The Fullerton Harpoon, Author at Friends For Fullerton's Future

November 13, 2025November 13, 2025About Us

Shouldn’t We Have Been Paying Them?

Yesterday my FFFF colleague Disillusioned Ex-Hippy wrote a post about some nonsense written in the Fullerton Observer by the young and lively Elijah Manassero. It was about the mean and corrupt City of Fullerton victimizing and abusing the restaurant, Les Amis. So I went to the website to see how ridiculous it really was. Tender bud Elijah didn’t disappoint. What a load of bullshit.

The best part really needs to be highlighted for its sheer stupidity. And by best, I mean funniest. Get this:

Outdoor dining is rarely a profit center. It brings extra costs for staff, heaters, maintenance, and, in Les Amis’ case, live musicians. Restaurants maintain patios to beautify downtown, attract foot traffic, and create a sense of community. “Our patio is our thank you to the community,” Montecristo said.

Why, Les Amis is a veritable charity! According to Mrs. Jinan Montecristo, proprietor, their patio didn’t make them any money. Really, it was there as a gift from her to us. And when someone makes you a present of something you don’t charge them rent for the space where their good and kindly philanthropy is going on. In fact, I’m surprised the saucy young stem Elijah didn’t suggest that the taxpayers should have been paying Les Amis all along for their sacrifices for the community!

And remember this: Sharon Quirk doesn’t hand out Woman of the Year trophies like party favors for party givers. Oh, wait.

All this thinking can give a youngster a headache.

We can forgive tender Elijah for misusing the term “profit center” because he is probably studying sociology and left wing political thought in some diploma mill, somewhere. Still, the idea that restaurants operate outdoor patios as a gift to their communities is so profoundly stupid as to make us suspect young sprout Manassero’s sincerity about any of this.

It’s hard to believe that even he really believes the nonsense he wrote, or even supposes he can sell this tripe to the readers of the Fullerton Observer. Still, he wrote it and they published it; so maybe they really are that oblivious to reality.

Anyhow, if you believe this crapola then you must also believe that the City actually did Les Amis a favor by removing their illegal squatting accoutrements. After all, if your thing is a money loser why be in business, big or small?

November 6, 2025November 6, 2025Ahmad Zahra

I Pity the Poor Immigrant, Part 3. City Council Dropkicks Financial Aid Plan for Undocumented

by The Fullerton Harpoon42 Comments

On Tuesday the Fullerton City Council killed a plan by Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles to dole out $200,000 to the victims of Immigration and Custom Enforcement depredations.

The item was “tabled,” meaning it isn’t coming back. Fullerton does this because two councilmembers can keep bringing something back ad infinitum unless a majority makes a positive vote that it not come back. Fred Jung, Jamie Valencia and Nick Dunlap voted in the affirmative.

The idea itself, as with most squishy-feely liberal brainstorms, was based on the supposition that the people of Fullerton should pay for legal help and “basic necessities” i.e. food, rent, etc., for people harassed by ICE – even and especially undocumented immigrants, i.e. Illegal aliens.

The idea was to toss the money into the caring hands of non-profit entities who would then distribute the largesse, somehow, somewhere, to somebody. Deduct administrative overhead all around. The opportunity for waste, even if the cause were just and appropriate, should be obvious to anybody with sense.

Sense. Therein lay a problem.

As usual with this sort of thing, the council chamber was packed with pro-government giveaway types, many from outside Fullerton – people who believe it is the taxpayers job to subsidize their charitable impulses. This attendance will be misrepresented by the Fullerton Observer Kennedy Sisters and other boohoos, of course, as “the People” want this or that; or “the People have spoken;” or “listen to the People;” or to be more precise “Fred Jung failed to listen to the People.”

What the majority of people in Fullerton really think about this Berkeleyesque scheme isn’t known, but I bet eight or nine in ten would be against jumping this issue up to first in line.

The discussion did give opportunity for a budget discussion that proved more cloudy that clear. Shana Charles seemed to think she had discovered a vein of gold somewhere in the give-and-take, but of course didn’t have a clue about what she had heard. To her and her playmate, Zahra, $200,000 is just a drop in the proverbial bucket and of no real concern.

The funnest part of the evening came when the serial liar Zahra told his own immigration tale of hardship getting a green card.

This is fabulously disingenuous because we all know now that he got his green card through marriage fraud with one Michele Salmon, an Arkansas woman whom he married, then quickly abandoned in Little Rock as he went to pursue his Hollywood Dream. FFFF will be sharing a video clip of this newest chapter in Zahra’s chameleon-like origin story, when the City puts it on online.

The whole scenario was another one of those Zahra/Charles performative, made-for-effect gatherings to promote themselves, and no doubt to try to make the council majority look bad. That’s a poor political strategy. It’s going to backfire badly on Zahra, if he decides he still needs a councilman’s income after 2026; and just as disastrous for Shana Charles who has already announced her continuing “journey.”

“Charles Voted to give $200,000 to Illegal Aliens.” And so on.

November 5, 2025November 5, 2025Ahmad Zahra

Zahra Does What Zahra Does Best. Lie.

by The Fullerton Harpoon15 Comments

I will get what I want, one way or another…

At last night’s City Council meeting, “Doctor” Ahmad Zahra, the Dissimulator of Damascus, informed the packed audience the he had written an opinion piece in the Fullerton Observer. The thrust of the article he said, was to point out the disparity in park spending in south Fullerton when compared to the north.

I was curious to see what Zahra had written, knowing as I do his penchant for plagiarism in the Observer, and his special brand of hand-wringing. I wondered if it might be AI written as has appeared to be the case before. So I found the online copy of the print edition.

Naturally the first thing Zahra does to establish his position is to tell a bald-faced lie. People in the neighborhood have been waiting 20 years, he bemoaned, for the Union Pacific Park to “finally” be opened! One poor mom could become a grandmother waiting for the park to open! The shame! Zahra was peddling the same false history bullshit as his pal Skiaka Kennedy.

Of course Zahra’s implication is that the closed park symbolizes profound unfairness, proving bias against south Fullerton, presumably by white City Councils from north Fullerton (not so subtle racism and hideous classism would be the obvious cause, Zahra hoped, to the Latino-packed audience). That’s the official Fullerton Boohoo narrative.

The problem is that this weeping about Union Pacific Park is completely untrue, and the history of the park, while demonstrating gross incompetence by City staff and councils, in no way shows an anti-south Fullerton bias. Actually, just the opposite.

Here’s the truth: the park had been opened back in the early 2000s at a cost of several million bucks to the public – all of Fullerton’s public. In a year or two part of the park was fenced off due to soil contamination – but a small part of the western end. The balance of the park remained wide open to the public and stayed open for ten years or so. Then the park was closed by Fullerton’s City Manager, and former Parks and Rec Director, Joe Felz.

Why?

Because the Union Pacific Park had become a haven for borrachos, gang members and drug addicts. The City finally put up a fence around the whole damn thing. The small toilet building was a magnet for illicit activity; it was closed, then demolished. Homeless started to haunt the walkways and build wickiups against the fence. No City Council ever voted on this closure, by the way. A public explanation would be too damn damning. It has been painfully obvious that there never should have been a park there in the first place, and there wouldn’t have been except for the ego of the then Parks Director and lots of Redevelopment play money.

The sad truth is that nothing has changed to make the new version of the Union Pacific Park successful. All of the same socio-economic, criminal, and drug abuse issues still exist. Zahra will not be in office after next November’s election, but the legacy of his foolish, patronizing make-work projects – the Trail to Nowhere and the Union Pacific Park – will be notorious to anybody willing to look at the topic honestly.

Alas, honesty is not a commodity in high demand in the world of uber-liberal politics, made manifest locally in the precincts of Fullerton BooHoo. Here, governance, if you want to call it that, is based on seeking out, and appearing sensitive to the plight of some victim or other, some “underserved” person or class, whether they want that solicitude or not. The more you spend, the more you appear to care, even if the money is utterly wasted, as were the millions spent acquiring and building the first Union Pacific Park.

November 2, 2025November 2, 2025A Manfro All Seasons

I Pity the poor immigrant – Part 2

by The Fullerton Harpoon35 Comments

In just two weeks since October 21th, the Fullerton city staff have prepared the outline of a plan to create a legal fund and a general welfare fund for targets of zealous Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

That was pretty fast so I imagine the immigrant fraudster himself, Ahmad Zahra was doing some of his special brand hysteria behind the scenes.

I say “outline” because the staff report for the item (#7 on this Tuesday’s council meeting) only presents generalities about who might be doing what. Specifically, the report recommends creating two funds of $100,000 each. How the money is doled out and by whom, and who would be responsible for any of it remains something of a mystery although the City Manager will pick the winners and sign the contracts. I do know that there will be no accountability: the local non-profit industry seems to be the intended recipient, and the third party aspect would just make it harder to figure out what is going on and unlikely to be audited for “deliverables” – as government neologizers love to phrase it.

But there’s going to be a snag.

The vote on October 21st was 3-2 to move ahead, with the usual boohooing by the two “doctors.” At the urging of Mayor Fred Jung, Zahra came up with the $200,00 and Jamie Valencia went along with the nonsense. But later in the meeting she clarified her position that she did not want to spend any public money on this effort; she wanted non-profits involved in it, presumably with smiling encouragement being the City’s only contribution.

Will Ms. Valencia stick to her guns? Fullerton Boohoo and the screaming Kennedy sisters will be at the meeting in force, especially with the misinformed Les Amis boosters in attendance to bemoan the fate of the Montecristo’s patio – the one they diligently refused to pay rent on.

October 25, 2025October 25, 2025Ahmad Zahra

When Kennedy Sisters Go Wild! Or, When AI Attacks!!

by The Fullerton Harpoon31 Comments

At the last Fullerton City Council meeting a bunch of people showed up to promote taxpayer relief for illegal aliens (AKA undocumented immigrants) being abused by ICE thuggery. They were inspired by the usual Zahra-Charles altruism that manifests itself in government spending your money to do something you probably don’t want it to.

When the Boohoos were done boohooing, the final Zoom caller laid out a nice riposte to the nonsense. The call was disrupted by loud shouts from the Fullerton Observer Kennedy Sisters and their pals, eventually drawing rebuke by Mayor Fred Jung – who rightly pointed out the disgrace of a supposed newspaper publisher trying to censor public comment.

But, see, the voice was AI generated, prompting Kennedy Sister cries “AI is not a person! No AI.” Ah, yes. However, “AI” did didn’t pop up out of nowhere. Somebody wrote the text of that statement. Somebody used text to voice software to record it. Somebody replayed it on the Zoom call.

I find it hilarious, but not at all surprising that the self-righteous Kennedy Sisters took it upon themselves to judge the propriety of an AI voiced comment just because they didn’t like what was being said. As we observe – a human created that statement based on human input. Had the call been supportive of the public expenditure you can be sure “AI” would have been met with cheers and applause.

You’ve gotta see and hear what happened. Fortunately the Boys in the White Van have helped out with a video that records the event. Be sure to watch to end where the ever-obnoxious Yolanda Harrison has her “statement” read by somebody else. Why? Because her husband, the equally egregious Todd, claimed she had had some sort of medical procedure leaving her unable to speak. Who’s to say that the AI call was made by someone unable to speak? Here’s the video:

What a damn disgrace, and proof positive of these people demanding that their self-righteous voice be allowed to drown out anyone who disagrees with their left wing ideology.

Anyhow, the City Attorney responded to a question by the Mayor, saying, no, the City has no authority to censor AI, and in fact has no ability to even authenticate the voice.

Why write about news when you can try to make your own! (Photo by Julie Leopo/Voice of OC)

This situation does raise an interesting topic that is bound to become more prevalent. In the meantime somebody needs to convey to the Kennedy Sisters the importance of free speech. They already censor legitimate commentary on the Fullerton Observer blog; now it seems, they think they are entitled to do it in City Hall.

And when has a real journalist ever yelled out partisan comments at a public meeting?

October 21, 2025October 21, 2025I Aint a Swallerin That

Haunted Fullerton High School

by The Fullerton Harpoon5 Comments

*There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.*

It’s that time of the year. Scary stories and creative history.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/601779576339446

My favorite part is the “hospital on the hill.”

But who are we to judge such things?

October 14, 2025October 14, 2025Chronic Failure

The Community Garden

by The Fullerton Harpoon16 Comments

A sharp-eyed Friend happened to be driving down the alley behind the Elephant Packing House the other day. In case you don’t know where this is, remember the City’s use of “Phase 1” of the Trail to Nowhere as a pretext for wasting more millions on “Phase 2” – even though they don’t connect to each other. You know the alley/trail where a few suspicious characters always seem to be hanging out.

It appears that some entrepreneurial agronomist has begun a late corn crop along the “trail,” a sure indicator that the planned community garden in the adjacent UP Park to Nowhere is bound to be a roaring success.

Said Fullerton Parks Commission Chairman Dudley F. Paul, “these types of pop-up cash crops indicate the need for more community involvement in urban farming. Even though we have had to hide the new vegetable bins for security, we are determined to make the new community garden a success.”

October 12, 2025October 12, 2025About Us

Oliver’s Twist

by The Fullerton Harpoon34 Comments

A few days ago Mr. Peabody brought up the case of Oliver Montecristo and his mom, Jinan, both of who popped up over the summer crying foul. Why? Because the City had the audacity to charge them “excessive” rent on the space outside their restaurant in downtown Fullerton.

Oliver has taken to insulting Mayor Jung and councilmembers Dunlap and Valencia for their persecution of “Les Amis” and perforce, their anti-small business bias.

At first I couldn’t figure out what the deal was. Fullerton Boohoo, led by the Kennedy Sisters certainly climbed on the bandwagon quickly shedding tears, so they said. The sweet young rosebud, Elijah Manassero thought he knew a good thing when he saw it, to attack Fred Jung in order to help out Connor Traut. The narrative was great: Jung beats down the little man. News at 11.

The tender sprig even came up with a fun graphic: Les Amis bound like Prometheus by red, well, yellow tape.

The problem for Jinan and her cub Oliver’s narrative is that they have been determinedly dodging rent due to the City for 15 years while they were also squatting on public property without agreements or permits in place.

Isn’t that a terrible look for anybody, let alone people who get up in public and attack their landlords? And why oh why had the City allowed these scofflaws to stay in business on our property and to continue to grab more public real estate without permission?

Questions.

Then a commenter suggested a cozy relationship between 5th District Councilman Ahmad Zahra and the restaurant located in his district. Hmm. A little checking revealed Zahra political fundraisers held at…Les Amis. What a coincidence. Here are a couple of images from a Zahra campaign fundraiser:

Bernard, did you know rent’s been due on this property? For 12 years?

Wanna take a sidewalk? That’s our specialty!

Zahra once held a “Pride Celebration” fundraiser of some kind at Les Amis that featured Robert Garcia – another fellow grifter, just like himself.

It looks like Zahra may well have persuaded impressionable Oliver to start making a nuisance of himself. Doc Zahra has certainly pitched the “Les Amis as victims” to young Elijah who has taken up the cause with liveliness.

It appears that Les Amis has become a hub of local Democrat activity on misappropriated property. And look who the most recent beneficiary:

Makes you wonder about the integrity of all concerned.

Unfortunately, this ploy of Zahra/Traut, whose ultimate goal is to attack Jung, has backfired badly. The ugly truth about Les Amis is now out of the bag and the good folk of Fullerton are entitled to know exactly when they’re going to get paid for the property Les Amis is squatting on.

October 9, 2025October 9, 2025Ahmad Zahra

When Docs Go Wild

by The Fullerton Harpoon20 Comments

October 1, 2025October 3, 2025About Us

We Get Mail: The Missing Planters

by The Fullerton Harpoon25 Comments

FFFF received an email yesterday from one of our readers. I reproduce the text below:

FFFF, I was at the UP Park “community event” on the 13th. I read your post about the event and I have to say it brought some things into focus. Why were we doing the last thing first? It seemed cooked up.

Anyway, what I want to find out about is the status of the wooden raised garden bins built that day. They were supposed to be used for a community garden and now they have completely disappeared from the park.

Why?

Did the City take them away? Were they stolen? Where are they?

Hey, the Friend is right. Here’s the area where the alleged “community garden” is supposed to be. I took the picture yesterday afternoon.

And here’s the image from the Big Party.

Bins to the left of them, bins to the right of them…

The answers to the questions are unknown. I imagine the bins were removed by the City. But why? To protect them from graffiti? From theft? Geez, that would be a bad omen for the success of the park.

Were they in the way of the contractor now that the “Volunteer Futility” is over? That speaks volumes to the insincere quality of the community event.

You have to wonder about the sincerity of the City toward the idea of a community garden, especially from the Parks department people who would have to deal with the managerial headache with no extra budget, no extra manpower, and zero upside for them.

Anyway, if I can find out where the bins are, I’ll let our reader know.