Fullerton City Council Archives - Page 49 of 74 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

February 27, 2012Bruce Whitaker

Travis Kiger Gets Key Endorsements

Just days after pulling papers to run in the Recall replacement election, Travis Kiger has received the full support of our County Supervisor Shawn Nelson, our State Assemblyman Chris Norby and Fullerton City Councilman Bruce Whitaker.

Said Chris Norby “Fullerton is very fortunate to have Travis as a candidate. As a resident and taxpayer in Fullerton I know we will be in good hands when Kiger is elected.”

Shawn Nelson echoed Norby’s comments. “Fullerton is in need of strong, conservative leadership. I live in Fullerton and I trust Travis to deliver on the promises of transparency and accountability.”

Travis Kiger represents the new type of Republican for Fullerton: one who believes in civil liberties, freedom, limited government, pension reform, a balanced budget, reasonable taxes and fees; one who opposes the sort of crony capitalism and corporate welfare that has been the hallmark of Fullerton “conservatives” for decades.

Most importantly, Travis stands for accountability to the citizens of Fullerton, without cover-up, condescension, excuses, or incomprehensible double-talk.

February 15, 2012February 15, 2012Chronic Failure

Pat McKinley vs. The FBI’s Crime Stats

by admin60 Comments

Barry Levinson had his microphone cut off on Tuesday before he could finish his exposé on Pat McKinley’s boldfaced lie about crime under his watch. That’s OK, because we can just reprint it here for everyone to see.

By Barry Levinson

I recently saw Councilman McKinley appear on a PBS TV show that originally aired last October, called Inside Orange County hosted by David Nazar.

The Host asks Councilman McKinley: Should you be recalled and is it fair?

McKinley responds: No, I shouldn’t and it is not fair

Host: Why?

McKinley responds: Well I really don’t understand the, the allegations. The allegations I hired some people.

McKinley continues: I am very proud of the agency (i.e. the Fullerton Police Dept.) and what we accomplished over the 16 years I was there .

McKinley: We reduced crime every year I was there.

I had heard the comment about reducing crime by Candidate McKinley many times during his campaign for city council.

Here are the facts: The FBI statistics for the City of Fullerton from 2005 through 2009, the last 5 years that McKinley was Chief of Police are as follows:

Pat McKinley, I find it reprehensible that you would intentionally and repeatedly mislead the people of Fullerton and the country about the actual level of crime committed in our great city under your stewardship. Repeatedly you have reminded us that being a police officer has been your life’s work. Yet you cannot even tell the truth about your own record as chief of police.

You have disgraced this city with your misinformation campaigns. You have disgraced this city with your stating that Officer Rincon was not guilty of sexual assault, and allowed him under your command to continue assaulting more and more women after the 1st ladies reported it to your department. You disgraced this city by hiring Jay Cicinelli, who did not meet the minimum standards to be a police officer in Fullerton or for that matter anywhere in these United States of America. Officer Cicinelli ended up beating an innocent man to death while he was lying motionless on the ground with a Taser gun that is supposed to save lives not take them.

FOR ALL THESE REASONS AND MANY MORE, PAT MCKINLEY MUST BE RECALLED. And the only thing that is not fair about this recall is that you had the honor and privilege to be our police chief for 16 years and our councilman for another 2 years. The damage you have caused this city, emotionally, ethically, legally and monetarily will take us literally decades to recover from. That is the real injustice here!

February 7, 2012February 7, 2012Arts & Architecture

Amerige Court—How to Give Away Public Land for $500

by The Fullerton Savage18 Comments

Last December The Fullerton Redevelopment Agency approved yet another extension to Pelican, the hapless developer of the gigantic Amerige Court project downtown. Readers will recall that this project was approved in 2008 over the objections of hundreds of people who saw it for what it was, yet another cheap looking, insipid copy of the retail/loft model that is supposed to revive downtowns.

This time the now unemployed redevelopment staff allowed the developer to plan to rent the housing units at first, even though when it was first approved years ago it was supposed to be all about classing up the area by inviting the landowning gentry to move in and stare down the lawless drunks of Fullerton’s bar culture.

So two months ago, despite several people speaking out against the fourth (!) amendment to the original agreement, and no one speaking in favor of it, the extension was granted. Bruce Whitaker and Sharon Quirk-Silva dissented, having had enough of developer excuses for why they haven’t been able to build anything, but Bankhead, McKinley, and Jones predictably went along with this giveaway of taxpayer owned land in the heart of the city.

Well, that was back before Redevelopment disappeared last week, so now they have to do it all over as the City Council tonight.

Show up to watch developer owned politicians try to give away your land once again, if you let them.

Last week we showed you why the Three Dinosaurs were so willing to perpetuate this disaster of a project.

When you take their money, you have to do their bidding. Besides, if you can give away public land to build a monstrous and unneeded architecturally appalling project that will add more traffic to the area and tear down some really old buildings to do it, why wouldn’t you? Especially when the half of the development partnership that’s still in business gives you $500 to keep you from being recalled?

January 31, 2012Chronic Failure

Tow Racket Leads to Yet Another FPD Lawsuit

by Travis108 Comments

A few weeks ago we told you all about the Fullerton Police Department’s attempt to protect the city’s tow monopoly through harassment of AAA tow truck drivers.

Now the OC Weekly is reporting that a suit has been filed against the FPD claiming that police officers harassed and intimidated tow truck drivers for competing against the city’s preferred tow vendor.

Read the lawsuit

The suit alleges that drivers from a Bob’s Towing were singled out and cited over 40 times for frivolous reasons while other companies’ drivers went untouched. Officers Hagen and Ledbetter are accused of turning off their audio recorders for “off the record” conversations constituting harassment. Drivers have quit and left the city in fear.

Is the FPD violating these folks’ constitutional right to equal treatment under the law? That seems to be par for the course.

Of course, if the PD has been systematically denying it’s own citizens the benefits of fair competition, then this has undoubtedly caused drivers to be left stranded while AAA scrambles to find tow truck drivers willing to face the FPD.

And then there’s that big question we keep having to ask: Can a single month go by without the FPD drawing taxpayers into a major lawsuit?

January 19, 2012January 20, 2012Dick Jones

52,254 Recall Signatures Turned In.

by admin124 Comments

Moments ago the Fullerton Recall team turned in well over 50,000 signatures from Fullerton voters to initiate a recall election of councilmembers Don Bankhead, Dick Jones and Pat McKinley. The reason? Their simple failure to provide competent leadership for our city.

The individual totals are:

Don Bankhead: 17,064 signatures
F. Richard “Dick” Jones: 17,587 signatures
Patrick McKinley: 17,603 signatures

Next, the city clerk will turn over the signatures to be verified by the OC Registrar of Voters. Once the requirement of 10,554 valid signatures for each recallee is met, an election must scheduled by the Fullerton city council.

In that election, which will occur sometime before this summer, Fullerton voters will decide both if they want to recall each of the three officials and which candidates will replace them.

I want to give a special thank you to all of our dedicated signature gatherers who worked so hard to bring in 60% more sigs than are required.

The counting begins in the City Clerk's office.

January 10, 2012Fullerton City Council

Study Session at the Library

by Mr. Peabody25 Comments

In case you’re not aware, there’s a “study session” this afternoon focusing on the water utility. According to the press release, it will cover all aspects of the city’s water utility, including “the public notification process and the legality of the ‘in-lieu franchise/property tax’ transfer of funds from the Water Fund to the General Fund.” The meeting is open to the public and will take place at 4:30pm in the new conference center in the main library.

January 7, 2012January 6, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Joe, Lou, and Mike; Does Anybody Know What’s Going On?

by admin75 Comments

Here’s a couple of interesting e-mails from the final day of July, 2011, between Acting City Manager Joe Felz and soon to be MIA Police Chief Sellers.

SellersbyEdcarrascoweekly — The options were running out...

On the surface it seems that Acting City Manager Joe Felz is unhappy with Lou Ponsi for writing “Very Old” news. But maybe he is really upset that the public gets to hear (again) that the cops who killed Kelly Thomas had been out on the streets for over three weeks like nothing had happened; or that maybe Sharon Quirk looks like she is actually in charge. Sellers seems to be concerned with the latter, and he can already see the writing on the wall.

“Hopefully the remaining three council members don’t feel left out” is code for: “Make sure the Three Dead Tree Sumps get lined up, fast!”

“Lou is Not a bad guy from what I understand,” means that Sylvia Palmer and Andrew Goodrich have previously informed Felz that Ponsi is a reliable regurgitator of their crap.

By the way, is anybody else appalled by the weird punctuation and capitalization deployed by these $200,000+ per year bureaucrats?

December 27, 2011December 27, 2011Fullerton City Council

It’s a Long Way to San Clemente

by admin92 Comments

This letter just came in from councilman Bruce Whitaker, who seems to be a bit peeved that the wayward FPD is still slithering along without a leader. The pictures are courtesy of FFFF. Enjoy!

In less than a week, the City of Fullerton will be more than one year derelict in enforcing performance of a critical requirement outlined in its employment agreement with current Chief of Police, Michael Sellers.

I have frequently asserted in print, television and radio interviews that Sellers is in violation of a residency requirement (point #11) which states “Sellers will make a bona fide effort to relocate his primary residence to Fullerton no later than December 2010.”

Chief Sellers Good Times — 'Twas the best of times...

Though hired two and a half years ago, Sellers continues to reside in San Clemente where his home is 43 miles from the Fullerton Police Station. Of California’s 69 cities with a population of 100,000 or more, Fullerton is the ONLY city whose police chief resides more than 40 miles away. The vast majority of California cities are served by chiefs who reside within the city they serve.

In my opinion, the clear intent of the council at that time was to compel Sellers to relocate to Fullerton, no later than December 2010. Merely making “an effort” would provide no value or benefit whatsoever, the intent was for him to live here. The Chief’s being less than an hour away was not just preferred, but essential. Since leadership in an emergency, and understanding fully the community one serves are core, critical requirements . . . without agreeing to this point, would Sellers even have been hired in the first place?

A strong case can be made that since San Clemente home values are 74% higher than in Fullerton there is no financial barrier for Sellers refusal to comply. In any event, it is Sellers burden to prove that he has met requirements in the employment agreement. Despite my efforts, an aggressive legal interpretation, one which would protect Fullerton taxpayers interests has not surfaced.

San Clemente Sunset — Fullerton? Just a distant memory now.

It is nearly 2012 and Sellers remains the Chief of Police, a current employee of the City of Fullerton. Immediate action is required to enforce this contract which even a year later is still being violated without consequence. It should have long ago been rendered “null and void.” It remains for the council majority to explain how “giving away public money” is a preferable course of inaction.

-Bruce Whitaker

December 23, 2011December 23, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Your Tithe is Man-dated At The Altar of The Almighty Bureaucrat

by The Desert Rat20 Comments

cath1-29 — The upkeep just kept getting more expensive...

Everybody who goes to church is familiar with the concept of tithing – literally giving one tenth of your income to support the church and its good works. Of course the act is voluntary.

The people who pay for water from the Fullerton Water Works have been paying a tithe, too. You see, since 1970 the Citycrats have decreed that ten percent of the cost of a monopoly supplying you with water will be added to your bill, and then be immediately re-directed to the City’s General Fund.

In the early days, when water was dirt cheap it was a way to help pay for certain indirect costs of employees who were considered overhead support for the water works. It was called an “in-lieu franchise fee” like the ones the City charges other utilities to operate in Fullerton. Still, there was an immediate problem that nobody addressed: it was bad management, and bad accounting, and opened the door for all sorts of abuse. Decades later, in 1997, Proposition 218 was passed that specifically addressed the scam of governments charging “fees” that were nothing more than hidden taxes – just like Fullerton’s 10% in-lieu fee. It was now required that fee amounts be established through objective supportable analysis that was conducted transparently, in the light of public scrutiny. No longer could governments legally charge for more than any service was worth.

But Fullerton did. For 15 years the City continued to charge, then rake off a ten percent tribute from the Water Fund that went to pay for things like pensions and pay raises for all Fullerton city employees, stuff that had nothing to do with providing water to you. Not only did the city councils know about the scam, they heartily approved the slight-of-hand, year after year.

Meantime, the cost of water skyrocketed, increasing nearly 350% between 1997 and now, jacking up the illegal tax from $700,000 a year in 1997 to over $2.5 million a year now. That’s a rate of about 23% a year, just in case you’re inclined to keep track. A staggering total of almost $27 million has been surreptitiously extorted from you since Proposition 218 went into effect.

Those who support this cheapjack end run think it’s right and proper for you to pay this tithe without your knowing it, and without your consent. After all they’ve had plenty of opportunity to insist, at least, that notification of the 10% diversion be made on each water bill. But they never have. And that’s because their first priority is continue funding six-figure pensions, automatic raises for employees, and all the other things that constitute business as usual in their Church of The Almighty Bureaucrat. It’s their church, and as far as the High Priests and pharisees are concerned, you taxpayers can just sit in the back pew, way, way back there in the dark, and keep your mouths shut.

December 19, 2011Fullerton City Council

On the Agenda – December 20, 2011

by Christian92 Comments

Hang on to your common sense- you may need to share some at the upcoming City Council meeting.

Here is a brief look at what the City will be looking at on Tuesday’s agenda.

Rusty Kennedy will be there to justify his job as the head of OC Human Relations plus there will be presentations to the Boys & Girls Club and CalGRIP.

In Closed Session the Council will be discussing various pending litigations, police/fire management labor negotiations, and the condemnation of 201 East Bastanchury for the widening of Bastanchury.

The consent calendar is full of baffling buffoonery.

Item 2 looks to give City Manager Joe Felz a contract and full salary of $212,000 per year. He gets lots of perks as well like a one year severance, City-owned car, no benchmarks for success, and future raises tied to the raises of his subordinates. That’s just goofy, not to mention poorly timed.

Item 3 is the Group Insurance Program contract renewal. The premiums, as expected, are going up but staff wants you to think this is ok because they aren’t going up as much as they thought they would which looks on paper like savings. The City should do like most employers and place a cap on the employer contribution in the form of a fixed dollar amount, not a percentage. For Pete’s sake, isn’t there one person in City Hall who gives a rat’s ass about the taxpayers?

Item 4 is ends a special tax in Amerige Heights but then in item 14, the City looks to impose another tax on Amerige Heights. The City just loves to tax.

Item 5 will cause most eyes to glaze over. The Measure M2 Expenditure Report tries to show where the money went -or more aptly stated- where it didn’t go.

Item 6 is a request from the City to the Orange County Transportation Authority. City staff would like to enclose the Brea Creek Channel in front of Hillcrest Park and create an additional northbound lane on Harbor Blvd from Berkley to Brea Blvd. The total cost is estimated at $2,850,060.

Item 7 is a contract award for elevator design for the pedestrian overpass at the Transportation Center.

Item 8: The City will accept a 26 year old offer of dedication for right-of-way along State College at the BNSF railroad crossing and grade separation.

Item 9 is an approval to build room additions at the Airport. On a side note, why do they always go low-bid? The lowest bidder is often lowest because they do not understand what is involved and how to deliver the quality needed.

Next up, item 10 is a service agreement for the Richman sewer replacement from Commonwealth to Fullerton Creek and then to Woods Avenue. The design and preparation of plans is estimated to cost $132,869.

A slew of parking restrictions fall under items 11 through 13. They include no parking on Arroyo, 20-minute parking on Euclid, and early morning restrictions along Wilshire Avenue.

As previously mentioned, item 14 is a Mello-Roos tax in Amerige Heights. Expect Councilman Bruce Whitaker to vote NO!

Amerige Court is back with another amendment to the development agreement on item 15. This will give the developer another 2 years to get their act together. Thank the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency.

Item 16 is the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Fullerton (a.k.a. YOU) and the Fullerton Management Association (a.k.a. middle management and upper management). They get the same basic package as the other employees: reinstated pay, 7% contribution to their pension, and lots of holidays off.

Item 17 is the resolution that gives department heads the same basic package as the other employees: reinstated pay, 7% contribution to their pension, and lots of holidays off.

Item 18 seeks to merge Engineering and Maintenance Services which will save about $300,000. This will formalize Engineering Director Don Hoppe’s promotion to Public Works Director. Considering what Hoppe has done with our roads, one can only hope we aren’t being penny wise and pound foolish.

Item 19 is an overhaul of West Fullerton. It scraps old bus benches and targets vandalism and lighting. These issues have been brought up more than a few times at community meetings.

Item 20 is a request for federal funding for affordable housing and City-administered welfare programs. Among those receiving money, Code Enforcement (a.k.a. Community Preservation) looks to receive $337,500. A relatively small amount, $150,600, will go to cover “public service activities” like Nutrition Services Program ($5,000), Boys and Girls Club After School Program and the Club’s Youth Gang Prevention ($44,000), Long Term Care Ombudsman Service ($17,200), Fullerton Fair Housing Services ($20,000), New Vista Shelter Life Skills Training ($9,600), Meals on Wheels home delivery ($30,800), Cold Weather Armory Shelter ($8,000), Women’s Transitional Living Center Shelter Program ($8,000), and the YMCA’s Richman Center Youth Achievers ($8,000).