpayers for decades by voting for almost every single boondoggle and corporate welfare project put in front of them.
Whadya know. A promise was kept...
And for that we thank SQS for sticking by the promise she made way back in January of 2009.
Term Limits Are On The Ballot
Posted by Travis Kiger in Don Bankhead, Fullerton 2010 on August 11, 2010
Fullerton voters will soon be deciding if they’ve had enough of the jurassic councilmen Don Bankhead and Dick Jones. Sharon Quirk-Silva has championed Measure M, which puts the enactment of term limits up to voters.
Term limits are a practical countermeasure against the momentum of dimly lit incumbencies and perpetual perpetrators of barely-passable mediocrity.
Rawr.
In other words, Bankhead and Jones have been on this boat for far too long. We’ve shown you video after video of incoherent ramblings, procedural blunders and pharma-induced outbursts as these two men bask in the early stages of senility. Decades on the dais have made them callous to the concerns of Fullerton residents, proven by their constant bullying and dismissiveness during public meetings. And while we’re watching this sideshow, they have been cluelessly steering our city directly into boondoggle after boondoggle, at our expense.
Enough already.
Conflict of Interest?
Posted by admin in Behind Closed Doors, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Fullerton City Council, Repuglicanism, Setting The Bar Low, Sharon Quirk on July 28, 2010
Smilin' all the way to the bank
Have you ever wondered how we got ourselves into this financial crisis? In California and in Fullerton we have an out of control public employee pension crisis – a crisis where thousands of retired public employee end up receiving mammoth retirement payouts, in some cases tens of thousands more than they ever made while they were actually working.
Well, one candidate for Fullerton City Council is a posterboy for this system run amok, and his name is Patrick McKinley. Before the next time you cast your ballot, check to see that the person your are voting for is not a retired government worker that would be making any decisions affecting out of control public employee retirement pensions.
The Wishing Well, Once A Mayor’s Crib; Now A Bottomless Money Hole
Posted by admin in Big Brother, Boohooism, Brick Veneer, Fake Old, And Other Horrors, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Former Fullerton Councilmembers, Fullerton BooHoo, Fullerton City Council, Pam Keller, Redevelopment, Setting The Bar Low, Sharon Quirk on July 25, 2010
The Wishing Well Apartments. Someone's wish just came true.
For those interested in obscure Fullerton history, Louis Valasquez lived in the Wishing Well apartments at 466 West Valencia Dr. while serving as the Mayor of Fullerton in 1979.
Those more curious about modern-day Redevelopment Agency boondoggles, may be interested to learn that this past week the Fullerton City Council voted to sell the Agency owned Wishing Well Apartments to an out of town “developer” for $100.
The Fullerton Redevelopment Agency purchased the ol’ Wishing Well for $1,993,433 and paid an additional $60,930 to kick out (relocate) all the tenants that resided in the 16 unit building. On top of that the Agency is going to give the out-of-towners an additional $184,347 to “rehab” the apartments, provided the developer rents the apartments to low income tenants. Here in Orange County “low income” is 50% of the median income – which for a family of 3 is $70,890. This means that people that make around $35,445 will be living in the Brand Spanking New Wishing Well. I’ll bet ya the previous tenants made less than $35,445 per year. So in reality the city kicked out the poor folks in order to replace them with richer poor folks.
Now that’s not very good is it?
And if the units were so dilapidated, why didn’t City Code Enforcement simply cite the landlord and require the units to be standard units?
I think I’ll do a follow-up post and focus on code enforcement failures under Don Bankhead’s and Dick Jones’s years of “leadership.”
Happy Bastille Day!
Posted by Jan Florys Dog in About Us, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Fullerton City Council, Repuglicanism, Setting The Bar Low on July 14, 2010
303 West Commonwealth
221 Years ago, an angry Parisian mob stormed The Bastille – traditional home for political prisoners and symbol of the hated Ancien Regime. It was empty, but that’s beside the point.
Time for youth and vigor...
Our Bastille is not empty. And while I admonish a more reasoned revolution that doesn’t end in a Reign of Terror, a dictatorship, and an emperor, I do believe it is appropriate to recognize that our own ancient regime in Fullerton is starting to look a lot like the decrepit and dysfunctional Bourbon dynasty en France.
Hell, it's only been 200 years. We just need a little more time...
And so: salut, and bon voyage, etc.
Who Should Pay To Clean Up The Mess in Downtown Fullerton?
Posted by admin in Dead heads, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Downtown Fullerton, Food and Drink, Fullerton 2010, Fullerton City Council, MSM Falls on Face, Pam Keller, Setting The Bar Low, Sharon Quirk, Watch Your Wallet on July 12, 2010
Welcome to Downtown Fullerton
Surely not the businesses that don’t sell booze.
Last year a few downtown Fullerton property and business owners lobbied the City Council to impose an tax assessment on downtown Fullerton. The purpose of this “Business Improvement District” was to raise money to clean up the mess introduced into Downtown by the numerous booze joints and illegal dance clubs.
The first step was predictable: hire yourself a “consultant” who will tell you what you want to hear. But the price tag was too steep and the promoters couldn’t get a clear majority of the Council to go along.
But apparently now Councilwoman Sharon Quirk-Silva has changed her mind about hiring a consultant to meet and greet and spread the BID propaganda.
The direction here is all too clear: build up some momentum toward the idea and then rely on the self-interested parties to vote their interest and hope that the other property owners don’t catch on.
Well I think this stinks. Why should all the downtown property owners pay to fix the problems caused by the bar owners and their out-of-control customers, not to mention a City policy that has enabled all these problems? And let’s not forget – former police chief and council candidate Patrick McKinley who liked to look the other way.
And why should the taxpayers keep footing the bill?
When is An Historic Resource Not An Historic Resource?
As quickly as you can, Grasshopper, snatch the park from its owners...
When it’s Fullerton’s Hillcrest Park, of course. Then it’s a resource of a different kind: an opportunity for City Staff to play upon the sentimentality of Fullerton’s park and history lovers to destroy the very resource that is ostensibly being saved.
They did it 15 years ago and they are doing it again.
I went to Saturday’s latest public meeting to “save the park” and witnessed something quite remarkable. Just like last time the City staff has employed a consultant to remake the park in its own desired form, replete with new facilities it can market or operate, while ignoring the true needs of the old girl.
But this time the ludicrousness of the whole operation became apparent immediately. A representative of the landscape architect hired to foist the exploitative plan informed us all what was wrong with Hillcrest Park. It has bad chi. And all these years we just thought it was neglect by the parks and police departments. Chi. Hmm.
So what’s the solution to clean up the chi and get things all aligned, nice and proper?
A restaurant, for one thing, down by the duck pond; and a new park entrance; new retaining walls along the Brea Creek and an abandonment of the interior roadways might just get that troublesome chi back in balance, we were informed.
Ye Gods! Chi. What’s next, park feng shui?
Use the Force, Luke...
I don’t know how much we’re paying these yahoos to further destroy our park, but I’ll bet it’s a lot. And I’ll also bet that Redevelopment money is picking up at least part of the tab. And ultimately the only way to pay to comprehensively destroy this historic resouce is to use big piles of Redevelopment money to do it. Redevelopment destroying historic resources. That’s not a new theme.
Hillcrest Park is on the National Register of Historic places but nobody seems to treat it like it were. Only last year the City embarked on massive alterations to the north slope of the park without review by the Landmarks Commission.
Well, good luck Hillcrest. And in the meantime may the chi be with you.
Ever Get The Feeling…
Posted by admin in Don Bankhead, Setting The Bar Low, Sharon Quirk, Watch Your Wallet on July 10, 2010
…that somebody is loading you up with a pile of road apples?
Be sure to pour it on nice and thick...
Good thing Sharon Quirk-Silva knows when to call for a tow. Had it not been for Quirk-Silva the city may have broken the law (again). Watch and see for yourself when Mayor Bankhead asks the police captain how he is supposed to break the law after the tow truck drivers explained to the city council the state law pertaining to private parties towing vehicles.
The city attorney Elena Gerli sure expends a lot of words, but she manages to evade the main issue: her proposed code amendment was created in a vacuum.
So how much per hour are we paying for this mumbo jumbo?
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