Minard is pleased with himself.

A few days ago on this post about Pam Keller’s blank Collaborative calendar, we received a visit from FSD trustee Minard Duncan. As is usual, Minard’s visit was vacuous and inane. Just about what you’d expect from an educrat. Minard admitted his comments were just made to “rile” us up.

But what was really interesting was when Minard dropped this spud on the Friends, unwittingly revealing a mindset that reveals all the things wrong with Fullerton’s elected representatives:

School board members do not have any power as individuals. It takes three board members out of a five member board agreeing on an issue to have authority. We are the boss of the district superintendent and no one else but not as individuals only as a collective board.

See, Minard indicates that authority (power) is only to be exercised by a majority, and, moreover, through the conduit of a Superintendent - thus effectively removing the “elected” from actually having to do much of anything except hire a single underling and ratify his decisions. And of course the consequence of Minard-think is that the responsibility and accountability attendant upon elected office is conveniently dissipated through delegation to a host of protected bureaucrats who are never held accountable either.

But whoever thought that the absence of a majority meant that a boardmember was somehow robbed of any of the authority vested in him by the electorate? While it takes a board majority to act affirmatively on a specific issue, the authority of an elected is indivisible. Minard is not just a third of a potential majority, nor does he represent only a theoretical one fifth of the property tax payers and parents – although he doesn’t seem to grasp this idea.

It is each boardmember’s responsibility to concern himself with everything that goes on in his district and to take responsibility for it.

Minard-think leads to the complete dereliction of responsibility that seems to obtain not only at the FSD, but also at Fullerton City Hall, too, where electeds delegate responsibility right along with the authority they invest in their City Manager. And of course as any honest council watcher knows, the Council, through laziness and/or inclination, is completely in thrall to the Chief Bureaucrat who is supposed to be working for them. It’s rather like the Stockholm Syndrome.

And you know what? A lot of electeds and their bureaucratic masters sure seem to like it that way.

UPDATE: WE HAVE NOW INCLUDED LAST NIGHT’S (12/15/09) CITY COUNCIL VOTE TO APPROVE THE RICHMAN HOUSING PROJECT (SEE #6). SINCE THE COUNCIL IS DONE VOTING IN 2009 WE CAN NOW CLOSE THE NOMINATIONS.

The Worst Vote 2009 category is reserved for politicians who really stepped in it big time. This is one of the biggies, so you won’t want to miss this award. Here are the five nominees:

1. Councilman Don Bankhead deserves recognition, all right. In a 22-year council career jam-packed with horrible decisions this year he truly distinguished himself. His “until death” support of the completely horrendous $6 million McDonald’s relocation move was just breathtaking. Even Doc Heehaw opposed that one, and that’s saying a lot.

2. A joint nomination: Don Bankhead (again!), Pam Keller, and our old pal Dick Jones for their brainless devotion to the Redevelopment expansion founded on a fraudulent finding of blight. We have catalogued all the idiotic things said in defense of the indefensible, and its an impressive catalogue of confused thinking, indeed. And FFFF has sued the Agency to help it get it’s collective mind right.

3. Another joint nomination. FSD Trustees Hilda Sugarman and Ellen Ballard for voting to hire (for up to $100,000) a consultant to “study” the feasibility of a parcel tax. Minard Duncan is also included in this nomination since he abstained, too cowardly to even make a decision one way or the other. Say why does Ed Royce keep endorsing Ballard and Sugarman? (Rhetorical question only – no response necessary).

4. The Fullerton Planning Commission for actually granting Jack Franklyn a bogus “special events” permit covering numerous events  for several months so that he could continue to offend his neighbors with outdoor amplified music at Roscoe’s Famous Nuisance. We also note that one of his neighbors subsequently went out of business and another Franklyn enterprise is moving into the empty space.

5. The entire City Council for mindlessly jacking up the commodity rates on water and in doing so increasing the in-lieu franchise payment to the General Fund. Not a single council person even bothered to ask why. Shame, shame, shame.

6. Don Bankhead, Pam Keller, and Dick Jones. Again. And Again. For their vote to approve the utterly ill-conceived, staff-created Richaman Avenue subsidized condo project. Shawn Nelson recused himself.

This jump started an earlier idea to publish the names of all the lackeys, stooges and repuglicans who signed onto Ackerman Inc.’s Big Lie Tour of 2009.

This is a list of the elected officials that decided their best interests lay in the endorsement of Linda Ackerman for the 72nd Assembly District. Enjoy the asinine quotations at the bottom of the page and be sure to pick out your favorites on the list for special attention. We have helpfully highlighted in red the names of politicians in whose elections Fullerton voters will get to participate.

• Congressman Ed Royce
• Congressman Dana Rohrabacher
• Former Congressman Bill Dannemeyer

Statewide Elected Officials

• BOE Member Bill Leonard
• Former State Secretary of Education and Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan

State Senators

• Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth
• Former Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte
• Former Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman
• Former Senator Marian Bergeson
• Senator Mark Wyland
• Senator Mimi Walters
• Senator Bob Huff
• Senator Bob Dutton
• Senator George Runner
• Senator Sam Aanestad 
• Senator John Benoit 
• Senator Abel Maldonado
• Senator Dave Cox

State Assemblymembers

• Former Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines
• Assemblyman Jim Silva
• Assemblyman Joel Anderson
• Assemblyman Ted Gaines
• Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher
• Assemblywoman Diane Harkey
• Former Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher
• Former Assemblywoman Sharon Runner
• Former Assemblyman Tom Bordonaro
• Former Assemblyman Openmike Duval
• Former Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer

Orange County

• Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens
• Orange County Supervisor Pat Bates
• Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell
• Orange County Supervisor Janet Ngyuen
• Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas
• Former Orange County Supervisor Cynthia Coad

Anaheim

• Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle

Fullerton

• Fullerton Mayor Don Bankhead
• Fullerton Councilmember Dick Jones
• Former Mayor of Fullerton Buck Catlin
• Former Mayor Leland Wilson
• Former Mayor Peter Godfry
  
• Former Mayor of Fullerton Jerry Christie
• Former Mayor of Fullerton Linda LeQuire
• Former Fullerton Police Chief Pat McKinley

Placentia

• Former Placentia Mayor Scott Brady
• Placentia Councilmember Jeremy Yamaguchi

Orange

• City of Orange Mayor Carolyn Cavecche
• City of Orange Councilmember Mark Murphy
• City of Orange Councilmember Jon Dumitru

Yorba Linda

• Yorba Linda Mayor Mark Schwing
• Yorba Linda Councilmember Jim Winder

Villa Park

• Villa Park Mayor Pro Tem Bill Mac Aloney

Brea

• Brea Mayor John Beauman
• Brea Councilmember Roy Moore

La Habra

• La Habra Councilmember James Gomez
• La Habra Councilmember Steve Simonian
• Former La Habra Mayor Juan Garcia
• Former La Habra City Councilmember John Holmberg

Elected Leaders

• Tustin Mayor Doug Davert
• Tustin Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Amante
• Laguna Hills Mayor Joel Lautenschleger
• City of Covina Mayor Walt Allen
• Newport Beach City Councilmember Steven Rosansky
• Capistrano Unified School District Trustee, Anna Bryson
• Fullerton School District Trustees Maynard Duncan, Ellan Ballard, Hilda Sugarman, Lynn Thornly.

“Having called North Orange County her home for over 30 years, Linda is by far the most experienced and effective candidate for Assembly. She is a respected leader who will restore dignity to the office while fighting for Orange County values.”- Former Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher

“Linda has been a steadfast conservative leader in Orange County for many years. She will be ready to lead on the important budget issues facing the region and the state on day one.”- Assemblywoman Diane Harkey

“I am proud to stand by Linda in her campaign to promote conservative leadership and higher standards to the California State Assembly.”

- State Senator Mimi Walters.

“Linda Ackerman is an experienced leader who has proven her dedication to the community time and time again, I am proud to support her campaign for State Assembly because I know she will be ready to lead on the issues our state faces on day one after being elected.”- Senator Bob Huff

“Linda Ackerman has always done what is right for the sake of the community, not political gain. She is a proven leader who will help solve California’s budget crisis and bring Orange County values to the State Assembly.”- City of Orange Mayor Carolyn Cavecche

“Linda Ackerman is an experienced businesswoman and community leader who I trust to help balance the budget and rein in out of control spending in Sacramento. North Orange County needs Linda in the Assembly fighting for real budget reform.” – Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle

“We need an experienced leader who will fight for North Orange County. That’s why I’m supporting Linda Ackerman for State Assembly,” Fullerton Mayor Don Bankhead

“When it comes to the safety of our children, Linda Ackerman will never back down.”- Former Fullerton Police Chief Pat McKinley

“I wholeheartedly endorse Linda in her campaign for Assembly. As a businesswoman and community philanthropist she has been an active leader in North Orange County and is by far the best person to represent us in the Assembly” -Yorba Linda Mayor Mark Schwing

Paid For by Ackerman for Assembly 2009, FPPC ID #1321372

It was a fun party with an open bar. And then Dave Lopez showed up…

We missed an Ackerwoman press release about a week and a half ago (sorry but we really hate going to that site). It touted Fullerton “educational leaders” who have endorsed Linda Ackerman: Hilda Sugarman, Ellen Ballard, Minard Duncan, and Lynn Thornley – a who’s who of Fullerton RINOs and liberal educrat types. It’s really hard to find any term other than “followers” to describe this little band, but such are the extravagances of campaign rhetoric.

Our old pal Minard was even assigned his own hilarious quotation: “I first got to know Linda when she was a member of the PTA at Rolling Hills School in Fullerton. She has been a vital member of our community for over 30 years…” A member of the PTA? Well whoop-de-doo! Is that Duncan’s threshold for being qualified to serve in the Sate Assembly? Guess so. And of course trust Minard to use the wrong (present) tense. She hasn’t lived in our community for over 30 years. She spent the last ten living in another community!

Well, we know Ackerwoman’s residency is a lie, even if Minard won’t talk about it: she lives in Irvine and rents an address in Fullerton. She also advertises herself in this press release as “an independent businesswoman” and we now know that that’s a falsehood on two counts. We have also discovered her fake charity that diverts lobbyists contributions towards Hawaiian vacations for her and her pals in the legislature, although such flagrant fraudulence seems not to have made much of an impression on Duncan and his pals on the FSD board.

It’s sort of depressing to see these folks turning a blind eye to prevarication and misrepresentation. Makes you wonder a bit about what kind of values are being passed along via the FSD.

They're comin'

Our old friend Barbara Giasone penned one of her edgy, hard-hitting news pieces the other day about the upcoming  Miss Fullerton Competition.

Since we ran a piece awhile back about the geezers in the Chamber of Commerce laying hands all over complete strangers – women young enough to be their grand daughters, this news flash caught our attention.

Cuddle up a little closer...

The propriety of having these young women present themselves at Chamber events to be touched, and touched often, smiling all the while, seems to be a strange way to have to earn an educational scholarship. Just think about it: okay honey you gotta go to this cocktail party full of friendly guys. Just think of them as your dad, or grand dad. What? You’re not 21? Hmm. Well, it’s really not like it’s a bar, exactly. Anyway there’ll be police there too, so that’s okay.

We have a winner...

Why can’t these young women write essays, or feed homeless people, or do something equally uplifting? Why do they have to attend Chamber of Commerce cocktail parties for photo ops? Seriously. Why?

Watch the hands, Minard...

Well, that’s what pageant winners do, for gosh sakes, some will argue. It’s all harmless, and maybe they like it! Well, maybe they do. And maybe they don’t – and just can’t say anything. In any case it’s pretty hard to escape the conclusion that these contests are are just weird hold-overs from the early part of the last century.

I resemble that remark...

Here’s some help: visualize these women without tiara and sash in the same photos, same poses. Damn friendly girls, wouldn’t you say?

We have no idea what the Miss Fullerton competition entails, but it seems pretty clear that the winner’s attendance at mixer events held by the Chamber is  inappropriate for several reasons.

And if the idea is so damn hot, and not at all sexist, then why isn’t there a Mr. Fullerton constest? We’d love to see Dick Jones with his arms around the waists of a couple strapping, scholarship-hungry young guys!

Nelson’s wife is a very pretty women as well as pleasant and cordial! It is hard not to drool around her.

Apart from the sharp needle-jump into the red on our FFFF creep-o-meter, it set us to thinking about mature male politicos and attractive, significantly younger females.

Pretty and cordial, too!

Some politicos avoid having their pictures taken with beauty contest winners for fear that the young woman will get all the attention, and the politician will look rather like an ugly duckling alongside. Others either haven’t learned that lesson, or are so starved for attention that they do it anyway.

No personal space in this biz. Smile 'til it hurts

And of course some just can’t seem to resist laying hands on the pretty young things.

Yeehaw! A coupla young fillies in the corral...

I love the attention. Bring it on!

We’ve spent much of the week examining what we could find out about Pam Keller and her “Fullerton Collaborative.” As a Fullerton City Council member she has cast some votes that even some of her devoted supporters have found, well, mystifying. These include the gargantuan “Jefferson Commons” and the mammoth “Amerige Court” messes. Only a crappy economy has stalled these excrescences from going forward, although several historic, mid-century modern buildings have been destroyed to clear the land for Jefferson Commons.

Pam has made a great big deal about not taking developer’s money, and her 2006 campaign manifesto talks about protecting the citizens of Fullerton from the nasty developer special interests that want to “shape our future.” It still sounds like a lot of campaign drivel, but it was clearly intended to appeal to a certain profile voter – just the sort of voter who should now be appalled at those approved projects.

Our series started out with a giggle over her “Woodstock” fundraiser aimed at ex-hippies who could break out their ratty denims and tie-dye T shirts and kick in $1000 to be a “Jimi Hendrix Fan Club” member. The fact that the party nearly coincided with the one year anniversary of her vote to approve the Amerige Court project propelled the conversation in that direction.

The discussion took another turn when we also noticed that Keller’s Fullerton Collaborative is supposed to combat childhood obesity – so it seemed disconnected that she would vote to move a McDonald’s right across the street from Fullerton High; except that the move frees up land for another massive housing project!

The mention of the Collaborative began a look-see into that group. We discovered that Pam is an employee of the Fullerton School District – not the Collaborative, which is convenient – for her – since she can pursue her philanthropy on the public payroll. We remarked that the money that goes to pay the FSD for Pam’s services constitutes the majority of the Collaborative’s expenses, and that in 2007 it operated in the red.

We also discovered that the Collaborative website makes no mention of who its “donors” are, which is pretty weird for a charity and even weirder for people who donate to them; and this led to all sorts of unpleasant speculation about the possibility that private interests in Fullerton that have business with the City might be donating to the Collaborative.

As speculation mounted about the possibility that land developers might be donating to the Collaborative – developers like Steve Sheldon and the Pelican/Laing boys - we picked up a couple of other interesting tidbits, such as Fullerton City Departments being “members” of the Collaborative where their boss runs things (from FSD Trustee Minard Duncan); and then that Pam Keller attended the now infamous Newport Harbor drinkies boat ride and dinner hosted by Steve Sheldon for Sharon Quirk; a boat ride also attended by the Amerige Court developers who paid $1000 a piece for the privilege. Our Friends wondered if Sheldon gave Keller a freebie and whether that fact had been divulged anywhere.

Finally, FFFF blogmeister Travis Kiger issued a challenge for Pam to reveal who the donors  to the Collaborative have been. And Pam responded by saying she would take it up with the Collaborative board (of which she is a member) at their meeting next month.

Well, that’s it so far. It’s been interesting digging into theses topics and others seem to be interested too: we have generated our highest visitor and page view numbers ever.

And rest assured, Friends, we won’t be letting go of this story any time soon, so stick around for the continuing saga!

Just a few of the many faces of Pam Keller

Pam Keller likes to talk a lot about her role as Executive Director of something called The Fullerton Collaborative. We didn’t use the word “job” because we’re not sure yet how much actual “work” goes into the function.

We do know that the Collaborative seems to be run by, and for the principle benefit of Pam Keller herself.

Here is the first page from the Collaborative’s 2007 tax filing:

Note that the Collaborative’s expenses exceeded its revenue by 13k, covered by a surplus from the year before. Notice also that the corporation’s address is the same as the Fullerton School District’s headquarters on West Valencia Drive. This latter fact is explained on page 4:

The Collaborative has an agreement with the FSD to provide an “executive director”  for 44K. That’s Keller. The only explanation for this is that this way Pam gets to remain an FSD employee with salary and benefits thereof, while doing her good works and self-promotion as a professional do-gooder on the taxpayer’s dime. Instead of a telling folks she’s a public employee, she gets to pretend that she’s the employee for a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Notice that the cost of Pam is the Collaborative’s main expense in 2007. The only other significant expense is a $26,000 contract with something called OCCO for “community organizing.” Rusty Kennedy’s do-nothing Human Relation Commission is in on the gravy to the tune of $4400 for “leadership training,” whatever that may consist of.

Since Keller is listed on the Collaborative’s website as a board member, we wonder whether she’s actually negotiating and voting on her own contract with the FSD. The dialog in the room during those discussions might be fairly amusing. And we also wonder if anybody else on the board is auditing that relationship for vendor performance management. Hmm.

We are a bit curious as to why public funds are being sluiced through this rather elaborate piping in the first place. And we wonder, given the fact that FSD Board member Minard Duncan is listed as a “member-at-large,” how closely the FSD negotiates and manages that contract itself. There is something called The Government Accounting Standards Board; are their rules being adhered to regarding accounting and public disclosure of their financial relationship with The Collaborative?

Of course we are also very interested in where The Fullerton Collaborative gets its funds, especially which private donors, if any,  are contributing the wherewithal to cover the FSD contract that pays for Fullerton City Council woman Keller’s services. The Collaborative’s website is strangely silent on the identity of its donors; most charities boast about their benefactors, who generally like to be boasted about.

When we find out we’ll be sure to  share the information. And if we can’t find out, we’ll let let our Friends know that, too.

Oh, too intense, man. Turn it off, turn it off.

Fullerton Council member Pam Keller is having a fund raiser with a “Woodstock” theme. You may not remember Woodstock, and that is forgivable since many of the people who were there can’t remember it either. Or you may be too young. So we’ll help out a little: musicians bombed out of their minds, mud wrestling in the rain, and a whole lot of LSD making it bearable, and totally, you know, psychedelic, man.

A fitting end to the irresponsible 60s many up-tight squares would say.

Since Pam is 46 or so, she must have been seven years old when Woodstock went down so it’s sort of an odd theme – unless one stops to consider her target audience – hippies turned multiple-Volvo liberals who are now pushing or have pushed the 60-year mark and can afford to be Jimi Hendrix Fan Club members at $1000 a pop.

Don't panic, it's organic...

We do wonder how many dee-velopers of the sort that foisted Jefferson Commons and Amerige Court on Fullerton will just mail their checks in. We’ll find out when financial reports are made and let you know.

Well, anyway we like Pam okay, and so we pass along this free plug for her fundraiser. It probably won’t be as much fun as the real Woodstock, but who knows? Just keep your eye on the punch bowl. Mr. Peabody may be there.

Outta sight, man. I always wanted to drop acid with the Honorable Minard Duncan. What a blast!

On January 20^th, the Fullerton Elementary School District voted on a consulting contract of up to $100,000 which would assess the “viability” of implementing a parcel tax on every property owner in Fullerton.  This tax was ostensibly being considered in order to bridge the currently projected $17 million, 3 year FSD budget gap created by the state’s financial crisis.

For those who are blind to the perpetual folly, the ever-present elephant in the room that is the ridiculous manner in which public education is financed as a result the mafia-like tactics of our child-hating teacher’s unions, I will not attempt to educate here.  Suffice it to say that we owe a debt of gratitude to current FSD Board Vice President, Beverly Berryman for her singular sage leadership in saving Fullerton citizens from an unbelievable attempt to raise our taxes…especially the taxes of parents struggling to save their homes for their children in these painful economic times.

Any manner of idiocy is pursued under the banner of FOR OUR CHILDREN which ultimately hurts children by destroying the future of public education with unsustainable financial foolishness.  The Grand Dame of the Fullerton School District, Hilda “have you met my husband the doctor?” Sugarman actually argued that the board needed the “courage” to risk negative public reaction in order to continue to support her wasteful spending.  Laptops for all is Hilda’s favorite cry.  She is particularly fond of her unbelievably expensive International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program(me) which flushed thousands of dollars down a Geneva, Switzerland toilet.

In all fairness, I must give Lynn Thornley her due props on opposing this contract.  Very surprised I was, but Lynn has surprised before on the side of reasonable decision making.  And, finally, dear, sweet Minard Duncan.  Once again too frightened, too kind, too very, very sweet to take a position which might hurt somebody’s feelings.  Take heed my young liberal students of politics.  Minard knows the path to garnering the many votes.  Stand for children.  What does that mean you ask?  Weren’t you listening dummy? Stand for children.  You need not know how to stand for them…just stand for them.  Unbelievable.