The Sad Barnacle on the S.S. Pringle’s Bottom

Why is everybody always pickin' on me?

As he slithers off into sad irrelevance, the former blog proprietor, now blog wage slave, Matthew J. Cunningham, is looking for any sugar daddy he can latch onto. After we blew his cover as a hyper-liberal nanny state teat sucker, he clearly needs work, and scribbling out press releases for the campaigns of Curt Pringle puppets may not even pay the rent.

Cynthia Ward, one of a diminishing breed of honest Anaheimers recently posted on the Red County blog about complaints to the State Attorney General about the incompatible offices held by Anaheim’s Mayor-for-Hire, Curt Pringle, who also holds the esteemed positions of OCTA Board member and California High Speed Rail Authority Chairman.

Right on cue, Cunningham attacked me, personally, instead of explaining why Pringle has been using his chairmanship of the CHRA swindle to try to move state taxpayer resources into his OCTA subsidized Anaheim ARTIC boondoggle.

It's in my interest and that means it's good for everybody...

Oh, yeah, that one. The one that has already misdirected $140,000,000 of County-wide transit tax dollars for the immediate benefit of Pringle’s useless glass Taj Mahal. And let’s not forget the biz the soon-to-be termed out Pringle will be passing to himself when his “consulting” business really gets to some serious greasin.’

A deep thought or a hard stool?

Cunningham has always congratulated himself on his self-perceived powers of thought and argumentation and “credibility,” a credibility that certainly took a shot in the mauve speedos when folks found out he was making $200 an hour passing out toothbrushes for Rob Reiner’s tax-and-redistribute First Five program. Well, lets take a gander at what Mr. Credibility has to say about yours truly. He begins his comments:

You neglected to mention the central in this drama being played by Tony Bushala, who has developed a habit of filing complaints against political enemies — or, at least, against those he perceives to be antagonistic to politicians he supports. Does anyone believe he would have filed a complaint if the Mayor in question wasn’t Curt Pringle? Or more to the point, if Curt Pringle had supported Shawn Nelson for supervisor?

Huh? A habit of complaints against political enemies? Oh yeah, like the serial perjuries of Harry Sidhu? Right well, that was one complaint. A habit?  And what does Pringle’s behavior have to do with Shawn Nelson? That’s right, nothing.

This is an attempt to criminalize a policy dispute. Even if a conflict exists — which is flimsy possibility, at best — it will be obviated in two months when Curt ceases being both the Mayor of Anaheim and a member of the OCTA Board.

Attempt to criminalize? Who said anything about “criminals” beside The Jerb? Oops, a Freudian slip? But really: “a policy dispute?! Like fraudulently bamboozling the public into a deal the perpetrators of which knew or suspected was based on cooked up rideship numbers? No, not fraud, merely a policy dispute!

I know, says Cunningham. Let’s look the other way (obviate – there’s an awful big word for such a small boy) just like Jerbal did by exclaiming that Sidhu didn’t commit perjury because his supposed stay at the Calabria Apartments was a lie of such short duration.

But wait, then there’s this gem:

Bushala’s call? Cynthia, his involvement is hugely relevant. I’m not going into CARRD’s motives — other than trying to remove an effective opponent before mayoral term limits renders the complaint moot — but Bushala has been actively trying to inflict harm on Curt, so his motives ought to be suspect.

Wrong. Pringle is responsible for his own behavior. We’re just shining a light on it. If illumination of Pringle’s activities is harmful, that ‘s his fault! But, come to think of it, why should an honest politician worry about citizens bringing attention to his activities?

Bushala is a land speculator. It’s my understanding he’s trying to get the city to re-zone properties he has so he can develop them.

Oh no! An evil land speculator! Heaven forfend! Free enterprise is breaking out all over and Cunningham’s scared! The facts are wrong, and not relevant to anything he’s talking about but let’s try to whip up a little anti-capitalist hysteria, shall we, comrade, as we try out our old distraction trick.

It’s also my understanding he and his brother are coming into somewhere in the neighborhood of $13 million in an “eminent domain” action by the OCTA. I use quotes when local governments seeking to purchase property for some public purpose, the property owners often want the city to eminent domain them, instead, because of the tax advantages.

“Using quotes” – the humorless Jerb is getting all ironical on us here, and inserting more irrelevant information about which he knows nothing, but weasels his way around that fact by saying it is his “understanding.” Why didn’t he say misunderstanding and at least tell the truth?

Finally, this is an opinion from the Leg Counsel. Opinion. I take it you believe every legal opinion rendered by the Anaheim City Attorney to hold the force of law?

Holy Shit! Now the poor loser has really his rock bottom. Well almost. This motormouth’s not done making a fool of himself, now using numbered paragraphs to give his nonsense the color of authority:

1. Bushala’s motives are absolutely fair game, and it ought to have been noted in the post that one of the filers of the complaint is not only an avowed political enemy of Curt Pringle but someone whose honesty is questionable.

How does he know I am an “avowed” anything? And what in the world do my motives have to do with Pringle’s behavior, including his career of influence peddling under the guise of “lobbying?” My honesty is questionable? Ha! See next item, below.

2. At the end of the day, what Bushala and CARRD have is an opinion of about the applicability of an opinion. Which a far sight sight from Bushala’s claim that Curt is “breaking the law.”

And now an outright lie from Mr. Credibility. I never said that. Here’s what I said: “The credibility of the California High Speed Rail Authority program, and more importantly, both the appearance and substance of fair, open and honest government in California, demand it.” Hmm. Pringle a law breaker? Another Freudian slip by Cunningham?

3. Curt has been on CHSRC for three years. It wasn’t exactly a secret he was also Anaheim Mayor and an OCTA Director. Why only file a complaint now, when he’ll be leaving office in two months and the alleged incompatibility would be a moot point — assuming it even exists?

The fact that I became aware of the Legislative Counsel’s finding only week ago seems irrelevant to Cunningham, but not to me. There’s still a month for this miscreant to call meetings and cast votes. Cunningham, who loves to put time limits on honesty when it comes to his patrons and political clients just doesn’t seem to get it.

Oh, well, the facts clearly mean nothing to Cunningham, assuming he can even grasp them through the waves of desperation that make him cling to a creep like Pringle like a drowning man clings to a rock in the ocean. And I honestly wonder if Pringle sent him a check for that string of drivel.

Get in line, boy. And stay there.

Well, folks, there you have the very essence of repuglicanism: turn looking the other way into a full time business; in fact, try to make some green off of it. Perv priests, Church cover-ups, bogus consulting contracts doled out to fellow ‘pugs, “privatization” of unnecessary functions that benefit only yourself and your pals; ignore the facts; hell, forget your own party and its supposed principles when your crime boss tells you to.

Firefighters Lose. How Much Do They Make, Anyway?

Here’s a fun repeat-post from last spring – featuring two of 4SD Observer’s favorite idols: emergency service providers and the dim-witted Pam Keller. For sheer fat-headedness, selfishness, and fiscal irresponsibility, you just can’t beat the ESP union.

– Joe Sipowicz

Pam Keller was the only city council member who did not have the guts to impose a %5 pay reduction on members of the Fullerton firefighter’s union after negotiations failed on Tuesday. The union refused to accept a deal similar to those offered to all other Fullerton employees.

The union says the pay cut is unfair. Is that true? Let’s see what firefighters actually took home last year:

View the 2009 Fullerton Fire Dept payroll

In addition to the gross pay numbers above, firefighters receive the following estimated benefits at the city’s expense:

Pension contribution: ~30% of base salary. Ranges from $15,000 to 28,000/yr, not including unfunded liabilities
Medical: $5,460 to $14,748/yr
Dental: $588 to $1,128/yr

Not a bad gig. It’s no wonder there are hundreds of applicants whenever a position opens up.

Does Keller really think that asking this highly compensated group of public employees to take the same pay cut as everyone else was “unfair?’

Us public employees gotta watch out for each other.

Or perhaps Pam is just sticking to what Pam does best: Helping folks suck as much as possible out of the public trough. By any means, at any cost.

And Now for Nothing Really Different: Yellowing Observer Bemoans Loss of Fox Block Boondoggle

Dive! Dive!

The folks who write stuff for the Fullerton Observer are either really dumb, or really….

Aw, Hell I can stop right there.

Here’s a bit from page 5 of the recent edition of the bird cage liner noting the reconstruction of the McDonald’s outlet on Chapman and noting that the Council’s failure to blow six million bucks to move it a couple hundred feet has caused the Fox Block project to go belly up and implies that somehow this put the renovation of the Fox Theater in jeopardy.

Wrong! The council finally acted responsibly last summer when they pulled the plug on an emergent disaster of their own creation. And wrong about the “renovation” bullshit, too. Notice how the Observer casually insinuates the idea of “renovation” into the “Fox Block.” Apart from the theater there is nothing to renovate, of course. But the two things were never tied together – except to manipulate the under intelligent.

The whole monstrosity was tied to the Fox Theater restoration to tap into the emotional support for that and gin up support for another downtown monstrosity of corporate welfare. Of course the crew of the S.S. Observer is devoted to the idea that keeping Redevelopment bureaucrats and parasites employed is job one, and common sense be damned.

What? I can't hear you.

Added to the unintentional high-larity is the writer’s assertion that the developer “spent hours” designing a new Mickey D’s that matched the FHS architecture. Well, he may very well have spent a few hours. The product looked like it.

Instead of bewailing the loss of a sure-fire failure, the Observer should be asking what sort of accountability is going to be demanded of the idiots who cooked up the Fox Block mess in the first place – bureaucrats and electeds, alike.

Spitzer For Supervisor?

The laugh's on you!

The dynamics of OC politics may have changed when DA Tony Rackaukas fired his supposed successor, Todd Spitzer, last week.

The guy with a million bucks in the bank had the DA heir apparent rug pulled out from under him, and now may be contemplating something that a lot of people will very well fear. And loathe. Another coupla Spitzer terms as an Orange County Supervisor.

Yes, indeedy, Spitzer was the Third District Supe from1995 through 2002 and drove everybody bonkers. Well, he may figure that controlling the DA’s budget and jerking the DA around at every opportunity is much more fun than being DA.

Of course this would be a major bummer for the Lewis/Pringle/Campbell troika that is grooming Orange’s dishwater mayor, Carolyn Cavecche to replace Uncle Bill.

Which is which?

Spitzer for Supe in 2012? Stranger things have happened!

Chevron Sues Fullerton Over Coyote Hills

Last week Pacific Coast Homes, a subsidiary of Chevron Texaco, filed suit against the city of Fullerton for it’s recent denial of the West Coyote Hills development project.

Down boy

The suit was preceded by a claim for damages of “$1,000,000 plus” in which Chevron says Fullerton is responsible for breach of contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, violating the civil rights act, and a few other things expressed in legal mumbo-jumbo beyond the vocabulary of this blogger.

If you feel like wading through it yourself, here is the claim and the complaint:

View the Coyote Hills lawsuit

So it looks like Chevron is attempting to apply pressure prior to bringing the project back in front of what will likely be a more favorable city council in 2011. I’ve also heard that the suit was preceded by Chevron making no-so-veiled threats towards a councilmember regarding future re-election possibilities. That’s just not very nice.

Rackaukas Fires Spitzer

Oscar Wilde once described an English fox hunt thus:  the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible.

While you ponder that pithiness, consider the firing the other day of junior grade deputy DA Todd Spitzer by his boss, District Attorney Tony Rackaukas. The Register reports, here.

Laugh now, cry later...

Supposedly Spitzer was trying to get some info out of the bad toupe wearing Public Admintrator/Guardian, John Williams. The latter thought it was improper, ratted out Spitzer to Rackuakas, who for the first time in his career actually punished a politician.

T-Rack & Williams. Is one of these men wearing a wig?

A politician? Yes. For Spitzer is a former County Supervisor, Assemblyman, and had put his DA-seeking career on hold, waiting for T-Rack to end his miserable legal misrule. And Spitzer has $1,000,000 in the bank.

Anyhoo, the plot thickens when we contemplate DA spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder, wife of OC political impresario Michael Schroeder, the guy who brought us Mike Carona. Ms. K-S has been rumored to be a challenger to Spitzer of the DA heir apparent title.

Just writing all this crap has made me exhausted and in need of a cleansing shower.

Ta ta, for now…

Say what?

A Colorfully Gesticulating Norby Loses The Skirmish, But Wins The Battle

Who will win the war? Follow the money.

The GOP Initiatives Endorsement Committee met this past Saturday to debate whether it should recommend to the State GOP to endorse Proposition 22.

Watch and see what happened during the questions and answer period. The proponents for Yes on 22 focused their argument on misdirected “local control,” and the fear that if it doesn’t pass Arnold Schwarzenegger will raid the cities’ Redevelopment funds and give them away to the schools. Hooray! The only problem is that by the time this is voted on Arnold will about as lame a duck as Daffy, and probably already reading the script for Terminator 5.

Did the most vocal Yes on 22 proponent, Jon Fleischman (hot dog alert @ 3:18), really think the voting members  in the room would be dumb enough to buy that “Arnold will cook up a bad budget” line? Well, they did – the vote was 9 Ayes and 8 Noes.  However, good news came on Sunday when the recommendation of the Initiatives Committee was tossed out by the GOP party who gave a thumbs down to the Prop 22 proponents.

Check out Chuck Devore, one of the few non-repuglicans in office. He gets it.

And yes, I really do have to wonder if Fleischman was on the Yes on 22 payroll. The Howard Jarvis group was no doubt bought off by the purchase of a slate mailer.

Townsend Uncovers Fullerton’s Overtime Racket

Register reporter Adam Townsend dropped a bomb early this morning with an in-depth report on Fullerton’s astounding overtime costs.

The report summarizes the $3,000,000 spent on overtime last year, listing the top 102 overtime earners (view the Register’s list). Among them, a paramedic named Timothy Hartinger worked the most overtime in 2009 with 1,160 hours at time and a half pay, bringing his total earnings to a glorious $138,117.

Notably, these wage figures do not include an additional 33% in pension contributions or thousands of dollars in health insurance premiums for public safety union members.

Naturally, the overcompensated fire and police union members came up at the top of the list and made their best efforts to deflect criticism with emotional falsities. One fireman played the classic union card, repeating the claim that he would die 10 years earlier because his job is so dangerous. Nice try pal, but CalPERS actuarials have proven that public safety employees live just as long as everybody else.

FFFF favorite Jack Dean made his way into the report, saying “Considering the unemployment situation, it doesn’t appear to be right that there’s so much overtime when so many people are unemployed,” concluding “there appears to be something wrong with this structure.” Something wrong, indeed.

Even the city manager got in on the fun when asked about minimum staffing for firefighters, which significantly boosts their expensive overtime pay. “The provision is there because of the union. If I had my preference, I’d do away with it, but it’s sacred to the firefighters,” said Chris Meyer.

We’ve been hard on Register reporter Adam Townsend in the past, but it’s great to see that there’s still some life left in the Register’s local coverage. It takes a little bit of courage to rock the boat of public safety employees, and hopefully we’ll see more of this in the future.

Bankhead Forgot to Submit an Argument Against Term Limits

Weather's gettin' colder...

Measure M will be on the ballot in November, but the arguments presented in the official voter materials will be a bit one-sided.

Nobody submitted an argument against the measure to enact term limits against Fullerton city council members.

Was anti-term limit incumbent Dinosaur Don Bankhead asleep at the switch, or was he actaully smart enough to disassociate him self with that position during an election campaign? Who knows?

I really like spinkles on my frogurt...

Sharon Quirk-Silva authored the opinion in support of the measure, which summarizes them as:

  • Term limits increase the number of competitive elections
  • Term limits bring in more opportunities to serve in public office
  • Term limits disfavor seniority
  • Term limits promote fresh ideas

Of course, she missed the most important purpose of term limits: they will end the seemingly endless political careers of staff yes-men: folks like Don Bankhead and Dick Jones, who have tormented taxpayers for decades by voting for almost every single boondoggle and corporate welfare project put in front of them.

Whadya know. A promise was kept...

And for that we thank SQS for sticking by the promise she made way back in January of 2009.

Fullerton Fire Chief Rescues Entire City

When you think things can’t get any screwier at City Hall, look out! According to this story in the Voice of OC, the Fullerton Fire Department will save Brea taxpayers about $220,000 per year by sharing a battalion chief position that is now vacant.

Who would have guessed that Fullerton would come to the rescue of Brea , especially considering our serious budget problems and the deep cuts felt by many? Apparently, Fullerton Fire Chief Wolfgang Knabe must be feeling some brotherhood kindred spirit howling from the mall next door and has taken it upon himself to experiment at Fullerton ’s taxpayer’s expense. According to Knabe, maybe it will work and everyone will save money, or maybe it won’t and we all lose. Makes you feel good, doesn’t it!

Maintain radio silence

In all fairness, let’s hear him out and see what our City Council had to say about Knabe’s plan… (deafening silence) It would appear our own City Council didn’t know we were bailing out the City of Brea and their Fire Department. In fact, no one except a couple of Fire Chiefs seems to know anything about this experiment.

According to the Voice, we will be sharing a battalion chief which will help both cities fill their respective vacancies with the same person who can be in two places at once. Neat trick; I’d like to see it though.

I hear sirens coming and they sound like the Orange County Fire Authority! Ok, here is a trick question for you. Brea citizens and the Brea Fire Department staff wanted to have the department “disbanded”, as the Voice calls it, and have the OCFA take over. Why? Sure the taxpayers save money, but what’s in it for the would-be disbanded employees?