Mr. Peabody, Author at Friends For Fullerton's Future

August 6, 2012"Dick" Ackerman

Do The Math!

The prospect of being replaced in a couple of years by the OC Sheriff’s Department has the cop union waking up in cold sweats. They have a website and everything, and have dredged up a repuglican fossil to pitch their woo to the citizenry via robocalls.

Their pretty pictures focus on historical images around Fullerton, ostensibly linking themselves to Fullerton’s century-plus history. However, one thing you will never hear from them is the cost to the Fullerton taxpayer, although they will no doubt be questioning any likely savings from bringing in the OCSD. But those saving could be huge – perhaps $10,000,000 or more. One of our commenters on another thread helped out with the rough numbers:

#64 by It’s Not Complicated on August 6, 2012

Fullerton PD costs each resident $264 dollars per year = $37,000,000.

OCSD costs each resident of Yorba Linda $183 dollars per year = $11,000,000.

Fullerton is 2.3 time bigger than YL. $11 mil times 2.3 = $25 mil. $37 mil – $25 mil = $12 Mil. Be conservative, say $10,000,000.

Good grief! Ten million bucks? I’d take even a small part of that, especially if it meant cleaning up a racketeering operation that has demonstrated zero remorse for its Culture of Corruption that has killed, beaten, robbed, perjured, falsely imprisoned, and sexually assaulted its citizenry.

bad cop — We aren’t very nice, but we sure are expensive…

And then, of course, there’s the cost of cleaning up via legal settlement for all that FPD misbehavin.’ Added millions. You won’t be hearing about that from the FPOA, either.

So tell me again, what’s wrong with seeking a proposal from the OCSD?

July 29, 2012July 29, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Out With Old, In With The…Old

by Mr. Peabody22 Comments

Well they finally did it. Our pathetic county Board of Supervisors finally got rid of their pathetic excuse for a CEO, Tom Mauk. Of course they let him call it a retirement and they gave him $270,000. And it took about nine months after he helped cover up the sordid details of Carlos Bustamante’s sex assaults on female County employees.

Of course the Supervisors should have fired both their HR director and Mauk when news of the 20 page report that detailed the behavior (that has earned Busty a total of 12 felony charges courtesy of the District Attorney) came out. But they didn’t. The sad Supervisor from the Third District, Bill Campbell actually commended Mauk for a job well-done. The female members of the Board, Pat Bates and Janet Nguyen, who should have been most shocked about the whole thing, made no public statements, perhaps hoping the thing would just go away.

It didn’t. And the embarrassment got so bad even Mauk and his allies knew the jig was up – many months later.

Just in case you were wondering who would take the helm of the county ship of state in the time of crisis, scandal, turmoil, and erosion of public trust, the selection by the Board seems underwhelming, the present Finance Director, Robert Franz. He will be Acting CEO until an Interim CEO is chosen until a Permanent CEO can be discovered. It’s government, get it: and a completely dysfunctional one at that. The whole place needs to be cleaned out, and the sooner the better.

July 26, 2012July 26, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Well, That Figures

by Mr. Peabody200 Comments

Once and a while I do a Public Record Act request search, ya know, just to see who’s been digging into Fullerton’s records.

And look what I found:

Some person named Greg Diamond, who lives in Brea, is interested in a report about a domestic dispute incident involving State Assemblyman Chris Norby. This issue is not new and quite some time ago FFFF tagged former police spokeshole and union boss Andrew Goodrich as the most likely leaker of the now discredited insinuation of spousal abuse that was helpfully passed along to the public by a union-sponsored blog.

Good news. Hopefully the City will hand over any internal documents on the topic, and especially the possible external communications sent by a helpful PIO to the Voice of OC(EA). Perhaps our new council will make sure that happens.

I am informed that this drone is working for Sharon Quirk in her cardboard cut-out bid to beat out Norby for the new 65th Assembly District seat in the Assembly.

If she thinks this sort of dumpster diving is going to help her campaign, she’s got another think coming. Instead, I hope in the coming months Quirk will expend her energy articulating her positions on increasing taxes in California, explain why the schools are so screwed up, how JCs and state universities squander billions every year with ridiculous bureaucracies and opine on the idiotic environmental master planning embodied in AB32 and SB 375.

Do I hope in vain?

July 24, 2012July 24, 2012A Step in the Right Direction

Judge Says No to “Top Secret” Tony Rackauckas (with update)

by Mr. Peabody187 Comments

UPDATE: Stop the presses. It seems as if I were a tad premature in my post. According to the OC Register, the judge gave the DA the right to come after a specific request is made by the Fullerton City Council:

The judge said the D.A.’s motion is a tad premature because with the City Council meeting tonight, there’s no way to know what the panel is going to ask for. Prosecutors asked for, and the judge granted, permission to renew their request, based on what develops.

This one’s not over yet. Top Secret Tony will be back.

Apparently the OC District Attorney was rebuffed this morning in his attempt to keep secret the audio record of the call made to Fullerton cops the night of July 5th 2012, that led to the detainment and subsequent murder of the mentally ill homeless man, Kelly Thomas.

The judge hearing the request said no. This seems to indicate that the releasing the audio would not impair any cases the DA is pursuing. Why Rackauckas ever wanted to keep it under wraps remains a mystery. Maybe somebody in Fullerton asked him to.

More information with details as we get it. Meantime, this item has been agendized for discussion at tonight’s special council meeting, so there should be some interesting councilmanic conversation.

July 21, 2012July 21, 2012A Step in the Right Direction

Adios, Cicinelli!

by Mr. Peabody176 Comments

The OC Register is reporting that Jay Cicinelli, the man we watched smash Kelly Thomas’s head with the butt of his taser is no longer employed by the people of Fullerton.

According to his dear old stepdad, John Huelsman, he was fired for policy violations and excessive force, a charge Cicinelli will be fighting.

Of course for those who watched the snuff video, and later heard Cicinelli’s admission that he smashed Kelly’s face “to Hell,” this action was a no-brainer. Even though the DA charged this creep nine months ago with manslaughter, the Fullerton Police Department and the Three Bald Tires permitted the investigation sham drag out for over a year before cutting Cicinelli loose.

July 17, 2012July 17, 2012A Step in the Right Direction

Fireworks For Fullerton?

by Mr. Peabody162 Comments

Tonight you can share your opinion with the Fullerton City Council on whether the Council should schedule a November 2012 referendum on legalizing “safe and sane” fireworks.

Of course we are not talking about cherry bombs, M-80s, skyrockets, or any of the other illegal stuff that may be acquired over the border, so please, let’s nobody have a cow, right off the bat.

Back in the late 80s the people of Fullerton said no to all fireworks after heavy lobbying by the Fire Department and other members of the crowd control clique.

The result is lost revenue that many non-profits would have received, and of course, the lost freedom of being able to enjoy a good old-fashioned 4th in you own backyard.

So let’s hear your views.

July 7, 2012Behind Closed Doors

The Waistband

by Mr. Peabody130 Comments

Something has been bothering me, and I have a question: What is a waistband?

I don’t really know. It sounds like something that held up those stretchy green rayon pants old grandad wore.

I do know that it is the handiest thing imaginable for cops who, for whatever reason, have just plugged somebody. How many times have we read in post-shooting news articles that Mr. Sinister was “reaching for his waistband” when Officer Galahad, fearing for his own life, felt compelled to shoot him four or five times? Apparently a “waistband” is the place that bad guys stick their pistols, or knives, boomerangs, or whatever; or that’s the plausible place he they would stick ’em if they had ’em in the first place.

And how many times has the DA, investigating the shootings, given a pass to Officer Galahad or one of his brethren, due to the claim, often unsubstantiated, that Mr. Sinister was “reaching for his waistband?”

Of course it’s a little embarrassing when it turns out that Mr. Sinister was completely unarmed. Then you would think that the “reaching for waistband” defense would come up a little short. After all why would a bad guy reach for a weapon that wasn’t there?

But no! It seems that for a successful Reaching For The Waistband defense, a policeperson merely needs to chant the mantra and that establishes the defense. After all, how was Officer Galahad to know that Mr. Sinister was merely trying to pull his pants up?

July 3, 2012July 3, 2012A Step in the Right Direction

Read All About It! A New Blog in Town

by Mr. Peabody28 Comments

A guy named Matt Leslie has started a new blog in Fullerton, and it looks like a pretty good read. It’s called the Fullerton Rag and appears thoughtful and well-written. I am informed Mr. Leslie is the lesser half of recent council candidate, Jane Rands.

This blog will likely appeal to the less febrile and more intellectual Fullerton political aesthetic preference; and I say bravo! The more people who dial into what’s happening in Fullerton, the better.

Be sure to read the post about Leslie playing Monopoly with Don Bankhead. It’s pretty good.

June 25, 2012June 25, 2012A Step in the Right Direction

Tanned, Rested, Ready. Bill Hunt For Fullerton Police Chief?

by Mr. Peabody441 Comments

Dear Friends, we received the following e-mail today:

The Fullerton Police Department needs a housecleaning; a big broom that will reach all the way back into the filthy corners that haven’t been cleaned for years. There are hairballs and dust bunnies back in there dating to Patdown Pat McPension’s first years on the job.

Except for those inside the department and the cowardly do-nothing types like Sharon Quirk who would have us believe that she and Dan Hughes are cleaning up the spills on Aisle One, nobody believes the department is capable of reforming itself. We need an objective outsider to do the job. Somebody who has experience as a municipal police chief, but who isn’t afraid to take on the establishment.

That person is Bill Hunt.

As a lieutenant in the OC Sheriff’s Department he was the Police Chief of San Clemente. He took on the corrupt Sheriff, Mike Carona when nobody else had the guts to. In doing so he earned the enmity of all the other crooked repuglicans in Orange County. It cost him his job.

Let’s get Fullerton back on track. Let’s get a strong, effective, honorable reformer running our police department!

June 15, 2012Dead heads

Fun Comments: 3 Good Men?

by Mr. Peabody38 Comments

Yesterday we received this pearl of a comment from Mr. or Ms. Anonymous:

“These paranoid pot smoking hippies put 3 good men outta a job just because they said they wanted to wait until an investigation was complete before commenting on the death of Kelly.

Now these smelly hippies are turning there paranoia on the sidebar which had nothing to do with anything. when will the madness stop?”

You know, I think this person meant to say “Three Bald Tires.” You see, there was simply no tread left. The steel was showing through what was left of the rubber. They were worse than worthless: they were dangerous.

But now they are in a better place – protecting against erosion along a bend in the Santa Ana River. And even though we are all just smelly hippies, we are all in a better place, too.