Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
On tonight’s Planning Commission agenda there’s an item titled “Planning Commission Position on Green Building”. This should be fun to watch. I’ll make anyone a bet that the Planning Commission decides to send a letter to the city council recommending to NOT mandate Green Building standards. Stay tuned!
I got hold of a press release from LULAC yesterday regarding their “plan” for County redistricting. LULAC stands for League of United Latin American Citizens, and the president of their Santa Ana chapter, Zeke Hernandez seemed pleased as punch with the monster he and cohort Arturo Montex have fashioned. First, here’s their map.
And here’s the text of their press release:
League of United Latin American Citizens, Santa Ana LULAC Council #147
Established: National – 1929 | Santa Ana – 1946
Orange County LULAC District #1
PO Box 1810, Santa Ana , CA 92702-1810
PRESS RELEASE: May 23, 2011
Local Civil Rights Groups to Submit Proposed Redistricting Plans to Orange County Redistricting Committee
Contact Persons: Zeke Hernandez, 714-661-4428 / zekeher@yahoo.com
Arturo Montez, 714-914-3154 / arturomontez@gmail.com
Santa Ana LULAC Council #147 (League of United Latin American Citizens) has submitted it’s completed county supervisorial plans with appropriate population data to the Orange County Redistricting Committee by the May 18 deadline. The Santa Ana LULAC county plan (Plan #3) and data are included in this press release (see also attachment).
Santa Ana LULAC President Zeke Hernandez states, “There are well-over twenty plans being submitted by county supervisors, community groups and individuals. Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Campbell announced at the May 17th board meeting that he himself is submitting four plans, including one suggested by former county supervisor Phil Anthony. We understand another county supervisor has submitted 10-12 plans through his/her appropriate office or through third party intermediaries. Other local elected officials may also be submitting their own plans.”
Due to population changes following the decennial federal census count in 2010, Santa Ana LULAC has been able to draft two supervisorial districts (1 and 4) with over 50% minority population. These two districts have a community of interest – sharing common social and economic interests. The Santa Ana LULAC Plan #3 is affirmed to stand on its merits for the purpose of a community’s fair and effective representation.
Hernandez added, “We have brought to the attention of the Board of Supervisors its concerns that the redistricting committee has not adopted a definitive process on how it will review submitted plans and how it will determine which plans will be recommended for adoption. The committee has acknowledged it may even re-draw a submitted plan by the public to be sent to the Board for approval. Committee members are comprised of staff aides to the supervisors and were appointed by them to act on their behalf. The committee recently revised its writing of the committee meetings, but continues to do its best to provide very little content, thus thwarting public knowledge through written commentary.”
Santa Ana LULAC Public Policy Director Arturo Montez emphasizes, “We have drawn a plan that has ZERO concerns relating to incumbents, political parties and candidates. These plans were drawn, keeping in mind our strong adherence to the U.S. Voting Rights Act and the California Constitution. In addition, we have done our best to take into consideration the public’s concern for transparency and reform in the redistricting process.”
Montez continued, “Santa Ana LULAC feels its Plan #3 surpasses any other 20-23 plans that were submitted by the May 18th deadline. The question that now comes to the forefront: Will the Board of Supervisors recognize the dramatic demographic changes taking place in Orange County ? As proposed, District #1 has an 85% minority population, and District #4 has over 72% minority population. These are most likely the most heavily minority populated county districts in the nation.”
The redistricting committee will hold its first of several public meetings on Thursday, May 26 (2 pm) to review and receive public comments on the submitted plans. This first meeting will be held at Orange County Hall of Administration – Board Hearing Room, 333 West Santa Ana Blvd., 10 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana.
Established in 1946, Santa Ana LULAC Council #147 is the oldest LULAC council in California and is an affiliate of Orange County LULAC District#1 and LULAC National – founded in 1929 with its national office in Washington , D.C.
The mission and objectives of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is to advance the economic development, educational advancement, public policy outcomes, housing opportunities, health awareness, and general civil rights protection of Latinos in the United States and Puerto Rico through community-based programs and services through more than 700 local LULAC councils nationwide.
~~ end ~~
The funniest part of this “ZERO concerns” drivel is this gem: Montez continued, “Santa Ana LULAC feels its Plan #3 surpasses any other 20-23 plans that were submitted by the May 18th deadline. Now, Art hasn’t seen any of the other plans, nor apparently, does he even know how many were actually submitted. Yet it’s Plan 3 surpasses any other!
Judging by the map above, LULACs main purpose is to create a Latino-majority district in the Fourth and a near-Latino majority in the First. Well okay, that’s their agenda. But the map necessarily carves up four or five cities, including Fullerton, into two or more supervisorial districts in order to sequester “white” populations out of the districts in question. While ethnic gerrymandering for and against minorities is nothing new for, it flies in the face of one of the main goals of redistricting which is to keep cities wholly in one district.
This means that a decent plan should aim to consolidate Garden Grove and Newport Beach, not create more divided cities.
Another aim of redistricting is to create compact, geographically cohesive units. LULACs plan just makes the current odd shaped districts an even odder hodgepodge.
Sorry guys, back to the drawing board!
An Orange County judge signed a permanent gang injunction against Fullerton Tokers Town yesterday, creating a “Safety Zone” that covers a wide swath of south Fullerton as shown below. Members of FTT are now forbidden from associating with each other, intimidating the public, making gang signs, wearing gang clothing, violating curfew and other shenanigans often associated with gang activity.
Twenty-eight members of FTT were named in the suit, nine of whom are apparently already in prison. Current membership is estimated at 125-150 active members.
Gang injunctions allow prosecutors to charge gang members for harassing or intimidating behavior which would not otherwise be a crime. Presumably this will make it easier for the Fullerton Police to crack down on gang members without any conventional crime occurring.
And that’s exactly what makes gang injunctions controversial in Orange County. A few weeks ago the ACLU won a case against the OC DA when a judge determined that naming gang members in the city of Orange without providing them an opportunity to defend themselves in court was a violation of their right to due process. More than 60 alleged Orange Varrio Cypress gang members had tried to appear in court to testify that they were not actually gang members. DA Tony Rackauckas dropped them from the case, but then served the injunction on them anyway.
Rackauckas lost that one, so presumably he was more careful about who he’s calling a gang member here in Fullerton.
According to our old Friend, Allan Bartlett (who apparently has had his posting priviledges at Red County restored), our Assemblyman Chris Norby has hired a new chief of staff to replace his old one. The new guy is named Bryan Lanza, who may count as his main claim to fame resigning from Abel Maldonado’s staff when the latter RINO went along with a big Demo tax deal.
Now, I’ve never heard of a government employee of any kind resigning on a matter of principle, so if it’s true, good for him.
Earlier this month Terri Sforza wrote about a possible merger between Metropolitan Water District and the Orange County Water District. For years the Orange County Register has pointed out the redundant and ridiculous overlaps in these two agencies and how it makes sense for taxpayers, or rate payers depending on your view of payments to government bureaucracies.
How much money would be saved by such a merger seems to be open to debate but Sforza thinks at least $1-million right from the start. Putting the $1-million in perspective, Sforza notes that it is just a drop in the $300-million revenue bucket for the agencies.
Currently, the Orange County Water District is a “member agency” of the MWDOC. These multiple layers of bureaucracy removes the people, water users and voters, further from the decision-making table. Perhaps a merger will bring Fullerton voters and water users closer to the table of managements’ fiduciary responsibility to the people they serve.
As it stands, Fullerton voters get one single vote from Mayor Pro Tem Don Bankhead who represents Fullerton voters on the OCWD Board of Directors. That is one vote out of ten cast on each issue before the Board.
No one knows what a merger will mean for Fullerton. All we can do is wonder if a bigger water agency equates to a better water agency for those who foot the bill. If history has taught us anything it is that bigger government is not better government.
REMINDER: The Water Rate Study Ad Hoc Committee’s last meeting is tonight at 6:30PM at Fullerton City Hall. Don’t be shy, we’re in this together. Speak now or pay later!
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is spending $571,400 to fund their internal Ethics Office according to the approved 2011 budget.
According to the District’s website, the Ethics Office “helps maintain an ethical culture at Metropolitan by enforcement of ethics-related rules and laws; education for directors, officers and employees; and enhancement by promotion of the District’s six core values.” Are MWD employees so unethical that they need this office? Maybe, but they don’t seem to be doing a very good job of educating employees and board members. I vaguely recall an attempt 2 years ago to get a 25% retroactive pension spike.
That’s $571,400 to “help maintain an ethical culture”.
The funds pay for one Ph.D. and two others identified as an educator and an administrative liaison. With failed overhead like this, it is no wonder the MWD Operations & Maintenance budget projects an 18.4% increase in salary and benefit costs as well as a 23% increase in construction related costs and a 23% increase in Water System Operations!
It’s also no wonder why Fullerton’s water rates are anticipated to nearly double.
This Monday, May 23rd, the City will be holding a public meeting with an ad-hoc water rate committee in the City Council chambers at City Hall (303 W. Commonwealth) at 6:30PM. I encourage ALL Fullerton water users to attend. You will be given an opportunity to voice your concerns and let committee members know where you stand.
If you would like a copy of the Fullerton Water Rate Study Ad Hoc Committee Briefing, please email me at GregSebourn@yahoo.com and I will email it to you.
Looks like John and Ken got an earful.
With a little digging I have discovered that our old small government pal Matthew J. Cunningham, who raked in hundreds of thousands of bucks doing $200 an hour make-work for Rob Reiner’s tax-and-redistribute Children and Families Commission has found a new gig. Or, as is more likely the case, has had a gig given to him by his repuglican overlords.
A year ago FFFF exposed the hypocrisy of this guy making a small fortune off of the nanny statists and social engineers at the Children & Family scam. After that sweet run was terminated due to uncomfortable exposure, Cunningham landed a contract with the social engineers at the Orange County Transportation Authority to do…well, I’m not real sure.
It might be instructive to remember that two targets of Cunningham’s tiresome tongue treacle, Bill Campbell and Kurt Pringle, were OCTA Board members when he got this new arrangement last November. I wonder if this contract was result of an honest RFP or if was just laddled out to Mr. C. behind closed doors.
Here’s the agreement, noting Mrs. Cunningham as the “Principal” of the operation and the Mr. as “Project Manager.”
Hmmm. $30K a year with a scope of work that seems ridiculously inconsequential. Basically it entails reading city agendas for transportation issues and telling the OCTA who’s on city councils and going to some meetings. Tellingly, there is no listed OCTA project manager named to ride heard on the egregious wordsmith suggesting that OCTA contract quality control may well be no better than that exercised by the C & F Commissariat.
Well, I guess this means we’ll be doing a public records request for work product and billing records.
P.S. Please note that Pacific Strategies is still using the phony “Suite C” address – hilarious given that the Cunninghams operate their business, whatever it does, out of their house.
Every government agency displays a tendency to circle its wagons, defend incompetent behavior and keep outside scrutiny….well, outside. A notable exception appears to be the County of Orange’s Performance Auditor, whose office just completed a scathing report on County executives gettting unjustified pay raises with the assent of the CEO, and just as bad, giving away the farm when it came to negotiating sweetheart deals with the other County “family,” er, union members.
And juxtaposed to this is the typical behavior County CEO Tom Mauk, who has presided over the disaster and who, rather than letting his HR director quit in disgrace, and fixing the catastrophe he helped create, has apparently talked the incompetent Carl Crown into staying on another year so he can “negotiate” another disastrous deal with Nick “Bullhorn” Berardino’s union. He’s circling the wagons, hard.
Here’s a good recap by the Register’s Kimberly Edds.
The real question is what are the County Supervisors going to do about this mess? In a Voice of OC(EA) post our Supervisor, Shawn Nelson seemed outraged. He should be. Let’s hope the Gang of Five will finally shoot straight – and get rid of their CEO, Tom Mauk.
A few months ago we told you about a narcotics raid executed on the wrong home, resulting in a pastor and his family being held at gunpoint by the Fullerton police.
Today we bring you an important update from the family: Robyn Nordell says that their persistence has finally led to a formal internal investigation of the Fullerton Police Department.
That’s good news I suppose…if we forget for a moment that the cops get to investigate themselves. And it did take about six months of rigorous prodding and a public spectacle from the courageous victims just to get this far. Furthermore, the public has no idea what an internal investigation actually entails, or how well it will be executed. Nor is it likely that the public will ever be privy to the outcome. And finally, the whole process is guaranteed to be about as transparent as a brick wall.
But let’s look at the bright side: some cop somewhere is finally tasked with figuring out how it all went wrong, and why. If that’s the best Fullerton can hope for, I guess we’ll take it.
Meanwhile, we’ll do our best to find out what constitutes an internal investigation.