Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
Yesterday we had some fun with a self-righteous, pearl-clutching visitor calling him/herself “Bertha Washington” who seemed peeved that her/his Heroes on the Fullerton city payroll were being impugned. It doesn’t seemed to have entered this empty cranium that perhaps, just maybe, these miscreants deserved a wee ladling o’ the disapprobation.
Today we entertain guesses from the Friends as to the identity of Dear Bertha.
Have at it!
Remember the assertion by dithering dinosaur Don Bankhead that without Redevelopment, Fullerton would be a ghost town?
Or, to put it another way:
Is Fullerton doomed to become a ghost town? Bankhead thinks so or he wouldn’t have said it, right?
Or could Fullerton become an incubator of interesting and profitable businesses run by people whose ideas are not grounded in government subsidies and write-downs, gifts, and grants? Old big-government liberals like Bankhead, Jones, and McKinley have more faith in central government economic intervention and subsidy than they do in any free market ideals. And that’s how we ended up with a saloon in every other building in downtown Fullerton.
What do you think?
Guess so, but it seems to be oddly short, and it doesn’t appear to be for loud, sloppy drunks.
Yesterday, Brandon Ferguson of The OC Weekly posted a story about how he has been banned from the Slidebar bar, presumably for sharing the allegation that it was a Slidebar employee who made that fateful call that somebody appeared to be breaking into cars in the parking lot. That call, whoever made it, led to the cop torture and beating death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man, last July 5th .
Of course no evidence has ever been presented that anybody was breaking into cars, and no evidence linking Thomas to any illegal act.
Incidentally, the other day Brandon Ferguson noted that The Weekly was getting the cold shoulder from FPD spokesphincter Andrew Goodrich, apparently because of Marisa Gerber’s Fringie® winning expose on the rampant Culture of Corruption in Goodrich’s department: you know, all that garbage he neglects to inform his employers (us) about. That got Marisa hollered at by the arrogant swine.
I’m really starting to like this Ferguson guy.
What’s that you say, Harpoon?
Here’s a story from CNN about how Egyptian military authorities subjected arrested women protesters to strip searches and “virginity tests.”
Here’s the money quotation from one of the charming gentlemen generals who run that unfortunate land:
“The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine,” the general told CNN at the time. “These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs).”
Now does that sound familiar? Oh, yeah, right. The She Bear at the Soroptimists. Maybe we should invite Amnesty International to Fullerton to check up on Chief McKinley and his She Bear.
This letter just came in from councilman Bruce Whitaker, who seems to be a bit peeved that the wayward FPD is still slithering along without a leader. The pictures are courtesy of FFFF. Enjoy!
In less than a week, the City of Fullerton will be more than one year derelict in enforcing performance of a critical requirement outlined in its employment agreement with current Chief of Police, Michael Sellers.
I have frequently asserted in print, television and radio interviews that Sellers is in violation of a residency requirement (point #11) which states “Sellers will make a bona fide effort to relocate his primary residence to Fullerton no later than December 2010.”
Though hired two and a half years ago, Sellers continues to reside in San Clemente where his home is 43 miles from the Fullerton Police Station. Of California’s 69 cities with a population of 100,000 or more, Fullerton is the ONLY city whose police chief resides more than 40 miles away. The vast majority of California cities are served by chiefs who reside within the city they serve.
In my opinion, the clear intent of the council at that time was to compel Sellers to relocate to Fullerton, no later than December 2010. Merely making “an effort” would provide no value or benefit whatsoever, the intent was for him to live here. The Chief’s being less than an hour away was not just preferred, but essential. Since leadership in an emergency, and understanding fully the community one serves are core, critical requirements . . . without agreeing to this point, would Sellers even have been hired in the first place?
A strong case can be made that since San Clemente home values are 74% higher than in Fullerton there is no financial barrier for Sellers refusal to comply. In any event, it is Sellers burden to prove that he has met requirements in the employment agreement. Despite my efforts, an aggressive legal interpretation, one which would protect Fullerton taxpayers interests has not surfaced.
It is nearly 2012 and Sellers remains the Chief of Police, a current employee of the City of Fullerton. Immediate action is required to enforce this contract which even a year later is still being violated without consequence. It should have long ago been rendered “null and void.” It remains for the council majority to explain how “giving away public money” is a preferable course of inaction.
-Bruce Whitaker
Almost on cue, who pops up to start cluck-clucking anti-recall nonsense? That’s right, the old dithering bird-brain herself, Molly McClanahan, who was recalled in 1994 for instituting an unnecessary utility tax.
Enjoy the vague abstractions and self-righteous pontification. You are left to your own devices to figure out what in the hell “emotional mischief” is. It’s anybody’s guess.
Let Molly do what Molly does best: babble idiocy about “the body politic” and the “soul of the City.” Let Molly roll out the same garbage she did eighteen years ago: that recall is only supposed to punish “malfeasance.” Wrong, dingbat. That’s what the Penal Code is for. Recall was instituted in California to get rid of politicians who had obviously failed in their duty to their constituents by placing special interests first. And that is precisely what has happened in Fullerton. And that’s why the recall of ’12, like that of ’94, is going to succeed.
The City of Fullerton bookkeepers have provided us with a summary of the money illegally added to our water bills over the last 15 years, and boy does it add up. You see, 10% has been added on to our water rates, then immediately siphoned off to pay for non-water related expenses.
Where does the money go, you ask? Well, among other things it goes to pay for Pat McKinley’s bloated pension, stays at four-star hotels for Don Bankhead and Dick Jones, etc., etc., etc. Feel violated by the scam? You should.
Here’s the shameful tally. Read. Weep.
| Year | Illegal Franchise Tax |
| 1997 | $704,480.50 |
| 1998 | $1,281,107.00 |
| 1999 | $1,364,716.00 |
| 2000 | $1,456,399.00 |
| 2001 | $1,435,202.00 |
| 2002 | $1,558,578.00 |
| 2003 | $1,576,091.00 |
| 2004 | $1,775,133.00 |
| 2005 | $1,771,294.00 |
| 2006 | $2,065,417.00 |
| 2007 | $2,287,693.00 |
| 2008 | $2,278,041.00 |
| 2009 | $2,388,515.00 |
| 2010 | $2,479,930.00 |
| 2011 | $2,532,595.00 |
| Total | $26,955,191.50 |
In our previous article about Fullerton’s MWD rep-almost-for-life Jim Blake we received an interesting comment from havegunwilltravel, one of our frequent semi-coherent trolls describing Jim Blake as some sort of wealthy philanthropist who has been slaving away for free on the MWD Board of Directors. Here is his/her comment:
Jim Blake, as the City’s MWD representitive gets no pay, and no pension, and no benefits. And doesn’t even ask for mileage reimbursements. He could by and sell Tony Bushala, 100 times over, and still have a pile of gold. So get your facts straight.
But check out this OC Watchdog article by Teri Sforza about the massive amount of expenses racked up by MWD directors. Oh, oh. There’s Mr. Moneybags Blake piling up over $10,000 in “travel” in less than two year’s worth of toiling in the MWD salt mines. I’d love to see those receipts!
Living high on the public hog is par for the course to certain self-entitled folks who seem to think their “service” justifies all kinds of self-indulgence – reflected in behavior like parking in handicapped spaces when you’re not supposed to.
Remind you of anyone?
FFFF had a chance to sit down with councilmember Bruce Whitaker to let him explain how the police department and city management deliberately withheld critical information and misled elected decision makers in the immediate aftermath of the Kelly Thomas death.
As you listen, be sure to reflect on the atmosphere of fear and distrust that permeated Fullerton in the weeks immediately following the murder; remember that we were told to remain calm and patient, and that we were to trust our leaders who supposedly had access to all the information that we did not.
Later we found out that our leaders knew nothing, and the city let accused killers roam free with badges and guns while we were kept in the dark.
A little over a month ago, The Dithering Dinosaurs© held a fundraiser at the Villa Del Sol in downtown Fullerton. The entrance fee was a mere $150. Until yesterday, I had been wondering what they would be spending the money on, if, in fact they netted anything at all. Well, on Friday I received this “hit” piece in the mail addressed to me and my brother.
Thanks to the knuckleheads for advertising the Recall! Saturday was a record breaking day for signature gathering. I say it’s time for another fundraiser!
And thanks to the help of one of our intrepid Friends, the clip below shows you some highlights from the last fundraiser. Watch the big money developers silently scuttle by; listen to the slow-motion simpleminded mental unwinding by Jan Flory; and hear from two of the dinosaurs, themselves. F. “Dick” Jones gets deeply Scriptural but really shallow when it comes to facts. Don Bankhead is as confused and/or untruthful as ever – the illegal 10% water tax is still being collected. Enjoy.