Fred Jung’s Iron Fist

The metaphor of the iron hand in the velvet glove has been attributed to many, including Friend of Fullerton, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Has Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung forgotten about the velvet glove?

Here’s a fun exchange harvested from the hysterical comments at the Fullerton Observer, home of the unbalanced Kennedy Sisters.

I have zero idea who Barbara Steeves is, or if there even is one; but the commenter wants people to believe he/she is privy to what goes on behind closed doors at City Hall. She is challenged by “M” who rightly questions the veracity of her information – if she was there. And naturally Sharon the elder Kennedy sister helpfully interjects, reminding M that Fullerton is a small town, and everybody knows everybody.
I don’t know Fred Jung so I don’t know if this is the kind of phrase he would even utter. But I sure hope it is, and that he said it.

For years Fullerton citizens and taxpayers have picked up the tab for incompetent staff decisions, including foolish lawsuits, lots of money wasted on useless projects all surrounded by unaccountability and complacency. It’s true that all of the disasters and fiascos have been rubber stamped by incurious, stupid, and supine city councils. Nevertheless, city staff is composed, allegedly, by competent professionals who ought to be able to guide the councils away from quagmires, and not create any of their own. But if they could, they obviously don’t want to and don’t care, failure being ignored and even rewarded.

It’s way past time that staff members tell the truth. Our Community Development Director Sunayana Thomas seems incapable of an honest answer to a council question. And then there’s our marble-mouthed lawyer Dick Jones, of the I Can’t Believe It’s A Law Firm, who has doled out the worst legal advice imaginable for 25 years or more.
Here are some random Fullerton issues where an iron fist attitude might have avoided the usual complacency and stupidity:
Laguna Lake leak
Boutique hotel fiasco
Trail to Nowhere
Florentine forgery case
Florentine/Marovic Sidewalk Heist
Walk on Wilshire money pit
Silly Roundabouts
Losing Lawsuit against FFFF
Fraudulent water rate scam
Unneeded elevators at depot bridge
Drunken City Manager cover up
Useless bridge in Hillcrest Park
Incompetent construction of wood stairs in Hillcrest Park
$ 1,000,000 Core and Corridors Specific Plan
Consistently misguided park priorities
Poison Park fiasco
University Heights disaster
The ridiculous Fox Block monster
The Downtown economic sinkhole & noise code violations
Monster apartment blocks without enough parking
Etc., etc., etc.
Let me set the record straight, I am not anti-Jung. I do believe he is a fairly smart guy. And I know in this business, you need friends. Although some of his choices to me have been questionable, obviously things could be much, much worse. A-la say a Kitty type at the table.
Possibly what I am seeing and what he is experiencing are just growing pains….having to learn the ropes. But his involvement with OCPA really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Also his votes are indistinguishable from zahra/charles/flory/fitzgerald when it comes to the unions.
They are hero and he always thinks they deserve.
Exactly. Jung goes where his bread is buttered. He’s been funneling money into his coffers through that Korean business owner federation he shills for and he’s always been the first to spread his legs for the public safety heroes.
Maybe it’s not Jung that’s leaving the bad taste.
Anti-Jung? What’s pro-Jung? The guy beats Jennifer Fitzgerald, who tried to help cover up her pet rock City Manager’s DUI. Poor tree. He beats Bruce Whitaker, who overstayed his welcome. A Kitty type? She was a co-conspirator in an election fraud and would have put weed shops next door to homes. Anti-Jung? You sound at odds with his record. Don’t hide behind OCPA because he didn’t cause that. He was the effect.
This is a stupid argument. Best choice who can do no wrong?
Want to see who someone is? Watch them a while.
What was your word salad about? Watch who? Jung? I have better things to do.
Most people who make shit up online do it anonymously so as to not embarrass themselves. And then there’s the Kennedy sisters.
Put on your big boy collar and go post over there if you have a counterpoint instead of cowering over here.
They certainly still allow contrary posts if you can use your grown up vocabulary.
LOL
Not true. That’s a lie. They ban commenters. Ask Fullerton Troll. He never violated their code. It’s a moving target.
I never once gave those two nitwits any reason to delete my comments besides using common sense to make them look bad. It wasn’t the least bit hard to do so. And JRH knows this.
And I predicted John would be over here trying to drum up business for those two once his favorite playground was shut and he lost his ability to look like a hero to his like minded types.
The Observer needs the aid. They can’t survive on small dentist ads and elder law attorneys alone. Hopefully, the thing gets some healthy competition and they can go away.
Only comments over at the Observer lately are calling them out for being deceitful in their dictation of city hall speaker comments.
Otherwise, it’s basically a ghost town. (As it should be.)
They have banned my comments or just not published them. I asked questions that they would not answer because it made them look dumb.
They banned me, too.
Fullerton Troll’s opinion is that he never violated the rules.
Rules are indeed a moving target, as rules change. They didn’t used to require an account.
All I can say is that I see conservative posts getting through.
It’s not “my opinion”.
I would ask you what rule I violated?
My opinion would be you are a jackass.
That rag is better left for dead, which is pretty much is now.
There are still a few death rattles from the Observer to be heard. Stay tuned.
There are a few places where I’d like to see Jung stick that iron fist.
Diane Vena just announced during the council meeting that she cried when Wilshire was opened. Jung gets my vote. Keep making them weep Fred.
Poor, weepy Diane. I wonder if she cried when Scottie Markowitz got busted.
Probably not. She only cries for street closings.
Street opening.
Jung sits on council
Dreams and ambitions take shape
Our city left for dead
Fred Jung was the only one who voted against that bogus hotel housing project. He denied the middle income housing scam too. He got my vote.
Correction, Nick Dunlap also wisely opposed the idiotic Boutique Hotel plans just steps away from Fullerton’s architecturally challenged Bum Box, which, let’s face it, it’s just a tenement.
But, according to our esteemed UCLA-trained urban planner “Dr.” Charles, we just need to sit back and watch as it magically becomes a bustling hub of activity. Apparently, people will flock to the Community Center and then retire to the fabulous Boutique Hotel nearby, avoiding the perils of nighttime driving from DTF. Kudos to our intellectual and business-savvy Councilperson, tirelessly working for the benefit of the residents in D3. She’s clearly a mastermind. Truly impressive.
Fred Jung’s calloused palm is more accurate.
Sounds like you think about Jung’s hands a lot sicko.
I think about you mostly.
It’s about time that Fullerton has a councilman that doesn’t sit there and get tooled with by Staff and ask for “another please sir”.
A tool, getting tooled, by tools. LOL!
I wonder what Trump would make of the OCPA?
He’s anti electricity
Sharks.
A scam from its inception?
How can I get one of those SAVE WALK ON WILSHIRE shirts? St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and I wanted to sport it around town. Can I pay for a XL?
I want one.
Fred Jung has tarnished his career aspirations by his role on the failing Orange County Power Authority. His lack of transparency by cutting checks behind closed doors is bad enough, but using ratepayer funds to support Fullerton events, that he likes, and that have nothing to do with clean energy projects, is appalling! For example, he used OCPA ratepayer funds of $5,000 to give to a Tommy Lasorda Day Event in Fullerton, $4,000 to a football league in Fullerton, $3,000 for a tree lighting event in Fullerton, and $5,000 to Museum Center Punk Exhibit. And those are just a few of the expenditures he has frivolously given away at the expense of the cities ratepayers that were AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLED in this organization, and removed from Southern California Edison. The use of ratepayer funds are to go before the board, but they never do. The OCPA is a not for profit organization, but he runs it like his own personal slush fund. And this is the main reason why the City of Irvine is considering pulling out. Fred Jung is arrogant and thinks he can make up his own rules. Can you imagine him on the OC Board of Supervisors? The two of them on the board of the OCPA ran it into the ground, and took away public trust!
While it’s important to hold those in positions of authority accountable, it’s also important to recognize the value of local engagement and how organizations like OCPA can make a positive impact in their communities. The funds allocated to events in Fullerton, like the Tommy Lasorda Day, support local initiatives that build community connections and strengthen relationships between OCPA and the residents it serves. The decision to support these events, while controversial, may have been made with the intention of fostering goodwill and raising awareness of the OCPA’s work. That said, transparency and following the proper protocols are critical, and any concerns about the process should be addressed to ensure future actions align with the best interests of ratepayers. If these decisions aren’t being reviewed by the board, that’s something that should certainly be improved to restore public trust and accountability. I trust Mr. Jung’s fully engaged in the process of what OCPA’s goals and objectives are regards to community outreach..
This is blatantly stealing money from unsuspecting taxpayers and using that money for stupid shit.
Nothing more.
I appreciate that OCPA is sponsoring community events. Don’t think SCE would have sponsored them.
If you don’t like it, opt out.
No conspiracies to unwind here.
You do realize that OCPA is just a slush fund created by stealing money from unsuspecting taxpayers, right?
Well a slush fund and paychecks and bonuses for all involved. It’s a scam. All they are doing is reselling SCE product, product they can’t or won’t even verify how much is actually green.
I predict with Trump in office this type of illegitimate business model goes away pretty fast.
Fullerton could opt out of OCPA today and sell the energy contracts already purchased on their behalf on the open market and turn a massive profit. The energy contracts purchased for Fullerton are worth way more today than when they were first purchased and selling them on the open market right now would yield a huge windfall. Enough to fix every street in Fullerton.
OCPA doesn’t produce shit. All they do is buy and trade energy contracts. They’re speculators. The agency is also sitting on a $100 million fund balance. Fullerton owns a piece of that too.
That’s what conniving, power-mongering politicians like Connor Traut do.
Now that’s nonsense. That’s the sort of thing that drives taxpayers crazy.
Oh please FH, you aren’t upholding the virtues of the taxpayer are you? Cause your esteemed taxpayer voted for Drs. Charles and Zahra. One loves the sound of her own voice so much, she can’t seem to shut the fuck up, and the other’s origin story has so many holes, he makes swiss cheese jealous. Or are you promoting the values of the taxpayers who read the propaganda of the Fullerton Observer.
I’m upholding my own virtues, thank you very much.
Hey Connor, you spell your name with an OR fucking moron. And your comment too.
Deranged Dee Fox again. I thought your head was buried in Agran’s ass butterface. Food is not your friend lady.
This chick again? Does anyone moderate this blog? Editing may be required to not bend the knee to stupidity. This Irvine resident is a well known wacko, which isn’t disqualifying, but the fact that she is selectively wacko is. She doesn’t bitch about OCPA’s sponsorship of the Irvine Global Village Festival for the last four years because her Larry Agran went to each one and took glitzy photo opps. She fails to bitch about OCPA’s mailers highlighting former Mayor Farrah Kahn because Farrah supported her Larry Agran again. Oh, and let’s not conveniently forget how she bitched on and on about Mike Carroll when he was Chairing OCPA, but she forgot all about that because Mike is now her Larry Agran guy. She’s crazy as a shithouse rat.
If Jung had worked half as hard governing Fullerton as opposed to burnishing his bonafides and his brand around the County whilst sitting on the OCTA Board and the OCPA Board and every other rubber stamp board he might have been able to solve some of Fullerton’s more intractable problems. He’s even enjoyed a city council majority his entire time on council but is Fullerton any better today than before the Kim Il Jung joined the city council? Sure, he had a few token votes but can anyone articulate how he’s made Fullerton a better place? And don’t say he’s anything or anyone other than Ahmad Zahra and that’s good enough.
City council majority?
What alternate reality do you live in?
Baba fuckface, ummm name something your precious Ahmad has done. Or Shana. Or any of them for that matter that solved Fullerton’s “intractable” problems. The biggest intractable Fullerton problem are think they know it alls like you who don’t know jack shit. Council majority. Sounds like something that lame Todd Harrison or that fake gimp Bernard would say.
Bernard fell out of an airplane. I wonder what’s happened to him lately.
“And don’t say he’s anything or anyone other than Ahmad Zahra and that’s good enough.”
Well, that’s a low bar, but still…