The Fullerton Observer in a Nutshell
I don’t read the Fullerton Observer because I find little value in their brand of blasé government cheerleading masquerading as serious “local” journalism. However, that doesn’t mean that I can always escape their content, after all they were the rag-tag group of City Hall Sycophants who hired a consultant to help the city smear me and this very blog with ludicrous claims of “hacking”.
More recently however it was brought to my attention that they ran a story titled “Weighing the Costs of Police Officers on Campus” and it’s a good example of where the Observer fails at local journalism.
The piece is a pretty run of the mill “school to prison pipeline” story with Fullerton data dropped into what feels like a form letter. It’s got local numbers and some local meeting information but it does what the Observer often does and it just… misses. And it misses where it counts – locally.
To summarize, it’s about School Resource Officers – or Fullerton cops on campus – and what role they have and possibly shouldn’t have in student discipline. Seems like a good idea for a story, I’m probably even in agreement with the writer on quite a few things.
But how in the ever loving hell are you going to write a story about SROs in Fullerton schools and completely omit the story of former Fullerton Police Officer AND SRO Jose Paez?
That’s the dude who used his department issued Body Worn Camera (BWC) to film up a 17 year old’s skirt. He also, based on the audit of his own BWC, had sexually explicit material of students on his (maybe department issued?) cellphone. We’ve never been given an explanation of this issue or a reason to believe anything has changed at FPD to stop another Paez from perving on our children.
It’s literally the single biggest example of why SROs, locally, need oversight and to be questioned.
In case somebody at the Observer finds this story, Paez’s case is #19NM12214 over at OC Courts.
See the issue?
An entire piece on School Resource Officers that omits the best LOCAL example of the complete lack of transparency and oversight in the very program being discussed.
It’s not a shock though. The Observer has long been unwilling to point real criticisms or questions in the direction of City Hall. For such a shocking story, that we broke mind you, they’ve only ever mentioned Paez precisely twice on their site; once to regurgitate the FPD press release and once to mention in passing that the Fullerton school board avoided the topic.
Hell, the Daily Titan has covered this story more than the Observer which speaks volumes.
People ask me quite often why I’m so critical of government and while there are a few answers to that question, one answer would certainly be because somebody has to be critical when the fourth estate is more interested in acting like the fifth column.
City hall lapdogs. Jesse LaTour’s paper is so weak and compliant. Just give the rag back to that old communist grifter hag.
Sharon Kennedy is an”artist” and “editor” is not a communist , grifter hag. She is a lice billy.
Observer would rather not know about naughty child abusing police officers. Of course they bury the story and fight against real journalism. These people are sick in the head.
The real issue is that if FFFF is involved in uncovering anything, the “respectable” media won’t touch it. Hell, the Register stole one of our stories once without so much as a please – and then cooked up a lame ass tale about why they didn’t have to. The local version of the Register was just a little hack-joke to regurgitate City Hall press releases and do harmless features about flower beds. They even had a realtor do a sales pitch masquerading as a news column.
The Voice of OC used to be the same way, although nowadays they will use a citation. They still seem really reluctant to get involved in FFFF-related stories, with the bright exception of the Ferguson/Curlee lawsuit.
I will never forget that the Observer tried to help the city cover up a perv cop in our high schools by attacking the journalists who uncovered it.
Anyone who contributes to the Observer should be deeply ashamed.
Observers have locked themselves in their bedrooms since March. Some of them may never see sunlight again.
Some Observers locked themselves in their houses the day after Kelly Thomas was murdered.
And others told the public that six Fullerton PD did not beat Kelly Thomas to death ( all one has to do to show they did kill him is look at the picture of Kelly Thomas dying in his hospital bed), it was Fullerton’s community’s indifference that caused his death. Retired from what, Fullerton Observer editor and “artist” Sharon Kennedy, her ’ brother, Rusty Kennedy, then CEO for Orange County Human Relations, stated this to the public. I did not know indifference caused a person to drown in their own blood that was caused by a face beaten to a pulp but FPD.
Someone at FFFF should follow the money trail that funds the “rag-tag” wanna be journalists at Fullerton Observer. Where does this “grass roots” get enough money to persecute a news site that presents substantiated news about city “o” Fullerton. I always wondered why Orange County Board of Supervisor Moorlach broke down in tears at one of its public board meetings at the sugggestion to end county funding of the Orange County Human Relations Commission a few years ago.
There’s no money behind the Observer. It would interfere with the editor’s unemployment checks.
Imo, Jesse latour is a gigantic shill, The city of Fullerton has been full of them for decades. I was born here and have watched it happen over the last 62 years.
And now that the word“journalist” means absolutely nothing when it comes to truth facts and unbiased reporting… Jesse has full reign to add his name to the list, congrats JT!
Quite frankly, I think it’s too late for the city of Fullerton to upright the ship and completely turn it around 180°. The city of Fullerton constant corrupt antics is now just one gigantic, entertaining, sh*t show. Sometimes you have to laugh, otherwise it’s too depressing to wrap your head around.
Now they are negotiating with a developer to sell city hall ?
which one of the city schmucks is making money off of this back room negotiation this time?
Like every other developed piece of property in Fullerton, somebody’s palm got heavily greased.
Affordable housing where minimum income requirements only qualify those stolidly in the middle class to purchase these houses. Redevelopment funds that Governor Brown stopped due to the corruption of cities governments handing out lucrative contracts to developers in exchange for ? Former city manager of Fullerton, Joe Felz, whose qualifications for city manager not degrees in finance, economics or public administration but sociology approved what his employers, Fullerton’s city council, wanted him to approve for them. Please, don’t get bogged down in these details, instead fight to save the Fox Theatre ubiquitous architecture found on Harbor Blvd.
Fitzgerald, most likely.
And lets not forget the prior SRO who was a drug addict and stole money from kids’ lockers and forged checks at Ralphs.