Category: Fullerton City Council

Current Fullerton City Council members are Don Bankhead, Pam Keller, Sharon Quirk, Dick Jones and Shawn Nelson.

Posted onAbout Us

KFI’s JOHN AND KEN ARE COMING TO FULLERTON!

by 72 Comments on KFI’s JOHN AND KEN ARE COMING TO FULLERTON!

From  the “John and Ken” webpage at the KFI website (photo caption by me):

FULLERTON RECALL!

See no evil, hear no evil, speak evil...

Recall Councilman Pat McKinley, Mayor Pro Tem Don Bankhead, and Mayor ‘Dick’ Jones! These three idiot city council officials need to be held accountable for letting the Fullerton Police Department become a cesspool of corruption, full of rogue cops who murdered Kelly Thomas.

Give them the political death penalty and remove them from office!

Location:Fullerton along Highland Ave., between Amerige and Commonwealth

We will be there Wednesday, October 5 from 3-7 PM with recall petitions for you to sign!

Show up, sign a petition and stay for the show! Only Fullerton registered voters can sign the petition, but everyone is welcome to come.

Fullerton residents wishing to sign the petition or gather signatures can learn more at www.fullertonrecall.com.

Click HERE to watch Pat McKinley defend the policemen on CNN!

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Posted onFullerton City Council

A Lack of Trust, by Robyn Nordell

by 158 Comments on A Lack of Trust, by Robyn Nordell

As is evidenced from the comments tonight, the comments from the last few city council meetings, the FPD protests, and the current city council agenda which is full of lawsuits which will cost the city millions of dollars, it’s obvious that there is a great deal of anger and mistrust towards the Fullerton Police Dept and the City of Fullerton.

A large number of negative incidents involving Fullerton police officers continue to come to light, ranging from alleged sexual misconduct of officers towards women whom they have stopped, to officers allegedly committing theft, to charges of false arrest, and so on. Our family experienced a mistaken raid on our home by armed undercover vice cops who were looking for the home next door.

Clearly, it is in the best interest of everyone for the FPD and the city council to work hard to win back the trust of people. In doing so it seems obvious that it would be Wise to Avoid Doing Things That Unnecessarily Increase Distrust.

THE CURRENT UNACCEPTABLE SITUATION

There is a situation in the FPD that can be corrected. Making this correction should take away some of the distrust.

Your current FPD Spokesperson / Public Information Officer has had, and still has, a major role in the Fullerton Police Officers union. (FPOA)

Here are three examples of his significance to the union:

  • CURRENT—On behalf of the police union, Mr. Goodrich is on the small negotiating team for the current police union contract. As a member of that team he would be trying, of course, to get the highest salary and best benefits possible for the union members. To do so, you would assume that he would be trying to put the officers in the best light possible.
  • IN THE PAST— In 2003, Mr. Goodrich wrote a how-to article for union members entitled, “The Value of Political Involvement-Your Association’s Role in Local Politics.” This piece explained effective ways for the union to get their choice of candidates elected to the city council and WHY it is in the union’s best interest to do so. (Goodrich’s document is located within this article, “Peer into the Thought Process of the FPOA,” www.fullertonsfuture.org)

I think it is absurd for someone in a significant role in the police union to be the spokesperson for the Fullerton Police Department.  This situation obviously causes distrust by many in the community and it makes the leadership of the FPD, the city manager, and the city council look foolish.

In his “union role”—Mr. Goodrich’s union task would be to put police officers in as positive of a light as possible.

In his spokesperson role”—when he is speaking on behalf of the FPD—putting police officers in as positive of a light as possible should not be his concern. His concern should be honesty, accuracy, and transparency.

HERE’S MY SUGGESTION:

The current FPD Spokesperson/Public Information Officer (Mr. Goodrich) should be reassigned to a different position and he should be replaced by an officer who has not had a major role in the Fullerton Police Officers Union.

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Posted onFullerton City Council

On The Agenda: September 20, 2011

by 72 Comments on On The Agenda: September 20, 2011

As FFFF’s Grover Cleveland has pointed out, the City of Fullerton has no fewer than 7 pending or likely law suits pending – and that’s just what’s on the Agenda!

After the shock wears off, let’s look at the rest of tonight’s Agenda.

There are the usual meeting minutes and funding transfers. There’s an agreement between the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency and the City of Fullerton so that the City/RDA can pay the State so that the City can keep the RDA.

The price tag is staggering: $54,701,015!!! And this is in addition to paying off tens of millions in bond debt incurred thanks to Bankhead, Jones, and even McKinley. And this is “under the radar” in the Consent Calendar where we usually see minor routine action items. More often then not, however, this is where staff places big ticket items (like the City Manager’s FAT raise or this RDA agreement to pay blood money to the State.)

Oh but wait! It gets better. In the same agreement there is a schedule of payments to the tune of $58,383,657 to cover RDA administrative costs!

And almost as an after thought, the agreement schedules “housing administration annual costs” which will total $16,234,607!

(more…)

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Posted onDick Jones

Recall Petitions Are Approved; Signature Gathering Begins

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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!

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Posted onDick Jones

Hee-Haw to Saddle Up!

by 20 Comments on Hee-Haw to Saddle Up!

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?

$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.”

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.

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!

Giddyup! Now open up that Golden Gate, I'm a-comin!
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Posted onDead heads

When The Goin’ Gets Tough, The Tough Go A Croos’n

by 90 Comments on When The Goin’ Gets Tough, The Tough Go A Croos’n

Poor Doc HeeHaw. There’s been so much riled-up lynch-type mob fussin’ a goin’ on that there jes’ ain’t enough grits and Jack Daniels to wash down the bitter bile thass stuck in the ol’ man’s gizzard. This mornin’ we had us some infermation that Fullerton’s Southern fried Mayor was a steppin’ down. Land O’ Goshen!

From KFI’s Steve Gregory, from Ron Thomas who jes’ had a meetin’ with the mayor.

Later on the City’s spokesgal sed it jes t’weren’t so. Should’a figgered that out r’seffs. Heehaw ain’t never done nuthin’ graceful-like.

So is he a comin’ or a goin’?

Our sources tell us that Dr. Jones is soon a headin’ outta town – to San Fransisko so’s he kin git ona croos ship that’ll haul his carcass away from all the  feudin’ n’ a fightin’ so’s he kin take a gander at them glassiers and eskimoskeeters.

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Posted onFullerton City Council

City Council Meeting Tonight

by 140 Comments on City Council Meeting Tonight

The public meeting starts at 6:30 PM. On the agenda tonight are the issue of hiring contractor Michael Gennaco to “investigate” the FPD. Those of us who have been around City hall awhile know that these contractors always do what the City Manager wants since he’s the guy that got them hired. VOTE NO!

Speaking of the City Manager, Joe Felz, who has overseen the corrupt FPD and who has totally bungled the Kelly Thomas affair is up for a $35,000 raise. Yep, you heard that right. That was bad timing! It’s on what’s called the “Consent Calendar” so unless a member of the public asks the City Clerk to pull this item for discussion it will go through on the nod. VOTE NO!

Also agenized are some more ridiculous “affordable housing” projects of the kind that cost twice as much to build as regular housing. These are being pimped by lobbyists who also happen to be some of the biggest repuglicans in Orange County who are counting on Jones, Bankhead and McKinley to line their pockets. VOTE NO!

Of course you can also make your voices heard in public comments, too, at the start of the meeting.

Fullerton City Hall is located at 303 W. Commonwealth, Fullerton at the intersection of Highland Avenue.

See you all there!

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Posted onDick Jones

Will Felz Get A Big Raise in the Midst Of It All?

by 122 Comments on Will Felz Get A Big Raise in the Midst Of It All?

The city of Fullerton’s website seems to be offline at the moment, but just before it went down I noticed that Tuesday’s agenda included a new employment contract for Joe Felz, the guy who’s been managing the city during the Kelly Thomas catastrophe.

If approved, the new contract would boost Felz’s annual salary to $201,400 plus pension and benefits. His current salary is listed at $166,250. That’s a raise of $35,000 per year, as recommended by the HR department (which ultimately reports to Joe.)

Keep smiling.

That’s not a bad haul for the man who was steering the ship while Kelly Thomas was beaten to death, not to mention his oversight of the globally embarrassing aftermath.

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

There Is An Emergency in Fullerton!

by 61 Comments on There Is An Emergency in Fullerton!
Things never looked better for Fullerton.

Yep, there sure is.

The City Manager has called an emergency meeting of the City Council this morning at 9:00, a mighty odd time to hold a public hearing. The ostensible purpose of this emergency is to hire an outsider to evaluate the condition our FPD condition is in.

It’s pretty obvious that this decision could have waited until the next scheduled meeting. So what’s the emergency? Maybe City Manager Joe Felz and the Gang of Three are trying to look like they are finally, really and truly taking things seriously. And maybe they prefer dealing with Kelly Thomas related humiliations at nine o’clock in the morning to avoid hundreds of angry commenters.

Fail to the Chief...

The really pathetic aspect of the abject failure of leadership in Fullerton and this desperate and transparent effort to defuse a recall is that the real emergency existed on July 5, 2011 and was completely unknown to our oblivious City Council, including the supposed law enforce experts Pat McKinley and Don Bankhead. Or maybe they knew and just didn’t care. After all, McKinley was police chief from 1993-2009 and has admitted he hired all the cops who have made Fullerton famous lately; and Bankhead has been on the city council since 1888. Oops. I mean 1988.

Has it really been that long?

F. Dick Jones has been on the council for 15 years; will he not take responsibility for the state of affairs he created?

Hail no!

What about the ever-compassionate Sharon Quirk? She has been on the council for seven long years. How many police-related monetary settlements has she approved?

Knitting socks as fast as she can...

Well, there you have it. An emergency. But its an emergency created by world-wide attention to the Fullerton Police Department’s culture of corruption, not by the corruption itself.

Well, go ahead and have your emergency meeting, folks. You can run but you can’t hide.

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