I noticed two things in the Fullerton Observer the other day that on the surface are pretty innocuous but that upon a little reflection seem to be symbolic of the way our city government has operated over the years. The first is the City’s proclamation of Arab American Month, a first, and no doubt conceived […]
Gin Flurry
Fitzgerald Quits Fullerton City Council
Today Jennifer Fitzgerald announced her resignation from the Fullerton Council, effective immediately. “I can no longer even pretend to fulfill all the oaths I swore when I became a councilperson,” said Fitzgerald. “All the developer shakedowns, all the lies, all the influence peddling – I just can’t keep track of it all anymore. Balanced budgets, […]
Elevators to Nowhere – The Death March Isn’t Over
Two years ago FFFF ran a series of posts based on the observations of “Fullerton Engineer” about the ludicrous elevators addition to the existing bridge at the Depot. Nobody wanted this project except for city staff and only because the dime was somebody else’s. And so a strange bureaucratic odyssey began with fits and starts […]
Fun Friday
Fullerton humans – his niece accused someone in this photo of mailing a lewd scroto-selfie to her. Try to find the winner.
Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned…
Fullerton’s City Council, on the other hand reminds me of Porch Boy from Deliverance: good at one thing and, well, everything else? Not so much. Our council’s skill-set is entirely focused on hiding screw-ups – from auto crashes to mismanaged construction progress to a breathtaking budgetary neglect that can only be discussed by lying about […]
Flory Wins Wheel of Candidates
Well, that was predictable. In fact, after breaking up the FFFF kitty last night, those betting $1 on Jan Flory only got $0.98 back. Everyone knew it was coming. Why? Because Fullerton gonna Fullerton and the house always wins. There was never any real chance that anyone was going to do the right thing. Ahmad […]
My Council Speech from Tonight
I really don’t have much to say that I haven’t said at this dais before, or which hasn’t been reported by local media such as the Voice of OC. It’s my opinion that this whole process has been riddled with malfeasance and corruption since the get-go. Yes Councilmember Zahra, there is plenty of blame to […]
29 Jan Council Vacancy Agenda
The following came through from the City Clerk’s office regarding the agenda for tonight’s special meeting: “Following applicant presentations, City Council will hear public comments regarding filling the City Council vacancy. After public comments, City Council will deliberate and vote to appoint an applicant to fill the vacancy through December 2020.” It looks like the […]
Ahmad Zahra 1, FitzSilva 0
I was pleasantly surprised at Fullerton’s City Council meeting last night and that rarely happens. I was surprised because Ahmad Zahra stood his ground on the principle of Democracy being the preferred way to settle our current council vacancy caused by Jesus Silva. He withstood Fitzgerald’s venom laced claws and boxed Silva in so much […]
Is the Flory Rumor True?
Rumor has it that former councilwoman Jan Flory is lobbying to become the appointee to our City Council tonight and has already secured both Jennifer Fitzgerald and Jesus Silva’s votes. This is the same Jan Flory who voted, with Jennifer Fitzgerald and Doug Chaffee, on multiple unbalanced budgets and who helped lead us into our […]
A Trip Up and Down Memory Lane…AKA The Pine Wood Stairs.
Back in May, FFFF documented the lamentable construction disaster of the Pinewood Stairs, a $1.6 million boondoggle created by City staff, whose construction defects were so bad and so plentiful that a reasonable person might even inquire about how we could get our money back. In fact, City Councilman Sebourn mumbled something about getting our money […]
Felz Gets a Trial Date
It’s been almost one year since former Fullerton City manager, Joe Felz, embarked on his infamous Wild Ride after an evening of drinking at election night parties in the Downtown Fullerton gin mills he worked so tirelessly to protect. We all know how the drive home went wrong: Felz lost control of his vehicle on […]
No, You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
The other day I discovered this notice from the City. It’s a class for citizens to help their fiscal literacy. And unlike the proverbial lunch, it’s free! So let’s get this straight. The City of Fullerton, which has been incapable of balancing its budget for at least four years, and that has dipped into reserved […]
Say, Whatever Happened to Fullerton’s Downtown Core and Corridors Specific Plan and the $1,000,000 in State Money that Paid for It?
Most government projects have three things in common: they are bad ideas promoted by bureaucrats, they are obscenely expensive, and there is no accountability attached to them. In Fullerton we have lots of examples over the years that touch all three bases. But if ever one needed a veritable poster child for government fiascoes, the […]
And There It Sits
Ten weeks ago I took a break documenting the disastrous “elevators to nowhere” story, a history of confusion and ineptitude that had its genesis in Jones, Bankhead and McKinley era. This completely unnecessary $4,000,000 boondoggle was five-and-a-half years old and it was dead in the water. As of May 10, 2017 work on this project […]
Our Jacked Up Roads
Remember when FFFF noted the deplorable conditions of Fullerton’s paving – the worst in Orange County? Well that status has snagged the attention of the Big Boss Man at OCTA, Darrel Johnson, as documented in the very diplomatic communication to our $100 per hour Interim City Manager, below. For those savvy in the foamy soft-soap […]
Another $280,000 Flies Out the Window Thanks to the FPD Culture of Corruption
In the early morning hours of the very same day that six FPD cops harassed, attacked and left Kelly Thomas to die in the gutter, four of their bad apple brethren had a run-in only a few yards away with the Ortiz brothers – Luiz and Antonio – a couple of downtown Fullerton bar patrons. […]
Gretchen Cox and Fullerton First
Apparently Gretchen Cox, reactionary pal of J. Flory and J. Fitzgerald has become weary of “malcontents” wasting everybody’s time at City Council meetings. She seems to think all this attention to city employee malfeasance, misfeasance and dumbassfeasance reflects poorly on our great town, using the usual “blame the messenger” routine always deployed by people who […]
We Get Mail ─ Jan Flory and Gretchen Cox up to No Good
Remember last year when Jan Flory claimed she was ‘retiring’ from City politics? Much to our chagrin, that never happened. Instead, she’s taken up a new calling with close pal Gretchen Cox. A Friend was gracious enough to share a letter they plastered all over the neighborhood last month: This isn’t some altruistic idea in […]
Can We Get A Refund For The Stairs?
It happened pretty quickly, just like a UFO sighting, and just as rare: a Fullerton councilperson suggesting accountability. But here you see Greg Sebourn raising the embarrassing subject of the lamentable Hillcrest Park “stairs to nowhere.” If you’ve been paying attention, you know very well by now that these rickety looking wooden “exercise” stairs are […]
