Year: 2011

Posted onDon Bankhead

Get Your Own Task Force

by 76 Comments on Get Your Own Task Force

Who cares about the homeless and mentally ill? Lots of people, it seems, but only some of them were approved to serve on a task force investigating the issues on behalf of the city. At the city council’s most recent meeting on September 20th City Manager Joe Felz presented a proposal entitled Fullerton Task Force on Homelessness and Mental Health Services. The city council had asked for such a proposal during a previous meeting on August 16.

The staff identified five specific tasks for proposed group, and went so far as to recommend sixteen people as members. They included representatives of various non-profit organizations and churches and for some reason the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce, as well as three individuals, including Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas. OC Human Relations Commission CEO Rusty Kennedy was proposed to lead the group.

About a dozen people from the public spoke to the issue or ranted about unrelated homeless issues. A few of them offered their assistance as prospective members of the task force, including people who described themselves as homeless or formerly homeless. Mayor Dick Jones suggested that the membership of the task force could be determined at the next council meeting. Perhaps he either did not understand that the council was recommended to adopt the supplied list or did not agree with it. Don Bankhead rambled about having known Rusty Kennedy’s father and said he was extremely glad about something or other that can’t quite be heard in the tape because he habitually does not speak into his microphone.

Both Bruce Whitaker and Sharon Quirk-Silva supported making the task force as inclusive as possible. Whitaker suggested that of the five tasks identified, it might be best to hold the fourth one listed in the proposal first, namely to hold a public forum to solicit ideas on the subject. Quirk-Silva, noting that the idea was not to duplicate already existing services, made a motion to move forward with Whitaker’s idea.

But Pat McKinley would have none of it. He offered an alternate motion to approve the task force membership list recommended in the proposal, but curiously left off the three unaffiliated people, Kitty Jaramillo, Janice DeLoof and Ron Thomas. Bruce Whitaker characterized McKinley’s proposal as “the epitome of top down organization,” saying that it would bring no new energy or ideas to the task. Quirk-Silva joined Whitaker in voting against McKinley’s motion, but McKinley was predictably joined by Jones and Bankhead, although Jones did clarify that other members could be added to the group later.

It cannot be stated too often that homelessness and mental illness are real problems for many people, but addressing those issues should not be confused with seeking justice for a man beaten to death by police officers. Even so, it is remarkable to watch the video of the meeting to see Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley treat yet another problem with the wrongheaded approach of excluding people asking to be included in a solution. In the words of a later speaker, they squandered the opportunity to engage the very public who had been criticizing them week after week for their inaction in the face of a crisis. In the end the Three Arrogant Amigos proved once again that institutions trust institutions, and individuals need not apply.

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Posted onDead heads

FEDERAL JUDGE “SHOCKED” BY FULLERTON’S HANDLING OF FPD SEX ASSAULTS

by 447 Comments on FEDERAL JUDGE “SHOCKED” BY FULLERTON’S HANDLING OF FPD SEX ASSAULTS

There’s a new filing in the Officer Rincon sexual assault case, and it’s not looking good for the city.

Federal Judge Andrew Guilford turned down the City’s request to throw out the case, and he offered his pointed thoughts on the Fullerton Police Department’s policy of ignoring officer misdeeds:


The Judge chastised the city for “tacit authorization” of Rincon’s despicable behavior.

Then the judge was shocked at the city’s failure to appropriately discipline the officer for his sexual assaults on multiple women.

Finally, the judge conveyed his dismay that Rincon is still on the loose with a gun and a badge.

Of course, the man responsible for puting, and keeping loverboy on the streets of Fullerton to prey upon unsuspecting women was none other than former police chief and current city councilman, Pat McKinley.

I wonder what Chief Pat has to say about the Judge’s comments? I wonder what his defenders – who like to call Fullerton a “family community” – have to say.

it's easy, no hair, no mirror
Lookin' out for the ladies. Oh, yeah!

And of course I wonder how many of the people that voted for this screw-up last November would have done so had they known of the extensive culture of corruption that was cultivated by McKinley in the Fullerton Police Department; a cultivation that is only now blossoming into a full, noxious bloom.

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Posted onCoyote Hills

Two Coyote Hills Petitions Fail to Qualify

by 63 Comments on Two Coyote Hills Petitions Fail to Qualify

Two of the four referendum petitions for Coyote Hills have failed to qualify per the OC Registrar of Voters. These petitions would have put Chevron’s Coyote Hills development on the ballot in a future election.

The Friends of Coyote Hills had submitted four separate petitions to cover the specific plan, the general plan amendment, the development agreement and the zoning change. The remaining two petitions (zoning and development agreement) are still being counted.

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Posted onDead heads

Don Bankhead Spotted Awake at a Board Meeting!

by 115 Comments on Don Bankhead Spotted Awake at a Board Meeting!

By Joey Cadavid

On September 21 at 5:30 pm I showed up to the Municipal Water Board meeting because I got a tip that Don Bankhead was on the board and public comments could be made. I could not turn down this kind of opportunity so I drove down to Fountain Valley to attend the meeting. I stepped in and everyone was in business attire with notepads going about their business.The first thing I noticed was that Don seemed very different here then he did at city council meetings, he had a certain quality: he was jovial, he was talkative. He even went as far as to stay awake for the whole thing!  I turned my card in to speak a bit late but they let me anyway, however once I stepped up to the podium and began to speak the chairman’s sense of democratic freedom of speech made a complete 180.

I said plainly that I did not know much about water business but I did know something about leadership, I proceeded to tell them about Don’s disappointing silence and lack of leadership in his own town where he was being recalled. I also mentioned his attack on lawful citizens acting lawfully to try to recall him and him trying to stop them illegally. While people weren’t vocal I did notice that less were looking down at their notepads and up in interest.

Unfortunately my time was cut short, being allowed to speak for only a minute of my allotted three minutes. Apparently having a lethargic,incompetent, untrustworthy sham of a councilman on your own board, who’s only action was to sit on his hands and wait for permission to lead in the face of an emergency is not important business.

Also Bankhead was allowed to defend himself which he did by saying on record ” Today the district attorney has finally released  his uh, uh, opinions… believe me for any of you who know me it is very difficult to keep my mouth shut, … we sat there and did what the attorney told us to do. He’s criticizing because of that so I want him and everyone else to know my mouth is no longer shut… gentlemen like this here will have no reason or justification to make accusations.”

The chairmen did not give me anymore time but I did not leave until I informed the people that councilman McKinley, Councilwoman Silva, Councilman Whitaker, and The Big Kernel himself, Dick Jones had all made statements about the matter. Maybe next time Fullerton will vote for a leader who doesn’t need to ask for permission to…lead.

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

The Murder of Kelly Thomas

by 369 Comments on The Murder of Kelly Thomas

For months FPD spokeshole Andrew Goodrich has been telling the public that Kelly Thomas fought with the police, that there was an “altercation.” That was the Big Lie of course, but the lazy cowards who still work for the OC Register were only too happy to pass that along in their cavalier description of what we knew happened all along: a cold blooded murder. At first they characterized it as a scuffle and a tussle. Then they decided that “fight” was just about right.

Here’s a vide that captures some of the chilling truth about what happened. But not all of the truth, because that is still being withheld from us, and that is why the public should see the video for themselves, with no more self-serving interpretations from the cops.

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

Anti-Recall Going Up In Smoke

by 82 Comments on Anti-Recall Going Up In Smoke

EXCELLENT UPDATE! NOW THE BOZOS ARE CLAIMING I WANT TO LET PEOPLE GROW OPIUM POPPIES  AND COCOA LEAVES IN THEIR BACKYARDS! HOO BOY!!

For instant laughs please go to the anti-recall website, hilariously called Protect Fullerton. Of course the site should really be called Protect Jones, McKinley and Bankhead and Their Culture of Police Corruption, but we can let that go for now.

Apparently greasemeister Dick Ackerman decided to publish the fact I that attended Judge Gray’s August fundraiser for the initiative that would treat cannabis like any other intoxicant – like wine, for instance.

Am I supposed to be ashamed?

I have long advocated for the use and legal dispensation of medical marijuana, a position advocated by a clear majority of Californians back in the 90s. Of course ignorant obstructionists like Dick Jones and Dick Ackerman (see a trend with this Dick thing?) kept the will of the people from being enacted as they deprived sick people of a useful medication in their twisted puritanical self-righteousness.

I also happen believe that government shouldn’t be in the business of regulating stuff folks can grow in their backyard. People like Jones, McKinley and Bankhead on the other hand, are very much interested in what you do in the privacy of your private property, because they are not freedom-loving conservatives; they are freedom-depriving bullies who want to tell everybody else how to live.

Which is funny because I would never dream of telling Doctor HeeHaw what to do with those spiky cucumbers he diligently grows in his backyard.

For no extra charge, have fun watching Doctor Donkey elaborate on something he knows absolutely nothing about.

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Posted onSetting The Bar Low

Ahoy There Matey! FFFF gets a Visit From an FPOA Alum!

by 120 Comments on Ahoy There Matey! FFFF gets a Visit From an FPOA Alum!
Arrrgh! Tie tha' scarvy dog to tha' yard arm!

This is really too fun to pass up.

The other day we received an unsolicited visit from some guy named Art Wiechmann who claims to be a 57 year old retired sergeant in the FPD.

You provide the caption...

That certainly squares with this gentleman.

Mr. Wiechmann insisted on informing us what great guys Mssrs. Ramos and Cicinelli are. From his vantage point on board the S.S. Douchebag, Ramos and Cicinelli look like some sort of stand up guys. But Art’s judgment may not be that great, either.

Find Arthur...

Art, you got a call. Disney wants its Pirates of Carribean animatrons back.

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

What Did McKinley Know, And When Did He Know It?

by 295 Comments on What Did McKinley Know, And When Did He Know It?

 

Gee, this is getting depressing.

Friends, we just received this e-mail from a gentleman named George Marshall Thompson who asked if we would publish it. Yes, we will, George. ‘Cause that’s how we roll. And thanks for the submission.

Dear FFFF,

We all saw Fullerton councilman, former police chief and architect of the culture of corruption within the FPD, on CNN. After his cavalier and insulting comments about facial injuries he indicated his belief that it was probably just two cops involved in the murder of Kelly Thomas. He also denied seeing the video.

And after the DA charged only Ramos and Cicinelli with crimes, I’m starting to get a picture in my mind. And that picture ain’t pretty.

We can speculate all day about whether or not McKinley saw the video and then lied about it; or simply read the doctored reports; or received “unofficial” briefings from his pals in the department and the FPOA to which his colleagues on the council were not privy. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if something tumbles out of McKinley’s closet when he is deposed by Garo Mardirossian. But something else is disturbing: the fact that McKinley’s ostensible “speculation” about two cops  mirrored anonymous troll comments on this site and ultimately neatly corresponded with the DAs charges.

Is it conspiratorialist to suggest that it McKinley himself participated in the plan to hold Ramos and Cicinelli under the bus as a form of damage control for the other four cops, and more importantly from his perspective, for the good of the whole FPD? Maybe, but it sure is weird that McKinley seemed to know what was going to happen six weeks before it did. And McKinley isn’t psychic. He isn’t even very smart.

Throughout this whole affair I’ve picked up the vibe that it was McKinley who was calling the shots for the City of Fullerton as disaster after disaster piled up; that it was he who told Sellers and Praet to try to buy off the dad, and that he was receiving inside information, perhaps not even shared with the City Manager, and certainly not with Whitaker or Quirk.

Maybe someday we’ll know McKinley’s role throughout the so-called “internal investigation” that never even started until Gennaco was hired. In the meantime one thing remains crystal clear to me. It was McKinley’s total lack of oversight of his own police department that led to the horror show that’s been unfolding the past few months, and that keeps unfolding as more and more Fullerton cops are busted for one crime or another.

The reputation of the Fullerton Police Department is unreveling before our very eyes. And the people of Fullerton are going to pay dearly for the corruption therein.

G.M. Thompson

 

 

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