Fullerton City Council Archives - Page 34 of 77 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

November 16, 2018November 16, 2018Behind Closed Doors

City Refuses to Learn from Mistakes

On Tuesday our City Manager, Ken Domer, wants Council to award Acting Chief Dunn with an Interim Chief gig. With this new gig comes a new contract as the new council decides who to put in the role “permanently”. Like all things in government there are already some serious questions in how this is playing out legally. Let’s see if you can spot an obvious problem in the contract.

Ok, I’ll give you a hint (emphasis added):

SECTION 12 – CONFIDENTIALITY AND NON-DISPARAGEMENT

Except as otherwise required by law, in the event the City terminates Employee with or without cause, City and Employee agree that no member of the City Council, the city management staff, nor Employee shall make any written, oral, or electronic statement to any member of the public, the press, or any City employee concerning Employee’s termination except in the form of a joint press release or statement, which is mutually agreeable to City and Employee. The joint press release or statement shall not contain any text or information that is disparaging to either City or Employee. Either City or Employee may verbally repeat the substance of the joint press release or statement in response to any inquiry.

What’s the problem, you ask?

Your right to know how the most senior members of Fullerton’s government behave is being voted away, again, by our City Council on Tuesday. Watch it pass 5-0. Bureaucracy Commandment #3: Protect thyself and thy brethren. I’m actually a little surprised this contract wasn’t buried in the Consent Calendar in the hopes nobody would even notice.

Take a look at Fullerton’s track record. Our previous city manager and 2 of our last 3 Police Chiefs resigned in disgrace — City Manager Felz hit a tree allegedly driving drunk, Chief Sellers went on medical leave in the midst of the Kelly Thomas scandal and most recently Chief Hendricks left after allegedly battering an EMT.

With contracts like this one, you have no right to know about any of it. That of course means you have no right to pressure City Council to do anything about it, either.

See the sickness?

When Hendricks resigned the city lied by omission and gave you nothing but a puff piece about how awesome he was for Fullerton. When I called the City’s Public Information Officer I was told, laughably, that Hendrick’s alleged battery for which he went on admin leave was unrelated to his resignation.

This contract is written so poorly that Dunn could shoot somebody in the face and BY CONTRACT nobody from the council or city could tell the public, media or other city employees why he was fired.

More to come on this outstanding contract at a later date. In the mean time, remember, your right to know stops where an employee’s paycheck begins.

November 14, 2018Fullerton City Council

To Do #1: Council Vacancy Appointment

by Fullerton Bagman33 Comments

Editor’s Note: We, like you, are a little tired of last minute complex topics tossed into an agenda dripping with staff’s obfuscation and drowned in legalese. We’ve recruited a former policy aide to provide FFFF readers with some perspective on current and emerging issues to be placed before the Fullerton City Council over the course of the next year. Our retired insider published a list of 100 topics for discussion yesterday.

This is the first post in a series to talk about policy impacting our budget and our lives. Say what you’d like about FFFF’s motives, but if we don’t break this stuff down to talk about it, who will?

With that, here’s The Fullerton Bagman with Council’s first item to resolve next year.

Hello Fullertonians:

I’ve been involved in government for a long time. Sometimes it’s a great experience, sometimes it’s not. For those of you familiar with this blog’s coverage of The Seven Walls of Government, this is what we’ll be confronting directly.

I don’t expect anyone in Fullerton to actually scale all seven walls and affect change, but I will equip you with a bare minimum necessary to side-step staff reports and speak to the issue at hand. Council may still ignore you, but at least you won’t be dependent upon drinking from their tainted well to quench the crushing thirst of ignorance.

Going forward, I and other members of the FFFF staff will provide you with a standardized one or two page summary of a critical issue facing Fullerton, free of bureaucratic interference and gobbledygook.

Issue #1: Council Vacancy Appointment

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

As a result of Jesus Silva winning election as District 3’s elected representative, he must vacate his current at-large elected seat. This results in four elected officials on a body with five seats.

All decisions require a majority vote (2 of 3, 3 of 4, or 3 of 5) of Council, with some votes requiring three votes specifically. With an empty seat on Council, some issues may not get resolved because of a 2-2 split or a 2-1 split in the case of a recusal for items requiring three votes.

In the case of a split, by law, the Council’s official action is to take no action.

(more…)

November 13, 2018Fullerton City Council

Council’s 2019 To-Do List

by Fullerton Bagman9 Comments

The transition to District elections is proceeding smoothly.

Well, the election is over. Silva won, Sebourn lost. Zahra won in District 5. The circle of political life turns once more as light falls on a new day in Fullerton.

Now that all the sign waiving, sign stealing, and empty-promise making is done, let’s take a look at the problems these poor fellows signed up to solve.

We’ve listed 100 discussion items in 27 different categories that likely need to be addressed in the next year. Feel free to add your own.

Here’s hoping Fullerton voters elected people who are intelligent, responsible, and accountable.

Council Vacancy Appointment/Special Election
Major Organizational Change at the Police Department
- Hiring a New Police Chief
- Hiring Two New Police Captains
Police Department Reputation and Morale Management
- ex-Sargent Corbett Criminal Trial (on duty)
- ex-Chief Hendricks Criminal Trial (not on duty)
- Captain Oliveras Criminal Trial (not on duty)
- ex-officers Cicinelli and Wolfe Civil Trial (on duty)
- Open and Anticipated Civil Trials
  - False Arrest and Defamation (Laguna Cops)
  - False Arrest and Civil Rights (Wildstar Arrest)
  - The Other Ones (there are more, just don’t have links for you)
- Citizen Oversight of Police Department
Infrastructure Management
- Roads and Bridges, $100,000,000 shortfall
- Water Lines
- Impact of HSR and Transportation Center
Water Rate Hike
Hunt Library Sale/Long Range Plan
Property Rezoning/Higher Density Development
- Developer Fee Reorganization
- Form Based Code (Downtown Core and Corridors-Lite)
- Kimberly Clark Sale/Re-purpose
New Permanent Fire Chief
Labor Negotiations
Lawsuits Not Related to The Police Department
- City Liability
  - Traffic Accidents (this is most of them)
  - Public Injury (parks, sidewalks, etc.)
  - Employment/Discrimination (we’ve only heard rumors)
- Land Use/Consent Decree/Compliance
Downtown Gameplan
- Paid Parking
- Business Improvement District (BID)
- Conditional Use Permit (CUP) / Administrative Restaurant Use Permit (ARUP) revisions
- Code Enforcement
West Coyote Hills
City Attorney Rebid
City Wide Overnight Parking
FJC Football Stadium
CSUF “Collegetown” Expansion
Homelessness
- Fullerton Shelter
- Anti-Camping Code Enforcement
- Church-Run-Shelter Code Revisions
- County-Wide Permanent Supportive Housing Project
The Budget
- Sales Tax
- Parcel Tax
- Utility Tax
- Outsourcing
  - Police
    - Jail
    - Patrol
    - Dispatch
    - Other Services (Parking, etc.)
  - Fire
    - North County JPA
    - County Fire
    - Paramedic/Ambulance Contract
  - Library
    - County
    - Private
  - Parks
    - Public-Private Partnership
    - Sale/Joint Use Agreements (i.e. School District)
  - Public Works
  - Water Utility
    - Sale to Private Ownership
    - Contract for management
- CALPERS Participation
- Long Term Staffing Plan
Brea Dam Lease
Street Cars
- Harbor to Disneyland
- Transportation Center to CSUF
Marijuana
- Illegal Dispensary Closures
- Continuing Code Enforcement
- Municipal Code Revisions to Allow Use
Water and Drought Management
- OCWD Participation
  - North Basin Plume
  - Poseidon
  - Additional aquifer extraction/recharge
- MWD Participation
  - Twin Tunnels Participation
  - Long Term Water Rate Purchases
  - Colorado River Curtailment
Hillcrest Park Phase 2 and 3
Address Chronic Leak Culture
Property Sales/Use
- Basque Yard
- Others
- Redevelopment Wrap Up
Fox Theater Parking Structure
- Periphery Property Sale/Use
- Parking Structure Building and Funding
Mills Act

October 30, 2018October 30, 2018Bad Cops

Wolfe and Cicinelli Haunt Thursday Council Agenda

by The Fish29 Comments

We told you this was coming.

Former Fullerton Police Officers Jay Cicinelli and Joseph Wolfe want their jobs back. More importantly, these two want back pay stemming from their original termination date. On Thursday, the Fullerton City Council will decide if you deserve to have these two upstanding examples of law and order patrolling your streets, and of course if you do deserve the pleasure of Jay and Joe’s company, you’ll be required to pay for wrongfully terminating their ability to roam the city with a badge, a gun, and of course a taser. . . which in a pinch can be used to “smash the face to hell” of any of Fullerton’s malcontent-ed dirty rabble.

So, do you? Let’s review what it is exactly you deserve in Fullerton.

(more…)

October 16, 2018October 16, 2018Behind Closed Doors

Election Meddling – Silva’s $400,000 Arrogance

by Joshua24 Comments

ElectionMeddling

Make taxpayers shell out $400,000 or meddle in an ongoing election.

Pick one.

That’s the quandary in front of our city council tonight in the form of agenda item 4:

4. FULLERTON MUNICIPAL CODE AMENDMENT REGARDING CITY COUNCIL VACANCIES
Consideration of an ordinance to repeal Fullerton Municipal Code Section 2.02.020 and follow procedure for filling City Council vacancies as set forth in Government Code Section 36512.

Without getting too much into the weeds the problem the city is trying to address is specific to the costs and ramifications of Jesus Silva winning the race for the District 3 council seat.

The voters in District 3 have 3 choices on their ballots; Greg Sebourn, Jesus Silva & Nickolas Wildstar. If either Sebourn or Wildstar wins this municipal code change does nothing in the foreseeable future.

If Jesus Silva wins then he vacates his current At-Large seat and we, by law, must hold a special election. That special election could cost us between $391,532 – $428,150 per the OC Registrar of Voters.

Silva likely didn’t even know he was risking socking the taxpayers with that hefty bill until somebody else pointed it out to him. Or perhaps he just didn’t care. That his wife was on council when the to be repealed ordinance was passed points more towards didn’t care than didn’t know.

We went through 2017 knowing this was an issue and the City Manager couldn’t be bothered to deal with it. Then most of 2018 came and went. Nothing. Instead of worrying about a near half a million dollar liability Ken Domer had the council worrying about which volunteers to fire from the various boards and committees around town. As a former member, I’m glad the Economic Development Committee is gone but if you’re going to muck with the municipal code perhaps worry about the parts costing us, or potentially costing us, real money before worrying about a committee that rarely met because it rarely had quorum.

Now this issue is on the City Agenda for the coming City Council meeting tonight. During an election.

Yes, the election is on 06 November but absentee ballots are already in the mail and thus the city is asking council to change the rules of elections DURING AN ELECTION. People will have already voted in District 3 BEFORE the council decides what to do tonight.

Silva 2018 Meddling — Quote Silva from 3 days ago: “Absentee ballots are starting to arrive.”

This is ridiculous.

I don’t want the city to have to spend $400,000 to fill a vacated seat if Silva wins in District 3. However – and this is a big however – Jesus Silva decided to run knowing that his run could cost us that much money and he did it anyways. That he did it anyways speaks to his character.

That is a political consideration and changing the rules during the election screams of a partisan fix to a problem Silva could have avoided by not throwing his at-large seat away in the quest for 2022 incumbency. Voters make decisions on issues that cost and matter less than $400k and deserve to judge this issue without council interference after the fact.

But how did we get here? (more…)

October 15, 2018October 15, 2018Bad Cops

Campaign Mail – Quirk-Silva’s Irony

by Joshua19 Comments

It’s junk mail season and time to keep an eye on the nonsense being sent out by and for candidates and issues. One of the best pieces we’ve seen thus far in the cycle is this little nugget from the CADEM’s supporting Sharon Quirk-Silva for Assembly.

They believe HER.

The irony and timing on this is pretty great considering that Quirk-Silva herself is being investigated by the State Assembly for political retaliation against Daniel Fierro, by way of trying to pressure fellow (D) Fullerton council candidate Ahmad Zahra into dropping Fierro as a client.

But they believe HER.

If you make a sexual assault claim against an SQS ally she’ll allegedly retaliate against you, as will her husband Council member Jesus Silva.

And yet they believe HER.

Riiiiight.

This is partisan schtick at it’s worst and I almost expect this to backfire spectacularly.

Where was this #IBelieveHer version of Sharon Quirk-Silva when Fullerton Officer Albert Rincon was being accused of sexually assaulting 7 women and costing the taxpayers of Fullerton $350,000?

Where was this #IBelieveHer Quirk-Silva when a judge said of that case:

“At the end of the day, the city put Rincon back onto the streets to continue arresting women despite a pattern of sexual harassment allegations. A reasonable juror could conclude based on these facts, that the city simply did not care what officers did to women during arrest,”.

For those of you wondering about the timeline on all this regarding Rincon and Quirk-Silva – from that same Oct 2011 article:

The Rincon case began in 2008, when Kari Bode and Gina Nastasi accused Rincon of groping them and exposing their breasts. They sued the department in 2009.

So where was #IBelieveHer Sharon Quirk-Silva when Officer Albert Rincon was allegedly molesting women on our city streets?

Oh. She was Mayor.

SQS Mayor Timeline

She was Mayor again in 2012 AFTER that Judge rebuked Fullerton for doing essentially nothing to an officer accused of at least 7 known alleged accounts of sexual assault under the color of authority.

And she seems to have done nothing. Apparently appeasing the police union was more important than Believing those women.

To make matters worse – Sharon Quirk-Silva just 6 short weeks ago, voted AGAINST SB1421 AND AB748.

After Jerry Brown sided against SQS and signed both of those bills into law, the ACLU stated:

“Together, SB 1421 and AB 748 will shine a much-needed light on police violence and abuse. Specifically, SB 1421 restores the public’s right to know how departments investigate and hold accountable those officers who abuse their power to frame, sexually assault, or kill members of the public. AB 748 will ensure law enforcement agencies throughout the state release police recordings of serious uses of force, including body camera footage, which are valuable tools for civilian oversight at a time of growing concern with police violence.”

SB 1421 is especially problematic for Quirk-Silva’s “#IBelieveHer” narrative in that it will make public some information specific to the powers of police officers, especially regarding sexual assault tied to the abuse of power to coerce a victim into sexual acts.

SB1421 directly addresses the problems with Officer Rincon and how it was handled within FPD and our city. Thus despite her firsthand knowledge of the problems being addressed by these bills from her time as our Mayor she opted to side with those who would abuse their power rather than the victims and the public seeking information about bad actors in uniform.

Yet they believe HER.

This is because Sharon Quirk-Silva apparently only “Believes Her” when the “her” in question can be used as a political cudgel against her opponents or to rally her more rabid base of supporters. When it comes to actually believing victims of sexual assault, in the end Sharon Quirk-Silva’ actions speak louder than her words. She can be counted on to run the gamut of doing nothing to actively, allegedly, trying to silence the victim and ultimately voted to keep information about official misconduct quiet.

October 11, 2018About Us

Meet the Candidates – Nickolas Wildstar

by Sean Paden15 Comments

While we suspect there’s at least one candidate on the ballot on November who will not be responding to our candidate questionnaire under any circumstances, we did receive our second response, from Libertarian Nickolas Wildstar. Wildstar is running in the Third Council district where I live and the only non-incumbent in the race.

To reiterate: all City Council candidates for the 2018 election are strongly encouraged to respond to the questionnaire and their responses will be reprinted in full at our earliest opportunity. All candidates have received the questionnaires already and we hope to hear what the other candidates have to say soon.

Our original questions, and Mr. Wildstar’s responses, are as follows: (more…)

October 8, 2018October 8, 2018Chronic Failure

Will Mayor Chaffee Do the Right Thing?

by Sean Paden12 Comments

Over the weekend the rumors have been swirling as to the fate of Paulette Marshall Chaffee City Council campaign after having apparently been caught on camera removing No Paulette – Carpetbagger signs. We will probably have a clearer picture of the truth of that rumor at tomorrow’s City Council candidate form, but even if she does drop out of the race, this does not end the story.

Her husband, Doug Chaffee, is currently the Mayor of Fullerton and a candidate for Board of Supervisors. While he was not involved in either recorded sign theft, his title as Mayor creates a conflict for the City to investigate the crime. Also, as an active candidate for the Board of Supervisors race, he has an obligation to speak out on this matter and do what he can to make things right. especially since he was the direct beneficiary of an almost identical anti-carpetbagger campaign against his Democratic opponent in June (one Joe Kerr, aka Cotto Joe).

Tony Bushala (one of the founders of this very blog, although he divested his interest two years ago), though Residents for Reform and his brother George Bushala, paid for the political signs that were stolen and he wants them back. He has penned a written request to Mayor Chaffee requesting return of the signs in his residence and has authorized publication here. As an initial good faith gesture, Mayor Chaffee should be strongly encouraged to return the signs on his property forthwith.

The text of the letter is provided below, (more…)

October 8, 2018October 8, 2018Carpetbaggery

Oops, Did She Do It Again?!

by Joshua51 Comments

In case you missed it, Paulette Marshall Chaffee looks to have been caught on video stealing signs from private property in her pretend district while illegally parked in a red zone because if one rule doesn’t apply to her – why should any amiright?

But Oops. It looks like she did it again.

Is it kleptomania? A spontaneous sign stealing spree?

(more…)

September 25, 2018September 25, 2018Fullerton City Council

Quirk-Silva Duo Under Investigation for Retaliation Against Sexual Assault Victim

by Mr. Peabody31 Comments

Here’s a convoluted story from the Los Cerritos News about Fullerton councilmember Jesus Silva and his wife, California State Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva.

EXCLUSIVE: Fullerton Asm. Quirk-Silva Under Investigation for Influence Peddling and Retaliation Against Accuser of Asm. Cristina Garcia

The California State Assembly investigation involving groping allegations against Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia leveled by Cerritos resident Daniel Fierro has morphed into a wide-ranging political influence and retaliation investigation revolving around Garcia, 65th District Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton), and her husband, Fullerton Council Member Jesus Silva.

Jesus and Sharon are accused of threatening a businessman with political retribution if he didn’t fire a public relations firm run by Daniel Fierro, a former Assembly staffer who accused Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D) of groping him earlier this year.

During the meeting, Quirk-Silva echoed her husband’s statements and made it clear to the businessman that he should fire Fierro because of his sexual harassment and groping allegations against Garcia.

The reportedly shocked businessman was then told that “not doing so might result in her [Garcia’s] political disfavor.”

Quirk-Silva denied all of the allegations via her office’s spokesperson. But if they are true, they could have serious implications for Fullerton’s political power duo. Would the Quirk-Silva’s really engage in threats of retribution against the victim of sexual assault? That doesn’t seem like a good choice in the current era.