Tender Elijah Turns Lively

By now we are all familiar with the sudden emergence of the innocent flower Elijah Manassero, who shot up out of nowhere into Fullerton’s political garden. He’s filed numerous false FPPC complaints against Fred Jung and Nick Dunlap; and he’s written pompous, erroneous and baselessly accusatory articles for the Kennedy Sisters. We are to believe, I guess, that young Elijah is just a civic-minded, well-intentioned young boyo whose interest in community betterment is a credit to him. Sharon Kennedy gushes with admiration:

Sharon K

July 25, 2025 at 6:42 am

Matt – I am so impressed by young people, like Elijah, who have a lively vision for our town. 

Lively. That’s a good one. But Lively Elijah is not a happy young camper. He and his pals washed out badly at the Santa Fe Depot lease hearing on the night of July 15th; and Elijah, in a fit of pique, sent a threatening missive to the City Attorney as soon as he got home that night.

Dear Mr. Jones,

I am writing to formally demand immediate enforcement of the lease default provisions applicable to Bushala Brothers, Inc., the tenant of 120–140 E. Santa Fe Avenue.

At the July 15 City Council meeting, George Bushala openly admitted to subleasing the premises; a clear violation of the lease’s subletting provision. This admission came after staff publicly stated they had no record or knowledge of any such sublease. That alone constitutes a default under the lease agreement. In addition, the City’s own expenditures on building repairs and ADA improvements inside the tenant’s leased space, obligations explicitly assigned to the tenant under the lease, further constitute material breaches.

Despite these unresolved and ongoing defaults, Council voted to approve an amended lease that:

• Extends the term through 2060,

• Grants the tenant expanded rights and rent credits,

• Reduces enforcement mechanisms, and

• Softens penalties for failure to build out improvements.

All of this violates Section 6(e) of the lease amendment, which plainly states that:

“If Tenant is in default (beyond applicable notice and cure periods)… the Third Extension Term or Fourth Extension Term shall not commence.”

Your office is well aware of this language. And yet the lease was approved anyway.

This is not a close call. This is not a matter of interpretation. This is blatant cronyism and gross irresponsibility, putting the City of Fullerton in legal and financial jeopardy for the sake of political convenience. The lease should never have been brought forward in this condition, and certainly should not have been approved. If your office advised otherwise, that itself raises serious concerns.

You are now on formal notice that I intend to pursue all available legal remedies:

• I will submit public records requests for all closed session negotiations and communications related to the lease amendment.

• I am evaluating a Brown Act “Cure and Correct” demand under Government Code §54960.1, which may invalidate the Council’s vote.

• I am exploring a taxpayer lawsuit under Code of Civil Procedure §526a for waste and unlawful gifting of public funds, especially in light of the Council’s knowledge of these defaults at the time of approval.

This lease is not just bad policy. It is legally unsound, ethically indefensible, and politically corrosive. If the City’s legal department cannot uphold the basic enforcement provisions of a lease it approved, then perhaps the public should question whether your office is acting in the interest of the people, or in the interest of donors and insiders.

I expect a formal response addressing the City’s intended enforcement action within ten (10) calendar days.

Sincerely,

Elijah Manassero

Fullerton Resident

Uh, oh. Callow young Elijah intends to pursue all legal remedies! He demands! He notifies! He will submit! He will evaluate! He will explore! He expects a response! What a lively young chap is Elijah.

This is funny. Are we to believe that fragile Elijah tricycled home right after the meeting to tap out this nonsense? Of course we don’t. This was written beforehand, and not by Elijah – of that we may be certain. And the whole Manaserro schtick is now coming into focus a deliberate political maneuver to attack Fred Jung in future campaigns by creating phony “controversial” votes. He isn’t acting alone. Here’s the elder member of the Kennedy Sister Coven, once more, with the rest of her comment:

Sharon K

July 25, 2025 at 6:42 am

Matt – I am so impressed by young people, like Elijah, who have a lively vision for our town.

Unfortunately Jung has been a sad disaster for Fullerton but this article is not about that. There was plenty of criticism of the actions of “Mayor” Jung – long before Connor Traut came into the picture. Jung’s own actions are his worse enemy. We do need someone good to fill the 4th district OC Supervisor position – Jung would fit right in with the majority there who just upped their own salary to more than the governor of California makes per year. I am sick of tricky, self serving, arrogant little politicians. I don’t know Connor Traut but will look into him and hope he is a more fit candidate than Jung –
But – getting rid of him in our town by electing him onto the Board of Supervisors is not a good reason to vote for him.

The comment here is complete with the usual Observer misdirection – “criticism existed long before,” etc.; Jung is “little” and he doesn’t deserve the title Mayor without quotation marks. Kennedy will “look into” Connor Traut because she is sick of tricky, self-serving, arrogant little politicians like “Mayor” Jung. Obviously, the Fullerton Observer is already all in for Traut and is providing a vehicle, even if a lame one, to hurt Fred Jung’s politcal aspirations.