Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
Last Friday afternoon KFI’s John and Ken got hold of our post on the subject, and shared with their listeners the amusing notion that Matthew J. Cunningham of Red County fame actually got paid $200 an hour to listen to their show one day last year.
Here’s what they had to say.
More publicity for the OC Children and Families Commission. Well done!
Just in case you missed the recent OCGOP showdown between Shawn Nelson and carpetbagger Harry Sidhu, we generously share a video clip showing Sidhu trying to to talk about defined contributions versus defined benefits.
Since this is the major problem contributing to government unfunded liabilities you would think a competent supervisorial candidate would be all over this – especially at a Republican nominating meeting.
Well see if you can understand what Yahoo Harry is talking about before stammering that he really doesn’t know anything about it! Enjoy this quintessential Sidhu moment.
Although I don’t think I’ll be doing much posting about non-contiguous cities in OC, something’s a brewin’ down in Surf City and a pretty rancid odor has wafted northward and reached our Fullertonian nostrils. What’s happening is a saga that should be an instructive reminder to us, and, alas, is far too typical of the prevailing attitudes within city halls everywhere.
The story is told in some detail over at the Red County blog by it’s proprietor, Chip Hanlon.
It happens that in 2002 the good folks of HB passed a charter amendment to require that the City allocate 15% of its annual budget to infrastructure. And naturally the bureaucrats in City hall have been ignoring the mandate ever since. Apparently they are counting debt service and other items as “infrastructure” in a way nobody ever intended. Millions of bucks are being deliberately diverted from city infrastructure.
And also, naturally, the HB City Attorney has cooked up a load of legal bullshit to back up the city staff’s self-serving interpretation of what the charter amendment really means.
It seems that people are finally talking about strengthening the language in the charter to make sure the switcheroo stops, and at least one of the employee unions made it clear that they will have none of it.
Sound familiar?
Anyway, the HB City Council met the other night to review recommendations from an ad hoc committee to address this infrastructure issue. They continued the item for a couple weeks, so it’s not over yet. Any takers on how they’ll go?
Its ironic that critics of what goes on in city halls are labeled as divisive. But the divide between ourselves and those who work for us is clearly demarcated and understood by the employees themselves, whose interests are sometimes spectacularly incongruent with ours.
We finally heard back from the District Attorney on the matter of our complaint that Harry Sidhu committed perjury and fraud when he swore on voter registration forms (twice) that he lived at the beautiful Calabria Apartments – instead of his “Elegant Yorba Estate” in the 3rd Supervisor’s District.
Their “investigation” (if you want to call it that) concluded that “there is insufficient evidence to prove Mr. Sidhu committed any crimes.” Hmm. Apparently statements from Calabria residents saying they never saw Sidhu there and that the apartment had been empty for a year weren’t persuasive to a DAs office that habitually ignores funny business perpetrated by politicians. Still, it’s important to remember that nobody at the DAs office is in any way saying that there is evidence that Sidhu did live there. So no exoneration for Hide and Seek.
Well, it wasn’t as if anybody really expected Tony Rackaukas’ department actually to do anything, so there’s no reason to be surprised.
Still, the fact are inescapable. In his insatiable hunger for elective office in a district in which he doesn’t live, Harry Sidhu cooked up a fake address in a crummy apartment on Lincoln Avenue in West Anaheim next to a pool hall, and lied about it on voter registration forms – twice.
Ironically, we see at the bottom of this letter from the DA that ol’ Hide and Seek Sidhu employed one of those evil defense attorneys his supporters are always railing against. But they can come in handy can’t they?
It appears that Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly has mastered two skills in his eight years as head of the Clerk-Recorder Department. First, he has become a top-notch spender and waster of our dough. Second, he has mastered the art of creating jobs at tax-payer’s expense while receiving campaign contributions from the relatives of people he has employed.
Last week Daly hired Bruce Matthias, here. We learned from his campaign financial statements that Matthias’s wife Sonja Matthias had contributed to Daly’s now defunct campaign for Supervisor 2010.
Well, we looked deeper into his statements and found even more good old jobs for the boys (and girls) featherbedding. Look at this list.
In 2006, The Oftelie Company, run by former transportation bureaucrat Stan Oftelie, contributed to Tom Daly’s campaign. Could it be a coincidence that Stan’s son was hired shortly after this contribution and while the County was losing jobs. Stan’s son works in the Archives and was brought in as an “extra-help” employee which means that no competitive hiring process was conducted to bring him on board. I wonder what qualifies Stan’s son to work in the Archives.
The Walt Disney Company has been quite generous in its giving to Tom Daly’s campaigns. Since 2002, Disney and people connected to Disney have contributed more than $4000 to Tom. That’s just as much as the OCEA. Chris Lowe is the Government Affairs Manager for Disney in Anaheim. Well, Lo and Behold, Daly hired Chris Lowe’s wife to work in the Archives as an extra-help employee which, again, means that no competitive hiring process was conducted. And again the hiring was done when the County could least afford it.
In 2003 and 2005, James A. Liberio Realty made contributions to Tom Daly. Not surprisingly, Mr. Liberio’s daughter was also hired as an extra-help employee. So no competitive process was conducted to hire her. I’m unsure of her duties or qualifications.
Even during these tough times at the County, Daly has been budgeting at least $200,000 per year for extra-help hires. Despite revenues and workloads being at their lowest levels ever, Daly feels it is more important to keep his friends employed than to protect the interests of the public. Extra-help employees are basically at-will-employees and can be let go at anytime. I think that time has come now!
And I’d like to know why these these campaign contributors don’t hire their own relatives. Perhaps these people are not employable. Who knows?
Somebody needs to flush out this swamp of cronyism. Isn’t that why we have County Supervisors?
After second helpings of aloo tikki and tandoori baked nan, our own beloved blowhard Dick Jones seems to be having trouble staying awake during the Indian Independence day celebration held last summer at Harry Sidhu’s “elegant Yorba Estate.” You remember, his home in the 3rd District that he swore under penalty of perjury that he had abandoned for the Calabria Apartments on Lincoln Avenue.
In December of 2008, Nick Berardino and more than 1000 union workers stormed the County’s Hall of Administration to protest the remodeling of the Board of Supervisor’s lobby. The OCEA leader and his supporters were protesting the $300,000 lobby remodeling project because it was the wrong thing to do because at the time, the County was laying off employees due to the budget crunch that hit the whole nation.
That day, Berardino used his bullhorn to make his point well known. He was also quoted by the lame duck O.C. Register as saying that “Labor knows that financial hardships are on the way and say they are willing to share in the pain. But before he has to look a person in the eye and tell them they are out of work in this economy he wants management (the County) to scratch every perk with the aim of saving jobs.”
Well, Nick it is time for you to break out your bullhorn again as you look every association member in the eye and tell them why the OCEA felt it necessary to contribute more than $4000 of their union dues to a free spending, incompetent career politician like Tom Daly. This guy’s spending has cost the County jobs!
According to records at the Registrar of Voters, the OCEA has contributed more than $4000 to Tom Daly’s campaigns since 2002. The most recent contribution was in late 2007 for $1600 – prior to Daly’s purchase of a $2.1 million money-sucking building. Why contribute to a politician who has no legislative duties or the ability to save any county jobs. The Clerk-Recorder is just that – a clerk and a recorder. It is an elected position with little political influence. Daly doesn’t know that or it hasn’t registered yet after 8 years of doing nothing but free-spending and taking care of his buddies like Bruce Matthias and Brett “The Brainstormer” Barbre.
Well, Nick where was that bullhorn when County Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly blew $2,100,000 of public money on a real estate venture that could cost another $7,600,000 to fix the problem? This happened in January 2008, months before the $300,000 remodeling project you vigorously protested.
Where was your bullhorn when Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly decided to give out a $48,000 to a political contributor to “brainstorm” an unnecessary sports hall of fame?
Where was that bullhorn when a $1700 a month retainer to a Sacramento government consulting business with no deliverables was discovered?
Why aren’t you using that bullhorn now? How many jobs does this money represent? Wake up OCEA members! It’s time for you to make Your Voices heard to tell Nick to go after every person who is wasting your association dues and tax-payer money that can be used to save your jobs.
Say, Nick. Where is that bullhorn, anyway?
UPDATED TITLE INFORMATION REGARDING THE TRANSACTIONS AT 433 W. Civic Center Drive deed 2008
At the budget workshop of March 9, 2010, each department presented its recommendation to the City Council to balance expenditures with ever shrinking revenues and was asked to come back at the next budget workshop with recommendations to balance the budget.
Back to work on March 23, 2010, a total of $5.5 million was still needed to balance the Fullerton city 2010-11 General Fund budget.
One of staff’s recommendations was to close City Hall every Friday. It never seems to amaze me, when government has to come up with solutions we the public always end up on the short end of the stick and staff gets a four day work week.
Then listen to another solution. Pay people you’re going to lay off anyway and count it a savings!
Well, it’s good to know we have at least one councilman who can see through the double talk and gobbledygook nonsense. Watch this clip and you will know exactly what I mean.
As I was driving up Harbor Blvd. today, I came across a line of people that seemed about a mile long. They were walking for a cause: raising money to help feed hungry people in Fullerton and abroad. It makes you wonder with all of the billions that our government collects in taxes why we spend so much on bullets, bombs and tanks to take lives and not nourish them.
In support of Hugh Nguyen for Orange County Clerk-Recorder, come meet special guest, former congressional candidate, Marine Corps veteran, Friend and Author Quang Pham.
$100/person includes hors d’oeuvres and a personalized signed copy of Quang’s book, “A Sense of Duty”.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
6:15 PM
Zen Vegetarian Restaurant
9329 Bolsa Ave. Westminster, CA 92683
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Hugh at: hieunguyenrun@yahoo.com or 714-357-6207.