Who is Jane Reifer?

We spend a lot of time criticizing the self-styled leaders of Fullerton that we decided to post once in a while about the postitive things done by Fullerton’s true leaders. 

A few days ago The Harpoon floated a trial balloon: Jane Reifer For City Council in 2010? We got several comments, pro and con, and so we thought we would share some more information on Jane and her participation in Fullerton activities.

Jane Reifer is one of the founders of Friends for a Livable Fullerton, an organization formed to influence development decisions in order to promote and preserve Fullerton’s uniqueness and livability.  For many years Reifer has provided crucial leadership to the community by advocating small business, responsible development, and transparent government process.

Jane Reifer is also one of the most outspoken and influential transit advocates in Orange County.  She currently serves on the Orange County Transportation Agency’s Citizens Advisory Committee where she advocates for increased and improved bus service as well as for better conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists.

She is well known for her successful fundraising efforts to Save the Fox, culminating in a partnership with the City of Fullerton that saved the historic theater from demolition.

Jane Reifer is a small business owner and operator of the Fullerton-based Clutter Control.

16 Replies to “Who is Jane Reifer?”

  1. since jane was influential in saving the fox then she does not have my vote. The fox theatre is a sentimental eyesore that blights downtown fullerton. Not supporting Jane saves fullerton from the fools that saved the fox.

  2. van, I disagree about the Fox building itself, although what happened over the years was perfectly predictable.

    The Save The Foxers were always unrealistic about filling the gargantuan theater.

    But my guess is that Jane has learned a lot about the way Fullerton does business, especially behind closed doors.

  3. I’m sorry for you that you do not have an appreciation for what the Fox was, is and can be to Fullerton. Jane Reifer and others did what many thought impossible–they facilitated the purchase of an historic structure from an absentee landlord who had refused to sell it for years. Maybe if Jane was still involved in the restoration efforts the organization might be further along than it is. I don’t know, others might have more insight into the current state of fundraising over there.

    In any case, would you rather have seen yet another cracker box stucco condo development downtown instead? Some things are worth saving, but they take people who will go the extra mile to do it. Jane Reifer is one of those people.

    P.S. It is worth noting that Pomona (Pomona!) has managed to save, restore and reopen their Fox theater.

    http://www.foxpomona.com/thenewfox.php

  4. Matt,
    We are appreciative of her commitment to mass transit. This is the way to go in the future.

    I wanted to clarify something that you have brought up, a finger-pointing that obfuscates what we are saying about The Fox.

    The issue with Reifer was NEVER whether or not her move to help save the Fox was good, or WHETHER OR NOT citizens could COMPREHEND the significance of the building.

    The issue was that she completely ignored the FISCAL implications, relying instead on sympathy and sentimentality. Fine. She won. However, someone who really believes in the FOX is going to make damned sure that a viable financial plan is in place to make sure it can sustain itself free of government funding over a minimum 50 year span.

    Is this too much to ask? Was it too much to ask of Reifer when residents asked her for that analysis? We don’t think it was.

    I’m a bit tired of electing locals who will become career politicians. Bankhead and Jones had careers and then turned city council into a second one with multi-year runs. Of the remaining 3, only Nelson has the likelihood of returning to the law. Verdict is out on Keller, though she left education to run the Fullerton Collaborative as Exec Director ages ago. Whether she will continue on with this, or compete in the private sector with a more seasoned executive directors nationwide for a job is unknown. The verdict is out on Quirk as well, maybe she’ll like being a school teacher enough to go back to the classroom. That would not be a bad thing, as we need good seasoned teachers.

    However, as we have seen on every level of government, the difficulty to give up the mini-celebrity, the trappings of being a politician, as well as the being to take out a loan from one’s campaign to add to your personal troth.

    So, I wonder, with a career as a clutter controller, would Riefer become yet another career politician?

    This is what many of us are wary of. Creating another career politician who already has overlooked fiscal implications of a very big city project earmarked to use millions of dollars of redevelopment funds.

  5. Mr. A. You’re joking, right? The current crop of councilmembers probably can’t balance their own checkbooks. If an ‘agency” says the budget’s OK that’s good enough for Doc HeeHaw, and the others, too I suspect.

    At leas this Jane Reifer gal shows some curiosity, spunk, and determination on the redevelopment expansion boondoggle when everybody else has crowded on to the pro guvement bandwagon. And that goes a hell of a long way with me.

  6. Depending on who you are, and your perspective, the rather flimsy qualifications of “spunk, determination and curiosity” may be applied to all of them in some way. Frankly, if someone has started a track record with ignoring fiscal responsibility, I’ll pass.

    1. Sure you’ll pass. You probably supported the dimwits lackeys Keller and Quirk, whose only spunk and determination is directed at their own self-promotion, and whose concept of fiscal responsibility is to raise fees and water rates!

  7. I like the way Mr. A thinks, but I don’t think he understands the sense of urgency. Serious campaigns need to start early. If we sit on our hands and wait for the perfect candidate too long, some sold-out bozo with a fat war chest will come along and scare off all the good ones.

  8. Mr. A is a voice for the status quo. I’ve had enough of surrendering to the idiots in the Chamber of Commerce and the Ed Royce/Sharon Kennedy type candidates. They all end up being the same, stupid, happy faced bozos who couldn’t find their own rear ends in the dark.

    Dick Jones
    Don Bankhead
    Pam Keller
    Sharon Quirk
    Leland Wilson
    Mike Clesceri
    Julie Sa
    Jan Flory
    Peter Godfrey
    Molly McClanahan
    Buck Catlin

    See a trend here? Sub-average clowns with more ambition than brains or talent. Enough! Enough for God’s sake!

  9. Mr. A,

    I think what we need is a good history of the Save the Fox project to answer a few questions. If the McDonald’s move doesn’t happen, for example, how is the whole Fox Block proposal affected? How did saving the Fox itself become a block sized project in the first place? How has the city of Pomona managed to restore and open their Fox theater?

  10. I would like to comment on Mr.A’s post concerning Jane Reifer’s involvement w ith saving the Fox Theater. His main contention seems to be she didn’t provide a viable financial plan for the continuing use of the theatre. Her mission was to save the theatre, not to be the financial planner for its continuing use. She was primarily a fund raiser for the project, and in spite of formidable obstacles, uncooperative commitee members, and major political opposition, succeeded where others failed. Mr. A should stop criticizing others and submit a plan of his own. Jane Reifer has done her part, and it is time for others to step up and make this theatre the asset to Fullerton it can be. Jane accomplished this goal at great cost, both personally and professionally, and it negatively impacted her health. There is no greater advocate for the preservation of what is good and unique about Fullerton than her. The charm of Fullerton is not in the ugly big box store malls on Harbor Blvd., but in the downtown area and lovely old neighborhoods. This is what she is trying to preserve. There should be incentives for small businesses to be established to help renovate some of the downtown area Jane has devoted much of her life to making Fullerton a better place to live, and is not owned or influenced by big money interests that care only about making profits from building monstrosities that benefit very few and diminish the overall quality of life in Fullerton. She is already an experienced public servant, having served on many commitees at her own expense. She is a great asset to Fullerton. and would be one of the best council persons in the history of the city, if she could be convinced to run for the job.

  11. In addition to her achievements, Jane has been a voice for those in Orange County who seek better transportation service, both within Orange County, and to and from Los Angeles. (As a visitor and advocate from the East Coast, I can testify to her fervor, having had an opportunity to see it in person). Unfortunately, since I’m not a Fullerton resident, I don’t have a vote here, but if I were, she’d have my vote without question.

  12. I do not like getting involved in another city’s politics, just as I hate it when outsiders (and carpetbaggers) poke around in Anaheim. But y’all can talk Jane Reifer into running in Fullerton, I will help fundraise.

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