Don Bankhead Archives - Page 28 of 45 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

September 13, 2011September 14, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Cop Union President Barry Coffman Identified

UPDATE: Please note Coffman’s admission: “This year, my first citation”. So he obviously took on this assignment to harass citizens out of the sheer joy of it. And there you have it. Your tax dollars at work.

The other day we shared a video here of the Fullerton Police Department’s PR disastrous anti-honking ticket strategy. Of course it was justifiably greeted with a hail of scorn and outrage and was ridiculed across Southern California as blatant harassment of peaceful protesters. Egad, another FPD humiliation. Another day another embarrassment!

Oh, well, I guess when you don’t have a sense of shame it’s impossible to be shamed.

What went unmentioned in the video was the identity of the well-fed cop who handed out the ticket to the protester who had the temerity to honk for justice for Kelly Thomas. Well, I know who this churlish individual is.

No surprise! That’s Fullerton Police Officer Association President, Barry Coffman – the head union goon who got The Three Blind Mice McKinley, Bankhead, and Jones elected in the first place, and then watched in satisfaction as these three clowns handed over Fullerton to his union comrades.

Barry says he is smirking because he gets so much job satisfaction. But Barry won’t be smirking for long. Whatever the DA does there will be Federal and civil lawsuits coming FPD’s way, and likely punitive damages against the McKinley Six. And that’s not going to be hushed up as usual. And he’s got an anti-recall campaign to finance with three elderly orangutans who have finally been exposed as utterly incompetent.

three blind ortangtans — Not much to work with...

Smirk on that, Barry.

September 10, 2011September 10, 2011Dick Jones

Recall Petitions Are Approved; Signature Gathering Begins

by Chris Thompson163 Comments

We have received approval from the Fullerton City Clerk of the three recall petitions for Don Bankhead, Dick Jones and Pat McKinley.

I would like to give credit where credit is due and thank City Clerk Lucinda Williams for getting our petitions approved with three revisions in nine business days. I spoke to a number of people who had been through this process on recalls and I would guess there are not too many examples of getting one recall petition, much less three, approved in that timeframe. Thank you Lucinda for doing both a good job and the right thing!

Recall Petition – Pat McKinley
Recall Petition – Don Bankhead
Recall Petition – Dick Jones

Again, if you have not already communicated with us on your desire to be a Signature Gatherer, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A REGISTERED FULLERTON VOTER, please send an email stating your interest to chris@fullertonrecall.com.

Many people have asked about online signature gathering, but that is not allowed. If you wish to sign the petition, please either find a signature gatherer at your local supermarket, the Kelly Thomas Protests or events, the Thursday Fullerton Market or email chris@fullertonrecall.com Tell your Fullerton Friends!

September 5, 2011September 5, 2011Dick Jones

FFFF Exclusive. The Crime Scene Photos that the FPD Forgot to Confiscate

by admin663 Comments

When that cop intimidated Bunny and took her roll of film shortly after the brutal beating of Kelly Thomas, he didn’t realize that Bunny had already used up another roll of film taking pictures of the crime scene. She thought that roll was useless. She was mistaken.

That roll of film escaped the clutches of the Fullerton police and these photos were developed over the weekend:

The pictures are chilling, knowing what we know now about how Kelly died. Yes, we can see light reflected in the pool of blood near the cops feet – right next to the front right wheel of the patrol car. The light pole to the right of the picture is where Kelly’s Memorial has been set up.

The one thing that strikes me most is the way the FPD are not treating this like a crime scene.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

September 3, 2011September 3, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Hey Mr. DA, Is This What Happened?

by admin295 Comments

August 31, 2011Behind Closed Doors

We Get Mail: Is It Just Me?

by admin124 Comments

Friends for Fullerton’s Future,

I am struck by the comparative silence of the knee-jerk pro-police crowd about the irony that none of the six Fullerton cops who were present on the hot night of July 5th (when Kelly Thomas mysteriously slipped into a coma), are willing to talk to the DA to help further the cause of the impartial “investigation” being conducted by the Useless Rackauckas.

It seems hilarious to me that before “rushing to judgment” we are admonished to wait for the mature fruits of this so-called investigation which apparently will be lacking information from all seven of the people most immediately present at the incident. Since number seven won’t be talking anymore at all, this seems to suggest that the investigation will never be competently completed.

So how ’bout it FPD? Let’s get these boys a talkin’ so our hard-working DA can wrap up a thorough investigation and we move ahead.

Besides. If they have done nothing wrong, as many of their defenders claim, they have nothing to fear from our fair and impartial legal system.

F. W. Farnsworth

August 28, 2011August 29, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Corruption. Bent As A Dog’s Hind Leg: The Tricky Dick Ackerman Legacy

by Grover Cleveland131 Comments

We’ve got it on really good authority that former city councilman, State legislator, and current Irvine resident, Dick Ackerman is going to be heading up the anti-recall effort for Fullerton’s Three Blind Mice: Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley. For those of you who don’t recall the name Ackerman, run through our FFFF archives to discover what sort of moral fiber that this individual is composed of. We busted The Dickster cooking up a fake address in 2009 for his incompetent wife to run in our Assembly district although they actually live in Irvine (note: the Mrs was endorsed by Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley). We caught the old lady operating a fake charity for lobbyists so she and Dick could get free trips to Maui. We also cheered when the Voice of OC finally uncovered the smoking gun that tied Ackerman to illegal lobbying on behalf of the crooked OC Fair Board as we had been reporting all along.

Only a few days ago we shared a notice for an upcoming country club event in which Ackerman will hold forth on how to manage a lynch-type mob.

BossHogg — That boy's gonna be real good to me...soon!

Well, now you know the sort of character we’re dealing with here. But what you might not know is that Dick Ackerman, who works for The Nossaman law firm was recently gifted with a huge windfall by his old pals Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley. See, on August 16th The Three Blind Mice ignored their own professional staff’s recommendation, and instead presented Nossaman’s client, St. Anton Partners a multi-million dollar subsidy on a 60 units per acre low income housing project on Santa Fe Avenue! No wonder Dicky Boy was hanging out at the Council meeting all night and had to endure outraged citizens attacking the incompetence and stoogery of his three puppets on the council for three long hours.

Just for added fun here’s Ackerman’s blurb from the Nossaman website:

He assists companies, individuals, groups, and public agencies in their interactions with governments at the local, county, state, and federal levels. In addition, Mr. Ackerman assists clients in dealing with government and special districts on how to get through the political process.

In layman’s parlance, Ackerman is a political fixer, an influence peddler, and a lobbyist. Just the sort of guy who would spring to the defense of his trio of myopic rodent pals on the Fullerton City Council.

Here’s the page from the staff report listing the scores of the various “developers” seeking official City endorsement that will pave the way for millions in taxpayer subsidies. Check out Ackerman’s crew, St. Anton. Eighth freakin’ place! And yet Jones, Bankhead and McKinley decided to award millions to the guy who will be running their recall campaign. Stink? Much?

The second most ironic thing about this sad but illuminating story is that when he was on the city council in the 1980s, Ackerman was the most steadfast opponent of publicly subsidized housing in Fullerton. Well, that was then and this is now. See, when you’re a ‘puglican and money’s at stake, principles go right down the toilet. The most ironic thing is that in 1994 Ackerman also championed the cause of three incompetent buffoons who were being recalled. He lost that one, too.

As a thoughtful commenter reminds us, below, McKinley, Bankhead, and Jones were so eager to accomodate their pal Ackerman that they pushed through a vote and then had to rescind it because they never held a public hearing. Another example of Three Blind Stooge FAIL.

August 24, 2011August 24, 2011Dead heads

The Cops As Victims; The OC Register as Useful Idiot

by Mr. Peabody431 Comments

Tony Rackauckas — See that guy over there? He doesn't have a bomb. But he might someday!

Here’s a comical OC Register post from today. I say comical somewhat tongue-in-cheek because almost all Register posts and articles are comical these days.

According to this one, the intrepid journalist Doug Irvine tried to squeeze some information out of the DA – such as the names of the cops who beat on Kelly Thomas’s head like a kettle drum with their taser handles.

The response from our Do-nothing DA? Oooooh! We have so many scary threats these days that we just can’t say anything. Well, there was one, at least!

Of course over at the the beleaguered FPD, spokesbozo Andrew Goodrich supplied his comrades at The Register with a scary bomb threat story (nothing was found, of course). Poor babies.

Jeezus, you wouldn’t think such heavily-armed and highly trained experts would be so easily intimidated, now would you? Apparently they are weak as kittens when the chips are down, even with their McKinley vests, and this justifies the ongoing secrecy. The logic is inescapable, right?

The funny thing is to observe how the Register writer, rather than take the useless DA and FPD to task for their obvious lack of transparency, turns his article into a weepy sob story about the poor, defenseless cops. And of course the fact of the DA spending more time on threats to his office because of his lackluster investigation than on the investigation itself just drips with irony. Could that irony really be lost on Mr. Irving. It would appear so.

Here’s the money quote that references our humble blog:

The District Attorney’s Office also cited as a threat an entry on the Friends for Fullerton’s Future blog, which has dug into the Kelly Thomas case: “Someone should make these officers contact information and addresses public.”

Blogger Travis Kiger said that wasn’t a threat, and said he hasn’t seen any specific threats on the Friends for Fullerton’s Future blog. He challenged the District Attorney Office’s decision to keep the names secret.

“They release the names of suspected criminals every single day,” he said. “I don’t understand in this case how it would be any different.”

The District Attorney’s Office is “looking into” the one alleged threat that it received, Chief of Staff Susan Kang Schroeder said. Fullerton Police are “taking the threats seriously” but have no active criminal investigations into them, Goodrich said.

“They’ve all been anonymous in nature,” he said. “They would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to track.”

You’ve got to be kidding. Just goes to show you the extent to which the “law enforcement” establishment will go to protect its safety (or pretend to) while blowing off our safety – from them! And when the cops release information about suspects do they give a rat’s ass about their safety? Of course they don’t.

So did the FPD really receive a bomb threat? Who knows? But it’s gotten impossible to believe a single solitary thing that emanates from Andrew Goodrich’s mouth.

August 24, 2011August 24, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Disband the FPD?

by Grover Cleveland126 Comments

Pat-McKinley-Cops-300x206 — We're from FPD and we're here to help.

In the wake of a rolling tsunami of scandals, cover-ups, and abuse of its own citizens I have been hearing increased calls to disband the department altogether and bring in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Apparently the issue is not just FPD-fatigue and the brutal costs their misbehavin’ is going to cost the taxpayers; nor even police misconduct in general – since the OCSD has had its own share of bad behavior in recent years.

Hutchens — Anything you can do I can do better...

No, the prime motivation will be the comparatively low cost per capita that the OCSD charges its contract city partners for varying levels of service. Some have said that the City could easily save the General Fund $10-15 million a year, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Former Fullerton councilmember and current County Supervisor Shawn Nelson would be in a perfect position to help broker this deal

So could we be seeing the streets of Fullerton patrolled by guys in green? Perhaps. Why not? The current police force has disgraced itself so badly in the past few moths that from a public relations standpoint there would never be a better time.

August 23, 2011August 23, 2011Behind Closed Doors

The “Investigation.” Yeah, Right.

by Grover Cleveland216 Comments

As has been pointed out previously on this blog, there are rules for us and then there are rules for the police. Stuff that they do would land us in jail with a hefty bail; they get paid administrative leave and walk the streets free men.

Here’s another example of the distorted double standard: the so-called “investigation” of the Kelly Thomas death being concocted by our Do-nothing DA. We are told by the cop apologists to patiently await that magical moment when Mr. Rackauckas unveils the fruits of his labors.

Don-Bankhead — I honestly can't remember...

But what might those labors have involved? We have been told that the investigation didn’t start until two days after the homicide. Two full days. Did the cops turn in their bloodied uniforms for analysis? Did they turn over their Tasers for forensic examination of finger prints and blood samples? Have they produced recording devices? Was the homicide scene secured for examination? Anybody want to take odds that none of this has occurred?

JonesMouthOpenFor Business — Ahm a doctah! Them injuries was slight...

I’m pretty sure if you or I bashed somebody’s head in all that evidence would have been secured, post haste, and we’d be cooling our heels in Theo Lacy, slam-bang, and no bail for you, buddy.

But this is our new police state, brought to us courtesy of geriatric assclowns (thanks for the use, Joe S.) Jones, Bankhead and McKinley. It wasn’t enough for them to put the City’s finances at risk through extravagant pension giveaways. Oh no! They oversaw a veritable culture of corruption in the Fullerton Police Department, the depth of which the citizens and taxpayers are only now beginning to see.

Oh, and yeah. In this culture some of these miscreants believed they could get away with murder.

August 23, 2011August 23, 2011Dick Jones

Hee-Haw to Saddle Up!

by Mr. Peabody20 Comments

Hmm, we’ve already seen how eagerly council members can run to the trough under the pretense of acting in the interest of our beloved city — remember how Bankhead and Keller each racked up hotel bills at $400 per night on the city’s dime just to stay in the remote city of Long Beach?

pamkeller — $1200?? I didn't even open the mini-bar!

Well, now it’s about to happen again, only it’ll no doubt cost us more money this time around. Renown pit-bull reporter Lou Ponsi posted this in the O.C. Register the other day:

“The City Council last week named Mayor F. Richard Jones as a voting delegate and Councilman Don Bankhead as an alternate to represent Fullerton at the League of California Cities annual conference Sept. 21-23 in San Francisco.”

hippies — We're here on important business!

Since F. Dick has been doing such a bang-up job of representing Fullerton lately, I guess we should be grateful he’s willing to go all the way to San Francisco on our behalf. And let’s not forget that Bankhead has his back in case Hee-Haw can’t make it.

bing_crosby1 — Ahh, San Francisco... One of our favorite road trips!

Well, if ol’ Doc sidles up to the hitchin’ post in S.F he may well have an awful lot of explaining to do, because at least in Fullerton, the summer of love it ain’t!