Redevelopment Archives - Page 15 of 25 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

December 16, 2009December 16, 2009Redevelopment

The Empty Seat

In military air forces they have what’s known as the Missing Man Formation – an aerial salute to reflect the loss of one of their members.

The Fullerton redevelopment Agency now has it’s own Missing Man, Shawn Nelson, who has had to recuse himself many times because of a financial interest in a downtown bar. Now, it seems, his financial stake in the building that the bar is located in, is preventing him from participating in any Redevelopment activity at all. At least that’s the appearance. He recused himself at last night’s meeting twice. The second time was on the disastrous Richman housing project in which a critical voice of reason was much needed.

Well, enough is enough. It’s clear that Nelson has placed his own interests ahead of the citizens of Fullerton. It’s time Shawn formally resigned from the Redevelopment Agency Board and let the City Council appoint a replacement who can actively particiapte in all of the Agency’s business.

December 14, 2009December 30, 2009Behind Closed Doors

On the Agenda: December 15th, 2009

by Christian4 Comments

The Fullerton City Council has just released their agenda for December 15, 2009 and it’s a fat package!

Something near and dear to me is baseball so I take a little more interest when the subject shows up on the agenda. Item 2 of the closed session is a conference with the real property negotiator concerning 304 W. Commonwealth Avenue. It would appear that the Orange County Flyers of Fullerton want to move to downtown Fullerton to be closer to City Hall. In fact they want to have the baseball field across the street where many a young man played pony league baseball. The Duane Winters Field just might be the sight of the next Golden Baseball League Championship. In March 2007 the team gave up being the Fullerton Flyers because the new partners wanted to be more marketable. Hmm, sounds like an Arty Moreno stunt! So the changed to the Orange County Flyers. I have a t-shirt that says “Top 10 Reason’s To Be a Fan: …Reason #4: They aren’t the L.A. Flyers of Fullerton.” That’s true; they’re the O.C. Flyers. So, will Parks and Rec Director, Joe Felz, give them the field? We’ll see…

Also in the closed session is another real property whiz-bang. Rob Zur Schmiede is working on 655 W. Valencia. In 2007 this was a 63 unit condo by John Laing and the project was in plan check. 3+ years later, what could they be discussing? Price and terms with C&C Development’s Barry Cottle, according to the agenda.

In the open session you can look forward to a presentation by MWD and a few awards to people like Quirk-Silva, Dick Waltz, and – drum roll please – The Golden Bell Award, Fullerton Union High School District and (another drum roll please) Fullerton School District! How ya like dem apples?

Make sure you fill out your blue card before you yell at the council – which you will want to do…

There are a few appointments being made to the Library Board of Trustees. Your favorite Mayor, Don “Don’t Mess With Me” Bankhead and Shawn “See Ya Later Alligator” Nelson. Their terms are to expire December 31, 2012 – if they last that long.

We have a busy consent calendar to cover so hang on tight. In the mix is the amended landscaping ordinance, group insurance for city employees, the employee’s deferred compensation, more sewer replacement, a bunch of Redevelopment stuff, air pollution, SALE OF THE ORANGE COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS (seriously – item 11), Raymond Avenue grade separation, Fire Management Association agreement, Bastanchury/Valencia Mesa bike path. There is too much for me to cover here so I’ll expand a little on just a few.

First, there for Redevelopment. Item 6’s title should tell you everything you need to know… “Redevelopment Agency’s Annual Determination That Planning And Administrative Expenses Are Necessary For The Production, Improvement, or Preservation of Low and Moderate Income Housing”. Yep that’s all you need to know so don’t look into it or question it. I suggest that if you ever had a beef with Redevelopment, this is a chance for you to SCREAM at your elected officials. This “determination” is the justification for wasting your money. Because if that isn’t enough reason, read item 7, the Redevelopment Agency’s annual report. This the RA’s justification for existence to the State and Feds. If it doesn’t dazzle you with brilliance, rest assured, it will baffle you with bullshit!

Ok, enough with the Redevelopment Agency, let’s get down to real business. According to item 8, it’s time to modify the signals at Orangethorpe and Highland, as well as re-stripe the area and add some signs.

Air pollution shows up 9^th on the list. It’s actually a MSRC grant for $450,000 for a compressed natural gas station. I wonder how much money we will throw at it to get the gas station operational. How much will we sell the gas for? Are there enough customers to make it profitable or are we, the tax payers, suppose to subsidize CNG vehicle owners? I’m sure the details are all there waiting to be found.

Don Hoppe gets an appointment as the Public Works Dispute Hearing Officer. Will he get paid extra for the job?

And then we have the Fairgrounds. It appears that the council would like to request the Governator to not sell the O.C. Fairgrounds. I’m sure Arnold will read the letter and quickly cancel the whole sale.

The Raymond Avenue Grade Separation is getting a change order for AECOM. Their fee is $2,450,000. It is unclear from the agenda or staff recommendation just how much the change order will cost us, if anything. According to the recommendation, there is $63,739,000 for the project. That’s a lot of money!

Skipping ahead to the Public Hearings we have some more Redevelopment doozies. The first one, item 15, is for 524 and 530 S. Richman Avenue where the Olson Company wants to erect 34 moderate income housing units. I believe the Honorable DR. Jones said we “…absolutely have to build these. It’s the law!” Well, sort of…not really.

Also, item 16 is the Five-Year Implementation Plan for Redevelopment Agency. The item is on the agenda so that a request can be made to have a public hearing on it and consider adopting the plan. What a racket!

Here is an interesting one. Item 17 is an appeal to install a nature/wildlife habitat along a portion of the Juanita Cooke Greenbelt (known to many who are not as up to date on official trail names as “The Equestrian Trail Behind the Court House that goes to Laguna Lake”). After looking at what they wanted to do and where, I’m not sure why the City didn’t take advantage of the situation. Here are a couple who want to improve the trail where it runs along their backyard. They wanted to make it wilder (I guess) on the slope NEXT TO the path. The fix could have been to enter into an agreement whereby they can install certain pre-approved plants in a pre-approved manner, the total costs of which would be paid by the applicant. The City could have the homeowners maintain it until such time as the agreement is cancelled in which case the homeowners could be on the hook for removal/restoration costs. The cop out from Parks that the trail has two paths and this would confuse people is silly. Are people really that stupid? Also, from what I have seen, the encroachment would be onto the slope. I don’t think the mountain bikers are on the slopes nor are the walkers or horses. So what’s the problem?

The city will also be looking at parking permit fees in certain areas. (See item 18)

Moving on to Regular Business (I said this was a big package), we have a few reports on the City’s financials as well as the Airport. Also in the Regular Business is the Commission/Committee At-Large Appointment Process.

I urge you to read through all of the supporting documents for the agenda. That is where you might find some nuggets of truth that should be brought forth. I simply don’t have enough hours in the day to do it. Thanks for reading and feel free to point out other topics that I missed or are important to you!

December 9, 2009December 28, 2009Dead heads

Introducing: Marty Burbank

by The Fullerton Harpoon18 Comments

UPDATE: HERE IS A POST THE HARPOON PUBLISHED LAST SUMMER. AFTER YESTERDAY’S ITEM ON A COUNCIL-WANNABE NAMED MARTY BURBANK, WE FIGURED IT MIGHT BE TIMELY TO POST THIS AGAIN – JUST TO LET THE FRIENDS GET AN EYE AND EARFUL OF A MAN WHO WANTS TO BE OUR LEADER.

WHAT A GUY. EVEN THOUGHT HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT HOW REDEVELOPMENT WORKS, HE IS PERFECTLY HAPPY TO SUPORT IT, MISCHARACTERIZE IT, AND START GIVING LECTURES TO THOSE WHO ARE JUST AS UNINFORMED AS HE IS.

THE COMMENTS WE RECEIVED WERE ALSO RIGHT ON.

When the Redevelopment expansion proposal was first trotted out by the City Council a while back, we noted that one of the orchestrated cheers came from a chap named Marty Burbank. Now, we had never even heard of Mr. Burbank until he popped up to announce his support of the plan that necessarily requires the City Council to making legal findings of blight where none exists, thus requiring them to mislead the public about the basis for the whole deal. Well, okay. Just another sycophantic Chamber of Commerce shill who doesn’t even appear to understand what he is cheering for. If he does, so much the worse.

But, as they say, the plot thickens. One of our pajaritos informed us that Mr. Burbank is not only a lawyer and an up-and-coming Chamber of Commerce figure, but that he has politicalaspirations, too. Well, that figures. This is Fullerton where knowledge of municipal government is an immediate disqualification for office, and stoogery always gets you a leg up. Sure enough, we located his website promoting a campaign for City Council in 2010. And the guy’s a Rotarian! Be still Dick Jones’ throbbing…er, heart.

Well, we hate to be spoilsports, but we don’t think starting out a campaign for public office by encouraging the City Council to perpetrate an illegal fraud is a great beginning.

Also we have grown a bit weary of the Chamber of Commerce being represented by “professionals” and educrats who really aren’t in business at all, especially when they perform as stooges for City Hall. And Chamber Executive Director Theresa Harvey is one of the biggest City Hall stooges we can recall – and that’s saying something! She is deliberately screwing all the Chamber members who will be ultimately hurt by Redevelopment discrimination and corporate subsidies.

OrganGrinder4 — City staff enjoys strong Chamber of Commerce support...

Marty, Theresa, et al., here’s a quick Redevelopment primer and one you will take to heart if in fact you care anything about free enterprise and small businesses, or your members, for that matter:

Redevelopment favors a relative few selected businesses at the expense of the all the others in the pursuit to claim a share of a finite amount of consumer disposable income. Any government policy that favors a minority of businesses at the expense of the majority is, a fortiori, ANTI-BUSINESS!

Get it? Good.

Anyway, we’ll be keeping our eye on Marty and any other political aspirants who want to dump the Redevelopment load on the good folks of Fullerton.

December 8, 2009January 21, 2010Arts & Architecture

The Questionable Promise of Technology

by Mr. Peabody11 Comments

Using computers to arrange and sort data is useful for all sorts of things – especially when in comes to creating three dimensional imagery. Nobody can deny the impact of presenting scanned data for medical diagnostic purposes; or the use of scaled multi-disciplinary construction models that can simulate a 3D environment: very useful for ascertaining “clashes” between different trades as well as presenting the architect and client with views of his proposed effort.

But despite the technology drum beater’s boosterism (think laptops for kids, FSD style) there reaches a point in every computer application where the information is either too dense or voluminous to be assimilated or analyzed by those looking at it; or is just plain non-effective compared to traditional approaches; or worst, lends itself to misinterpretation or deliberate misrepresentation. This point of diminishing returns is reached quickest when the recipients of data just don’t know what to do with it. When that occurs they’re bound to do something bad with it.

Such may very well be the case with a City of Fullerton program that promises to create a three dimensional model of downtown Fullerton. We received an e-mail the other day from Al Zelinka, who works for the Planning Department. We point out that Mr. Zelinka is very careful to explain that the pilot program is being paid for by SCAG, not the City (where SCAG got the money is obviously not a point of interest for Mr. Zelinka, or, presumably, us).

First, we are inevitably forced to ask why. Who will benefit from the necessary resources plowed into such a program? It’s hard to answer. And who will be able to use the information? We can envisage all sorts of staff (and consultant) time going into creating maintaining and manipulating such data; and then the inevitable jargon and rhetoric tossed back to the public to foist staff driven projects onto the public. The Council: aha! See? The 3D model supports (fill in the name of the Redevelopment Agency’s favored project).

Perhaps the most important question is whether, once the model is done, it needs to be tended and updated by the City. If not, the effort going into seems to be something of a waste.

In any case the public are invited to a meeting on December 16th @ 6 PM in the Council Chambers to see the wonders of 3D modeling. No doubt all of our questions will be answered with sparkling clarity.

At the bottom of his e-mail Mr. Zelinka (AICP) includes a quotation that ought to give pause to even the biggest Planning Department cheerleader:

“Dedicated to Making a Difference.”

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir [women’s and] men’s blood….” – Daniel Burnham

Ay, ay, ay!

December 3, 2009January 4, 2010Behind Closed Doors

The Fullerton City Council And It’s Trail of Tears to Nowhere

by Joe Sipowicz7 Comments

It's a long wretched journey, but is sure isn't worth it when you get there... — It's a long wretched journey, but it sure isn't worth it when you get there...

We have almost exhausted ourselves relating the long and troubling story of the Poisoned Park, AKA the Union Pacific Park, a perfect case study in local government overreach, squandered millions, and zero accountability from our “very, very good” City Manager or anybody else for that matter.

First the Redevelopment Agency interfered in a private sector transaction; then they unwittingly acquired contaminated property. Then they built a park that nobody but cholos and borrachos used (good thing half of it was fenced off!). Several million bucks later city staff sat on an embarrassing disaster whose magnitude could only be minimized by comparing it to other historical Redevelopment fiascoes.

But now to the point of this post. On Tuesday, the council voted to apply for grant funds to continue the “trail” westward from Highland, even though they had been informed of a toxic plume under the property. More millions spent on more contaminated property! And still no explanation about the fact that this idiotic “trail” has no provision to take pedestrians, cyclists (or horses, yee haw!) over the at-grade crossings at Highland and Richman; and no coherent vision about how this thing is supposed to function at all.

When the issue of contamination popped up, City Engineer Don Hoppe made some noise about how they had looked into the issue (yeah, sure Don); ever helpful City Attorney Jones suggested that the application be made anyway while some sort of site check up be performed.

Huh? Once again nobody seemed real curious about how the City got stuck with contaminated property (no doubt mistakes were made and hindsight is 20/20). Instead of accountability they seem more more interested in chucking more good money after bad.

And of course it didn’t really seem to bother anybody that the City’s previous efforts on the Union Pacific right-of-way have been a titanic debacle from start to…well, there will probably never be a finish.

The thought process behind the original, ill-conceived acquisition still seems to be driving things along: it’s there, we’re the City, and there is an opportunity to own property, play park designer and trail manager, not to mention playing around with millions of dollars of somebody else’s dough.

November 30, 2009January 4, 2010Brick Veneer, Fake Old, And Other Horrors

Ground Zero of Fullerton Redevelopment Failure

by The Fullerton Shadow9 Comments

For dyed-in-the-wool government apologists like Dick Jones, Jan Flory, Dick Ackerman, Sharon Kennedy, Don Bankhead, et al., Redevelopment blunders are conveniently overlooked, when possible; when not possible, some lame defense is mounted, such as: mistakes were made (passive voice obligatory) but we learned and moved on; hindsight is 20/20 (Molly McClanahan’s motto vivendi); the problem was not too much Redevelopment, but too little!

But when any reasonable person contemplates the collection of Redevelopment disasters along Harbor Blvd. between Valencia Drive and the old Union Pacific overpass, the only conclusion he or she could draw is that the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency should have been shuttered years ago, and the perpetrators of the manifest failures crowded onto a small raft and set adrift with the Japanese Current.

We have already described in nauseating detail the “Paseo Park” debacle; and the Allen Hotel fiasco; we haven’t yet had time to talk about the “El Sombrero” pocket park give away (we will).

But instead of wasting too many perfectly good words, we will share with you Friends a Redevelopment pictorial essay with just a little piquant commentary.

First there’s the strip center known as Gregg’s Plaza. Brick veneer, of course. Even the veneer is so disgusted it’s trying to jump off the building.

The standards of the RDRC were established early.

Across the street is the Allen Furniture Store. When they got their rehab loan somebody forgot to tell them that a storefront is a storefront – not a jailhouse. So why are there bars on the dinky little windows? And pink stucco?

Stone walls do not a prison make; nor iron bars a cage...

Jumping back across the street we re-introduce ourselves to the egregious Allen Hotel, perhaps the biggest Redevelopment boondoggle of all, a mess that we have already admirably documented, here. As we noted then, the add-on was unspeakably awful (and expensive). The front is, well, pretty awful, too.

It could have been worse. Well, no, it couldn't...

What was sold, in part, as an “historic preservation” project ended up violating just about every standard in the book. The original windows were ripped out and replaced with vinyl sashes; the transoms were destroyed and replaced with sheets of plastic and surface applied strips supposed to simulate leaded glass.

Just say something. They'll believe anything...

Across Harbor we discover the “El Sombrero Plaza,” another sock in the face to any Fullerton windshield tourist. Forget the stupidity of the sideways orientation and the Mission Revival On Acid stylings (which attain a kind of crazy Mariachi deliciousness); this development included the give away of part the adjacent public green space so they have parking for a restaurant. The owner never did develop a restaurant, of course (more on that story later).

The extra parking that was supposed to be for a restaurant is now used for a storage container!

And finally we come to exhausted collapse at another one of the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency’s low points. And by low point we mean the complete, unmitigated disaster of the Union Pacific Park, ably chronicled here; and in a whole series here, here, and here.

The poisoned park: dead as a doornail. An aesthetic, pratical, and policy disaster. And no one has ever stood up to take responsibility for the total waste of millions of dollars.

Embarrassing from the beginning. How many $100,000 pensioneers had their fingers in this pie? — Embarrassing from the beginning. How many $100,000 pensioners had their fingers in this pie?

Well, there you have it, Friends. Redevelopment in action; Redevelopment creating blight, not eradicating it. No accountability. None. Zero. Zilch. And some people wonder why FFFF has sued to keep Redevelopment from expanding.

November 23, 2009December 30, 2009Behind Closed Doors

Bruce Whitaker Sharpens Axe, Eyes Giant Turkey

by admin11 Comments

If it walks like a turkey and gobbles like a turkey...

Here’s a great youtube clip showing Fullerton Friend and Planning Commissioner Bruce Whitaker argue against the ridiculous Richman housing project that intends to provide enormously subsidized houses to people.

This “project” has waddled and gobbled along for quite some time, the darling of the Redevelopment staff who conceived, concocted, and cajoled this thing, with their specially selected McSpanish “dee-veloper,” of course.

Anyway, watch Bruce W. in action; and be sure to stay tuned for a separate post we will be doing on the lame clownery of Bruce’s fellow planning commissioners who will do almost anything to avoid looking out for the interests of the citizens and residents of Fullerton.

November 18, 2009December 28, 200972nd Election

72nd Election Recap: Validation & Valediction

by Grover Cleveland17 Comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKm65xLpwIM

Over at the otherwise dreadfully tedious Red County blog, our Friend Allan Bartlett opines on last night’s impressive Norby victory over Ackerwoman in the 72nd Special Election Primary. He almost gets it completely right.

He correctly points out that Norby’s 17% margin of victory over the Ackerman, Inc slime-peddlers is a bad sign for all of the establishment Repuglicans who happily climbed onto the carpetbagging, truth challenged bandwagon, believing (erroneously) that money would trump experience and actual political accomplishment.

But tucked into Allan’s post is this admonition to Ackerman, Inc.:

We’ll give you a few days to lick your wounds and get over the bitterness that you and Dick are probably feeling towards Chris right now, but it’s time to finally end this ugly chapter in OC political history and endorse Chris for the runoff. It’s the right thing to do.

Nice sentiment, perhaps, but a not at all necessaryof gesture of Republican solidarity. In the first place, if they believed half of the trash they peddled against Norby to the voters the Ackermans (if they had any integrity, oops!) would want Norby locked up “e-mmediately” as their flunky Dick Jones would say. But, neither Norby nor the people of the 72nd need anything from the OC Repuglican apparatchicks. On the contrary, Norby’s victory proves that one can win, and win convincingly (although being outspent 2-1) over forces that have treated OC government like their own little plantation.

At the end of his post Allan rightfully chastises all of the Republican elected drones who circled their wagons of self-interest around the Ackermans after hearing Dick’s do-re-mi siren song (with the emphasis on “dough” and “me”). Good for Allan. His was the the only voice on that blog that wasn’t making a full-time job of avoiding Ackerwoman’s deceitful residency and her contemptible smears.

Ah well, victory, as Allan trenchantly observes, is the best admonition to those who are more interested in money and power than they are doing what’s right. If all those folks who endorsed Linda Ackerman because of her “inevitability” (despite the fact that she didn’t live in the district, and completely misrepresented her business experience) think that this craven behavior will be soon forgotton, they may be in for a rude surprise.

And now, the task of this Grover Cleveland, having been completed, and satisfactorily so, we pass on the name to a new (and no doubt improved) Grover. Adios Amigos! And lets hope the times are really are a-changin.’

November 13, 2009Downtown Fullerton

The Bad Part of Town: A Revelation

by Travis14 Comments

A few days ago a visitor named Greg made derogatory remarks on our blog about some Fullerton neighborhoods south of Commonwealth. Admin asked Greg to take a walk through the area with him, hoping that a closer look would challenge old stereotypes and misconceptions about the area.

Following the meeting, Greg sent us this:

—————-

Ok, I admit it: I was wrong. As it turns out, the “bad part of town” is actually not as bad as I remembered it. A while back, I made some comments about the area south of the railroad tracks between Lemon and Harbor. Growing up it was known as the “Fullerton barrio”. It wasn’t a derogatory name; it’s just what it was. I had some personal experiences in the area back in the 80’s and 90’s that left a substantial impression on me. Since then, I avoided that part of town. After making my comments last week, Admin challenged me to walk the hood. I took him up on the challenge and we met last night near the train station.

On my way over to meet Admin, I drove down a few of the streets so that I could get a better idea of the area. I wanted to see the trash, graffiti, gang bangers, troublemakers, etc. while there was still some good light. I started out on Lemon and headed south to Valencia . I headed east and took it to the end and turned down what I thought was an ally but turns out it’s a street. Anyway, I looked high and low for what I knew would be there. As it turns out, Admin paid them all off to go hide while I was in the area. Ok, maybe not. The truth is, there was little graffiti. There were a few houses that needed some serious TLC but we have those everywhere. One liquor store had what I would categorize as a few gang bangers in front of it sipping there Budweiser on bikes. But by the time we walked by the store they were gone. Maybe Admin is their secret leader…? Maybe not. The reality is that the barrio has come a long way in the last 20+ years. I would even consider saying that it isn’t really the barrio anymore. Maybe it moved or just faded away, but there is very little of it like I remembered it.

Yah, baby! — It's never too late to be smart.

So I met Admin right at 5PM. We talked and walked and I got to see the good and the bad that were present. One thing I noticed quickly was that the sidewalks in the SOCO complex were not user friendly. There were fire gates all over that made the pedestrian have to limbo or walk around it through the landscaping. Poor design. The lighting was good and there were lots of kids on skateboards and bikes. The complex was free from the used condoms, trash, and tagging that I saw when the project was wrapping up. I suppose the new residents deter that sort of criminal mischief. We walked down Truslow and Valencia , eventually making a big loop. Veneer was spotted on some buildings. It wasn’t the cheap stuff that gets glued on but it was clearly a veneer cap. I thought it looked ok but until a couple of weeks ago, I would never have noticed nor cared. Now, at least I am a little more cognizant of its use and misuse. We saw some more tagging on the veneer and a window. Admin stopped to talk to a resident.

Ok, I have to back up a bit. Before meeting Admin, I thought I should do a little investigative work. Using top secret classified resources, I looked up properties held by people with Admin’s last name. There were several dozen such properties in Orange County with all but maybe two in Fullerton . The majority of the properties were in the SOCO area. A lot of different ideas crossed my mind as I reviewed the records. These holdings could mean that Admin was trying to monopolize the area. It could mean a lot of things. Not knowing what it all meant, I decided to go along for the ride and see what happened. As it turns out, Admin was very upfront with the properties he had; there were no secrets, no shades of grey. I had to conclude that his significant investment in the success of the area was directly related to how much the area had improved in the last 20 years. He had taken run down lots and built new homes. He had taken an area that actually had blight and turned it into a quiet and peaceful place. I credit Admin with the amazing transition of this area. And to top it off, NO TAX-PAYER DOLLARS WERE EVER USED. (ok one minor exception back in the 80’s but it didn’t make a difference in and of itself)

In the end, I must thank Admin for opening my eyes to what has been slowly taking shape for many years and giving me the opportunity to be proven wrong!

Sincerely,

Greg

November 1, 2009Redevelopment

“Pumpkin Launch” A Metaphor for Redevelopment Failure

by The Fullerton Harpoon9 Comments

The OC Register reports about a strange event that went awry: a pumpkin launched from a pnuematic “cannon” by engineering students overshot its target and crashed through the scoreboard of the CSUF football field.

So why is this an apt metaphor for Redevelopment? Consider the venue: a football stadium financed by the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency for a football program that was disbanded the year after the stadium was built . Then consider the dopiness of the event itself. Then reflect upon the fact that the participants didn’t seem to have a clue what they were doing – missing their mark by 120%.

And finally, the cavalier attitude of the event organizer: damage was minor, and “They had no idea how far it was going to go,” (Keith) Brush said. “You know, with engineering projects, they usually don’t work out the first time.” And of course the the ultimate subjective stamp of approval that would have done any Redevelopment Director proud: 3000 kids had a good time. And of course we can’t put a price tag on that, now can we?

At least the pumpkin launch damage will only cost a few thousand bucks to fix (just wait’ll CSUF gets done with that bill!). Fullerton Redevelopment boondoggles cost a lot more.