Setting The Bar Low Archives - Page 68 of 114 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

October 11, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Thanks, McKinley!

Here’s a message we received not long ago that is from someone who claims to have been a juror in the trial of the guy who blasted five holes into LAPD rookie Jay Cicinelli back in 1997. It has the ring of truth to it.

I was on the jury that convicted the man who shot Jay Cicinelli. It was unbelieveable watching a man, who by all rights should have been dead after being shot 5 times with a 45 at point blank range, losing an eye in the process, get on the stand and testify! The prosecuting attorney even showed us the police star he had been wearing on his chest that had a big dent where one of the bullets had struck it. I felt so bad for Jay then, in this 20s and being injured so badly just as he was beginning his career as a police officer. I have often wondered what he ended up doing with his life. I was shocked and very sad to find out that he was one of the officers involved in this beating! It’s hard for me to imagine how someone, who has been through something as horrific as Jay has, could be an effective police officer. How could you see criminals every day and not think about the one that tried to kill you? I’m not trying to make excuses for what has been done to Kelly Thomas, just giving my opinion about why I think Jay Cicinelli should have gone into a different profession.

Opinion duly noted, and I don’t think there’s many people who would disagree with you, except, maybe former FPD Chief Pat McKinley, who hired Cicinelli as a favor to an old LAPD crony. McKinley now wonders aloud to the media how Cicinelli “could have strayed so far from his training.” Of course that’s just self-serving clap-trap.

October 10, 2011October 10, 2011Dead heads

Poor Dick. Not Enough Lollipops To Go Around

by admin43 Comments

For our incompetent spendthrifts on the Fullerton City Council, spending millions of dollars on grossly overpriced “affordable” housing is just like handing out candy to kids.

And even better when those “deserving” kids are your pals, cronies, and political bag men!

Mayor Dick is sho’ ’nuff pleased at the proposals all the Redevelopment parasites have brought forth (as he would say), gathering like hungry vultures around a roadkill remnant.

Naturally, one of the recipients of Mr. Big Shot’s free-and-easy largess with our money is none other than Dick Ackerman, who apart from inveterate influence peddling and carpetbagging, is also heading up the anti-recall effort on behalf of the Three Blind Dinosaurs.

And of course Jones is as untruthful as ever, claiming that someone else (SCAG!) is making him do something he really, really wanted to do anyway.

October 9, 2011October 9, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Did Fullerton Cops Target Chris Norby?

by Joe Sipowicz60 Comments

porcine — By the way, who are you and whom do you represent?

Last April I wrote this look back at what sure seemed like monkey business on the part of FPD spokesorifice Andrew Goodrich. Knowing what we know now about the lawless way that FPD operates when so inclined, the idea that they leaked potentially embarrasing information about someone they considered a political enemy is in no way surprising.

Many have wondered how Goodrich, after having failed to tell a single truth at any juncture of the Kelly Thomas murder epsiode, kept his job. The obvious answer is that the City Council, the City Manager, and the Acting Chief think he is doing a good job.

It could also be that because the estimable Goodrich is an officer in the police union they don’t have the guts to take this valuable piece of manpower and put him back on the street.

– Joe Sipowicz

The other day, our Travis Kiger engaged in a comical e-mail exchange with Fullerton PD’s $130,000 per year spokesperson, Sergeant Andrew Goodrich. Here it is:

Read the whole email

Note that according to Goodrich, FPD policy is that the police log book may be perused at the station – but not copied. When unexpectedly queried as to how the Voice of OC(EA) managed to get a copy of a domestic dispute entry involving Assemblyman Chris Norby last September, the good Sergeant noted that it was due to the “constant” requests they had from the media. Hmm. Well, that makes so little sense that we may as well backtrack to review what happened. Something ain’t quite kosher. In fact a smell is emanating from this pile of Goodrich road apples.

Last fall, 72nd Assemblyman Chris Norby seems to have gotten into an argument with his wife. Some sort of delivery person, adventitiously arriving at the front door of Casa Norby, called the cops, who arrived, took a statement, and left. The date of the incident was September 2nd.

The Voice of OC(EA) finally got around to posting about the issue, here, on September 27 – almost four weeks after the fact. The Register followed up with a story a couple of days later. Other than that, general media silence. Wow, Andy, what a feeding frenzy!

Now that we know Goodrich’s excuse for violating FPD policy is nonsense, we are entitled to ask why Goodrich was so cavalier about passing out copies of the log – against policy; and further, we ought to ask how and why the Norby episode came to light at all.

Note that the report posted by the Voice of OC(EA) was time stamped September 20, seven days before it was published. This means that they either sat on the story for seven days, or they received the document several days after it was printed. Hmm. And remember, according to Goodrich, the log is regularly purged.

Although it is possible that the Voice took a week to getting around to publishing its story, is it at all likely that an intrepid Voice reporter came across an FPD log entry in the course of his typical day’s toil? Or is it a whole Hell of a lot more likely that an employee of the Fullerton Police Department, growing tired of waiting for some lucky journalist to discover what would surely be an embarrassment for Norby, leaked it to a pro-union news source?

Mr. Goodrich could help clear this up by sharing his records of media requests for this information, and explain the date on the printout.

Of course it is possible that some other party reading the log came across the item, recognized Norby’s address, and passed it on to the Voice; but that would be supported by pretty long odds.

In any case, there certainly is an object lesson here for all of us, Friends. Privacy seems to be selectively practiced by the Fullerton Police Department. And mostly it is not practiced to protect the public – but them.

October 8, 2011October 8, 2011Behind Closed Doors

The Bill Of Indictment

by The Fullerton Shadow153 Comments

This outstanding comment was posted by “Simmons” yesterday in response to the bizarre letter to the acting police chief from somebody purporting to be the brother of Jay Cicinelli.

I strongly recommend that somebody simply copy this comment and read it at the next City Council. All of it, but especially 11A-o. Watch the resistance wilt. Oh, yeah: quit screaming and hit them with the truth.

#11 by Simmons on October 8, 2011

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these FPD officers will never be punished by the justice system.

The fix is in regarding the upcoming Fullerton Police murder trials for killing Kelly Thomas.

Unfortunately, the powers that be appear to have conspired with the POLICE UNION to protect these police officers and the police union.

Let us review the facts and I believe that you will tend to agree with me.

THE MURDER

1. It appears the call from a local BAR owner was faked to give the FPD a reason to arrest Kelly. Thus, even the initial stated reason for approaching this “aggressive pedestrian”” is suspect. Side note: If so, the citizens of Fullerton should see to it that this BAR is closed – one way or another.

2. Six FPD officers took part in the murder; apparently two took a bigger part than the other four.

3. Ramos punched Kelly several times in the ribs, tackled Kelly and used his hands to hold Kelly’s NECK and used his body weight to hold Kelly down.

4. Wolfe, who was not charged, also punched Kelly 3 or 4 times, kneed him in the head, and used his body weight to hold Kelly down.

5. Cincinelli arrived and kneed Kelly twice in the head, used his Taser 4 times to shock Kelly, and used the front of the Taser like a club to hit Kelly in the FACE 8 times while Kelly was pinned to the ground and could not move or protect himself; Notably, Kelly did not respond to the clubbing by Cincinelli but that did not stop these animals.

6. A growing pool of blood did not stop the beating.

CAUSE OF DEATH

7. Yet, the official cause of death, according to the corner, is “mechanical compression of the thorax making it impossible to breath normally”; Really !!!! Interesting as will be discussed below.

8. In contrast, the UIC Documents stated that Kelly Thomas died of Blunt Force Trauma to the head (“brain death” due to “head trauma” due to “Assault”). MRI demonstrated diffused supratentorial gray matter infarction consistent with diffused anoxic brain injury.

9. Notably, diffused anoxic injury can be caused by either breathing problems (corner’s selection) or brain acceleration (UIC Documents – from Dr. who treated Kelly). (Note: diffused anoxic brain injury is usually by vehicular accident but can also be caused by head trauma from a beating). This is important as I believe the powers that been in this case have manipulated the selection of the “cause of death” for reasons described below.

THE POLICE REPORTS – Culture of Corruption

10. The Police were allowed watched a video of the incident to craft their reports; reports that had to be rewritten several times even after the video was used. This made sure the reports were consistent with each other.

11. There is apparently a culture of corruption at the FPD including police officers that have been described/be charged as pickpockets, thieves, sexual predators, kidnappers, thugs, and murderers . . . all hired by former Fullerton Police Chief and now city council member Pat McKinley.

A: Albert Rincon – allowed to serially sexually assault women in the back of his patrol car. Actions known to FPD management but nothing was done.

B: FPD police officer — sentenced to jail for fraud to support his pill habit.

C: FPD police officer — arrested in Miami airport for iPad theft.

D: FPD police officer — who smashed recording device on jail wall to avoid complicity in jail suicide.

E: FPD police officers — beating up and falsely arresting Veth Mam.

F: FPD police officers — lying on the witness stand about Veth Mam.

G: FPD police officer — beating up and falsely arresting Edward Quinonez.

H: FPD police officer — sexually assaulting a dozen women in the backseat of his patrol car, with recording device turned off.

I: FPD police officers — issuing traffic citations to harass protesters.

J: FPD police officers — ambushing and murdering a helpless homeless man.

K: FPD police officers — turning off recording devices during murder.

L: FPD police officers — colluding to falsify reports about said murder.

M: FPD superior officers — coaching said falsification and returning to street of said miscreants.

N: FPD police officer — spokeshole deliberately issuing lies to the media to misdirect, temporize, stall and otherwise obscure said murder and cover up.

O) FPD police officer — arrests Emmanuel Martinez by mistake (or on purpose) and he spends 5 months in jail. (why did the FPD and union thugs not help his aggressive pedestrian make bail?)

As for City Leaders – councilmembers insulting protesters as “lynch-type mob”; councilmembers discounting injuries of murder victim.

12. The FPD appears to be run by UNION THUGS, as seems apparent when several Kelly Thomas protestors (aggressive driver) were ticked (by a head union thug) for blowing their car horn in support of Kelly Thomas.

13. While the DA’s job is to protect the people (aka aggressive pedestrians when walking) by prosecuting criminals, in the Kelly Thomas case, the DA has been described as being on the side of the police, who are the criminals in this case, not the people. The DA has even been described as engaging in preemptive surrender before the investigation is complete.

14. Even with help from the video tape to “get their story straight”, the FPD story is a shifting story that appears to be morph as needed to fit the facts of the moment.

TIME LINE

15. Kelly Thomas, an unarmed 150 lb aggressive pedestrian sitting on a bench, was beat to death by 6 FPD police officers on July 5, 2011; apparently with all their combined bulk, mussels and weapons, they just could not seem to get Kelly under control without beating him to death.

16. While the Orange Count DA started his investigation on July 7, 2011, no serious actions were noted until after a large protest outside the FPD on July 18, 2011 and after July 30, 2011 when the FBI started its investigation.

17. At some point between July 10, 2011 and July 30, 2011, Fullerton City tried to settle the case for $900,000, most likely financed by the UNIONS, to keep this incident under the rug, so to speak and probably to keep the FBI out of their files.

18. On August 2, 2011 the Fullerton City Council meeting was held that discussed the Kelly Thomas case. Just hours before this meeting, Five (5) of the six officers were FINALLY placed on paid leave (one officer was already on leave for a different reason) but only after the FPD and City Council realized that this case was not going away, Kelley’s father could not be bought off, and the FBI were going to investigate.

19. This timeline, coupled with the shifting story of the FPD, coupled with the documented culture of corruption of the FPD and the Fullerton City Council, the demonstrated policy of fraudulently creating police reports using videotape and rewriting to make such reports consistent, coupled with the attempt to bribe Kelly Thomas’s father to hide the Kelly Thomas case, I have little trouble concluding that the FPD, some Fullerton City Council members and the Police Union (aka “union thugs”) have NO HONOR and will do whatever it takes to see that these police officers are found innocent.

THE CHARGES

20. Ramos has been charged with one felony count of second degree murder, one felony count of involuntary manslaughter;

21. Jay Cicinelli one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of the use of excessive force;

PARRALLELS to ISAIAH SIMMONS CASE

http://juvienation.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/charges-dismissed-in-isaiah-simmons-case/

22. Isaiah Simmons, a 17-year-old convicted of armed robbery, died at the Baltimore-area Bowling Brook Preparatory School, a privately run residential program for juvenile offenders. Following an outburst that day, Simmons was set upon by a group of counselors, who, according to the Baltimore Sun, “pinned him face down to the ground, restraining him for about three hours.” After Simmons lost consciousness, the guards waited forty-one minutes before calling 911;

23. The school was shut down in March, the death was ruled a homicide; On January 29, 2008, Carroll Court Circuit Judge Michael Galloway dismissed the last of the charges of reckless endangerment that had been filed against the counselors in the Simmons case.

24. Bowling Brook administrator Brian Hayden said in a prepared statement, “With this dismissal, Judge Galloway affirms that these gentlemen had nothing but the utmost concern for the safety and welfare of Isaiah, and they reacted as quickly and effectively as possible in an effort to avoid this tragedy.”

24b. Simmons’s mother, Felicia Wilson, said she was “devastated and outraged” that charges against the counselors were dismissed. “I have no faith in the Carroll County justice system,” she said. “I’m not going to stop fighting for justice for my son.” Wilson has called for federal charges, and prosecutors plan to file an appeal.

25. Kelly Thomas supports and the citizens of Fullerton should get ready for their “outrage” when these cops are set free.

26. Side note: Don’t think that police officers are not aware of this phenomenon where suspects die when the suspect’s chests are compressed for long periods of time. Thus, if you want to kill a suspect in an apparently nonviolent way, a way that is difficult to prove was murder, simply apply sufficient pressure to the suspect’s back until he becomes comatose (as was done in the Kelley Thomas case if one believes the corner’s reported cause of death). When you hear the suspect cry out that he can breathe, you know you’re getting the pressure right, and simply hold it for sufficient amount time.

THE TRIAL

The trial will likely be a choreographed scam. I would not even be surprised if the DA and the defense team for the police officers (financed by the union thugs) get together and meticulously choreograph what case law will be presented, the best rebuttals to the case law, and the theatrics that will be used during the trial.

As I see it now, the State’s case depends on whether or not the DA can convince a jury that Ramos was committing a crime during the arrest. If so, the murder charge should stick as it does not matter if the death was an accident or completely the fault of Ramos as a death results from a criminal act committed by Ramos.
In contrast, if the jury does not believe that Ramos was committing a crime during the arrest, then the cause of death becomes critical.

This is where the coroner’s report becomes important as it differs in a material way from the UIC Documents. The coroner’s report puts the cause of death as: “mechanical compression of the thorax making it impossible to breathe normally”. The UIC Documents stated that Kelly Thomas died of Blunt Force Trauma to the head (“brain death” due to “head trauma” due to “Assault”). MRI demonstrated diffused supratentorial gray matter infarction consistent with diffused anoxic brain injury.

Diffused anoxic brain injury is consistent with the conclusions of both the coroner and the UIC documents. The difference: if the UIC documents are correct, then Ramos and Cicinelli are guilty of murder as they clearly caused all the head trauma (although Wolfe did to one knee to the head). If the corner is correct, pressure on Kelly’s back cause the death; a cause that cannot be attributed to Ramos alone beyond a reasonable doubt. The corner, DA, union thugs, Fullerton City Council and FPD really had to get together to figure this path out which is why it took so long for the coroner’s report to be made public.

In the end, the trial will be a choreographed circus and the cops will go free because the selected cause of death could not be attributed to Ramos and Cicinelli, there will be outrage among Kelly Thomas supporters, and the Union thugs will get richer off the tax pay money.

If there is to be justice in in Fullerton, it is going to have to come from the people.

October 8, 2011October 7, 2011Setting The Bar Low

Confirmed: Fullerton Cop Arrested for Stealing iPad at TSA Checkpoint

by Travis287 Comments

Here’s the story we reported at the end of June, a truly embarrassing tale of theft and utter stupidity perpetrated by one of Fullerton’s Finest. And a harbinger of things to come. Forget the final sentence. We now know very well about the moral turpitude that pervades pat McKinley’s police force.

– Joe Sipowicz

The following report confirms that an off-duty Fullerton police officer was arrested for stealing an Apple iPad at a Miami International Airport TSA checkpoint last month. According to court documents, FPD Officer Kelly Mejia was caught on surveillance video taking an $800 iPad from another passenger just after it had passed through the x-ray machine in the presence of TSA security agents.

View the arrest report

After the security footage was reviewed, Miami police canvassed the airport and discovered Mejia holding the iPad at the boarding gate. Mejia initially stated that she found the iPad and that she intended to keep it. Upon further questioning, the arresting officer says that Mejia confessed to taking the iPad and was placed under arrest for 3rd degree grand theft (a felony in Florida.)

The arrest report refers to Mejia’s occupation as a police officer and lists the address for FPD Headquarters as her place of employment. Kelly Mejia has been working with the Fullerton Police Department for at least six years and earns about $86,000 per year as a patrol officer.

It’s hard to imagine that this type of brazen theft in a high security zone would be anyone’s inaugural venture into pickpocketing. The authority granted to the occupation of police officer certainly presents many opportunities to bring home a little something extra on the side. I wonder if anything else is missing around here?

And how many pending criminal cases in Fullerton will be called into question if this officer loses her credibility in court? Will this officer be fired or just slapped on the wrist? Is this another indicator of ethical problems within Fullerton cop culture?

We’ll never know.

October 7, 2011October 7, 2011Behind Closed Doors

“Things Just Happen.” A Window Into The Cicinelli Defense Strategy

by The Fullerton Shadow206 Comments

An “aggressive pedestrian?” What?!

Helpfully provided by some locker room lawyer calling himself “John, Jay’s Brother.”

Acting Chief Hamilton:

I am writing you today regarding the unfortunate but real-life issue, the Kelly Thomas incident, a regrettable part of police work as you well know. In most cases these things happen with no intent on the parts of the officers to cause any level of harm, let alone have a person die in their hands; things just happen. We’re not talking a Rodney King incident, or the shooting of an unarmed transient as in the Charles Hill case in San Francisco, but a wrestling match with a few blows thrown to subdue an aggressive pedestrian who was stopped for lawful reasons. In this case, it wasn’t the fighting that created the fatality, but positional asphyxia, something common to arrest incidents across the nation. You’ve seen the video, as have many leaders in your department, and you cannot argue that these officers went in and beat Thomas to death; your fellow leaders in the department have made their observations and opinions clear. The facts support all but the first two officers, with the only portion unknown and least defendable found within the first few minutes where they are behind the tree and invisible to the camera. From the point when Corporal Jay Cicinelli enters the scene, Thomas is pulled into full view of the camera and all are in view the remainder of the incident.

While the death of Thomas is regrettable, the actions of the police department and the city are much more reprehensible, starting with the inadequate chief who said nothing but drifted off into his protected stress leave, and a new city manager who sorely lacked the experience to capture and control this from the onset. Now, to have it left in the hands of the “unbiased” outside investigator has only exacerbated the problem as he bends to the political pressure brought on by the media and the accusing brothers whom themselves have suspect motives. You know well what I am talking about.

I am writing on behalf of Jay, though I’ve looked at Manual Ramos as well and find little fault in him concerning this death. Two officers do a pedestrian stop based on a call from a local pub. The stop is legal, as well as their motive to detain and arrest Thomas as a possible suspect for 459 PC, burglary. Thomas fails to comply, and the fight is on, with no less than two broadcasts placed for officers to respond code-3. With one officer out of shape, the fight is limited before Ramos spent his energy, and the second who remains on top of the subject is hurt. The third officer on scene knows nothing but that his partners are in a fight, need help, and experiences them exhausted, hot, sweaty, and breathless, in a struggle with a bare-chested suspect. He deploys the stun gun, dry first, and with the barbs second, but each having no effect. In-fact, the only result seems to come with an officer receiving the shocking transfer of the jolt through Thomas’ body, into that of Officer Hampton. What comes next is basic police work: A few knees by Officer Joseph Wolfe, as well as some punching to the face area. Jay struggles to maintain his stun gun as Kelly attempts to disarm him twice, followed by Jay swinging it around a few times, then a few (between 3 and 5) ineffective swings with the stun gun to hit Thomas and stop his actions. As you know, Jay and Manual are at the lower portion of Thomas’ body, not the chest area where the medical problem arose. After this, there is little that happens until they finally handcuff Thomas, and those who do, not Jay or Manual, leave him handcuffed and hogtied on his chest for several minutes. Do I have to point out to professionals that people die from this alone every year in the hands of police officers? So how then, do they so adamantly point the finger at Jay and Manual? I know why: political pressure.

I find it hard to believe that people, from “Chief” Sellers, to the city manager, to the politicians sitting on the city council, don’t have the wherewithal to stand up for the truth, and defend your officers who have sworn to keep and oath that threatens their lives every day. What I see is a series of cowardly decisions, made by people who are unwilling to do what is right, and defend these officers who were involved in a very unfortunate incident, and have been given up at Ron Thomas’ request, as “sacrificial lambs” if I remember the quote correctly. I believe strongly that everyone from the OC District Attorney to the politicians and their appointed investigator are getting this off their Teflon desks as fast as they can conceivably do, disregarding the low lying fruit within your department, because to them, this is a trivial matter and not worth the time to do the right thing. I believe that they are responding to the media when they assert that Jay has “mental issues” resulting from his LAPD shooting that caused the loss of his left eye. I understand that former Chief McKinley has already stated that in the media, that he wasn’t sure why Jay did these things, and that he was given the psychological evaluation before being hired, indicating that he buys into the mental status. From my records, my arbitral experience, and my legal experience with the EEOC, this would be called discrimination based on disabilities under ADA. Furthermore, the manner by which the city is treating these two officers is significantly different than their fellow officers who faced and currently face criminal charges, some of which are strong felonies, not wobblers. This is accurately described as disparate treatment, another cause of action that I strongly suggest be brought forward by these employees against not only the city, but those who are making the decision to suspend them without pay, thereby adversely impacting the lives of both officers and their families. And though they may deny these assertions, claiming some sort of sovereign immunity based upon their government status, the city, your agency and each person making such decisions are not immune from suits filed under the ADA, and are therefore subject to compensatory, special, future, and punitive damages. Finally, as it comes to the seven tests of just cause, the action taken to suspend these officers comes unfounded based on the lack of a full and complete, unbiased investigation, and the assertion of “rule violations” is most apparently contrived for the purposes of eliminating a political animal that rests heavily on the backs of every person listed above.

I pray that you will step in the gap for these officers, to make decisions that are not based on politics or public opinion, but on facts. And, if the facts are not there to support such negative actions, I strongly urge you to state this to those who are pushing you to make adverse decisions regarding these men and their families. There have been many men throughout history who have changed their course of direction for the right reasons, and have faced scrutiny for doing so. To change course in this case is the right decision, as you know deep down in your heart, and one that will come at a price. Is your future career at a heavily scrutinized department worth the futures of these officers and their families? Please understand that if the leaders above you, who push to get rid of these officers without proof, but based on the ugly pressures of public opinion, do not change their course of action against these officers, each action and decision will not go unanswered, and the legal and political issues they face now will only be exacerbated when these officers are cleared of their charges in court when their day comes.

Sincerely,

John

Jay’s Brother

October 6, 2011October 16, 2011Dead heads

How Dumb Do They Think You Are?

by admin153 Comments

How dumb do the out-of-town anti-recall clowns think the people of Fullerton are?

Very, apparently.

On their laughable website they put up “proof” that I have taken money from Redevelopment. How so, you ask? By sharing the resolution approving my 1992 lease at the the Santa Fe Depot. These chowderheads highlight a paragraph indicating the Redevelopment Agency’s commitment to contribute 18% to the renovation of the depot. Thanks guys for proving my contribution to renovate the City-owned building was a whopping 82%, or $340,000!! Now does that sound like anybody gave me a dime?

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011Dead heads

Fall Out of a Chair, Get a Tax Break. Bankhead Discovers “Chief’s Disease”

by Travis46 Comments

Some say Mayor Don Bankhead retired from the police force too early, unfortunately missing out on the last decade’s massive pension spikes that have driven modern public safety pensions well into six figures. As a result, Bankhead’s annual CalPERS pension is only $81,351.16, still about three times what the rest of us might be able to get from Social Security.

But Bankhead found another way to boost his pension. Through a series of dubious disability claims filed towards the end of his career, he was able to make at least 40% of his retirement tax-free. The injuries were allegedly suffered when Bankhead fell down some stairs and then later worsened when he fell out of a chair, according to this LA Times article from 1990.

View the article

“Chief’s Disease,” as these disability pension spikes are commonly called, were all the rage in law enforcement circles in the 80’s and 90’s. At one point, eighty percent of senior CHP retirees had curiously developed debilitating injuries in the last two years of service, which made up to 50% of their pensions tax-free for the rest of their lives.

So how much does Bankhead get tax-free? The city won’t tell us, and neither will CalPERS. Bankhead’s case file was recently destroyed by the workers’ comp court where his case was heard, and no journalists bothered to follow up on the story.

bankhead-party — In my day, we didn't have 3 at 50. We had to be creative.

One thing we do know: Bankhead didn’t “throw in the towel” due to alleged injuries. He quit after he had been passed over for the Police Chief job, and promptly announced his ambition to run for the Fullerton City Council. Then he tried (unsuccessfully) to run against Brad Gates for Orange County Sheriff.

That’s a lot of ambition for a guy who doesn’t pay his share of income taxes because he’s “totally disabled.”

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011Boohooism

Another Fowl Observer Plop

by admin33 Comments

the-observer-ostrich4-300x225 — Where's China?

I really don’t know why I bother communicating with the feather-headed Sharon Kennedy and her wretchedly incompetent Fullerton Observer.

When she wrote an unsigned “article” last month alleging that I rent space from the City worth more than $12,000 a month for a mere $1300, I felt obliged to respond. So I sent in a letter to The Observer to add important facts that she casually omitted and also to question how in the world she came up with her crazy valuation. To my knowledge Ms. Kennedy has no experience of any kind in the commercial real estate business and knows nothing about the subleasing potential of the Santa Fe Depot or even its vacancy rates or square foot lease potential.

The deal looked pretty damn sweet for the City 20 years ago when I offered to make a large up front payment and finance the historic restoration myself – especially since the other responders wanted to be paid; and this ignoramus somehow thinks the City gave something away. I mentioned in my letter that if she had any complaint to take it up with the Good Folks at Redevelopment.

As usual, Ms. Kennedy appended her inevitable dingbat editorial comment to my correspondence that completely ignored my points and instead launched into a diatribe about all the good that Redevelopment does for poor people. She neglected to inform her readers that this so-called “affordable” housing costs twice as much as the regular kind, that it pays for high roller lobbyists, hustlers and bagmen, that it is principally just a mechanism to employ house-ocrats, and that, of course, it ends up displacing the poor for the less poor. She also mentioned to explain that Redevelopment giveaways are financed by robbing other local agencies that rely on property tax revenue.

For some reason Kennedy believes if you say something enough times it will become true: just like she claimed (again) that I am suing the Redevelopment Agency for $1,000,000. That of course is just bald-face lie made somewhat amusing by the weirdness of her fabrication; I am suing to stop Redevelopment expansion into areas of the City that are not “blighted,” the minimal legal requirement for Redevelopment spelled out in the State Health & Safety Code.

At the end of her little tantrum, in an hysterical twist, Kennedy chided me for not fighting the corporate abuse of Redevelopment – even though my friends and I on FFFF have been attacking Redevelopment and its history of abuse in Fullerton, for years when she was silent. This includes the City’s illegal planning review for the Hillcrest Park/Lion’s Field reconstruction on which she was utterly silent – until they had the temerity to install synthetic grass – a move that apparently injured her delicate aesthetic sensibilities.

Where O Where has Sharon Kennedy been these many decades as Fullerton Redevelopment lumbered along, including a ridiculous proposal to spend $6,000,000 to move a McDonald’s 200 feet? You guessed it. Happily cheerleading for Redevelopment with all of its corporate boondoggles, every sad step of the way.

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Ex-Chief McKinley Unleashed Bad Cop

by Travis48 Comments

Just for those of you who mistakenly believe FFFF has only recently become interested in the doings and misdoings of our police force, here’s a post originally published October 7, 2009 – exactly two years ago, detailing the way in which the esteemed Pat McKinley molly-coddled the worst of his boys, who just happened to be President of the Fullerton Police Officer’s Association, the union that supports the councilmen cover-up artists Jones, Bankhead, and (surprise, surprise) Pat McKinley.The incidents described here took place six years ago, leading a reasonable person to infer that the culture of corruption cultivated by McKinley has deep roots, indeed.

Enjoy a blast from the past courtesy of the FFFF archives!

– Joe Sipowicz

Officer misconduct cases are usually handled behind closed doors, hidden away from the public who are ultimately the victims when cops go bad. Recently a document slipped out from underneath the curtain and gave us some insight into Chief McKinley’s department, which had a habit responding to officer misconduct by looking the other way and pressuring victims to stay silent — demonstrating brazen contempt for the rule of law.

Officers John Cross and Gregg Nowling were caught on tape in the 2005 beating of a young man who was pulled over for playing his music too loud. Fearing outrage, the department refused to release the recording to the public. Nowling resigned, but John Cross was the president of the Fullerton Police Officers Association (the union), so he decided to take his chances and ride out the punishment that was sure to be nothing more than a token admonishment from his friendly boss, Chief Patrick McKinley.

He's big. He's bad. He's baaaaack! — I'll just pretend I didn't see that.

John Cross should have been fired and sued, but a deal was allegedly struck with the victim in which charges would be dropped if the young man kept quiet. This allowed the department head to give Cross a mere slap on the wrist – a two step demotion in pay for the next two years.

When nobody was paying attention, Chief McKinley eliminated John Cross’ punishment one year early:

The record shows that almost immediately, John Cross began another series of disturbing actions that ultimately forced the department to fire him. The Council found one example most frightening – Officer Cross had covered up an incident involving a drunk off-duty sheriff who was brandishing his weapon in public. He also failed to follow up on a potential suicide when it was only a few doors down from his location. At least six of these events involved Cross’ turning off his audio recorder in violation of department policy.

There are plenty of other allegations of McKinley’s department looking the other way when incidents were perpetrated by those the department favored, and this is only one of the most severe. As one of our commenters said, McKinley’s game was played at the the expense of our community’s safety, peace, and tax dollars.