Behind Closed Doors Archives - Page 75 of 82 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

May 2, 2010June 22, 2010Behind Closed Doors

The John Lewis Poll & The Voice of OC

I had some hopes for “The Voice of OC” as a source of information in Orange County, even though it was started by a former Democratic officeholder and funded by the County employee’s union.

Then on Friday I read Norberto Santana’s follow up to an earlier post about a poll repuglican John Lewis supposedly did that included results showing Sheriff candidate Bill Hunt within 1% of Sandra Hutchens. The problem was that neither the undecideds nor a % for Craig Hunter were released. How come? Lewis said he was restrained from saying. But it rendered the numbers pretty meaningless.

Instead of telling Lewis to cram his bogus “poll,” Santana gave the guy some more free publicity – whether there was even a real poll or not. And almost no inquisitiveness into who Lewis was working for or even if (as is quite likely) he’s just working for himself.

Well Santa was too incurious to press the matter, but I’ll speculate freely. I’m pretty sure Lewis is not working for Hutchens or he wouldn’t have released the numbers at all; ditto Hunter. Is he working for Hunt? Pretty unlikely since the unindicted members of Team Carona still show little but disdain for Hunt who would be unlikely to pay Lewis to do a poll in any case.

So who has the money and the resources to hire Lewis? The AOCDS union does, and since they are backing Hunt it would make sense – although the missing Hunter data would remain odd indeed – unless he, too were catching up with Hutchens. It would also make sense since the union is also backing a candidate in another important June race.

If Lewis were working for the his old Measure D pals the Lewis poll results in the 4th Supervisor’s race will indeed be interesting. If they are even released, it’s a safe bet that Harry Sidhu will miraculously receive credible numbers despite a campaign marked by perjury, carpetbagging, ignorance, and general buffoonery. Shawn Nelson is bound to come out badly since neither the AOCSD nor Lewis can tolerate a Nelson victory. Or are we too cynical about Lewis doing a phony “push poll”? Maybe. But we do recommend counting your fingers if you ever have to shake his hand.

Anyway, Lewis also has a way of working on spec so he can make lobbying calls later, so maybe he’s just trolling. What his motivations for hiding the Hunter data might be will become clear by early June.

But c’mon Norberto. Why wait?

April 29, 2010April 30, 2010Behind Closed Doors

State Auditor Rains on Pringle’s High Speed Rail Parade

by Mr. Peabody2 Comments

PringlePower — Pay no attention to that man in front of the curtain...

In a comprehensive indictment of the High Speed Rail Authority’s procedures and protocols, and its abilities to manage and oversee spending public bond revenue, the California State Auditor has taken a considerable step in derailing the proposed boondoggle. Read the highlights for yourself.

Although this doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t suspect, it does confirm the worst suspicions about poor planning and lax or non-existent oversight, and raises the worst spectre of all: a worthless, duplicative, hyper-expensive and disruptive system – a mere leg – say from Anaheim to downtown Los Angeles.

Tonight Pringle’s PR consultants are coming to town, not to ask our opinion about anything, rest assured. Rather they are coming to soft sell what’s already been decided. But there’s no reason why we can’t go and share our opinions, and maybe even ask Mayor Bankhead (who’s bound to be there) how come he stood up a couple years ago and told people that the City of Fullerton supports this disaster in the making.

They’re going to be at the Senior Center from 5-8 with a propaganda presentation at 6pm.

April 29, 2010April 29, 2010Behind Closed Doors

MORE MONKEY BUSINESS AT THE CLERK-RECORDER’S OFFICE; TOM DALY AND HIS THREE AMIGOS.

by admin21 Comments

It appears that Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly has mastered two skills in his eight years as head of the Clerk-Recorder Department. First, he has become a top-notch spender and waster of our dough. Second, he has mastered the art of creating jobs at tax-payer’s expense while receiving campaign contributions from the relatives of people he has employed.

Last week Daly hired Bruce Matthias, here. We learned from his campaign financial statements that Matthias’s wife Sonja Matthias had contributed to Daly’s now defunct campaign for Supervisor 2010.

Well, we looked deeper into his statements and found even more good old jobs for the boys (and girls) featherbedding. Look at this list.

In 2006, The Oftelie Company, run by former transportation bureaucrat Stan Oftelie, contributed to Tom Daly’s campaign. Could it be a coincidence that Stan’s son was hired shortly after this contribution and while the County was losing jobs. Stan’s son works in the Archives and was brought in as an “extra-help” employee which means that no competitive hiring process was conducted to bring him on board. I wonder what qualifies Stan’s son to work in the Archives.

The Walt Disney Company has been quite generous in its giving to Tom Daly’s campaigns. Since 2002, Disney and people connected to Disney have contributed more than $4000 to Tom. That’s just as much as the OCEA. Chris Lowe is the Government Affairs Manager for Disney in Anaheim. Well, Lo and Behold, Daly hired Chris Lowe’s wife to work in the Archives as an extra-help employee which, again, means that no competitive hiring process was conducted. And again the hiring was done when the County could least afford it.

In 2003 and 2005, James A. Liberio Realty made contributions to Tom Daly. Not surprisingly, Mr. Liberio’s daughter was also hired as an extra-help employee. So no competitive process was conducted to hire her. I’m unsure of her duties or qualifications.

Even during these tough times at the County, Daly has been budgeting at least $200,000 per year for extra-help hires. Despite revenues and workloads being at their lowest levels ever, Daly feels it is more important to keep his friends employed than to protect the interests of the public. Extra-help employees are basically at-will-employees and can be let go at anytime. I think that time has come now!

And I’d like to know why these these campaign contributors don’t hire their own relatives. Perhaps these people are not employable. Who knows?

Somebody needs to flush out this swamp of cronyism. Isn’t that why we have County Supervisors?

April 28, 2010April 29, 2010Behind Closed Doors

Pacific Strategies Jackpot – The $1680 Day

by Grover Cleveland37 Comments

fartboy — It's only bad if you get caught...

UPDATE: as one of our commenters pointed out, you can click on the billing fragment, below to get the picture of what happened for the month of July 2009. Enjoy, but try not to retch.

August 17th, 2009 was a great day to be Matthew Cunningham. See, the Red County Blog editor and pretended conservative pulled down $1680 wordsmith pimping for the liberal welfare state via his lucrative deal with the OC Children and Families Commission.

Why this Commission, that was created to help little children, is dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars each year into opinion swaying of dubious value is exasperating. The fact that this money is going into the coffers of well-connected repuglicans also gives off quite an aroma – influence peddling-wise.

How and why these contracts are awarded is certainly a topic that should be addressed by the Commission and their Executive Director Michael Ruane, as well as by the Board of Supervisors, who appoint Commission members.

One thing is crystal clear. This Commission is more interested in PR and lobbying for their revenue than they are actually accomplishing anything.

Here is the billing statement for that day that put a happy face on all the Cunninghams in Suite C. Who knew that revising vanilla versions of op-eds could be so rewarding?

Maybe Cunningham really does believe in the good works of the Commission, although I’ve got to wonder what other tax and spend schemes he will be promoting next.

April 26, 2010January 13, 2011Behind Closed Doors

“Stop The Insanity!” Cries Anguished Red County Hypocrite

by Joe Sipowicz10 Comments

Over at the Red County blog Matthew J. Cunningham has gotten his lavender briefs into a self-righteous snarl over some guy named Tim Whitacre. Whitacre’s ostensible offense? Claiming that the Lewis Consulting Group is on Hide and Seek Sidhu’s payroll. In reality his offense was standing up at the GOP Central Committee meeting last week and reminding everybody that Harry Sidhu is an opportunistic carpetbagger.

You would think that somebody like Cunningham who pretends to be a political and social conservative, but who, in reality, has an annual contract with Rob “Meathead” Reiner’s Children and Families Commission of almost $200,000 a year would just clam up. But no. Silence is not in him. Instead he prefers to keep opining in his usual way: in a crab-wise crawl across the truth.

First you call your opponents insane (or tin-foil hat wearing, delusional, paranoid, etc.) Of course sane people don’t argue with the insane – but that never stopped Cunningham – who will keep jabbering away until the lights are shut off. Then you start carefully parsing out where your opponent is making stuff up, and has no proof, etc.

In this case the fake issue is whether Lewis is actually getting paid directly from Sidhu or not. Lewis must have informed The Jerb that he isn’t. So he then is safe in saying Whitacre has no proof that Lewis is. But Lewis is indeed working for Sidhu – one way or another. His payment may come later if he is working on spec – either in deferment or simply in access to Norby’s old office for the inevitable lobbying. As one of our commenters pointed out he may also be working on an IE against Shawn Nelson. In any of these scenarios some kind of disclosure by his partner Matt Holder should have been made at the Central Committee meeting.

So the gist of what Whitacre has to say is very much valid.

Cunningham finishes up by saying Whitacre has no proof that Nelson is the stronger candidate even though, ironically, he has no proof that Whitacre doesn’t. Of course you wouldn’t even need to have poll results to tell that Sidhu is a bumbling assclown who will be lucky to get 9% of the vote. Oh yeah, he’s also a perpetual office seeking carpetbagger. And a casual perjurer.

assclown — Coming soon to an elective office in your neighborhood...

Ah the faux outrage! Such a fun spectacle when it fails. And when you’re a hypocrite repuglican whose cover’s been blown, it’s only going to get tougher to pull off.

April 20, 2010April 20, 2010Behind Closed Doors

Did Bankhead Shoot Self in Foot? Or have The People Really Spoken?

by Mr. Peabody4 Comments

A Friend just passed along the minutes from a California High Speed Rail meeting back in May 2008. The city of Fullerton “strongly supports the HSR project” per Councilman Don Bankhead. Hey, wait a minute. Did the City Council of Fullerton adopt a formal position on the HSR , and did they appoint Bankhead to be it’s official spokesman on the subject?

And if the Council really and truly already decided that we’re on board the HSR, then why bother with one of those idiotic “work shops” at tonight’s council meeting, and why have another one on April 26th at the Senior Center?

Anyway check this out:

CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY/ MEETING MINUTES / MAY 14, 2008

The meeting of the California High-Speed Rail Authority was called to order on May 14, 2008 at 9:30AM at Anaheim City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd in Anaheim, CA.

Mr. Bankhead stated the City of Fullerton strongly supports the HSR Project. To date the City, CalTrans and OCTA has invested millions of dollars in public transit services at the Fullerton Transportation Center. Mr. Bankhead stated Fullerton has the busiest rail station between Los Angeles and San Diego along the LOSSAN corridor. In addition, the City of Fullerton is working with CalTrans and OCTA to construct a new parking structure to accommodate up to 1000 rail passengers. There would be a platform adjacent to the parking structure that could accommodate high-speed rail. Mr. Bankhead stated the City of Fullerton supports the Authority’s budget request for $103M towards the development of high-speed rail. Mr. Bankhead stated on behalf of the City of Fullerton that the Authority consider a stop in Fullerton which would serve the region and build upon a previous transportation investment.

April 17, 2010Behind Closed Doors

What Are They Hiding at Anaheim City Hall?

by admin10 Comments

Over three weeks a go we made a public records request of the City of Anaheim to produce the phone log, the work product, and e-mails of a woman named Annie Mezzacappa.

Now you may well wonder who this individual is and what this has to do with anything pertinent. Ms. Mezzacappa is the personal assistant to Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu and she is a part-time public employee. It is rumored that it is she, not the virtually unintelligible Sidhu who scripts his performances. Yet, she is also his campaign employee and she is the contact person on all those e-mail blasts Sidhu sends out touting his endorsement by some dude or other from Stanton. See the potential problem? We were kind of curious to see if a public employee might just be doing Sidhu’s campaign business out of the Anaheim City Hall, and even on company time.

Harry'sFriend — I tell you this is nothing but candidate intimidation...

Anyway, our Intrepid Travis just got a letter from the Anaheim Deputy City Attorney. Mezzacappa’s phone log is ready. But after 24 days they are denying the request for 6 months of emails and work product because:

“The request is vague, overboard and uncertain in that it fails to request an “identifiable” record.”

Total BS. They seem to be saying that unless you can tell them exactly the document you want they’ll just say screw you. And they get to determine what is “overboard.” And that really defeats the purpose of requesting public records, doesn’t it?

We’ll be picking up those phone logs and let you know if anything fun pops up. In the meantime, we aren’t giving up on those other records, either.

April 17, 2010April 17, 2010Behind Closed Doors

More Register Fail

by Grover Cleveland4 Comments

Here’s a link to a Register article by Tony Saavedra that starts out with the breathtaking news that the OC Cemetery Board voted to hold a meeting to talk about raising it’s stipend 5%. That’s 5% of $100 per meeting, or a whopping five bucks per member. If they meet once a month that would total a mammoth $300 per year. Thanks for that earth-shattering news, Tony.

In the meantime, not a squeak about this opaque public district paying Anaheim mayor and general fixer/influence peddler Curt Pringle $6000 per month to locate a new graveyard site for the boneyard boys that we reported about here; a task that could have been handled by a realtor for the price of a commission paid by the seller. Of course Pringle was also supposed to grease the skids – which seems to be his only marketable job skill. No word yet on whether he accomplished anything at all, although this seems not to be a requirement to get a lucrative contract with one of these little known but apparently well-heeled public agencies.

But Saavedra seems to think his readers are more interested in the $5 per month scandal that’s he’s trying to brew up into something potable. Sadness.

And by the way, here’s a choice nugget from The Register’s OC Watch Dog, Teri Sforza, inviting whistleblowing news tips that I recently stumbled across. Maybe the Register reporters should (re)read Ms. Sforza’s stirring words. Here’s the kicker: “…we’ll put together a blogroll of local muckrakers like ourselves.”

Yeah. Right. Anything you say, Teri.

April 12, 2010April 28, 2010Behind Closed Doors

Fullerton City Council Asleep at the HSR Switch?

by admin8 Comments

Jon Dumitru request public hearing on HSR! — Jon Dumitru requested hearing on HSR

I applaud the Orange City Council for taking the initiative here, to discuss State Assemblywoman Diane Harkey’s AB2121. Basically, Harkey’s idea is to pull the plug on the bond financing for the High Speed Rail (HSR) massive boondoggle. Our sources tell us Councilman Jon Dumitru has taken the lead on reviewing this issue.

Hell, the HSR isn’t even proposed to go through Orange, and their council is more concerned about the boondoggle than Fullerton’s is.The route, as proposed could cut a several mile long swath of destruction through Fullerton. And our council doesn’t seem able to even talk about it. Maybe because staff didn’t agendize it first.

When are the people of Fullerton going to start electing people that stick up for Fullerton? A concerted opposition by our council could help kill this fiasco now.

April 10, 2010April 28, 2010Behind Closed Doors

Was It Something We Said? HSR Board Blinks

by Mr. Peabody7 Comments

Responding to mounting criticism about taking a bunch of property along the proposed right-of-way for its multibillion dollar boondoggle, the California High Speed Rail Authority took a step back the other day and voted 6-1 to entertain a shared track option previously discarded when they thought nobody was paying attention. Read all about it in the LA Times.

Even lobbyist and fixer Curt Pringle, the termed-out Mayor of Anaheim, joined the majority. Is he perhaps starting to fear a Buena Park, Fullerton, and Anaheim backlash that might spoil all of his crafty electoral machinations for 2010?

Well, it’s a step in the right direction, but it still begs the question of bureaucratic and rolling stock cost vis-a-vis minimal travel time gains to downtown LA.

The lone “no” vote came from Quintin L. Kopp, the former Bay Area politician who also advocated for the controversial BART extension to the San Francisco Airport. Apparently Kopp thinks it’s too late to be smart – always a bad sign.