Is it true. When his lips are moving he’s generally lying, as the saying goes.
It was all about “serving,” mostly serving himself, of course. Never forget: his second big decision was to get himself appointed to the lucrative OCWD board in exchange for appointing Jan Flory to the City Council in 2019; his first big decision had been to call for a replacement election.
“Community-driven representation” means stirring up a handful of uninformed people to harangue honest council members and bully them into submission on a useless $2,300,000 trail through a blighted industrial area.
Is this a true statement or only a feint? Is it a mechanism to win sympathy for a mayoral appointment on December 16th? The latter certainly isn’t going to happen any way you slice it. Or is this a realization that his self-serving ego leap is over and that he landed in the sand some time ago?
Right after the City Council votes to ban nitrous oxide in Fullerton, they will discuss the creation of an ad hoc (that’s Latin, darlin’) committee of two councilmembers to work with staff to develop sales tax ballot measure language. It’s item #20 on your scorecard.
Well, there she goes
The tax idea was floated by an earlier ad hoc committee, the so-called Sustainable Budget Committee, or something suchlike. That committee ultimately decided to recommend to limit the parameters of the tax to two different special half-cent sales taxes, one for infrastructure and one for our old friend “public safety.” It was probably reasoned that they would get more support than a general sales tax, but they need a two-thirds vote of approval for a special tax – a tough nut to crack.
Of course, a General Tax increase only needs a 50%+1 threshold to pass. But you need a council super- majority – 4 votes – for that to get on a ballot, and that seems highly unlikely.
You will be taxed…sooner or later!
It’s been painful to watch this drawn out Kabuki and it seems as it if will go on at least until the deadline for getting on next year’s ballot. Fortunately there is little chance that Mayor Fred Jung will let the obnoxious and incompetent spendthrift “doctors” Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles anywhere near this language-developing process.
We have all seen the way that these government-written ballot measures twist language and logic to try to fool the public to approve them. The examples are so plentiful they hardly need enumerating. Remember the ill-fated Measure S in Fullerton? Hoo Boy was that some seriously misleading bullshit. Hopefully, Jung can require a simple and honest text without the usual treacle.
My cynical side wonders how much of the infrastructure tax language will actually include funding for the cops and financial bailout for the idiotic firefighter-union-members-as-ambulance-drivers decision, or FEMA FFD expansion grant nonsense. Anyway you cut it you want those well-funded unions on board for the inevitable campaign PR campaign.
Cry harder…
Fullerton Boohoo and the Kennedy Sisters will be crying out loudly that the fix is in by their new bogeyman – the evil Bushala Bloc – and that any ballot measure language will be crafted to fail without the steady guidance of our in-house council “intellectuals.” Tender young sprout Elijah will demand TRANSPARENCY. They may even still squawk about the need for a General Sales Tax increase, after all. But I think that Good Ship Lollipop has sailed.
A week and a half ago Fullerton councilman Ahmad Zahra agendized an item to dole out $200,000 from the General Fund to immigrants hassled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He thought it was an excellent opportunity to burnish his own immigrant travails to the full house. He didn’t bother sharing any of the details of his own arduous trail to citizenship, of course – like his marriage fraud – a federal crime.
Fortunately, the distinguished ladies of FFFF’s Fine Arts, Cinema, and Book Club Division have recreated the elevation of the poor, Syrian immigrant to what he is now – a poor (targeted, don’t forget!) American citizen.
Enjoy the histrionics: the wistful smiles, the knowing head bobs, the empathetic tone.
I guess Zahra figures he can get away with telling only a small part of his heroic origin story, even if it changes a little now and then. The whole story, or most of it, was hidden for decades in order to create the Zahra brand he sells to the ignorant.
I guess we’ll see what the 4th District voters have to say.
Sweet flower Elijah Manassero has just lost his temper. Did he miss his midday nap? Does he have a full diaper? Who can say? What I do know is that he has scribbled another of his diatribes for the Fullerton Observer Sisters, piling on their desperate narrative that the owners of Les Amis are victims of some sort of conspiracy in City Hall.
Les Amis sans meubles…
The City finally removed Les Amis stuff from City property a few weeks ago after the aforesaid business spent a decade and a half dodging rent, stalling, trying to weasel out of signed agreements and of course, encroaching onto public space without permit or agreement on several occasions.
The defenders of the indefensible are trying to ignore all the facts of the Les Amis history of scofflawry, and pretend that the substantial 2022 rent increases by the City were insufferable, and hence non-payment justified. And anything that happened before this gossamer pretext is wished into Fullerton Boohoo’s collective cornfield.
Off you go. We’ll hear nothing of the kind…
Tender fleur Elijah calls his article a “history,” but conveniently omits most of Les Amis‘ real histoire, and like a typical Observer reporter shares unsubstantiated conversations related to him by Ms. Jinan Montecristo – the alleged victim in all this – as gospel. Young pup Elijah mentions nothing before 2022, of course, and even Les Amis recent spotty history of non-payment goes unmentioned.
Young Elijah pops up in the garden…
Fragile and fresh Elijah has tried to speak with nobody inside of City Hall to get the true litany of Les Amis bad behavior. That would be uncomfortable. He accepts as true what he has been told by the noaccounts of Montecristo without reservation. Did he get any facts from Mayor Fred Jung about the removal of the Les Amis detritus? Nope. Might he have been told that the upcoming discussion of lease rates in the future has nothing to do with lease obligations in the past and due now? Of course. Did he he inquire about the fact that maybe the removal of the stuff happened at 6:30 am so as not to block the adjacent alleyway during business hours? No. That would interfere with the conspiracy narrative.
Found another victim! Of me!
Since the young fleur Manassero visits and cites this blog all the time, he knows very well that his mentor and manipulator, Ahmad Zahra, voted to implement the 2022 rates; and he knows that the Montecristo clan said nothing about it at the June 21, 2022 public hearing. He has obviously decided that these facts aren’t necessary to convey his nonsensical narrative. Why clutter up your prosaic propaganda with embarrassing information?
And why should Fullerton expect anything resembling honesty, integrity, or basic journalistic ethics from The Fullerton Observers and its proprietors – the Kennedy Sister, Sharon and Sitka.
In just two weeks since October 21th, the Fullerton city staff have prepared the outline of a plan to create a legal fund and a general welfare fund for targets of zealous Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
I say “outline” because the staff report for the item (#7 on this Tuesday’s council meeting) only presents generalities about who might be doing what. Specifically, the report recommends creating two funds of $100,000 each. How the money is doled out and by whom, and who would be responsible for any of it remains something of a mystery although the City Manager will pick the winners and sign the contracts. I do know that there will be no accountability: the local non-profit industry seems to be the intended recipient, and the third party aspect would just make it harder to figure out what is going on and unlikely to be audited for “deliverables” – as government neologizers love to phrase it.
But there’s going to be a snag.
Jamie Valencia, an unknown variable…
The vote on October 21st was 3-2 to move ahead, with the usual boohooing by the two “doctors.” At the urging of Mayor Fred Jung, Zahra came up with the $200,00 and Jamie Valencia went along with the nonsense. But later in the meeting she clarified her position that she did not want to spend any public money on this effort; she wanted non-profits involved in it, presumably with smiling encouragement being the City’s only contribution.
Knowledge just leads to complicity…
Will Ms. Valencia stick to her guns? Fullerton Boohoo and the screaming Kennedy sisters will be at the meeting in force, especially with the misinformed Les Amis boosters in attendance to bemoan the fate of the Montecristo’s patio – the one they diligently refused to pay rent on.
A helpful Friend sent in this California High Speed Rail (CHSR) propaganda video. It’s about what will happen in Fullerton if the LA-Anaheim line goes in – a giant boondoggle within a fantastically bigger boondoggle. It’s mindbogglingly stupid.
So Fullerton’s Transportation Center is going to have massive negative impacts for years as CHSR builds ramps and tunnels, removes and relocates south platform parking, shuts down Walnut Avenue, and who knows what all else?
And get this: Fullerton isn’t even a “preferred” site for a stop. That decision has already been made.
The silly sales pitch is laughable: all this disruption will make it easier for northbound commuter trains to get to the north platform without crossing all the tracks – nonsense because they can use the south platform with a little logistical planning.
I suppose we can get some satisfaction that this massive disaster will possibly never be built. There’s no justification for HSR between LA and Anaheim, except that cooked up by people like our old friend, lobbyist and conman Kurt Pringle working for who knows whom. Pringle’s grand contribution to this mess has already been the embarrassment of ARTIC, the $200,000,000 station that is no station at all, but sold to the silly and gullible as a necessary component of the Big Idea.
The travel time between LA and Anaheim for HSR is essentially the same as current Metrolink service. The short distance from Union Station, and Deadman’s Curve in Fullerton militate against high speed travel through densely populated areas.
But never let facts and commonsense stop the CHSR propaganda machine; after all, propaganda is almost all the CHSR has produced so far, plus a few grossly overpriced overpasses around Fresno. Not much to show for 18 years of effort, and billions wasted. Not a single track has been laid; not a single train car delivered.
Will Fullerton put up some resistance, even token resistance? We’ll see if anybody on our City Council has some courage. It’s a damn good issue to go to bat for; which means probably not.
So it looks as if the City of Fullerton has finally decided to quit playing pat-a-cake with Jinan and young Oliver Montecristo. The owners of the restaurant Les Amis who kept encroaching on public property without approval or permits, and who serially dodged paying tens of thousands of dollars to the City in rent, are having their “improvements” on public property removed by the City.
Les Amis and unpermitted stuff…
Here’s the notification to the City Council from acting City Manager, Eddie Manfro:
Mayor Jung and City Council Members,
I was informed this morning that Public Works crews have removed the outdoor dining encroachments at Les Amis restaurant this morning. This follows the 90 day extension that she was granted by City Manager Eric Levitt. Following her payment of $3,900 on July 23, 2025, no further payments have been received.
According to Director Bise, Les Amis was provided with a 48 hour notice prior to removal of the encroachments. Public Works will hold it for 30 days in case they wish to keep it for their future use (but not for installation in the public space).
A copy of Mr. Levitt’s 90 day extension is attached for reference. Thank you.
Eddie
A yard sale is a small business!!
No doubt the suddenly “pro-business” folks at the Fullerton Observer, and “doctors” Zahra and Charles will continue to spin this into a David and Goliath story: little David being the scofflaws who have paid almost nothing to the City in rent for 15 years and who blatantly refused to follow City rules about squatting on public premises.
Poor Oliver
The last City Manager, Eric Leavitt actually gave the Montecristo mob yet another 90 days to make good on their debts and encroachments. Les Amis got a two day notice and still refused to do anything. So Public Works did. And the City has generously volunteered to keep the Montecristo junk on hand for a month in case they want it for some reason.
Les Amis sans meubles…
I really hope Jinan and Oliver get a bill for cost of removing their junk from the public right-of-way, although I doubt if they’d pay it.
And speaking of ever so earnest Oliver, I look forward to his appearance at the next City Council meeting blaming Mayor Jung for his own mother’s failure to pay her bills and play by the rules.
At the last Fullerton City Council meeting a bunch of people showed up to promote taxpayer relief for illegal aliens (AKA undocumented immigrants) being abused by ICE thuggery. They were inspired by the usual Zahra-Charles altruism that manifests itself in government spending your money to do something you probably don’t want it to.
When the Boohoos were done boohooing, the final Zoom caller laid out a nice riposte to the nonsense. The call was disrupted by loud shouts from the Fullerton Observer Kennedy Sisters and their pals, eventually drawing rebuke by Mayor Fred Jung – who rightly pointed out the disgrace of a supposed newspaper publisher trying to censor public comment.
But, see, the voice was AI generated, prompting Kennedy Sister cries “AI is not a person! No AI.” Ah, yes. However, “AI” did didn’t pop up out of nowhere. Somebody wrote the text of that statement. Somebody used text to voice software to record it. Somebody replayed it on the Zoom call.
I find it hilarious, but not at all surprising that the self-righteous Kennedy Sisters took it upon themselves to judge the propriety of an AI voiced comment just because they didn’t like what was being said. As we observe – a human created that statement based on human input. Had the call been supportive of the public expenditure you can be sure “AI” would have been met with cheers and applause.
Gee it looks just like an ordinary van!
You’ve gotta see and hear what happened. Fortunately the Boys in the White Van have helped out with a video that records the event. Be sure to watch to end where the ever-obnoxious Yolanda Harrison has her “statement” read by somebody else. Why? Because her husband, the equally egregious Todd, claimed she had had some sort of medical procedure leaving her unable to speak. Who’s to say that the AI call was made by someone unable to speak? Here’s the video:
What a damn disgrace, and proof positive of these people demanding that their self-righteous voice be allowed to drown out anyone who disagrees with their left wing ideology.
Anyhow, the City Attorney responded to a question by the Mayor, saying, no, the City has no authority to censor AI, and in fact has no ability to even authenticate the voice.
Why write about news when you can try to make your own! (Photo by Julie Leopo/Voice of OC)
This situation does raise an interesting topic that is bound to become more prevalent. In the meantime somebody needs to convey to the Kennedy Sisters the importance of free speech. They already censor legitimate commentary on the Fullerton Observer blog; now it seems, they think they are entitled to do it in City Hall.
And when has a real journalist ever yelled out partisan comments at a public meeting?
A sharp-eyed Friend happened to be driving down the alley behind the Elephant Packing House the other day. In case you don’t know where this is, remember the City’s use of “Phase 1” of the Trail to Nowhere as a pretext for wasting more millions on “Phase 2” – even though they don’t connect to each other. You know the alley/trail where a few suspicious characters always seem to be hanging out.
It appears that some entrepreneurial agronomist has begun a late corn crop along the “trail,” a sure indicator that the planned community garden in the adjacent UP Park to Nowhere is bound to be a roaring success.
Said Fullerton Parks Commission Chairman Dudley F. Paul, “these types of pop-up cash crops indicate the need for more community involvement in urban farming. Even though we have had to hide the new vegetable bins for security, we are determined to make the new community garden a success.”
Friends can file this story under a number of different categories: political puppetry, gross hypocrisy, unmitigated gall, comical self-righteousness, offense is the best defense; pick any one you like.
Pay no attention to the overdue bills…
At last Tuesday’s Fullerton City Council meeting we were treated to another diatribe by a guy named Oliver Montecristo attacking Fred Jung, Nick Dunlap and Jamie Valencia. We have already met Oliver, here. Oliver wants everyone to believe that Jung and his colleagues are anti-small business, a new line of attack by Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles, two muppets who have never run a business in their lives.
I sometimes fight for transparency!
It’s pretty clear that Oliver is one of the minions in Zahra’s stable of impressionable young fellas. His other protégé, lively young Elijah Manassero, has taken up the myth of the City’s persecution of Olly’s mom, and the family restaurant, Les Amis. The rents on City property are so darn high! The Kennedy Sisters at the Fullerton Observer have also taken up the Les Amis cause.
The only problem is that the Montecristo clan led by mom, Jinan, have a notorious record of not paying their bills, and encroaching on public property without authorization or permits. Check it out:
Feb 2011 Jinan Montecristo d.b.a. Les Amis Restaurant & Lounge (Jinan) applied for an outdoor dining encroachment agreement.
Aug 2011 After several reviews of the site plan, staff provided a draft encroachment agreement to Jinan for consideration
Sept 2011 Jinan issued a letter to staff challenging the lease rates. Les Amis installed fencing and started operating within the public right-of-way without executed agreement (south patio).
Dec 2011 Staff send revised encroachment agreement for consideration
June 2012 Jinan was issued an Administrative Restaurant Use Permit (ARUP), which included an ancillary outdoor patio. Among other things, the conditions of the ARUP required a valid encroachment agreement pursuant to the Outdoor Dining Guidelines established by the City Council.
July 2012 Staff send revised encroachment agreement for consideration
Dec 2015 Jinan submitted building permit to expand into the north portion of the building.
Feb 2016 Staff inform Jinan that she owed $28,659.60 for use of the public right-of-way of private benefit (9/2011 – 2/2016).
May 2016 Modification of an Amended ARUP was approved, expanding existing restaurant into adjacent tenant space. Jinan executed an encroachment agreement for outdoor dining (south patio only; $510/month; $6,120 annually). The agreement also required payment for 12-month prior occupancy ($6,120; negotiated down from $28,659.60).
Aug 2016 Jinan issues a letter to staff indicated they are “unable to fulfill financial obligations” due to “hardship”.
April 2017 Jinan was issued a letter from the City attorney to pay outstanding balance on account.
May 2017 Encroachment Agreement expired.
Aug 2017 Les Amis expanded into the north patio area without a permit/agreement for outdoor dining.
Nov 2018 Jinan was issued a letter from the City attorney, indicating they are in violation of their ARUP, failed to pay the lease outlined in the executed agreement, and are required to remove encroachments (north and south patio) by Dec. 14, 2018. Jinan subsequently expressed interest in continued use of both patios. Outstanding balance was $24,643.70 at the time.
Dec 2018 Jinan signed resolution of breach of outdoor dining encroachment agreement and FMC. Resolution waived outstanding balance on Patio 2 (north patio; $5,263.70), resulting in $19,380 of remaining account balance.
Jan 2019 Staff sent two encroachment agreement(s) for consideration. Jinan expressed interest in removing Patio 1 (south patio) and expanding Patio 2 (north patio)
March 2019 Jinan executed Encroachment Agreement for new north patio only. New Agreement was for $913.75/month ($510 for north patio; $403.75 for prior occupancy fee ($19,300 amortized over 48 months))
Permit was issued for removal of fencing around south patio and installation for north patio expansion per executed agreement.
May 2020 City Council paused collecting lease revenue from all outdoor dining encroachments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outstanding balance for all outdoor dining agreements was also waived. Les Amis waived balance was approximately $13,647.50.
June 2022 Council approved new lease rates for outdoor dining on public property.
Aug 2022 Les Amis reinstalled south patio without permits and/or an agreement.
Sept 2022 Jinan submitted application to reinstall south patio.
Aug 2023 Staff reinitiated collecting lease from all existing agreements.
Oct 2024 Jinan defaulted on payments from August 2023 to October 2024, accumulating a dept of $13,468.71. Jinan signed an agreement for a 12-month payment plan to pay the outstanding debt of $13,468.71.
NOTE: this did not include prior occupancy for the reinstalled south patio.
Nov 2024 Jinan executed two superseding encroachment agreements for outdoor dining with the new lease areas and rates.
April 2025 Jinan defaulted on payments, accumulating an outstanding balance of $26,650.96. Staff terminated the agreements, cancelled the payment plan, issued several notices of violations, and required removal of all encroachments. Jinan expressed financial hardship and requested the City revisit the lease rate. Jinan also paid $1,200 toward the payment plan and expressed interest in purchasing the property. The city paused removal to explore options.
July 2025 Jinan was once again requested to remove all unpermitted encroachments. Jinan paid $3,900 toward the payment plan. City Manager agree to extend the time for compliance or a change in the Outdoor Dining policy for 60 days. To date, Jinan has an outstanding balance of $31,185.10 ($5,494.06 payment plan; $25,691.04 encroachment agreements)
Yikes! What a history of screwing the taxpayers. Almost 15 years worth. Poor, small-businessman Oliver was in fourth grade when it started.
Not paying your debts to the public is the best way to become a Sharon Quirk Woman of the Year!
Over the years Jinan has deliberately dodged paying many tens of thousands of dollars in rent to the people of Fullerton. She has illegally encroached onto public property without agreements or permits in place on numerous occasions. The record is abundantly clear: the City has bent over backward for years and years to accommodate this woman; rather than evicting Janin from the City’s property and taking her to court for the rent due she has effectively stolen, they kept giving her more opportunities to rip us off. Pathetic, really.
Found another victim!
Well, Oliver may think the documentation of his family stiffing the public is all nonsense and that somehow he and mommy are victims, doncha know; however, no one except the inordinately stupid would believe it.
The cynical manipulators like Doc Zahra don’t believe it either, but Zahra won’t miss a chance to get some eager fool to stand up and harass the people who haven’t, and won’t make him Mayor.
