They lie about stuff big and small. They just can’t help it. Last year FFFF nailed former councilman Don Bankhead in a bald-faced lie here, when he denied saying Fullerton would be a ghost town without Redevelopment.
Here he is denying to Fullerton Stories that he had pulled papers to run for the city council (after having been recalled just six weeks ago). Possibly Bankhead is unaware that not only does the City Clerk keep track of who has pulled papers, but they list it on their web page.
Of course Bankhead has run so many times that he should know this, unless the teeth are just worn away and the old gears are spinning aimlessly.
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.
Just in case there were any doubt about the state of Mr. Don Bankhead’s mental faculties, I am pleased to report that the recently recalled councilman has pulled papers to run again for the city council, just like he did in 1994 after being recalled. Bankhead is only one of two office holders in the history of the United States to be recalled from the same office twice, and the only man in the 152 year history of California.
This dunderhead snoozed while the FPD sank into a Culture of Corruption, while the water rate payers were ripped off, and as he handed out millions to his campaign contributors; and yet he seems to think himself still worthy of somebody’s trust.
Still, running for the office you were recalled from a mere six weeks ago takes a lot of gall, or disconnect from reality, or both; especially when you got your sorry old ass whipped 2-1.
Hope the tux is rented…
I have no idea if this doorknob actually plans on running; but I doubt if he has a single friend of family member with the sense or decency to tell him no. But if he does, you can certainly look forward to some fun.
A man was found dead along the tracks at the Fullerton train station early Sunday morning. It was a 30 year-old Cypress man named Sean Moses.
Early speculation was that he had been initially struck by a train has not been verified and questions about when the actor and former junior high basketball coach actually died remain unanswered although an autopsy has been performed. Apparently he had been celebrating a friend’s birthday in downtown Fullerton on Saturday night.
A memorial has emerged at the north depot platform in eerie proximity to the location where Kelly Thomas’s is located.
Naturally, we will be looking into this as well and will keep the friends informed.
The OC Weekly is reporting here, that a Fullerton acupuncturist was busted for inserting more than just needles into a patient. In his usual uber-sophomoric way, Matt Coker describes a sexual assault perpetrated by Chan Soon Park at the New Life Acupuncture & Natural Healing Clinic, 905 S. Euclid St.
And because I am only slightly less sophomoric, I pass it along.
According to the OC Register, Joe Wolfe, one of the instigators of the fatal confrontation between six Fullerton cops and a mentally ill homeless man in July 2011, is no longer in the employ of the good people of Fullerton.
Naturally the cops won’t say squat about the separation because the public is not to know about any of the bad things cops do under the color of authority. Wolfe was either fired or permitted to resign, perhaps so he could go be an upstanding cop somewhere else.
Included in the story was a typical Lou Ponsi whopper:
Wolfe was placed on unpaid leave since just after the fatal confrontation.
Incorrect on two counts. Wolfe was never placed on unpaid leave. He has been on a paid vacation for almost a year; and remember, it took a month to get the cops involved off the streets. Of course Wolfe allegedly re-injured his bad shoulder beating Kelly Thomas’s with his club and elbow, so it is likely he is the cop that was not back on active duty. Of course since these sorts of details are all hush-hush we’ll never know – although we can almost certainly expect a disability claim from Wolfe.
Does this mean there’s an impending charge from the DA against Wolfie? Maybe, if he was fired, but I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel on that possibility. If he was quietly permitted to resign he will still be expecting a call from Garo Mardirossian.
Other nagging questions: is who is Corporal Tim Kandler, what happened to OJ jailer Jeff Stuart, and why in the hell does Fullerton still have an FPOA member acting as public spokesmen?
The Voice of OC(EA) on Friday posted a story about yet another high-level crony of County CEO Tom Mauk bailing out of the creaky tub that is taking on water fast in the wake of the Carlos Bustamante sex-assault case. This person’s name is Alisa Drakodidas, and she was in immediate charge of the patsy who just got canned last week, and about whom I wrote about, here.
Deputy CEO Drakodadis, on far left at dump ground breaking. May be returning to landfill work soon.
Drakodidas was a Deputy CEO of Infrastructure (whatever that means) and apparently a close confidant of Mauk. She has taken a medical leave until the end of August, and of course is still being paid. She has got herself a lawyer, too, and according to Voice has sent the County a nasty letter blasting various individuals, including Supervisors, most specifically Pat Bates. According to the Voice’s source, the letter accuses Bates of getting one of her office flunkies a high paying job and generally botching things up. Other Supervisors, collectively, are blamed for interfering with contracts (I think this is probably code for doing favors for fund-raising lobbyists). It’s obvious that Ms. Drakodidas is not planning on coming back to work.
Apparently the County is not releasing any details of the letter via the Public Records Act, but it’s clear somebody at the County has leaked the general outline of this document. It must provide some interesting reading. Hopefully all of this finger pointing will result in a clear picture of why Bustamante was employed at all, and who let him get away with his twisted pervy sex attacks.
And let’s start with someone named Dana Fox who supposedly is an attorney for the City of Fullerton – a holdover from the Old Regime of Incompetence and Denial.
Here is a story by the never helpful Lou Ponsi of the OC Register that includes an interview with said Mr. Fox. It’s all about the the lawsuit filed by Ron Thomas against the City of Fullerton for the murder of his son by the Fullerton cops July 5th, 2011.
Lawyer Fox? Close enough.
First Fox pops off about the irrelevance of previous bad behavior by some of Fullerton’s Finest:
Responding to the lawsuit Thomas filed last week, alleging officers’ misconduct in multiple incidents apart from the July 5, 2011 incident involving his son, attorney Dana Fox said many of the allegations deal with “extemporaneous” and “irrelevant” matters.
“All of those other matters have nothing to do with the events of July 5, 2011, and are irrelevant to determine if there is liability, and if so, if there are reasonable compensatory damages that Mr. Thomas is entitled to recover,” Fox said.
I think the history of malfeasance and cover-ups is very much germane to the Culture of Corruption that permeated the FPD. Of course I’m not a lawyer. But Garo Mardirossian is. I do know one thing: I want the history of FPD abuses addressed, admitted to, and corrected, and through a court proceeding, if necessary.
Later on Fox dangles the tasty carrot of an easy settlement:
“As the city and Cathy Thomas were able to do, which is put aside their differences … the city is more than willing to sit down with Mr. Thomas and his attorney,” Fox said. “Otherwise, it will be a lengthy case.”
Differences? Hell, we all saw the video. Who in the hell gave this assclown permission to speak to the media on behalf of the City. Bankhead, Jones, and McPension have been fired by the people of Fullerton. Who is giving this bozo direction in dealing with Ron Thomas, or any other of the long line of plaintiffs against the Fullerton Police Department? Again, I only want a settlement after a court trial, in public, details the facts of the Kelly Thomas murder on top of those the DA will not touch.
Finally, I would like to know who gave Lawyer Fox permission to open his yap to the media in the first place. Was it Old Regime City Manager Joe Felz? Was it Old Regime City Attorney Richard Jones? Was it Mayor Sharon Quirk? Whoever it was, one thing should be made abundantly clear – nobody speaks for the City of Fullerton except the city council; this means no more happy press releases issued by staff, no more government self-promotion, and no more obfuscation meant to protect city employees and meant to sweep embarrassments under the rug.
And let’s hope the new council gets on with the business of clearing out the holdovers from the corrupt, stupid, incompetent, and negligent council majority that preceded them.
The fallout from the Carlos Bustamante sexual assault case has now begun in earnest.
According to the Voice of OC(EA), here, the County has fired some high level guy named Jess Carbajal, the Director of Public Works, and Bustamante’s immediate boss. Mr. Carbajal’s offense appears to be that when the first anonymous complaint against Bustamante was received in March, 2011, he directed the Public Works HR crew to investigate. Too bad they worked for Bustamante! Naturally the conflict of interest resulted in no investigation at all. Bad, boy, Jess.
The fish rots from the head.
Of course Carbajal, who now has lawyered up, has already fingered County CEO Tom Mauk and then Board Chairman Bill Cambell as being well aware of the original complaint.
It seems to be common knowledge that Bill Campbell was Bustamante’s political mentor and promotor; and that the gross, serial perv held a series of unrelated jobs and possessed no discernible professional skills as he ascended the high-paying County bureaucratic ladder. Somebody was looking out for this miscreant and it seems to be generally accepted that these people were Mauk and Campbell.
You lookin’ at me?
At this Carbajal just looks like a ineffectual patsy with no moral scruples, but he probably has a lot to say. Why it took so long to dump him is an interesting question all by itself.
Our new city council members recently received this unsolicited e-mail from former City Manager Chris Meyer:
Council Members, you might want to consider the attached article from Oakland on police commissions/ oversight, before you decide how you want to proceed. It is very instructive on the challenges you may face. Since the procedures for disciplinary action for police officers are embodied in their labor contract (which is subject the collective bargaining process under MMB, PERB; and other State laws, as well as long established city policy), and since the current contract with the optional extension, doesn’t expire until 2014, an oversight commission would be a ineffective, and generally useless until a new contract was mutually agreed upon, or imposed unilaterally on the POA.
Instead, you may want to focus on appointing a permanent Chief of Police for the time being, and see if the problems can be resolved that way. As to the Council appointing a Chief of Police, go ahead and give it a try. It will be interesting to see how the Chief interfaces with the Council, and implements both your individual, and collective agendas. You might want to ask Shawn, Sharon, or Pam what the closed session discussion was like when the most recent Chief was selected. You will note that in the City Manager Ordinance, that the CM is required to consult with the Council on the selection of the Chief. That means that at least three Council Members need to concur with the CM’s recommendation in order for it to happen, unless of course the CM is planning on looking for a new job. For all practical purposes at least four members of the Council need to concur, as no Chief candidate will take a job on a 3/2 vote.The Council also interviews the final three candidates for the job, and can direct the appointment. Generally the CM can work with any of the top three, so the selection is responsive to the Councils direction, and desires. Finally, ask yourself this question? Do you want to be responsible for the Chief’s actions. Remember that will require you to fall on your collective swords, as well as the Chief, if something like Kelly happens again. And, just a reminder, the Chief gets POBAR protection, and presumptive clause protection for medical conditions related to the incident, or the job, so you would be gone long before he, or she would, as you would bear the ultimate responsibility.
Chris Meyer City Manager, Retired
The part I love is the former City Manager trying to scare the new council members into the same craven cowardliness that tanked the last crew. Do you want to be responsible for the Chief’s actions?
Well, hell yes!!
Leaders lead. The poor, brainless bastards that just got recalled failed to lead. They let “the system” take charge; the result was a disaster. Comically, the otiose Meyer derives his entire screed on the premise that “things just happen.” But Meyer fails to grasp one basic truth: things just happen when nobody is in charge.
Typically, Meyer omits to remind the new council that hewas in charge as the Fullerton Police Department slid down the greasy slope of corruption. Typical? Yes, indeed. The old, corrupt regime never took responsibility for its actions. And a bloated pustule like Meyer could make $200,000 a year coaching his three sawdust-brained puppets to dodge the accountability they were elected to assume.
