Behind Closed Doors Archives - Page 57 of 85 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

February 10, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Did FPD Leak Personnel Information to Larry Bennett?

Chimps In Charge — Hey, you over there on the left. You can talk now!

By now we are all familiar with the impenetrable shroud in which law enforcement has wrapped itself, with the knowledge and support of supine politicians across the state who have taken its campaign money and endorsements.

In Fullerton this official Code of Silence is used by the Three Dithering Dinosaurs – Don Bankhead, Dick Jones, and Pat McKinley – to excuse their deplorable failure of leadership in the aftermath of the Kelly Thomas killing. They couldn’t say anything, it was all about personnel stuff.

But what do we have here? Listen carefully to anti-recaller Larry Bennett on an October 19, 2011 Inside OC program:

Hey, wait just a minute! That bit about the “iPad woman” doesn’t sound quite right.Here’s a snippet from Lou Ponsi’s article in the Register on the matter, just yesterday, citing FPD spokesdoughnut Andrew Goodrich:

Mejia was placed on paid administrative leave after returning from Florida and has not been a member of the department since Oct. 28, said Sgt. Andrew Goodrich. The city can’t say the reason Mejia is no longer employed with the department, Goodrich said

October 28th, 2011. So why did civilian Larry Bennett say Mejia had already been fired (past tense) nine days before, and how did he come to have any information about that at all?

Was Bennett just lying? Could be. The truth hasn’t tumbled out of his mouth for at least six months. But let’s consider something else, implausible, but not impossible – that he was actually telling the truth of what he knew.

If that’s the case then it’s obvious that the cop personnel Code of Silence was violated by somebody in the FPD itself, as some one who knew what was going on with Mejia (any guesses?), told Bankhead, Jones, or McKinley what was happening, and one of them leaked it to Bennett; and then Bennett shared it with a TV audience! Either that, or somebody in the FDP went directly to Bennett with the news so he could beat the drum for a decisive, pro-active department: No Culture of Corruption here!

Well, selective leaks are nothing new for Andrew Goodrich. Police love to share information about suspects unless those suspects happen to be cops. In this instance it sure looks like the cop curtain of secrecy was opened just a bit in the service of trying to make the department and the Three Tired Tubers look decisive.

So next time you hear about the need for secrecy in all police personnel matters, remember this story of hypocrisy. Some things aren’t as secret as others.

February 5, 2012February 5, 2012Behind Closed Doors

She Bear About to Turn Violent?

by Joe Sipowicz84 Comments

MCKinley3 — Frustrated that the slow working of his mind could not process the new data, McKinley was about to flail about violently.

Here‘s an article in the Register about Fullerton Councilman Bruce Whitaker asking his fellow councilmembers to vote on whether to see the video of the Kelly Thomas killing at the hands of the FPD. He seems to be suffering from the delusion that Fullerton elected leaders should be intelligently informed.

It’s an interesting article for two reasons. First is the reaction of councilman Pat McKinley, former FPD Chief, and architect of the Culture of Corruption in the force. You would expect him to be opposed to letting anybody see the actions of goons he hired personally and let loose on the streets of Fullerton. But what’s that you say, Pat?:

Councilman Pat McKinley, Fullerton’s former police chief, said he is “violently opposed” to the release of the video.

“I think it’s completely off-base,” McKinley said. “It’s absolutely unprecedented, and it would be wrong to view that before the trial.”

Violently opposed? Now that doesn’t sound like a balanced man, does it? His reaction to a perfectly reasonable request says much about McPension the man. Is he about to go off the deep end?

Mcpension may not want the video released, but I assure you it has nothing to do with any trial, and everything to do with a recall election.

The other thing that struck me as odd is the City Attorney’s alleged request to the DA for permission to view the video and the imbecilic comments ascribed to DA spokesholetress Susan Kang Schroeder, who seems to be just making shit up. The council could watch this video as a closed session personnel issue and nobody else would have to see it. Also, the FPD is bound to have made copies so why ask the DA for permission at all – except to get that “no” answer you want? Acting Chief Hughes, who is neither investigating nor trying anybody, claims to have viewed the video 400 times! I’m starting to suspect everybody has seen this video – except some of the council and of course, the public.

And as a final thought, is there anybody in Fullerton who believed the serial prevaricator Pat McKinley when, after an awkward pause on CNN, he denied seeing the video himself?

February 3, 2012February 3, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Chief Sellers Calls It Quits

by Joe Sipowicz122 Comments

SellersbyEdcarrascoweekly — He gave it 110%. Well, 10%, at least.

But not before ripping off the taxpayers of yet another $150,000 in the form of a disability claim. Apparently he got sick of his job and two compliant medicos agreed the poor bastard was just too ill to continue. But fear not. On disability half of Seller’s $18,000 a month pension will be tax free.

The City’s lawyer who dealt with the case is satisfied. Well, he’s not picking up the tab, we are. And come to think about I wonder how hard the City really pushed back on this scam.

Here’s the announcement from City Hall pensioner and new-hire Sylvia Palmer Mudrick.

February 3, 2012February 3, 2012"Dick" Ackerman

Sidewalk Hijackers Support The Dinosaurs

by Joe Sipowicz59 Comments

florentinesquatsoncorner — Caution - ethical behavior narrows ahead...

And why not? Life is good when you can get away with grabbing a public sidewalk and build a building on it. “Are you crazy, Joe?” I can hear you saying. No. FFFF shared the story, here.

The sidewalk grabber was Mr. Anthony Florentine, proprietor of the Tuscany Club. Here he is chipping in to save the Three Dithering Diplosaurs:

And the guy that let Florentine get away with the heist was none other than former Fullerton Development Services Director F. Paul Dudley, whose incompetent tenure caused harm to Fullerton that will probably never be fixed. A member of Fullerton’s $100,000 pension club, Dudley makes extra cash lobbying his former employers on behalf of developers. So he’s working to keep the Old Boys in office, too:

Of course Dudley had help in brushing off the sidewalk scam, and then papering it over. And he had help in the persons of Don Bankhead and “Dick” Jones, previously beneficiaries of Florentine’s campaign largess.

What nice people.

February 2, 2012February 7, 2012"Dick" Ackerman

So Who Do Downtown Developers Support?

by The Fullerton Shadow27 Comments

Update: Gentle Friends, I forgot to remind you that Pelican Ontario was also shaken down, er, contributed $300 to Pam Keller for her Fullerton Collaborative just ’cause they care so darn much for Fullerton.

Here’s a snippet from the anti-recall Protect Fullerton Form 460 – indicating a healthy contribution from Pelican Ontario LLC.

What is Pelican Ontario? Why that’s the partnership proposing “Amerige Court,” that god-awful downtown Fullerton monstrosity in which millions of dollars worth of land is to be given to the developer for free. What’s that you say? Free? Of course. Because to people like McKinley, Jones, and Bankhead giving public resources to private interests without due consideration isn’t a gift of public funds, it’s being pro-business. We get stuck with the traffic and they get the campaign contributions.

You have to admit it takes a lot of nerve to attack Tony Bushala as a downtown developer when he isn’t, and at the same time take the money from people who have millions of reasons to prop up the Three Dyspeptic Dinosaurs. But these worthies are not bothered by ethical nuisances like hypocrisy.

January 29, 2012January 29, 2012Behind Closed Doors

It’s All About Image

by Joe Sipowicz115 Comments

UPDATE:

Sorry guys, I forgot to add this gem from the article:

In the weeks after the July incident, more trouble surfaced: an officer facing charges for stealing an iPad at a Miami airport; another facing termination after reports of sexual misconduct; police raiding the wrong house in search for a probationer.

This sentence sure makes it look like Ponsi is finally starting to lay the facts on the table, until you realize that we broke the Mejia story in June, before, the Thomas murder (Ponsi swiped that from FFFF without attribution); the raid on the wrong house occurred in 2010; Rincon’s debauchery started years and years ago and included the complicity of the entire department. And of course there is no mention at all of incidents that must have involved higher ups, like the Gochenour suicide and the beating, false arrest and phony prosecution of Veth Mam.

– Joe Sipowicz

When you’ve had some practice, it’s amazing how much you can write without saying anything. In fact, between the first sentence and the last, people adept at it can cram all sorts of empty stuff into their essays. The conclusion is always the same. Reading such drivel is like eating a bag of marshmallows.

Here is our old friend Lou Ponsi of the Register doing his usual gig. The story is all about Fullerton’s image in the wake of the Kelly Thomas murder by members of the Fullerton Police Department. To his credit Ponsi finally describes the DA’s version of the actions of Ramos and Cicinelli: a “rain of blows.” Everything else is fluffery designed to avoid the critical main crux of Fullerton’s present problems: that out of control rogue cops have been permitted to prey upon the citizens of and visitors to Fullerton, and the Kelly Thomas episode was not an isolated case at all.

Ponsi’s story includes the obligatory interview with a Chamber of Commerce booster-type – Davis Barber (who also pretends to be a real reporter, yet tips his hand rather badly) and some business owners defending the honor of Fullerton. Oh, and of course there’s the de riguer academic “expert,” who arrives upon the scene to compliment the City for bringing in Michael Gennaco.

As usual you can avoid getting the sort of responses you don’t want by asking all the wrong questions.

Did Ponsi ask Acting Chief Dan Hughes to explain the actions of Rincon, Mater, Power, Mejia, Tong, Hampton, Cross, Goodrich, et al? Has he yet asked anybody to explain the call that came in the night of July 5th; or why the cops involved were permitted to watch the video and coached to re-write their reports? Did he ask those interviewed if they knew about the serial transgressions of all these cops?

Bet not.

The strategy of the FPD and its apologistas now seems to be to make FPDs problems mostly about image and lack of communication with the public. The Kelly Thomas thing? Oh, yeah, mostly about two aliens who didn’t know how to deal with the mentally ill homeless.

Come on in and take the tour. Glad to see ya. Big hugs. Air kiss!

January 26, 2012March 14, 2012Behind Closed Doors

So How Many Brady Cops Does Fullerton Have?

by Joe Sipowicz188 Comments

Bad Cops — Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Yesterday we published a post about a Fullerton cop named Vince Mater who had been identified in court documents as a “Brady” cop, a policeman whose veracity is so doubtful that the DA doesn’t dare put him on the witness stand.

And that got me thinking: are there other Brady cops on our payroll, and if so, how many?

I don’t know, and I can’t even find out. For some reason it’s a real big secret that’s carefully guarded. Of course it takes legal action by a defense attorney to get anything more than a cop’s name, rank and serial number. That’s the police state we have permitted to be erected about us, and that’s a helluvan erection.

On the other hand, simply knowing the actual total wouldn’t violate the sanctity of our Heroes. But, could it be that there are so many Brady cops the entire cop-superstructure would be threatened if the true number were made public? (Now we wouldn’t want the cops to lose public confidence in the police, would we?). Why isn’t it fair to speculate if we won’t be told?

What are the costs of having Brady cops on a police force, both in terms of civil judgments and inability to convict dangerous criminals? Who knows? My guess is that somebody like Pat McKinley, Don Bankhead or Dick Jones doesn’t know. Or care. After all none of these “esteemed” councilmen seems to care that a serial sex predator was knowingly left on the FPD.

Anyway, it sure makes you stop and think about it in light of the recent revelations of bad behavior by Fullerton’s boys and girls in blue. Could any of these fine, upstanding citizens be Brady cops? Could any Brady cops currently be on paid administrative leave, or even charged with a capital crime?

January 19, 2012"Dick" Ackerman

Bulls Eye! Charges of Illegal Lobbying Leveled Against Anti-Recall Team Leader

by Grover Cleveland44 Comments

Well, really, are you surprised? You shouldn’t be.

Political fixer, bag man, phony charity rip-off artist, carpetbagging spouse, lynch-type mob manager, lobbyist and, not coincidentally, head of the Fullerton anti-recall effort, Dick Ackerman, is about to be haunted by the Ghost of Crookedness Past.

Vern Nelson, the editor of the Orange Juice Blog, and staunch defender of the OC Fairgrounds against a swindle set up by Toad-in-Residence (and, not surprisingly, Anti-recall campaign manager) Dave Ellis, will be delivering a challenge to the DA’s whitewash of Dick Ackerman’s role as an illegal lobbyist in the slimy attempt to sell off the Fair to a group of insiders composed of Fair Board members themselves.

The dirty deal took place in the summer of ’09 when Ackerman started making calls to legislators on behalf of enabling legislation (that he only admits he “helped write”) even though he, himself had been out of office for less than a year – in direct violation of State law. Predictably, our honorable DA gave Ackerman a clean bill of health in the fall of 2010; but Lo and Behold!, in early 2011 Norberto Santana of the Voice of OC uncovered Ackerman’s actual billing records! You know, those embarrassing records the DA didn’t bother to look for. These records indicate illegal calls to legislators – which is exactly what Ackerman apparently told DA investigators he didn’t do. Uh, oh! Dick’s in a wringer!

When Santana published his discoveries, DA spoksholetress Susan Kang was quick with the smarmy defense: we reached the conclusion we did based on the evidence we had.

Wow. It’s amazing what you can’t find when you don’t look!

Well, Nelson is now calling Ms. Kang’s bluff and challenging on our do-nothing DA to do his job by re-opening the Ackerman case.

A year has passed, but the Statute of Limitations hasn’t.

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012Behind Closed Doors

A Tale of Five Killings

by Joe Sipowicz95 Comments

Tony Rackauckas — See those guys over there? They didn't do it!

I wonder if I’m the only person who sees the irony in the way law enforcement has pursued the recent killings of homeless men in north Orange County, versus how they dealt with the murder of Kelly Thomas – another helpless, homeless man.

An army of cops was mobilized to locate the murderer of four homeless men in and around “The Canyon” area of Anaheim. Without getting into the details of the capture of the suspect, I note that the police and DA Tony Rackauckas were only too willing to immediately discuss and share evidence about the recently nabbed suspect. Charges were brought, post haste. Forensic evidence studied? Naw. Lab tests performed? Of course not. Has the Coroner weighed in? Hell, that could take months! Why wait?

Now consider the murder of Kelly Thomas, a killing captured on government-controlled video, a killing witnessed by dozens of people who will testify that Thomas offered no resistance and that he was physically intimidated by Ramos and piled on by three other cops. We waited for 10 long weeks while the the Coroner did some sort of forensic work or other, even though it was known from blood samples taken at UCI that Kelly was not intoxicated.

The DA made a big deal about all the witnesses his investigators interviewed; but, what the DA was really doing is now pretty clear to me. It looks to me like he was working the system as hard as possible to avoid making a case against the killers. Defending the cops and propping up the rickety justice system in this county must have been the mission. Wolfe? Exonerated. Blatney? Exonerated. Hampton? Exonerated. Craig? Exonerated. Rewritten reports? Who cares? Superiors covering up? Not his problem. True, Ramos and Cicinelli were eventually popped, but only after a public outcry never seen before in OC. And Cicinelly who allegedly knee-dropped and repeatedly face-smashed Thomas was given a laughable $25,000 bail. You get more for shoplifting.

Then, of course, there’s the wretched abuse of justice perpetrated against Veth Mam, and no doubt others like him rung up on false charges because it fits into some crooked or lazy cop’s path of least resistance.

Any doubts about who the DA is working for? I have some.

January 15, 2012January 16, 2012"Dick" Ackerman

The Shameful Water Triple (Er, Quadruple) Dip

by The Desert Rat78 Comments

UPDATE: Of course the comment from “Do the math” is right on the money. The 10% in-lieu fee is defined as a percentage of gross revenue – including the in-lieu fee itself! This tricky little dodge adds 10% of the 10% – an add-on of yet another 1% to the cost of your water bill! Uh, oh! Quadruple dip!

– The Desert Rat

Way back in 1970 the Fullerton City Council passed Resolution No. 5184 dictating that 10% of the gross revenue collected by the Water Department was a reasonable amount to cover ancillary costs from supporting City departments. Here’s the key language from the Resolution:

That an amount equal to ten percent of the gross annual water sales of the Municipal Utilities Department during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970 is hereby transferred to the General Fund in payment for the services of the Finance Department of the City and of the City Administrator, the City Attorney and the City Clerk to the Municipal Utilities Department of the City as a part of the operating costs of the waterworks system of the City during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970.

That at the end of the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1971 and at the end of every fiscal year thereafter, a sum equal to ten percent of the gross annual water sales of the Municipal Utilities Department of the City shall be transferred to the general Fund of the City in payment for the services, during such fiscal year, of the Finance Department of the City and of the City Administrator, the City Attorney and the City Clerk to the Municipal Utilities Department of the City.

What sort of justification proved that 10% of the water revenue in 1970 should have gone to the General Fund is anybody’s guess.

In 1982 the City Council passed an ordinance permitting itself the authority to collect an “in-lieu” fee from the water utility as a fixed percentage of revenue. Despite the name change, the City continued to add the historic 10% to Fullerton’s water bills, and rake it off directly into the General Fund – without so much as a second thought.

A bit confusing? Not really. The original justification for the fuzzy 10% figure was to reimburse the City for vague incurred costs; calling it an in-lieu fee never changed the inescapable fact that the 10% amount was supposed to pay for actual costs associated with running the waterworks. Either way, as of 1997 and the implementation of Prop. 218, that became illegal.

Flash forward to today, and peruse this year’s budget documents. The Water Fund is Fund 44. Check out the total column on the right.

Summary of Appropriations by Fund.

Notice the amount directly allocated in the 2011-12 budget to the City Manager and Administration: $1.7 million ($29,917 + $1,678,962).

Now let’s see some actual charges. Observe Fiscal year 2009-10, over there, in the left column.

Summary of Expenditures and Appropriations by Fund

Good grief! As you might have guessed (based on this year’s budget), in 2009-10 the City directly charged the Water Fund over $1.5 million for the City Council, City Manager, and Administrative Services; plus fifty grand for Human Resources, and $100,000 for Community Development!

And this means that those services that were originally being used to justify the 10% levy on our water bills are already being charged directly to the General Fund. Double Dip!

Of course it gets worse. We now know the 10% is a double dip; but hold on to your water bill. Because the directly charged costs for “administration” are considered part of the base waterworks cost; the automatic 10% in-lieu fee (which was supposed to pay for “administration” but that pays for nothing), is applied to that! That increase this year is at least $170,000, if you add 10% to that $1.7 million figure we saw in the first table. Triple Dip!

And that, Friends, is a triple gainer off the high board and right into the deep end of the pool.