Mike Carona’s Not Cheap Lawyers Threaten FFFF!

Your honor, I'd like to abridge the First Amendment!
Your honor, I'd like to abridge the First Amendment! By the way, are you going to finish the rest of that soda?

Last night we received an e-mailed letter from Jones Day, the same lawyers that miraculously worked on convicted criminal ex-Sheriff Mike Carona’s defense for free.

The letter demands that we remove the post we published about KCAL’s Dave Lopez pursuing a story concerning a former Mike Duvall associate at Linda Ackerman’s October 20th fundraiser at the Summit Inn.

Our post was about an event that occurred within Fullerton, our city. It’s on film. Thousands of people have seen it on television. It indisputably happened. It was of particular interest to us since Mr. Lopez also interviewed us at our protest at the site of the fundraiser; this fact was clearly related in the very first sentence of the post.

The post made it very clear that the behavior ascribed to the individual in question was merely alleged. We did not claim that it was true, since we did not know. Therefore Jones Day’s second demand – that we publish a retraction averring the falsity of the allegations – is a logical absurdity since we have no way of knowing that the allegations are false, either. We presume credible allegations were actually made since this story was aired by a reputable news operation.

But we will say this: the subject in question and her lawyers categorically deny the allegations reported by KCALs Dave Lopez.

This appears to be nothing more than a little intimidation orchestrated by Ackerman, Inc. itself, to keep people in Fullerton from knowing things that happen in Fullerton – much like the rest of  phony “Ackerman for Assembly” campaign. Is it merely a coincidence that the guy whose name on the Jones Day correspondence is an Irvine lawyer who just happens to have been at The Hastings School of the Law at the same time as Ackerman? Hmm.

We have caused nobody “serious and irreparable harm;” we have defamed nobody. If KCAL determines that this story has no basis and no merit then we will be happy to relate that, at the appropriate time.

jonesdayletter
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FFFF Greets Ackerwoman & Co.

Forget about the law, my community knows no boundaries!
Forget about the law, my community knows no boundaries!

As we promised yesterday, a gathering of Friends took place last night at the entrances to the Summit House restaurant where a fundraiser for the Mrs. was organized by Ackerman. We wanted to make sure Ackerman, inc. got the message that we don’t care for carpetbaggers in Fullerton.

We noticed the arrival of a few of OCs more notorious Repuglicans – like Diane “the FBIs Comin'” Harkey and Lynn “the Bulldozer” Daucher. And we noticed an unusual police presence given the short notice of out protest. Hmm. Well, we behaved ourselves and the police hardly hassled us at all.

The best part of the evening was the arrival of Dave Lopez of KCAL , who broke the original story of the Duvall disgrace a couple months ago. Ever helpful, we supplied Lopez with the phony address Ackerman, Inc. are using on 1541 Lindendale, and hopefully he went over there to see for himself if Ackerman, Inc. ever showed up to spend the night at their alleged abode.

Linda and Dick appeared to be surprised when they drove past some of the Friends at the State College entrance…..stay tuned!

Party Tonight For Ackerwoman; Thrown by – Ackerman

A party for me? You shouldn't have!
A party in honor of me? You shouldn't have. Really. You shouldn't have!

The Ackerman is hosting a reception to night “in honor of” the Ackerwoman, at the Summit House restaurant. Huh? Why?

It’s obviously related to the 72nd Assembly district campaign since the party is being held in Fullerton, instead of Irvine, which is where the Ackermans live.  Maybe it’s really a fundraiser. Our invitation didn’t say.

This is an obvious South County political foray into Fullerton, and we don’t like it. So let’s get our act together and protest this carpetbagging Irvine political socialiteand send her and her pals back to South County!

Show up tonight (5:30) at the Summit House Restaurant at the SW corner of Bastanchury Rd. and State College to fight political carpetbagging in North Orange County. We’ll bring the signs!  Let’s make this a “reception” she won’t forget!

Irony: Ackerwoman Complains About Norby Mailer

I lie about him and he tells the truth about me. That's not fair!
I lie about him and he tells the truth about me. That's not fair!

Too funny! Our inside sources tell us that Ackerwoman has filed an ethics complaint to the GOP Central Committee about a Norby flier supposedly tying her to her husband’s budget deals in Sacto.

Since Ackerwoman is tied at the hip to her husband Ackerman, it seems like a fairly reasonable association to make. After all, she was handsomely paid to raise funds for his campaigns so presumably she believed in the product she was pitching.

What’s really comical is that Ackerwoman has the nerve to show her mug in public at all after the scurrilous hit piece that she put out on Norby, let alone complain about “ethics”! The bogus piece she mailed out will no doubt earn her a cross-complaint when the Central Committee Ethics Committee next meets, as will the fact that she isn’t even living in the district where she only recently registered to vote.

Hypocrisy, deceit, dishonor, egotism, power fetish – the list just goes on and on. Who dug up these wretched people?

Fart Boy Demonstrating Symptoms Of Methane Intoxication

Methane levels reaching dangerous levels...
Warning: methane levels reaching dangerous levels...

UPDATE: 10/15/09 8:00 am.

AT THE RED COUNTY BLOG CONTRIBUTOR ALLAN BARTLETT HAS POSTED AN ACCURATE TAKE ON THE “DESPERATION” MAILER, ITS POSSIBLE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, AND A STRONG ENDORSEMENT OF CHRIS NORBY. ALLAN IS ON THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE AND IS KNOWN FOR HIS INTEGRITY. GOOD FOR HIM.

Orange County’s own original Fart Boy, Matthew Cunningham may be a poster child for the dangers of methane inhalation. Of course we speak figuratively. As an all around sycophant he has to do a lot of sniffing and smiling, and it can’t be easy. He has finally come across a situation where he can’t compliment everyone in the room for their aroma at the same time.

One of our readers alerted us that today he put up a post about the nasty little sexual harassment hit piece on Chris Norby that his other friends, the Ackermans, let fly through the mail. His bland description of this toxic waste is clearly meant to both disassociate himself from it, and yet avoid criticizing it. He can’t quite seem to screw up the courage to share the facts of the case. So there’s no critique, explaining the fact that the claimant was fired by the County for misfeasance and that no charges were leveled against Norby until after she was fired; no recognition that the the jury foreman claimed after the trial that Norby hadn’t really done anything wrong; and no observation that the nuisance suit was reversed on appeal.

Cunningham has often referred to his “friendship” with Chris Norby. Well here we can see the value of that friendship. It’s obviously not worth incurring the anger of Dick Ackerman, even over a piece of slime that’s low – even for him. Yes, we knew it was coming. But that doesn’t excuse it. Cunningham was probably hoping the excrement would be tossed not by the Ackermans themselves, but rather by a surrogate. Well, too bad. It wasn’t. It has Ackerman’s name on the back. His other “friends.”

And what is really revealing in all of this is that other than this one slime the Ackerman campaign has nothing. Zero. But you’ll never hear that from Fart Boy. What a friend.

Sharon Kennedy Attempts to Dump on FFFF; Instead Soils Self Badly

Yellowing Sub torpedoes self. Again.
Yellowing Sub torpedoes self. Again. Still no bottom in sight.

In the latest dreary edition of her yellowing Fullerton Observer, editor and almost entirely irrelevant City Hall shill, Sharon Kennedy, tries to smear FFFF and our law suit against the City’s fraudulent redevelopment expansion.

Once again we are “discredited;” why? Oh that’s right: we are sick of idiots like Dick Jones getting re-elected with the complicity of Sharon Kennedy, and we attempted to do something about it by using the donkey’s own braying.

You are very repulsive.
You are very repulsive. And discredited, too.

Of course Kennedy drags in the hated Chris Norby, who is not even a party to the law suit. She tries to dismiss our attorney Robert Ferguson (“serial anti-redevelopment lawyer”- you know like serial murderer, serial rapist, etc.) and even drags in Howard Ahmanson, whom none of us have ever even talked to, and even Ahmanson’s dead father! She left out Idi Amin, Adolf Hitler, Father Coughlin, Howard Jarvis, and the Ku Klux Klan, but just give her time. There was only one factual statement in the whole embarrassing plop: FFFF is suing the City.

At the end of her screed Kennedy extrudes this priceless string of turds:

Unfortunately, though the city is expected to win the suit, the action will set back plans for needed improvements and cost the city money to litigate.

Really Sharon? How about a little reporting instead of your usual brainless editorializing? Who says the city is expected to win? Are you aware of Ferguson’s record? Who says “plans” will be set back? What plans? Where are they? Of what do they consist? Who says it will cost the city money to litigate? They’re “expected to win,” right?

Sharon, is it too much to hope that you will ever extract your cranium from its lodging place?

The hole may be shallower than anyone suspected
The hole may be a lot shallower than anyone ever suspected

Let’s Put The Ackermans’ Selfishness in a Fullerton Context

We have been making  fun of Mrs. Ackerman’s carpetbagging run for the 72nd Assembly seat – up for grabs in November after the Ackerman’s pal Mike Duvall got caught with his pants down and his microphone open.

We're really not as close to the Duvalls as we used to be...
We're really not as close to the Duvalls as we used to be...

We have recounted Mrs. Ackerman’s bogus Hawaiian vacation “non-profit” corporation, noted the out-of-town fundraising attempt with Sacto lobbyists; and of course we have had some fun with the phony residency – in which they want people to believe they are moving in with another Fullerton family.

What all this really adds up to is a breathtaking arrogance, a sense of self-entitlement that the rest of us have trouble grasping. Just how these OC Repuglican stalwarts grab hold of and hang on to government power to promote and enrich themselves is something that most regular people just can’t quite fathom. Who in the 72nd Assembly District asked Mrs. Ackerman (who has lived in Irvine for ten years) to represent them? Nobody, that’s who! It was the Ackermans’ idea.  

pigs

And so, ever helpful, we have decided to put the inherent selfishness of these people into a local perspective, personified by our old pal, Fullerton Councilman Dick Jones. Over the years Jones has remained on the City Council with the staunch support of the Ackermans, who endorse this loud-mouthed, ignorant blowhard term after repugnant term. Why? It can’t be because they care about good government in Fullerton. No, it is because Jones fills their bill just perfectly.

But Dick told me I gotta run again...
But Dick told me I gotta run again...

First, Jones is getting on in years and has no political ambition; second, he mostly does what he is told by the people who put him in office – when they deign to care about something in Fullerton at all, that is. At this point his assignment is principally to stay in office – to avoid a Godless Democrat from getting in, a Democrat whose voting record would be essentially the same as Jones, but who might pose a threat to the Repuglican elite. So what if Jones is really just a RINO? So what if he shoots his mouth off with incoherent tirades? So what if he knows nothing about what he’s blathering about? His job is to keep the seat warm until the next cipher with more ambition than brains can be unearthed, and to avoid soiling himself in public. 

What? That guy's nuts!
What? That guy's nuts!

And so you see, the Ackermans get the prize they like to gloat over – political control – and we get – well you’ve seen the video clips. You know what we get.

A New Day in Fullerton: Friends Sue the Redevelopment Agency

You're not supposed to just make stuff up...
You're not supposed to just make stuff up...

Well, Friends, today it happened. Friends for Fullerton’s Future brought suit in the Superior Court against the phony Redevelopment expansion, and against the County’s disbursement of any property tax increment.

This morning our attorney C. Robert Ferguson filed the necessary documents in Santa Ana.

The basis of our law suit is simplicity itself: the findings of blight in the proposed expansion area are completely contrived, solely for the purpose of creating a tax increment windfall for the Agency at the expense of other agencies, and to the detriment of all property owners shouldering the burden of this encumbrance on their properties.

The Fullerton Redevelopmentmobile on its way
The Fullerton Redevelopmentmobile on its way

How do we know the blight findings were made up?  Because we looked at their silly pictures of “blight”; because we noticed how property owners were casually deleted for no other reason than that they appeared to be vocal opponents, or because they were the necessary third vote to pass the expansion; because we heard Dick Jones, on numerous occasions, braying that  it was all about “needing the money.”

Redevelopment

So now let’s let the legal process unfold and see where it takes us.

lawyers1

The Observer Swings…and Misses!

No bottom in sight...
No bottom in sight...

Our old pal Sharon Kennedy just couldn’t help taking a shot at the Friends in her latest edition of the Observer. In a story [it’s on page 8] about the City’s settlement with the County over the bogus Redevelopment expansion she takes her swing: “Chris Norby and his supporters in the FACT and FFF (sic) groups (both groups widely discredited by shameful campaign ads and tactics in past elections)…”

Shameful? Well, hell, we don’t feel the least bit of shame – let alone any sort of discredit, except perhaps from people whose opinion means almost nothing to us. Excuse us, Ms. Kennedy, for pointing out what a loud-mouthed, ignorant blowhard Dick Jones really is – and using his own words to do it!

Much more shameful was the Observer’s slavish endorsement of Jones, an undeniable corn pone numbskull, simply because he is a reliable City staff stooge. That endorsement may have cost Karen Haluza the election. Nice work for a “progressive” operation.

If you go down far enough you might reach China...
If you go down far enough you might reach China...

And speaking of shameful, will the Observer continue to support council members who have voted to approve massive corporate subsidized housing projects with deficient CEQA findings? Just asking.

Being called shameful by Sharon Kennedy and her yellowing Observer is like being called ugly by a toad. 

Yes I am extremely unattractive, but you are even more so...
Yes I am extremely unattractive, but you are even more so...