Fullerton City Council Archives - Page 59 of 77 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

December 1, 2010December 1, 2010Behind Closed Doors

HeeHaw, It’s The Law!

jones-gone-wild1 — No, no, no! I ain't a' gonna do it!

Well, not the law, exactly. More like City Council Administrative Policy #37, approved last February. Check it out:

Here’s the deal: the guy with most seniority since last being Mayor shall be appointed, plain and simple. And that means our Crazy Ol’ Doc Heehaw is line to shoulder the burden of the mayoralty, like it or not. Well, he can shirk his duty again, like he did before, and go to the second spot.

Sharon_Quirk_190px — Not time to step up?

That means the next in line to be Mayor is Sharon Quirk-Silva, with Dr. Phogbound as Mayor Pro Tem; and if he declines the second spot, too, that would fall to the highest vote getter in the last election. And that’s our old Friend, Bruce Whitaker.

Now it could very well be that Sharon Quirk-Silva would defer her place until next year to run for re-election in 2012 with the title “Mayor of Fullerton,” in which case our next mayor would be Whitaker.

Whitaker — Could greatness be thrust upon him?

Of course Administrative Policy #37 isn’t worth the TP it was written on or the Sharpie it was written with – despite the fact that it’s the wet-dream of all Fullerton liberals, and ironically could produce the first truly conservative mayor since…well, since anybody could possibly remember.

How will it play out? Who knows? One thing is certain. This is Fullerton and it’s bound to be a confused mess. But the entertainment value should be high.

November 30, 2010November 30, 2010Fullerton City Council

Chaffee Recounts Chiefee

by Mr. Peabody14 Comments

According to the OC Registrar of Voters, Doug Chaffee has requested a recount in the election for Fullerton City Council in which he finished 90 votes behind former Po-lice Chief Pat McKinley.

90 votes. A seemingly insurmountable lead, really. After all, any errors in counting are just as likely to go against Chaffee as for him. It sure seems like a fool’s errand, but what the hell, gotta give it that last shot, right?

Not too sure how this effects next Tuesday’s swearing in of McKinley since the recount will not have happened.

November 22, 2010November 22, 2010Dead heads

Doc Hee Haw For Mayor?

by admin10 Comments

It’s that time of year again when Fullerton council selects one of its own to preside over the crackpot, klutzy and expensive meetings it holds.

We count on the hare-brain, corn pone braying of F. Richard “Dick” Jones to supply us with the material we need to keep our ratings up. And so to the question of whether the hot-headed Jones should take up the gavel and lead us into the teens we say: Hell yes!

donk — The entire genus Equus, approves...

And let’s not forget that like us, Jones, too, received Weekly OC recognition, but not in a good way.

As a teaser we provide this council-clip of a constituent of marginal competence; it culminates in the inevitable ravings (Ahma Colonel) and crazy gesticulations of Dr. Dick, in response. Rather than let the poor bastard have his say and go away, Heehaw leaps into the breach to defend the honor of…well, of something. He ain’t gonna take no shit from some whacked-out dog face, nuh-uh, noooosirree!

And so we say: Go Doc, go!

November 22, 2010November 22, 2010Fullerton City Council

What Are They Doing Now?

by The Desert Rat9 Comments

biggest-hole — No. You can't dig your way out.

So who really is responsible for Fullerton’s out-of-control “public safety” pension vortex?

Here’s a handy list of everyone in the history of Fullerton who’s ever voted for the public safety 3 @ 50 pension scam, and their current whereabouts:

Don Bankhead (R) – Fullerton City Councilmember, and Mayor.

Dick Jones (R) – Fullerton City Councilmember.

Norbysleeve-500x333 — No, I don't mind dressing up like a goddam idiot...

Chris Norby (R) – State Assemblyman, 72nd District

snoopdog — The bathroom is over there, behind the wig shop.

Mike Clesceri (R) – is rumored to be working security at suburban Chicago mall.

Jan Flory (D) – tries to remain relevant by stirring up neighborhood resentment against kids riding bikes.

And there you have it. A 5-0 vote. Motion made by Flory and seconded by Norby, to go along with the most irresponsible vote in the history of Fullerton.

November 19, 2010November 19, 2010Fullerton City Council

Kaboom. One Hundred and Twenty-Seven Million Dollars

by Travis22 Comments

Fullerton’s public safety pension debt just exploded. Numbers from a new report just released by CalPERS pin the unfunded pension liability for Fullerton’s police and fire at $126,843,150.

Cop-with-Kid — Hey little guy. Cash or credit?

The new figures represent a first look at Fullerton’s pension crisis after the market crash of 2007 (yes, CalPERS is that slow.)

Of course these dismal digits are probably optimistic, given that CalPERS is still using the ridiculous rate of return that the unions used to cook up these obscene benefits in the first place. We did, however, take the liberty of removing the absurd “smoothing” calculation that adds a magical $73,000,000 to the fund, even though that money does not exist anywhere.

Warning: 76 pages of boring

$126,843,150.00. Let’s put that number in perspective: it’s enough to fund the entire Parks and Rec department for the next 27 years, re-pave six million square/ft of deteriorating roadway or completely staff Fullerton’s libraries until the year 2058.

Paying that debt (assuming it doesn’t get worse) will require an additional $3,000 from each Fullerton household, above and beyond our current taxes. That’s just for unfunded public safety retirement debt, which allows these public employees to receive 90% of their highest pay at age 50 for the rest of their lives.

November 15, 2010November 15, 2010Fullerton City Council

On the Agenda – November 16, 2010

by Christian17 Comments

Once again we have a City Council Agenda loaded with waste and stupidity.

The November 16, 2010 agenda starts off with a dear friend of ours, Milton A. Gordon. You may remember him from a recent post by Greg Sebourn – or from Daily Titan, where he caught grief from one of his current students and junior reporters, Ally Bordas. Well, he’s back and this time he is slated as Item 1 of the agenda. I’m sure he’ll be handing out some do-gooder award or similar…And we’ll be paying the staff to sit and endure the waste! Just remember, we pay him $302,000 to live in a mansion RENT FREE and hand out awards at City Council meetings.

Item 2 of the presentations is none other than our other old friends, Rusty Kennedy who will be giving the OC Human Relations Annual Report. I just can’t wait to hear it…

Moving on t o the consent calendar, let’s see what mischief the council would like to sneak in:

Insurance contracts are up and it looks like Blue Cross, CaliforniaCare, Kaiser, Delta Dental, Vision Services Plan, and CIGNA all win with staff approval. I knew I should have bought a few shares!

Item 3 is the water rate study at a cost of $67,500. How many gallons of water will consumers need to purchase to cover the cost?

There is a NO PARKING ban for a portion of Valencia Mesa Drive just west of Harbor Boulevard. Read more under Item 4.

An update on the building and fire codes is worth looking at. I would be willing to bet more than a few of these changes will come back to bite taxpayers. The changes include a green building code and energy code.

Item 6 is an appointment by the Council of the Fire Marshal and an alternate to the Orange County-City Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Authority (OCCHMERA). The City of Fullerton is a subscriber to the Authority since we do not have our own Haz-Mat team.

More NO PARKING/NO STOPPING is slated for Casa Blanca Drive between Fern and Barris during school hours as Item 8.

Item 9 is an amendment to the agreement between the City of Fullerton and the Fullerton Museum Association. In the end, it looks like the Museum Association gives up their “profits” from the gift store and membership from 10% to 25%.

Item 10 is another Fullerton Redevelopment Agency boondoggle in the making. In the back-up documents for this action item you find that the City “purchased” 34 parcels (each with multiple units for low- and very low-income residents) that are being demolished and replaced with 34 moderate-income homes. How does this help the City of Fullerton with the alleged deficiency in low-income housing? It doesn’t. Unfortunately, you voted for more of the same on November 2^nd.

Item 11 is a real gem. It is titled “REALLOCATION OF PROCEEDS FROM 2005 TAX ALLOCATION REVENUE BONDS”. It sounds harmless enough; much like pulling money from a savings account to cover a checking account. Ah, but it’s so much more. It is a huge shell game of millions of dollars to hide the fact that we borrowed against certain funds to cover certain pet projects. Unfortunately, it just shows more mismanagement of tax dollars. Read it carefully and keep one of those airplane bags handy when you read the fine print.

And that was just the consent calendar! Now we get into some really good stuff.

Item 12 proposes Council raise parking fines by as much as $3.50 to cover two issues:

SB857 which is a $3 per citation “fee” for the State
and $0.50 because many of the City’s fines are listed to the nearest HALF dollar. Why is that a problem? It seems that the State doesn’t want to mess with $0.50 increments.

So, here we are raising fines because your legislators raised taxes disguised as fees.

Item 13 is the University Heights Development Project wherein the State was supposed to pay the City certain development fees upon the sale of those really nice homes. However, the State decided to lease instead of sell them. Now, we are stuck not getting paid. The State, being the generous body that it is, has proposed making payments. I suggest Council reject the plan (just check the State’s credit!) and order the fees paid immediately – just like they would with any other developer! The total amount being negotiated: $407,202.60!

Let’s look at this in a different light. Taxpayers funded the development so that public employees could get a better deal on a house than non-university employees. Then, when no one wanted to buy them, they come back to the taxpayers and ask us to float the debt a little longer. What a stupid system we have created.

And finally, not last nor least, is the Fullerton Municipal Golf Course under Item 14. Council will be considering a fresh new agreement with American Golf Corporation, the managing company for the golf course, as part of the “Recovery Zone Economic Development Bond” which spends $2,200,000 on new irrigation. The back-up documents indicate that staff thinks “revenue” will increase 200% next year. I’m not sure what they were smoking when the put that thought on paper but Prop 19 didn’t pass. What bothers me about this project is that the agreement should spell out maintenance AND operations for American Golf Corporation. They should collect enough in green fees to cover the irrigation and upkeep of the course. If they aren’t then I suppose they are on par with our council who enjoy passing bonds under the lie of low-income housing only to replace it with moderate income housing. But, you voted for more of the same…

As always, if I missed something important so let me know. If you have anything constructive to add, please do so.

November 13, 2010November 15, 2010About Us

Congrats to The Fullerton Reformers

by The Fullerton Shadow6 Comments

Although it’s a bit late, I want to add my voice to the chorus congratulating Chris Thompson and Bruce Whitaker for their impressive elections to the Fullerton School District Board and the Fullerton City Council, respectively.

Chris Thompson out-polled every other candidate in Fullerton by a mile, despite his opponents’ support from the teachers union.

The Fullerton School District Board of Trustees has been a sinkhole for years, poulated by liberals and Ed Royce RINOs. And of course the Fullerton City Council…well the less said about that the better, but Whitaker will be running that show in no time.

I expect good things and real, effective change from both of them. I know I won’t be disappointed.

November 11, 2010November 11, 2010About Us

Chi’s Gang Accosts Admin at Vietnamese Restaurant

by admin57 Comments

Here’s a fun video of something that occurred a couple weeks ago. The entertainment value is pretty good.

I was minding my own business while having a bowl of delicious Pho at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant – just like I have been doing for 25 years. I was approached by a man inside the restaurant claiming that I was not allowed to park in his parking lot.

I finished my Pho quickly paid my bill and went outside only to be surrounded by a gaggle of Roland Chi supporters. It turns out that this restaurant is in the same center as Roland Chi’s scampaign headquarters! Those guys sure were interested in what I had in my truck!

Once outside I was again approached my the same man who claimed to own the shopping center telling me that I could not park there because it was his parking lot. The man in the video did actually push me, but being the sweet and gentle guy you all know and love I got in my truck and motored off.

Oh, and by the way, guess what I saw parked in front of Chi Headquarters? You guessed it. The white sign theft van!

QED.

November 7, 2010November 7, 2010Behind Closed Doors

Chaffee Lead Shrinks to 30. Things Are Looking Grim In Leftyville.

by Joe Sipowicz63 Comments

At close of day 11/07/2010 Pat McKinley’s lead over Chaffee was reduced to 34 from yesterday’s high in the 50s.

At close of day 11/5/2010 Pat McKinley had vaulted his agile self back into the lead – by 36 votes.

As of last night Doug Chaffee’s lead over ex-Po-lice Chief Pat McKinley in the Fullerton City Council race.

With absentee voters generally leaning to the Republican flavor it looks like the desperate hours are about to set in for Chaffee backers, especially considering the anti-Chaffee hits unloaded by the local GOP.

Maybe the repuglican cartel that backed the over-pensioned relic McKinley can put the champagne back on ice, after all!

November 6, 2010November 6, 2010About Us

Did Fullerton’s Yellowing Observers Cost Doug Chaffee the Election?

by The Desert Rat15 Comments

Well, technically it’s not over yet. But the trend since election day is going the wrong way for Doug Chaffee. In second place on election day and looking good for the second council opening, Chaffee has seen his slim lead shrink and then disappear in the ensuing days.

Which leads me to reflect upon Fullerton’s liberal clique, and the choices it makes. You will recall that in 2008 the Fullerton Observer endorsed the egregious Doc Heehaw, who came in ahead of dyed-in-the-wool liberal, Karen Haluza. Sure, you you remember. We wrote about it, here.

And this year? We posted a piece about how ex-Police Chief and astronomical pension-puller-downer Pat McKinley was getting support from some of Fullerton’s most prominent lefties, most notably Jan Flory and Molly McClanahan.

mollymcclanahan — I'm a trustee. You can always trust me.

I visited the Fullerton Observer website and noticed that according to to its editor, second place support by the herd of Yellowing Observers was split between McKinley and Jesse la Tour! Could support for the hand-picked boy of Ed Royce and Dick Ackerman, a career cop, really have been that high among the hardest core Observers? Is Ralph Kennedy rolling over in his urn?

Of course Sharon Kennedy will blame out-of-town money used to hit Chaffee. But how many of Fullerton left-leaning tribe are starting to regret their second vote?