Why Keep Threatening Us?
For every problem that isn’t a nail, there’s a moron ready to swing a hammer.
20 Days ago FFFF got another threatening letter from the City that said if we don’t stop reporting news and telling the public the truth about what’s actually happening in their town, apparently there will be consequences.
We told them to kick rocks.
What really strikes us as odd is how hard the city works to solve real problems v make work problems.
If they’re willing to go after local journalists connected to a blog that city employees routinely insist that no one reads, one can’t help but wonder what wrath the city brings down on real problems.
Can we assume that the city also takes things like life safety issues impacting the public, police brutality and sexual misconduct, wasted tax dollars, theft by employees, recklass or perhaps drunk driving by employees, or total disregard for budget discipline, public trust, and basic fairness as seriously as they take shutting down transparency?
Oh wait, we don’t need to assume anything as we know exactly what kind of resources the city spends on those problems. None.
We know because we broke and covered those stories.
Maybe that’s what this is about. Maybe the City is tired of having a group of “chronic malcontents” embarrass them by telling the truth.
Jan Flory? There’s plenty about her in our archives. Is she mad because we reported that she is totally inept concerning the budget or is she mad because we broke the news that her son was facing a criminal charge in Riverside. We hear his boss, District Attorney Todd Spitzer wasn’t too pleased about that.
Jennifer Fitzgerald? Where do we start with her. Her refusal to comply with a legitimate public records request concerning Joe Felz’s DUI (we broke the news about that one, too.) Her extensive double dipping of public time while lobbying for Curt Pringle and Associates (wait till you hear about the last trip you paid for)? Her broken campaign promises, including promising to never take a salary then taking one when she thought everyone forgot? We’ve embarrassed her lots by reporting the truth. We bet she’s pretty pissed.
Ahmad Zahra? We haven’t had much time to play with him yet, but we hear he’s pretty livid about our coverage of his massive flip-flop concerning his promise to voters concerning a special election earlier this year. We were pretty cool on his virtue signaling concerning what flag Fullerton should fly. One local paper took his side, we didn’t. Maybe he finds that upsetting.
Jesus Silva? We’re pretty sure he’s not pleased with our coverage concerning his decision to risk six figures of city funds to fix a problem he caused by running for a new office mid-term in 2018. Remember when we reported Silva changed election law a month before his contest to minimize damage to his reputation and the city treasury if he happened to win? Our coverage of his wife and the infamous SockGate is legendary. Jesus has a lot to be pissed about.
Bruce Whitaker? In 2017 we reminded the public of his role in creating, exacerbating, and enabling the downtown outdoor saloon creating mayhem and destruction every weekend. We also highlighted his campaign for State Senate, specifically his lack of a campaign, during the Great Josh Newman Recall. Maybe Bruce blames a lack of FFFF support for his loss a few years ago. We’re sure his feelings about our reporting aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy.
So is it really any wonder that the City Council and it’s employees want to silence FFFF? Should we really be surprised that we got yet another threatening letter from City Hall, apparently at the direction of politicians we’ve reported critically on over their tenures in office?
Of course not. They’re not threatening the Register or the Observer. They’re threatening us, the one local information source that published critical and true press that pissed them off.
You might have already seen our response.
“As legal counsel for the City of Fullerton, I write, pursuant to California Government Code section
6204 et seq., to notify you, as legal counsel to the owner(s) and/or operator(s) of the Friends for
Fullerton’s Future (FFFF) blog, that the City of Fullerton has reasonable grounds to believe that
owner(s) and/or operator(s) of the FFFF blog are in unlawful possession of records belonging to the
City of Fullerton. The records were taken and used by FFFF blog owner(s) and/or operator(s) without
the City’s authorization and fall within the definition of “record” under California Government Code
Section 6204(a)(2), as well as the definition of “public records” under California Government Code§
6252(e), and are described as follows:
Any and all records obtained from the City of Fullerton’s Dropbox account
(https://cityoffullerton.com/outbox) that were not directly provided by the City to
Joshua Ferguson or any of FFFF’s agents or associates through an emailed link,
including, but not limited to, records contained in a folder named “prl 919 – Josh
Ferguson.”
Therefore, pursuant to Govemmentt Code section 6204, within twenty (20) calendar days of receiving
this notice, the owner(s) and/or operator(s) of the Friends for Fullerton’s Future blog are hereby
directed to either:
(1) Return the above-referenced records to the City of Fullerton, as previously requested;
or
(2) Respond in writing and declare why the above-referenced records do not belong to
the City of Fullerton. If the owner(s) and/or operator(s) of the Friends for Fullerton’s
Future blog do not deliver the above-described records, or do not respond adequately
to this notice and its demand within the required time, we will immediately thereafter
petition the Superior Court of Orange County for an order requiring the return of
these records.
Cal. Gov’t Code § 6204(b ).
Kelly Aviles, Esq.
July 11,2019
Page 2
We further note that the FFFF blog has posted many of the confidential City documents after receipt
of our office’s June 13, 2019 cease-and-desist email. (A copy of that email is enclosed herein). Many,
if not all, of the confidential City records posted to the FFFF blog are explicitly exempted from
disclosure under the California Public Records Act, would not have been provided to Mr. Ferguson or
FFFF agents or associates in response to a Public Records Act request, and could only have been
obtained without the City’s express authorization. Such records posted to the FFFF blog are
confidential and exempt from disclosure pursuant to the following authorities:
• “Preliminary drafts, notes, or interagency or intra-agency memoranda that are not retained by
the public agency in the ordinary course of business, if the public interest in withholding
those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.” Cal. Gov’t Code § 6254(a);
• “Records pertaining to pending litigation to which the public agency is a party, or to claims
made pursuant to Division 3.6 (commencing with Section 810), until the pending litigation or
claim has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled.” Cal. Gov’t Code § 6254(b );
• “Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy.” Cal. Gov’t Code§ 6254(c);
• Law enforcement investigative records. Cal. Gov’t Code§ 6254(f); and
• “Records, the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law,
including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence Code relating to privilege.” Cal.
Gov’t Code § 6254(k), which includes the following privileges:
o Attorney-client privileged records. Cal. Evid. Code 950 et seq.; Roberts v. City of
Palmdale, 5 Cal. 4th 363 (1993);
o Attorney work product. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code§ 2018.010 et seq.;
o Peace officer personnel records. Cal. Penal Code§ 832.7 et seq.; and
o Confidential closed session information. Cal. Gov’t Code § 54963.
FFFF’s unauthorized access and misuse of the City’s clearly privileged and exempted documents
constitute a violation of California Penal Code section 502, which grants civil remedies (including
compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and potential punitive damages) to any persons or entities
injured by any violations thereof. See Cal. Pen. Code§ 502(c), (e).
As such, unless FFFF complies with the demands set forth in the City’s June 13, 2019 cease and desist
letter within 24 hours, the City will have no choice but to pursue all criminal and civil remedies
available to it under the law. “
Let’s net forget about Jin Floozy’s relationship with town sex offender John Murray. Dunno why FFFF isn’t interested in the documention I have on the two.
Send it in, mister.
What is your contact number?
I don’t really consider that the words, “Leadership, current, and forward thinking” apply when it comes to Fullerton. It’s sad, but this place is more about upholding some mythic status quo, than doing anything for the greater good. So when they threaten you, it’s because you’re exposing the deeper truth, which is that we’ve continuously elected people who are pretty self serving. They’re irrelevant, but they lead on because not enough people vote.
I beleive you are in need of an attorney. I happen to know of a stroke ridden, diabetic, kitchen table lawyer in mrarby Btea, who would represent you for TRACFONE credits. He’s not really that goof, is a horrible dresser and has ties to Jesus, Ahmed and Gin Flurry.
But hey, you might be keeping the guy from homelessness.