The Whitaker Record

Bruce Whitaker

The other day I invited Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whitaker to write a post informing FFFF readers about what he believes he has accomplished in his seven years on the city council. The moment seemed opportune. The Mayor had engaged in a brief repartee with some of our commenters who didn’t seem too pleased with him; and of course Whitaker has declared his candidacy to replace State Senator Josh Newman, should Newman be recalled. I pointed out that Whitaker’s post would be read by thousands of people in the next few months and it wouldn’t cost him a penny. We get as many new visitors everyday – several hundred – as returning Friends.

But we’ve heard nothing from our Mayor. Oh, well.

In lieu of a post by him, I am creating an open thread where friends and foes alike can share their opinions about what Whitaker has achieved on our city council and how this records may be extrapolated to a State Senate performance.

So have at it in the comments thread.

44 Replies to “The Whitaker Record”

  1. Doing the right thing takes work. Hard work. You can’t just show up twice a month and expect people to recognize your leadership or you principles. principle without action is meaningless. You might as well not even get out of bed in the morning.

    Whitaker has just been phoning it in. He’s worse than Sebourn because Sebourn doesn’t even pretend to stand for anything.

  2. Bruce is a decent man, but he hasn’t really gotten anything done. True, he’s always been in the minority. But that doesn’t keep someone from being a strong and persistent advocate for the citizens and the taxpayers. I don’t see that from him.

    FFFF has documented all sorts of things in just the past few months where Whitaker really should have stepped up as a strong voice for the public, but he never did. He seems more interested in shoving the dirty laundry back in the hamper.

    Whitaker just seems worn out. Really, really tired.

    1. “limited government” types are always voting against agreements and budgets – when they are in the minority it’s a free vote that takes no effort at all and requires no real solution. That’s a big problem, especially when all the day to day waste and stupidity goes unchallenged.

      How can you vote against a budget and hire a new police chief and city manager with no previous experience in those jobs and pay them 10% MORE that you were paying their predecessors?

      1. Very good question. Could it be that the OC GOP is so in bed with the police state that it is pathetic?

        1. No more than the OC Democrats are. When was the last time an elected Democrat stood up against the cops or their union in OC? Are you old enough to remember? Is anyone?

          Look at how Fullerton Democrats Chaffee and Flory liplocked themselves to the FPD Culture of Corruption in 2012: eager, expectant, happy. That was obscene. Talk about being in bed with the police state!

  3. That ferguson guy didn’t vote to raise taxes and his votes against the union giveaways & unbalanced budgets had the same impact as whitaker.

    After 7 years on council what has been done and gotten better thanks to whitaker?

        1. But he never “voted” on anything because he couldn’t get elected to the Fullerton City Council.

          To think he can run for State Senate is sort of, um, delusional.

          1. I don’t think he believes he’s going to win.

            I think he’s pissed about not having decent choices and decided to do something about it. Nothing delusional about that.

            1. I’m pissed off because nobody can make a good sauvignon blanc in California. But i’m not going start calling myself a wine maker because of it. That would be…strange. And delusional.

              1. Okay, I’ll bite.

                You’re mad because you can’t get a good wine so what do you do?

                Apparently you sit on the sidelines and complain that you can’t get good wine as it gets worse and worse each year. I’d rather try and make wine. That’s EXACTLY why Napa is world renowned for wine. Delusional people set out to make a change.

                You can consider me delusional all you want but I’d rather be delusional than a defeatist.

                I would have never thrown my name in and would have eagerly supported Whitaker if I thought he’d fight. But he won’t and he hasn’t.

                We have serious allegations of police misconduct & obstruction of justice in the Felz case alone. Whitaker is Mayor. What has he done to get to the bottom of it?

                Be precise about the actions in this case. I’ll award bonus points for source citations.

                As a reminder the former police chief allegedly obstructed justice on his way out of the door. The DA allegedly ignored it owing to political favors.

                Do we need to put a ribbon on the tee before the bat is swung? We can’t swing it for the council. The whole council is complicit in this corruption but the Mayor has the power to put things on the Agenda. He doesn’t.

                I see a new higher paid chief from a problematic department. That’s it.

                Where’s the oversight? Reform? Investigation? Anything?

                Oh I know. Despite the council being 3-2 (R) he doesn’t think he can accomplish anything so its better to do nothing.

                Put it on record. Put reform and an investigation on the agenda and make the opposition take a pro-cover-up position. Make them make the pro-corruption vote. Do something. Be the voice you ran to be and fight for us and if you won’t don’t be surprised if allies get fed up and try to use their own voices you seem intent on ignoring.

                Newman is being recalled because he lied to voters and opted to rob us blind. I’m not about to vote for somebody else who will sit silently owing to a minority position while we still get robbed.

                I’ve had enough of (R)s who say they’d do the right thing if only they had power. Fight for the right thing or you’ll never get the chance.

                1. “That’s EXACTLY why Napa is world renowned for wine. Delusional people set out to make a change.”

                  Yes, and they still can’t make a really good sauvignon blanc – even in Napa.

                  But thanks for showing up and sharing Whitaker’s record – a lot more than Whitaker did!

                2. Dude, the only delusional winemakers are the ones who don’t have any grapes.

    1. I can’t think of anything that’s gotten better over the last 10 years. City finances are toast. Roads are worse. Parks are worse. Water rates are higher. City fees are higher. Abusive police have moved into management. There are less employees providing less services for more money. Police are less responsive. Code enforcement disappeared. The list keeps going.

  4. Bruce probably doesn’t want to engage with this post, because it would be like going on the John & Ken Show….well intended, but brutal, abrasive approach.

    1. Maybe he can post his accomplishments somewhere else. I can’t find anything since 2004 on his website.

    2. Apparently he didn’t want to write his own post and that would have been easy.

      I have no expectation of any “engagement.”

  5. He (and Sebourn) voted against settling with Ron Thomas in order to let a jury decide the amount of money the tax payers were on the hook for what was clearly a murder. I know that’s not an accomplishment, but it was a good thing. Over the years, he’s done some good things for Fullerton tax payers.

      1. Oh yes it is.

        The worst ones are the ones who vote with the crowd to be on the winning team. We have plenty of those.

        Losing, repeatedly, is not much of an accomplishment, but it ain’t nothing.

  6. Whitaker has the perfect record for a future Republican California state senator. He can put on a suit, lose every vote he participates in, shrug his shoulders and collect a paycheck until he gets knocked off by Democrats at the next presidential election.

  7. Whitaker is a horrible candidate and is just plain lazy. He looks like he is over worked but when was he last time he held a job? Was it when Norby was an assemblyman?

    1. Thanks for reminding us of Norby – another FFFF hero and a guy who got NOTHING done on the Fullerton City Council in 20 years. At least Norby had occasional bursts of energy before he annoyed the hell out of everybody or approved horrible projects. The rest of the time he was just sleep walking.

      But Norby got lucky and failed upwards. Maybe that’s Bruce’s strategy. It doesn’t take that much energy.

  8. I told you all along this person is a phony. Phony. PHONY (my favorite word). He kicked me off the Parks Board because I threatened some woman from AT&T and am generally a loudmouthed knucklehead who takes credit for other peoples’ work. I also believe the world is flat and Disney is the Anti-christ and NASA is run by Satan.

    That is all.

    1. Just keep saying it, Larry, over and over again: the earth is not flat, the earth is not flat, penicillin is not the Devil’s work, penicillin is not the Devils’s work.

      Feel better?

        1. i aM nOT cRaZY i aM nOT cRaZY i aM nOT cRaZY i aM nOT cRaZY i aM nOT cRaZY

          aLL NUtz and no PLAy make BaRRy DULL boy. Barry listen to lITTle Joe listen to BaRRy butt LiTTlE Joe got no FRIENDS NEITher.

          CuCKOo!

            1. So, Satan is responsible for light pollution? Jesus that little cretin is fucking insane. No wonder he and Bigmouth are teamed up. What a sad indictment of our psychiatric community.

    1. It’s soooooo funny. Little Joe can make himself sound sane. For about 30 seconds. And then it’s off to wackadoodle land where the Earth is flat and Apple is sterilizing young girls (no on knows why).

      1. Right? And then it’s off to the Krazytown Races where Embryo and Leviathan are neck and neck to the Loony Bin.

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