City Council Election 2026 – Friends For Fullerton's Future

April 25, 2026April 26, 2026Ahmad Zahra

The Pickleball Diplomat

Maldo poses in front of the empty “community garden.”

A couple months ago FFFF revealed the District 5 candidacy of one Jozef Maldonado. I didn’t know anything about the guy except that he had stood up at a council meeting to attack Mayor Fred Jung. That was telling and now the evidence is in.

Maldonado has a campaign website wherein he touts his vast, two-year experience on the Parks commission and shares how he championed the Trail to Nowhere and the useless UP Park projects – an aggregate waste of three million dollars of public money. He includes this unintentionally hilarious brag about his alleged contribution to the UP Park:

“And when conflict arose over a proposed pickleball court conversion, he brought both sides to the table and turned tension into trust.”

Wow! What an accomplishment. Tension to trust. Well, the pickleball courts are there so somebody lost.

Anyway, what’s really revealing is Jozef’s slate of endorsers, a veritable Who’s Who of Fullerton Boohoo and Fullerton Angry.

Ahmad Zahra (unemployed immigrant fraud)

Shana Charles (and her unemployed husband, Andre)

Ruthi Handcheck

Aaruni Thakur (friend of Scott Andre Charles and Scott Markowitz, some say)

Angry Cannabis Kitty Jaramillo

Angry Eye Doctor Anjali Tapadila

Steven Sherry (who starts every sentence with “Member of the Transportation Commission.”)

Soon we will probably see Jan Flory, Karen Lloreda and Diane Vena added to the list and hosannas from the Kennedy Sisters and the Fullerton Observer endorsement committee.

I once speculated that this guy could be another Democrat Party plant – like Tony Castro meant to drain votes from Oscar Valadez; and Scott Markowitz, there to take gringo votes from Linda Whitaker; in both cases to benefit the favored Dem Central candidate. This is obviously not the case. But Maldonado’s position in the community seems very thin; and Valadez has both a long-time business and a family with deep roots in D5.

We do learn that Jozef will be marrying his fiancé Ryan at the Hunt Library in November, after the rigors of the campaign, I guess. The point of sharing that information escapes me, other than to reveal he is gay without branding himself by it, like his endorser Ahmad Zahra.

April 20, 2026April 20, 2026Ahmad Zahra

An Audit Report

by The Fullerton Harpoon16 Comments

At tomorrow’s Fullerton City Council meeting, agenda item #1 features a report by the firm of Grant Thornton Risk Advisory Services. They will present what the City is calling a “special fiscal audit.”

What does that mean, and what are the results? Unknown because there is no staff report – not even a little introductory prose. This is in keeping with former City communications regarding the recently revealed erroneous assignments of millions into General Fund reserves – money that was supposed to go elsewhere. The last post FFFF did on this subject in March pointed out the condescending gobbledygook press release that emanated from City Hall. I believe this “audit” was commissioned to address the big errors and allay fears that some sort of malfeasance took place.

I hope that Messrs. Shawn Stewart and Charles Mayes (CPA) of Grant Thornton will present something real simple. Like maybe a diagram, or a flow chart to explain how these bogus transactions took place. Where did the money come from, where did it go, and when was it fixed? One hopes there will be no verbal or logical gymnastics to dodge assignment of responsibility. Does one hope in vain? And of course please let us know:

What are the true balances in General Fund and Capital Improvement Reserves.

Item #12 on the agenda is a report on staff vacancies and retention recruitment efforts required, as usual, by a nosey and intrusive State legislature. I’m not sure what the purpose of the law is, but the information contained in the report is worth considering. According to staff there are currently 65 vacancies, two thirds of which are non sworn, general public employees. 65 vacancies is about 10% of the total labor force.

In past years the vacancy rate has done as high as 25% in Fiscal Year 21/22.

Here’s the issue. How many of these vacant positions are included in the current 25/26 budget deliberations? All of them? Some cities use a “vacancy factor” in their budgeting – an estimate of how many vacancies will be unfilled in the fiscal year. Does Fullerton do this? They should if they don’t.

I also note that the labor force in Fullerton is up 7% since 22/23 even as dire predictions of the structural deficit were publicized. Why did this happen? The architect of past city budgets, City Manager Eric Levitt quit and took a higher paying job in San Bernardino last year so no answer will be forthcoming from him.

As an example of a recruitment the staff report includes this graphic from last fall:

An Associate Planner goes for $84K to $108K per annum – not counting benefits and pension costs, of course. If those are generally calculated at a modest 25% we can assume this Associate Planner will cost the taxpayers around $120,000 a year, which I think is fairly reasonable.

If we assume the average total cost of those 65 vacant positions is, say, a conservative $100,000, then we are looking at an annual cost of $6,500,000. That closes a lot of budget deficit, right there.

Pro sales tax advocates will claim there is a vital quality-of-life issue at stake, as if the number of public employees in City Halls guarantees such a concept; these vacant jobs are key to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in Fullerton. The same alliance of cops, “firefighters” and local City Hall camp followers who pushed Measure S in 2020 will claim it to be so. These are the same folks who get guaranteed defined benefit pensions, step pay increases, etc. They make no sacrifices and are rarely asked to do so. That task falls upon the citizenry.

February 22, 2026February 23, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Meet Jozef Maldonado

by Grover Cleveland42 Comments

First, don’t ask me why the guy spells his name like that, because I don’t know.

Mr. Maldonado is a candidate for Fullerton’s 5th District in the election this fall. At least he has created a campaign committee. That’s the seat that will be left by “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra, the immigrant fraud, woman batterer and general prevaricator.

There’s a connection there. Zahra appointed Maldonado to the Parks and Rec Commission where he has been photo bombing boohoo events lately. He is also some sort of young Democrat Party operative, which makes sense, following in the footsteps of Jordan Brandman, Connor Traut and the like. Except that unlike them he seems to have a real job, being some sort of chemical tester. He’s yet another mid-twenties Fullerton fellow who seems very eager to make Zahra happy.

Is this a real candidacy? Some folks had thought that Vanessa Estrella, Sharon Quirk’s newly minted school trustee might leap into the breach to defend Fullerton Boohooism. She still might, but time is running out. The days of last minute candidacies in Fullerton are pretty much over.

It would also make sense that young Jozef is the Tony Castro of 2026. You all remember Tony Castro – the last minute candidate in 2022 recruited by the Team Zahra to draw votes away from genuine Latino candidate Oscar Valadez. This could be the same slimy strategy to help Estrella, I suppose. At least Maldonado’s candidacy would have verisimilitude. Tony Castro’s did not, and neither did the Dems fake candidate in 2024, Scott Markowitz, who had to plead guilty to perjury.

Curiously Maldonado’s form 501 shows no zip code in a redacted address, which is peculiar. Why would anybody omit that on a candidate statement?

On the other hand maybe I’m being too cynical. Perhaps this will be a real candidacy and maybe Estrella will be happy staying where she is – for now. After all she’s barely been in office for a year.

Maldonado spoke at the February 3rd City Council meeting solely to attack Mayor Fred Jung for some supposedly divisive remarks that criticized his detractors. Poor Jozef was obviously following direction from Ahmad Zahra; and he obviously doesn’t really understand that mindless attacks don’t get you elected and that Zahra is a spent force, if he was ever much of a force to begin with.

This candidacy begs the question of whether or not Fullerton wants or needs another Zahra-type liberal who is more than happy to spend your money, lots of it, on his conscience-causes, from illegal immigrant welfare to boondoggle park projects that have no budget for maintenance.

February 10, 2026February 10, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Shana Charles In Bed With the Dope Cartel?

by The Fullerton Harpoon6 Comments

FFFF has taken advantage of numerous opportunities to relate the doings of the cannabis lobby in Fullerton.

The train of thought was weak but it sure was short…

We have all seen how Ahmad Zahra has endorsed the the idea of a cannabis dispensary on almost any commercial corner in Fullerton; how the sad mental train wreck of Jesus Quirk-Silva was eager to spread the pain to all of Fullerton’s representative districts. That’s old news, from 2020.

News of more recent vintage is that in 2024 the dope lobby, fronted by the grocery store workers union pitched in to elect Cannabis Kitty Jaramillo with an astounding $60,000, dumped into a pro Jaramillo political action committee.

How come? Because this union also represents the cannabis dispensary works in Orange County. I note that the origin and intent of this contribution was never discussed in the pages of the Fullerton Observer.

Of that $60,000, $4000 was shuffled to Andre Charles, who styles himself a political consultant. What he does between elections remains a mystery, as does the service he provided Team Jaramillo for that $4000. But Andre’s sketchy employment history is of little concern, except that the source of his conjugal bliss is none other than Mrs. Shana Charles, a Fullerton City Council member and a vociferous advocate for public health.

Ms. Shana, as FFFF has noted, is running for re-election in Fullerton’s District 3 this fall. She has kicked off a re-election campaign and has begun the task of fundraising. Her second biggest contribution was $1500, and came from came from the very same dope workers union that fronted the Cannabis Kitty PAC. A coincidence? I doubt it.

Mrs. Flory’s education was complete. The designated driver was on the way.

The marijuana dispensary lobby needs three votes to revive the ill-formed dope ordinance of 2020 approved just before the election of that year by Ahmad Zahra, Jesus Quirk-Silva, and the possibly sober Jan Flory (pictured above). That ordinance was revoked a few months later and the lobby determined that it was worth a huge monetary investment in Fullerton politics.

December 17, 2025December 17, 2025A Step in the Right Direction

Mayor Jung, Again, For 2026

by Grover Cleveland39 Comments

Yes, Mayor Fred Jung will be Mayor Fred Jung again. It happened at the Fullerton City Council meeting last night.

The usual assortment of Fullerton Boohoo showed up at the meeting for their annual December moan-fest about how “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra should be Mayor of Fullerton because he is a combination of Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Jesus H. Christ. And also District 5, where Zahra has never got 50% of the vote, is somehow “disenfranchised” because Zahra can’t revel in the lofty title. Sputter, wheeze, etc. Ironically, one Zahra advocate explained as a qualification how the unemployed and family-less Zahra was always at photo-op events.

Comically, many of Zahra’s ardent followers couldn’t pronounce his name right, referring to him as “Za-ha-rah,” thus suggesting they don’t even know him.

But somehow the show seemed pretty muted, and sort of perfunctory; maybe it was because Zahra wasn’t even at the meeting and this meant that his getting three votes wasn’t in the cards.

Zahra minions spoke about the policy of mayoral rotation made years ago by other city councils that must be adhered to, even though the City Attorney had said a council majority could set it aside anytime they want, making the policy meaningless.

What will 2026 have in store for this one…

The endlessly self-impressed gasbag Shana Charles said it was also her turn to be mayor, cuz she had just been Mayor Pro Tem, and ya know, policy. She is running for re-election next years and probably thought, delusionally, that she had a shot at the Title. She didn’t.

In the end Valencia nominated Fred Jung who was appointed Mayor; Nick Dunlap was nominated, and appointed Mayor Pro Tem.

No one within the boohoo tribe has ever bothered to honestly figure out why the council majority has steadfastly refused to appoint Zahra to be mayor. It’s chalked up to selfish personality issues on their part, but we know the real reason. No one whom Zahra hasn’t fooled with his phony immigrant schtick and faux sincerity wants to hear his long-winded, self-praising bloviation and his promotion of his “brand.” They resent his constant condescension toward them, his performance of moral superiority, and his hysterical, behind the scenes behavior.

The same applies to the majority’s opinion of Shana Charles, with her smug, incompetent, speechifying. She loves the sound of her own voice, alright, but nobody else loves the bi-monthy waste of time that just interminably drags out meetings. Even Nick Dunlap, who nominated Charles to be mayor Pro Tem a year ago, has evidently had enough of her tedious monologues.

Speaking of Dunlap, he did excel himself before the vote, noting that the same 40 people (it’s probably closer to 20) who show up at council meetings do not represent the public or the community and that he had been elected to represent everybody. Well done, there, Mr. Dunlap. They won’t get it, but need to be reminded once in a while.

So Fred Jung gets to use the title “Mayor” during his campaign for County Supervisor which is a help in the odd world of local politics where almost nobody is paying attention to real accomplishments or real failures.

December 10, 2025December 12, 2025Ahmad Zahra

Who Wants to be Mayor?

by Grover Cleveland23 Comments

“Dr.” Ahmad Zahra, the immigration fraud, battery and vandalism perp, and false police report submitter, that’s who. He’s craved the title for five years and his record of attacking and insulting and questioning the morality of his colleagues has kept him from getting it.

The Council appointment vote is coming up next Tuesday and one thing I will bet on is that the Dubious Doctor from Damascus will not get the job, no matter how many boohoos show up to wail and gnash their at the horror of the injustice.

Obviously, Fred Jung, our current front man, wants the exalted title since he’s running for County Supervisor.

And then there’s the otiose, self-important windbag Shana Charles. She is (inexplicably) our current Mayor Pro Tem; she might nominate her running buddy Zahra for Mayor, but will be perfectly happy to receive the Mayor title for herself. Can she get three votes? Only if she gets nominated and Nick Dunlap goes along with it, like he did when he bafflingly nominated her to be Mayor Pro Tem a year ago. But if he does that he will surely incur the wrath of the powerful Lincoln Club, a big money Republican outfit that has supposedly endorsed Jung.

My prediction is a third year of Jung’s mayoralty, a year in which a sales tax increase will be the big issue for Fullerton voters. I see Jamie Valencia appointed Mayor Pro Tem, unless for some reason Dunlap wants that, which seems unlikely.

Am I right?

If I am, expect another one of those self-pity party monologues from Zahra about how his enemies (unnamed) are out to get him and how he has worked valiantly on behalf of the dispossessed untermenschen of District 5. Count on a ten minute discourse with many pained and pregnant pauses as he scans the audience and no one in particular.

Tune in to the Council meeting on December 16th to find out.