Our old amigo Steve Greenhut has taken a job up north in Sacramento to untangle some of the worst of California’s governmental pathologies, but he still writes an occasional piece for the OC Register. It obviously has not been lost on Steve that the current battle for the 72nd Assembly District is a pretty good symbol of an attempt by the entrenched GOP old guard to hold on to their influence and money apparatus – and that ties directly to the mess in Sacramento.
Over the week-end Greenhut dropped a devastating editorial scud on the Ackerman, Inc. machine that was both informative and entertaining. Read Steve’s piece here.
It first appeared as a small shadow from overhead...
The OC Repugs don’t like the antiseptic light of day shining on their doings, so one can only imagine the consternation Greenhut’s editorial has caused. And they also don’t like their ideology questioned by anybody. Ideology is their purview, see, by which they whip up the stupider ranks of the rank and file and get them mobilized. But that’s mostly window dressing. When in office the ‘Pugs like to settle in and start milking their cash cow for all it’s worth.
It's so beautiful it just brings a tear to Dick's eye...
A couple days ago we posted on the unveiling of the breathtakingly hideous “Fox Village” monstrosity. Since first looking at those images we have been racking our brains trying to come up with a useful designation of Architectural taxonomy to describe what looked like a train wreck of shapes, materials and themes.
And then it hit us: Downtown Brea Revival! The same jumble of visual chaos, but rather than lined up along a street, it’s been all smooshed together. The corner main entry was of course stolen:
Via Rodeo: mother to a thousand imitators
Now the Fox Village purveyors have altered the ostensible “style” from banal Mediterranean to tawdry “modernish,” but of course the identical impulse to create an instant “village” and imbue it with a sense of authenticity, persists. And that’s Redevelopment for you.
I grew my business in Fullerton! Well maybe it was carrots in the back yard. I seem to remember growing something in Fullerton!
We’ve already documented that Linda Ackerwoman is not, never has been (and probably never will be a “businesswoman”). And yet, here is her ballot designation:
I know, let's start our campaign off with two lies!
Okay, the businesswoman thing is a bald-faced lie. Being a “consultant” to your husband’s political campaign is a great way to shift campaign contributions into your own pockets, but it hardly constitutes a business. Which leads to the second lie: “independent.” She is most certainly not independent. She has apparently never worked for anybody but her husband as a fund-raiser. That means she’s tied at the hip to all those lobbyists who put that $76,000 in her pocket. Not to mention all those lobbyists that facilitated the Hawaiian vacations – who laundered dough through a laughably named “Pacific Policy Research Foundation.” She’s about as independent as a barnacle stuck to the bottom of a boat.
It really makes you wonder about those people who have endorsed Ackerwoman, knowing that she’s about as much of a businesswoman as Daisy Duck.
Being a two dimensional cartoon is hard job. But is it a business?
Oh, that’s right! Those endorsers are also well aware that she doesn’t live in the district either. That tells you what kind of people they are. And come to think of it, that makes three lies!
Well they have done it again. Or at least they told us they did. Our crack Undercover Surveillance Unit has sent in a transcript of another intercepted Dick Ackerman phone conversation, this time with an unidentified male communicant. We are not sure exacly what to make of this transcript and we are cognizant that the surveillance team had just been issued its monthy medicinal marijuana supply. So we simply pass the transcript along to the Friends, who would be damn fools to believe it.
Heh heh. Remember the steamroom?
(Phone ringing)
Unidentified Male Communicant: Yes, hello.
Dick Ackerman: Tomski, Dick Ackerman here. (two quick grunts followed by a snort)
UMC: The Dickster! (unintelligible guttural sound)
DA: Booga, Booga!
UMC: Alpha Kappa
DA: Alpha Kappa Chi!
UMC: Grab some titties,
DA: Shoot some beaver,
UMC: I Eta Pi! (three or four grunts in quick succession) Heh. Heh heh.
DA: (Several snorting sounds and a distinct throat clearing) Heh heh heh.
UMC: What’s up Dickie-boy?
DA: (a grunt) Got some trouble up north with a punk reporter and a coupla pissant bloggers. Got a girl in trouble.
UMC: The Dickster! Oh yeah! Still got it! (two deep grunts). Heh heh.
DA: Not like that you idiot. More Duvall shit. God I wished I’d never talked that asshole into running. (a low, long rumbling sound)
Unidentified Female Voice In Background: She’s works so hard!
UMC: Uhhhmm…what do you want me to do?
DA: A coupla letters, heh heh. Pin some ears back, heh, heh, heh. The usual.
UMC: (a long rumbling throaty noise). Ahhh. Look Dickie-boy the suits back east are getting a little hung up on all this pro bono stuff. So…
DA: (a quick snarl) No, you look Tomski. We go back a long way. Remember the trouble with that senorita in Vallejo? And that little side deal during the Swindell merger? And the steam room. Remember the steam room, Tomski?
UMC: That was thirty-five years ago!
DA: Thirty-seven. But what’s a coupla years between old friends?
UMC: Ughhh.Ughhhh. Well…ughhh…
DA: Good. So we can count you in. Knew we could. I’ll fax over the dope. Get on it! (a grunt)
UMC: Yeah, well okay. See what we can do.
UFVIB: Dick, that white van’s back behind croquet court wall!
DA: (a string of nasal ejaculations followed by a quick barking sound) Okay, Tomski, gotta go. See you at the club on Friday!
UMC: (a grunting sound) Yeah. Okay. You owe me a drink!
Well, we predicted the presence of Ed Roski in the campaign for the 72nd Assembly District, here. Roski has made a fortune in commercial real estate, not to mention controlling the dubious City of Industry – a Redevelopment Valhalla – as his personal fiefdom.
Chris Norby has been a staunch foe of Redevelopment abuse, and has singled out both the City of Industry as well as its attempt to swipe an NFL team (to play in a stadium that dodged full environmental review – courtesy of the legislature) for scrutiny; so Roski’s participation in the election seemed a forgone conclusion.
A late expenditure report by our parasitical pals at The Alliance for California’s Tomorrow shows that Roski dumped $25,000 into their committee this week. The expenditures are for “data” and “printing,” so presumably a mailer is on the way.
What’s curious is that the expenditure is that it is designated as “for” Linda Ackerman, whereas we had assumed Roski was going to be the designated hitter against Norby – so that the Ackerwoman could keep her mitts clean. That theory was undermined when Ackerwoman had to do the dirty work herself in her disgraceful mailer about the bogus sexual harassment suit. The fact that Roski is weighing in now – but not specifically “against” Norby – might indicate that he’s seen some polling numbers and doesn’t really want to offend Assemblyman Norby, but needs to show the flag, at least. But we merely speculate.
What’s also curious about the expenditure is the timing. Thousands of absentee ballots have already been returned. Why did Roski wait so long to kick in? Desperation by Team Ackerman, Inc.? Who knows?
When we get the mailer, we’ll share the contents.
In the meantime maybe our Undercover Surveillance Unit has picked up on a conversation between Dick and Ed. If so, we’ll keep you posted.
Remember those horror movies when the outraged villagers grabbed their pitchforks to have at the monster? What the “Fox Village” monster could use are a few more angry villagers.
At the City Council “workshop” on Tuesday the new plans for the existing city-created empty space behind the Fox Theater were rolled out. And while the reception by the public wasn’t pretty it wasn’t enough to kill off the monster, either.
What was rolled out were several elevations that raised the curtain on a hideously confused jumble of themes and materials that were supposed to be modernish, but that had that certain flavor of architectural renderings done by crazy people.
Egad. What a freaking mess...
A hodgepodge of shapes and veneers with no apparent cohesion and not a whiff of aesthetic originality. Stone veneer on the first floor obligatory.
Oy Vey!
Have Fox Villagers gone insane? What a mish mash!
Say what?
Why are they still trying to move McDonald’s? Didn’t the Council put that idea to rest? And yet here it is again! Can anyone say “insubordination”? Guess not – in Fullerton! And look a parking lot on the corner. Just what downtown needs – another permanent hole in the building fabric of downtown Fullerton.
Send in the clowns...
Ah, the inevitable “pedestrian paseo.” Just lookit all the happy, bedazzled consumers. And that fountain! Precious. Makes you want to make a wish and toss three coins in.
Folks if you aren’t ready to go grab your pitchforks by now, we suggest that we stick a fork in you – because we think you’re done.
Your honor, I'd like to abridge the First Amendment! By the way, are you going to finish the rest of that soda?
Last night we received an e-mailed letter from Jones Day, the same lawyers that miraculously worked on convicted criminal ex-Sheriff Mike Carona’s defense for free.
The letter demands that we remove the post we published about KCAL’s Dave Lopez pursuing a story concerning a former Mike Duvall associate at Linda Ackerman’s October 20th fundraiser at the Summit Inn.
Our post was about an event that occurred within Fullerton, our city. It’s on film. Thousands of people have seen it on television. It indisputably happened. It was of particular interest to us since Mr. Lopez also interviewed us at our protest at the site of the fundraiser; this fact was clearly related in the very first sentence of the post.
The post made it very clear that the behavior ascribed to the individual in question was merely alleged. We did not claim that it was true, since we did not know. Therefore Jones Day’s second demand – that we publish a retraction averring the falsity of the allegations – is a logical absurdity since we have no way of knowing that the allegations are false, either. We presume credible allegations were actually made since this story was aired by a reputable news operation.
But we will say this: the subject in question and her lawyers categorically deny the allegations reported by KCALs Dave Lopez.
This appears to be nothing more than a little intimidation orchestrated by Ackerman, Inc. itself, to keep people in Fullerton from knowing things that happen in Fullerton – much like the rest of phony “Ackerman for Assembly” campaign.Is it merely a coincidence that the guy whose name on the Jones Day correspondence is an Irvine lawyer who just happens to have been at The Hastings School of the Law at the same time as Ackerman? Hmm.
We have caused nobody “serious and irreparable harm;” we have defamed nobody. If KCAL determines that this story has no basis and no merit then we will be happy to relate that, at the appropriate time.
On Tuesday our City Council took up the matter of the proposed parking structure on Santa Fe. Since we first reported on this issue City Staff has maintained its ludicrous attachment to the brick veneer panels, and its equally ludicrous position that fake brick somehow satisfies some sort of CEQA requirement – even thoughWE HAVE COMPLETELY DEMOLISHED THE MYTH OF BRICK AND REALITY OF BRICK VENEER IN DOWNTOWN FULLERTON.
Such a lame approach insults not only our aesthetic sensibilities, but it also turns the whole environmental review process into a pantomime that just provides staff cover for what it really wants: fake brick.
CONSIDER THIS: THE MONEY SAVED BY ELIMINATING THE USELESS BRICK COULD GO TO ESTABLISHING SOLAR PANELS ON THE BUILDING AND ENHANCING ITS SUSTAINABILITY QUOTIENT.
A quick perusal of Mrs. Linda Ackerman’s resume discovers her touting her “non-profit” experience. Well, we were a little curious what that might be, and boy were we somewhat surprised. It turns out that Mrs. Ackerman is co-founder and board member of something called the Pacific Policy Research Foundation located in Folsom, California, a corporation organized under the 501(c)(3) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Check it out here. “Purpose: promote common good and welfare of community.”
The sole evident purpose of this entity with the lofty-sounding title is to solicit donations from big industry and union lobbyists to pay for a week-long retreat in Hawaii for state legislators and those very same lobbyists who support the “Foundation.” The politicians pay their way out of their excess campaign funds, and once there, are the captive audience of the selfsame parasites they see at Spataro for lunch every day of the week. The “conference” is little more than a perfunctory morning schmooze fest with afternoons off for good behavior.
In 2007 then Senator Dick Ackerman made the arduous fact-finding trek to Maui, and we wonder whether Linda went, and if so whether she paid her own way, if Dick’s campaign foot her bill, or if maybe the Foundation picked up her tab as a board member. In this Sac Bee article (search for Ackerman) we read, in response to criticism about that junket:
“…Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine, who is attending the conference, said it provides top-notch panel discussions on energy, health care, water and other key issues.
“It’s extremely valuable,” Ackerman said.
Uh, yeah, right Dick. Whatever you say.
Dick and Linda unwind after a tough day fighting off lobbyists
Well, Hawaii is in the Pacific. Other than that there seems to be zero relationship between the name of the group and the activity. There is no research (except, perhaps researching ways the lobbyists can stay under their gift allowances per legislator), and no charitable purpose at all. Their only other accomplishment seems to have been “updating” their website. Wow! What a busy year for the Foundation!
Hey, lobbyists need to eat, too, right?
To add insult to injury, a 2007 LA Times article describes how the other co-founder, Sharon Leonard, wife of BOE member Bill Leonard, and Leonard’s BOE Deputy, Barbara Alby, actually got paid, and paid a lot, to “organize” the annual Hawaii outings.
In the Sac Bee article the history of the Hawaiian luau of lobbyist love is outlined. Apparently the junket used to be a gig run by the fine gentlemen of the state prison guard union – until that racket was cut off; only to be taken over in 2005 by the apparently more subtle founders of the Pacific Policy Research Foundation operation. Well you have to give Mrs. Ackerman and her cohorts credit – they didn’t miss a trick.
We have to wonder just when the IRS is going to get wise and shut down this little philanthropic enterprise.
Too bad the people of the California and the 72nd wouldn’t get the kind of attention from Mrs. Ackerman that the lobbyists do. It’s a real cozy, incestuous, culture that the Ackermans are used to up there in Sacramento. Business as usual, in fact.
In a late expenditure report filed 10/19/09 an independent expenditure committee basking in the hilarious title Alliance for California’s Tomorrow; A California Business Coalition (interpretation: a front for whatever corporate donors and PACs want to spend money on to promote their own enrichment by manipulating the Legislature, and meanwhile keep their hands clean – sort of). This particular IE was in support of Linda Ackerman, naturally. They paid for a mailer.
The report shows three donations: $10,000 from California Cable & Telecom Association (10/15/09), State Building & Construction Trades Council of California(10/16/09), and the real curiosity – $5000 contributed last July 20th.
Why did Eli Lilly, the drug maker, just happen to put five big ones in an IE in the middle of July. What for? It doesn’t seem that it could have had anything to do with the other money put in for the Ackerwoman campaign in mid-October. On July 20th the Duvall story was still a month away from breaking, although the actual incident had already occurred, and apparently several people already knew it was out there. So the reason for the mid-summer contribution is strange. Was it just a periodic payment Eli Lilly tossed into the Alliance for California’s Tomorrow kitty? That seems pretty hard to believe. So what was it for? And how did it come to be used for in the 72nd campaign?
Yet, consider this coincidence-wise: one of the 2008 board members of The Pacific Policy Research Foundation (Linda Ackerman’s fake 501(c0(3) Hawaiian vacation scam) was Dan Howle; and Howle directs government affairs in Sacramento (lobbyist) for pharmaceutical giant…Eli Lilly. It’s a small world after all in Sacramento. And boy is it loaded with lobbyists.
