Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
The boys in the White Van are back, out of rehab, and once again patrolling the streets of OC.
They have intercepted and decoded a file containing the following video emanating from Dick Ackerman’s topiary compound within a top-secreted gated community in Irvine. Will this hit-piece be effective in salvaging the political careers of the Three Blind Mice? Will it resonate? You decide!
Just when you thought you’d seen every kind of gluttony, along comes former City Manager and Recall opponent, Chris Meyer to give new meaning to the concept of pigging out.
Here is a summary of Meyer’s final day payout as he bid the taxpayers of Fullerton adios:
Yes, folks you read that right. Almost $110,000 of unused sick days and vacation days racked up by Meyer in our service. Well, really in his own service. And that one massive payday on January 7th put Meyer into the Fullerton high roller club for the entire year of 2011.
The worst part, of course, is that Mr. Meyer presided over Fullerton for about ten years – as the disastrous 3@50 pension was enacted, as the FPD Culture of Corruption went into full swing, as Downtown Fullerton became a boozy free-for-all, as the City illegally added a 10% tax to our water bill each and every month, and as the City’s infrastructure began falling into a massive sinkhole.
And had not Shawn Nelson blown the whistle on him in 2008, he would have gotten away with another pension spike for the paper pushers – himself included.
The Meyer regime passed on a financial and infrastructure legacy of debt to future generations without an apparent pang of remorse. In his world we are just there to pay the bills and keep our mouths shut.
Enjoy the spectacle of the Incredible Disappearing Donkey, as F. “Dick” Jones gits up off’n’ his backside to bug out on a council meeting and git on home to his vittles, incoherently mumblin’ some nonsense. The Mayor even bids him goodnight.
But what’s this? Mumbles reappears just minutes later, perhaps deciding that being a rude jackass isn’t the best way to beat a recall.
Well, the Fullerton Culture of Corruption is in the news again, and, naturally, not in a good way. The star of the show is Fullerton’s own Jim Blake. Here is a CBS undercover report on Metropolitan Water District board members wining and dining themselves on our dime – even as they keep jacking up the commodity cost of water to us, a cost to which our wise City Fathers then tack on an illegal 10% tax!
Jim Blake has been the choice of Fullerton’s establishment to represent our City on the MWD since the Third Day, when God gathered the waters.
Of course this is no news to us here at FFFF. We reported on Blake and Linda Ackerwoman running up huge “travel” tabs a long time ago, here and here. Blake has been reappointed by Bankhead and Jones over and over again. Why?
Well, Blake is supposedly calling it quits at MWD, but not before causing Fullerton more embarrassment.
Here’s a fun Doc HeeHaw campaign flier from 2004 sent to us from a guy named Baxter. It’s interesting because it shows how little you had to do to get re-elected in Fullerton: send out a couple mailers with a few hollow platitudes and specious claims about how you kept Fullerton safe.
And this document provides lots of exciting bonus material.
Gag. Let’s start with the part about keeping Fullerton safe. We now know that was a crock o’ the BS. But really? Fullerton was safer because it had more six-figure paramedics? Really? And our streets were safer because of money poured into an overpriced police annex and and some stupid, unspecified Homeland Security “Program.” Pathetic. Nothing mentioned about Pat McKinley hiring one-eyed cops rejected by the LAPD. Hmm.
Speaking of McPension, the fact that this toady permitted his picture to be used in a campaign mailer for his boss is really pretty bad and should have caused him to be disciplined by his…oops.
Over on the right it gets even better. Responsible planning, Dick? You mean the proliferation of massive, high density apartment blocks built by your campaign contributors that are choking downtown Fullerton? You mean the Jefferson Commons behemoth? The idiotic Transportation Center Master Plan? And what major transportation projects were you talking about, Dick. The streets of Fullerton were falling into disrepair then, and haven’t gotten any better in the last eight years of your neglect. Also thank you Dick for improving “our” quality of life by revitalizing local parks, although I doubt if you wanted anybody to know about the Poisoned Park that has been virtually useless since the day it opened in 2003.
Oh, and fiscal responsibility? Oops, goofed again. No mention of balancing the budget by imposing a hidden and illegal 10% tax on our water. I would call that raising taxes, each and every year! Now that’s not very good, is it?
And now for Jonesy’s “public safety” gold seal of approval. Jones omits to tell folks what that endorsement cost the citizens of Fullerton: the notorious retroactive pension benefit formula of 3%@50 for cops and firemen that,with the stroke of Dick Jones’ pen, caused an immediate and massive unfunded pension liability that will be dangling over Fullerton taxpayers’ heads for decades, if it ever goes away at all.
By now everyone is at least casually familiar with the personage of FPD cop Joe Wolfe, who along with Manny Ramos, happened to be the first to confront the homeless schizophrenic man, Kelly Thomas, in the Fullerton Transportation Center, on the sultry night of July 5th, 2011.
Allegedly responding to a call claiming somebody was breaking into cars, Wolfe and Ramos were near enough to get to the scene first. Some folks think this was not a coincidence.
According to the DA, Wolfe searched Thomas’ backpack at the rear of a patrol car as Ramos hovered over Thomas around front – a mere 10-15 feet away. The fact that this implausibly lengthy “search” took place during Ramos’ physical and verbal intimidation of Kelly gave the DA his justification for Wolfe’s subsequent behavior.
What happened next (according to the DA) is that Kelly, who finally realized he was being queued up for an ass kicking one way or another, got up, and backed away from Ramos, hands and palms up; Ramos had pulled out his baton. And who was there to meet Thomas with drawn night stick, having circled around behind the patrol car and who suddenly seemed very much aware of what was going on?
Right. Officer Joe Wolfe.
This corpulent cop, who was so thoroughly engrossed in picking through Thomas’ scant belongings that he supposedly had no knowledge of what was happening a few feet away, suddenly became as nimble as Nijinski, allegedly slamming Kelly in the leg with his night stick, and with Ramos, tackling Thomas. As Ramos held Thomas by the neck and punched him, Wolfe was on top too, kicking and punching as the beat down and the pile on began.
We are asked (by the DA) to believe that Wolfe was completely unaware of Ramos verbally threatening Thomas, and donning his latex gloves; and that he was merely coming to Ramos’ rescue. Could it have happened that way? I guess so, but it really strains credulity to believe that Wolfe was not aware of the provacative behavior of Ramos, even if there were no pre-arranged set up of Kelly involved. And the DA provided no credible explanation for the sheer violence of his physical assault: we are left with the inevitable conclusion that Wolfe meant to do Kelly great bodily harm.
How many times did Wolfe hit Thomas before the one-eyed cop Jay Cicinelli arrived on the scene to finish him off? Only those privileged cops (and city councilmen) who have seen the video know.
Many questions remain unanswered about the role of Mr. Wolfe on the night in question, and despite the DA’s effort to absolve Wolfe of complicity in the killing, many observers, including me, remain unconvinced.
One thing we do know for sure: Joe Wolfe joins an ever growing list of Fullerton cops who can’t be let loose on the street or trusted to testify in court. He has been on paid leave since August. And until the Gennaco report on the Thomas killing comes out, there he will stay.
In the case of the FPD public information officer, not much, apparently.
It happens that FPD has some sort of class on how to love your local cops, and below, I share two on-line descriptions of the class. Check out the 2009 version vs. the 2012 version. All of the Pat McKinley quotes were replaced word-for-word with alleged quotations by Dan Hughes!
How’s that for a nice copy and paste job from a $130,000 per year employee, FPD spokesphincter Andrew Goodrich?
Check it out:
2012
http://www.cityoffullerton.com/civica/press/display.asp?layout=1&Entry=2594
The 10-week course “will expose participants to the many faces of police work in their community,” explained Fullerton Police Acting Chief Dan Hughes. “Participants will gain an overall knowledge of the Fullerton Police Department, how it’s organized, how it serves the community, and they will learn about the men and women behind the badge.”
Hughes emphasized the course is not meant to train people to become police officers; rather, “it is intended to improve communication and understanding between the community and the department.”
2009
http://activerain.com/blogsview/896479/fullerton-police-citizens-academy-join-today-
The 10-week course, which will be held from March 11 through May 13, “exposes participants to the many facets of police work in their community,” explained Fullerton Police Chief Pat McKinley. “Participants will gain an overall knowledge of the Fullerton Police Department, how it’s organized, and how it serves the community, and they will learn about the men and women behind the badge.”
McKinley emphasized the course is not meant to train people to become police officers; rather, “it is intended to open communication between the community and the department.”
Either Goodrich is the laziest $130,000 man alive, or Danny Hughes is channeling the ghost of Pat McPension!
1. We will not flatulate in your face because we think you are unconscious.
2. We will not break into your house by mistake, hold you at gunpoint and refuse to apologize.
3. We will not beat you up, arrest you and then lie on the witness stand about how we came to find you in our jail the next day.
4. We will not throw you in jail for five months because we are just too damn lazy to catch the right dude.
5. We will not handcuff and sexually assault you in the back of our patrol cars.
6. We will not swipe your wallet after we kick the crap out of you.
7. We will not encourage you to commit suicide in our jail. Nor will we try to destroy the evidence thereof.
8. We will not rip you off by committing credit card fraud.
9. We will not steal your iPad at an airport security checkpoint. Or any place else for that matter.
10. We will not instigate a fake crime report, beat the living shit out of you, electrocute you, drive your facial bones into your brain, sit on your chest as you asphyxiate in your own blood, stand around as you die, and then laugh about it the next day as we go back to work.
11. None of the above.
Back in November the Fullerton Recall proponent Chris Thompson issued a challenge to anti-recall spokescloaca Larry Bennett to a debate. Bennett claimed that he had to wait for his superiors (presumably “Dick” Ackerman and Dave Ellis) to get back from Thanksgiving Break.
After that, crickets.
Crickets – until the Recall signatures were validated by the Registrar of Voters and the Fullerton Is For Sale Gang knew it was in deep shit. The very next day Bennett appeared out of the blue, just dying to “debate.” But not live, no, but in a creepy, censored, on-line environment in which he could get nonsense written by Ellis and Ackerman in front of the public. Any one, really.
As Dick Jones would say: Nuh, uh!
Bennett it’s time you stood up in front of a live audience and explained all the lies on your pathetic website and your dopey mailers. Then you can explain to the people of Fullerton about the record of the Somnolent Sloths you are so proud of. You can explain all about the Culture of Corruption in the FPD – well documented by one case of malfeasance after another, culminating in the death of a man. You can explain the land giveaways your boys made to campaign contributors, and the the illegal attempt to expand Redevelopment. You can tell them all about the illegal 10% water tax that they have imposed on the water rate payers of Fullerton for 15 years.
Better yet, Larry why don’t you thaw out one of your boys to do the talking for himself? Bankhead? Jones? McKinley? You claim these three are experienced, wise, honorable men. Surely such paragons of virtue can speak up for their own record, right?
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.
Fullerton cop Kellly Mejia finally had her day in court and pled guilty to swiping an iPad in a Miami airport TSA security check point. She got a slap on the wrist from the judge: a “theft class,” a dinky fine, some community services hours and best of all will get this expunged if she she keeps her nose clean for a whole year.
Lou Ponsi of the Register cites FPD spokessphincter Andrew Goodrich who claims Mejia was fired at the end of October after being on paid leave since May. Ponsi is obliging in pointing out that Mejia is a former Fullerton cop, glossing over the fact that she was a Fullerton cop when she committed her crime.
Of course we peons are not permitted to know what she was actually fired for, since the public is not privy to police personnel matters no matter how egregious a cop’s offense may have been; whatever Mejia was canned for, presumably it wasn’t for committing larceny in Florida, since she hadn’t pled guilty of anything yet on October 28th. Was there something even worse the we shall never know about?
Andy?
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| Seq No. | Charge | Charge Type | Disposition |
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| 1 | GRAND THEFT 3RD DEG | FELONY | FINDING OF GUILT |
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| Seq. No. | Date | Book/Page | Docket | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 55 | 02/08/2012 |
TRIAL PROS. ASSIGNED: GRIFFIN, HEATHER
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| 54 | 02/08/2012 |
DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENT & SPEEDY TRIAL WAIVER
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| 53 | 02/08/2012 |
MEMO RE: DEFERRED PROSECUTION PROGRAM ACCEPTED
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| 52 | 02/07/2012 |
COURT FEE PAYMENT 603.00 RECEIPT # 3480008
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| 51 | 02/07/2012 |
REPORT RE: (BY) CLERK SET FOR 02/08/2012 AT 09:00
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| 49 | 02/07/2012 |
MOTION TO VACATE JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE FILED 02/07/2012 ORAL SET FOR 02/07/2012 AT 12:30 GRANTED
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| 48 | 02/07/2012 |
REPORT RE: SENTENCING SET FOR 02/07/2013 AT 09:00
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| 47 | 02/06/2012 |
REPORT RE: PLEA SET FOR 02/07/2012 AT 09:01
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| 46 | 02/06/2012 |
MEMORANDUM OF COSTS AMOUNT 603.00
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| 44 | 02/06/2012 |
STAY GRANTED – DUE 02/07/2012
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| 43 | 02/06/2012 |
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| 40 | 02/06/2012 |
CLOSING JUDGE GLICK, LEONARD E
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| 37 | 01/09/2012 | E-SUBPOENA: TORRES, HECTOR ID: 030-02366 FOR: TRIAL ON 02/06/2012 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 01/09/2012 RECD/NOTFD: 01/09/2012 ACKN: 01/09/2012 S |
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| 36 | 01/09/2012 | E-SUBPOENA: CORREA, GILBERT ID: 030-02120 FOR: TRIAL ON 02/06/2012 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 01/09/2012 RECD/NOTFD: 01/09/2012 ACKN: 01/10/2012 S |
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| 35 | 01/09/2012 | E-SUBPOENA: JACOBS, DAVID ID: 030-01666 FOR: TRIAL ON 02/06/2012 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 01/09/2012 RECD/NOTFD: 01/09/2012 ACKN: 01/09/2012 S |
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| 34 | 01/05/2012 |
TRIAL HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 02/06/2012 AT 09:00
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| 31 | 11/21/2011 |
MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE FILED 11/21/2011 SET FOR 11/21/2011 AT 14:09 GRANTED DEFS
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| 30 | 11/21/2011 |
REPORT RE: TRIAL DATE SET FOR 01/05/2012 AT 09:00
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| 29 | 11/21/2011 |
REPORT RE: PLEA SET FOR 01/05/2012 AT 09:00
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| 28 | 11/16/2011 |
MOTION TO/FOR: TO CONTINUE
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| 27 | 11/15/2011 |
NOTICE OF HEARING 11/17/11
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| 25 | 10/24/2011 | E-SUBPOENA: TORRES, HECTOR ID: 030-02366 FOR: TRIAL ON 11/21/2011 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 10/24/2011 RECD/NOTFD: 10/24/2011 ACKN: 10/24/2011 S |
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| 24 | 10/24/2011 | E-SUBPOENA: CORREA, GILBERT ID: 030-02120 FOR: TRIAL ON 11/21/2011 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 10/24/2011 RECD/NOTFD: 10/24/2011 ACKN: 10/24/2011 S |
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| 23 | 10/24/2011 | E-SUBPOENA: JACOBS, DAVID ID: 030-01666 FOR: TRIAL ON 11/21/2011 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 10/24/2011 RECD/NOTFD: 10/24/2011 ACKN: 10/24/2011 S SENT: RECD/NOTFD: ACKN: 10/24/2011 S |
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| 22 | 08/29/2011 |
MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE FILED 08/29/2011 SET FOR 08/29/2011 AT 09:31 GRANTED STIP
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| 21 | 08/29/2011 |
TRIAL HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 11/21/2011 AT 09:00
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| 20 | 08/23/2011 |
MOTION TO/FOR: TO CONTINUE TRIAL
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| 18 | 08/01/2011 | E-SUBPOENA: TORRES, HECTOR ID: 030-02366 FOR: TRIAL ON 08/29/2011 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 08/01/2011 RECD/NOTFD: 08/01/2011 ACKN: 08/01/2011 S |
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| 17 | 08/01/2011 | E-SUBPOENA: CORREA, GILBERT ID: 030-02120 FOR: TRIAL ON 08/29/2011 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 08/01/2011 RECD/NOTFD: 08/01/2011 ACKN: 08/02/2011 S |
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| 16 | 08/01/2011 | E-SUBPOENA: JACOBS, DAVID ID: 030-01666 FOR: TRIAL ON 08/29/2011 AT 09:00 ISSUED BY: CJIS SENT: 08/01/2011 RECD/NOTFD: 08/01/2011 ACKN: 08/01/2011 S |
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| 15 | 06/02/2011 |
TRIAL UNIT ASSIGNED: FELONY DIVISION 21
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| 14 | 06/02/2011 |
TRIAL PROS. ASSIGNED: ABRAMS, IVAN
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| 13 | 06/01/2011 |
DISC EXHIBIT: STATE’S DEMAND FOR DEFN DISCV/DEMAND FOR ALIBI
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| 12 | 06/01/2011 |
TRIAL HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 08/29/2011 AT 09:00
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| 11 | 06/01/2011 |
INFORMATION FILED
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| 5 | 05/09/2011 |
BOND RECEIVED POWER/RECEIPT # 46776
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| 9 | 05/06/2011 |
DEMAND FOR VIEW OF EVIDENCE
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| 8 | 05/06/2011 |
DEMAND FOR DISCOVERY
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| 7 | 05/06/2011 |
WRITTEN PLEA OF NOT GUILTY
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| 6 | 05/06/2011 |
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE ROBERT G. AMSEL
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| 4 | 05/03/2011 |
INTAKE UNIT ASSIGNED: FSU – CASE SCREENING
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| 3 | 05/03/2011 |
INTAKE PROS. ASSIGNED: BETTENDORF-PL, KRISTI-KF
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| 2 | 05/03/2011 |
ARRAIGNMENT HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 06/01/2011 AT 09:00
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| 1 | 05/03/2011 |
CAB AMT/ 5000 ISSUED 05/03/2011 POWER/46776
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