Surpise!
On Tuesday night the Fullerton City Council did something very rare for a government agency. Nothing.
The issue at hand was a response to a State mandate to get rid of non-functional turf by denying it potable irrigation water. Therefore it was believed that some sort of xeriscape would be needed to replace the lawn in front of City Hall. I have has posted a couple times about this nonsense.
Oh Dear. Surveys were conducted, the charade of public input was exercised, copious staff time was spent culling and collating in preparation for the inevitable routine: hiring consultants and “designers,” organizing charettes, redrafts; months of fruitful effort developing bid quantities, taking bids, awarding and managing contracts, etc., etc., ad nauseam.
And then the remarkable occurred: leave the damn thing alone. In fact, while you’re leaving the grass alone, re-open the fountain that has been shut down as a virtue-signaling gesture years ago. Staff didn’t see that coming. Neither did I.
Some folks rightly pointed out that the lawn was functional – as a gathering place for meetings, protests and even municipal-sponsored events! First Amendment and civic pride. That sealed the deal.
But the road of lawn laissez-faire was not without a couple of speed bumps. “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra wanted a grand public arts gesture somewhere on the lawn; maybe All the Arts for Kids could help! Seeing the opportunity for a grand social gesture slipping away Shana Charles asked that “options” be presented to the Council, completely contradictory to the motion that had been made to leave the damn thing alone. She used to make this strategy of last minute obfuscation work, but it won’t work this time, despite her insistence on MORE TREES, maybe even an enormous fig that would serve as shade for generations to come.
Completely absent was the Fullerton Heritage Group who should have been there to protect the integrity of the original building elevation’s relationship to its surrounding. Nick Dunlap got it. The formal exterior of the building was part and parcel with the site design – created 65 years ago. It’s a landmark. The Heritage Group wasn’t interested, apparently.
I wonder if anybody has notices several empty tree wells in the sidewalk along Commonwealth in front of City Hall. There used to be shady ficus trees there (see picture, above), but not any more. If anybody had given this any thought they didn’t say so.
Anyhow, well-done Jung and Dunlap and Valencia for doing the smart and the right thing.
It was just so damn obvious. Still, so was the Trail to Nowhere, so thanks.
Government in action! Doing nothin’ works (sometimes)! HOORAY!
Hey, what do you know? The Age of Miracles isn’t over.
You could tell Charles was in a minor panic about making a little speech to save something of the plan.
Did either of the Kennedy twins speak on this? Couldn’t make it Tuesday night.
I don’t want to take credit for the manipulation, but those gullible sisters are just too easy to wind up.
At this point, this city just needs to maintain. Fixing things may not be possible, but making things worse certainly is. Good for the council with this vote. And cool that they threw in the fountain too.
One of the Sisters, Skisia, I believe, got up and babbled about engaging the “arts community” to contribute their 2 cents worth. So predictable. She can’t speak coherently so I’m not 100% sure.
Public speaking isn’t her strong suit. Neither is journalism. But she has appointed herself CEO!
Normally, this would be the kind of thing both sisters would be screaming and yelling for, but one mention of their ability to congregate and disrupt being threatened and POOF!
It becomes, let’s toss some work to one of our artise fartise pals!
Maybe they can start a committee to decide what to do!
Or just plant a statue of Mr Potato Head.
Fullerton Heritage lost credibility a long time ago as we know. A motley crew of do gooders trying to stay relevant. Everything they do is forced and mailed in. It’s laughable. Ernie and his cronies are a joke.
My bet is Staff comes back and proposes artificial turf. That will assure that the public will stay away. No one wants to sit or stand on that disgusting surface and breath the delicious off gasses. Also, Staff will be able to come back in 10 years to replace it as directed by the fake grass lobby who got them to install their bacteria harboring carpet at Lions Field.
Staff was tasked with restoring the fountain. Period. Queenie Charles was pushing for alternatives to “come back” but that was not part of the motion. With Whitaker gone that sort of BS won’t fly anymore.
Thank you