Something Wicked This Way Comes Archives - Page 28 of 46

August 13, 2017August 18, 2017Bad Cops

While You Were Sleeping…

The other day FFFF ran a post on recent efforts by the Fullerton Police Department to share its Heroic doings with the public. Some were struck by the blatant and ongoing hypocrisy of the department’s alleged attitude toward DUI driving, given the fact that our former drunk-driving City Manager, Joe Felz, was given a free pass by the FPD after running off the road, plowing over a tree, and trying to escape the scene of the crime.

I’m struck by the constant effort of the department to spin PR yarns to make itself look good – despite all the evidence to the contrary. Get a load of the “while you were sleeping” shtick. It’s the old “we Heroes are keeping the streets of Fullerton safe while you get to sleep safe and sound – and how can you put a price tag on that?” routine. This relentless drum beat of the upbeat continues long after Chief Danny “Galahad” Hughes‘ departure, meaning that the strategy of fooling the public into mistaking a tsunami of PR for reform, is alive and well.

Anyway, I though I’d share a few other FPD activities that happened while we were sleeping, or maybe even when we were wide awake, sort of a public service announcement. Please observe the veritable FPD crime wave:

The Nordell family home is broken into and the denizens held at gunpoint by FPD. City Attorney admits crimes were committed.

Veth Mam is assaulted, beat up and falsely arrested by Kenton Hampton and prosecuted.

Hampton and Frank Nguyen’s tale about Veth Mam keeps changing on the witness stand. Mam is acquitted.

Todd Majors rips off Explorers to pay for drug habit.

April Baughman rips off evidence locker – a lot.

Kelly Thomas is stalked, threatened and beaten to death by Ramos, Wolfe, Cicinelli & Co.

“Tango” Tom Basham let’s cops compare notes and watch video of Thomas killing prior to writing official reports.

Cary Tong & Co. abuse arrestee.

Sonny Siliceo intentionally misidentifies Emanuel Martinez sending him to jail for 5 months.

Sonny Siliceo files a report so false even the DA can’t ignore it.

Albert Rincon sexually assaults female detainees in back of squad car. FPD tuned up by Federal judge.

Ortiz brothers attacked by Bryan Bybee, Billy Phu, Emanuel Pulido and Matthew Martinez in costly beat down and phony arrest.

Timothy Gibert busted for ripping off high desert Home Depot.

Andrew Goodrich lies to press about cops receiving broken bones from Thomas incident.

Kelly Meija places bag of chicken on iPad, purloins the latter at an airport and gets caught.

Perry Thayer and friends get their kicks.

Ron Bair extracts sex from crime victim.

Vince Mater smashes DAR destroying evidence relating to the incarceration and “suicide” of Dean Gochenour.

The battery and false imprisonment by Christopher Wren.

The serial abuses of John Cross and Gregg Nowling.

Officer Bybee rams bicyclist David Tovar.

Crack Detective Barry Coffman completely fucks up case, FPD puts wrong people in jail. Again. Still don’t care.

Well, now I’m completely exhausted. Please feel free to remind FFFF of any other misbehavement by our boys and girls in blue and I’ll be sure to add it to the list.

August 9, 2017August 10, 2017Behind Closed Doors

Paying for Todd Spitzer’s Lunatic Behavior

by Mr. Peabody13 Comments

Everyday the people who run the County of Orange blow through so much dough that the amount of waste is incomprehensible to the layman. It’s incomprehensible to the County Board of Supervisors too, because of course, it’s not their money.

Funny plastic handcuffs graphic borrowed from Voice of OC

But then there are the examples, though relatively small, that truly give us cause to doubt the reason and the integrity of our County government. Thus the Todd Spitzer Wahoo’s Fish Taco incident that brought about a lawsuit that the County lost, putting us taxpayers on the hook for the legal fees of the other side. Fees of $121,396 to be precise. Here’s the payout as reported by Voice of OC, who just happens to be the other party in the lawsuit.

Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Todd Spitzer gets emotional while reflecting on an incident more than 5 months ago at Wahoo’s Fish Tacos in Lake Forest. He handcuffed Jeobay Castellano and called police when the man would not stop trying to proselytize even when Spitzer told him he was a Christian.
///ADDITIONAL INFO: – Photo by MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER –

Here’s the backstory: In April, 2015, 3rd District Supervisor (and now DA candidate) Todd Spitzer, took a loaded gun into the aforementioned restaurant and slapped handcuffs on a harmless proselytizer who was annoying him. A few moths later, word leaked out about this bizarre behavior and Spitzer, trying to put a positive spin on his weird behavior engaged the services of the County’s PR person, Jean Pasco to help craft a press release that would make Spitzer look good and (ironically) cast the offending evangelist as mentally unstable. The memos and the PR draft never saw the light of day.

Nelson wears his game face, but the game was already over…

The Voice of OC got wind of the e-mails between Spitzer and Pasco and made a public records act request to get them. Request denied. Then The Voice sued to get the documents and the Supervisors, including our own Shawn Nelson, endorsed the ludicrous idea that these documents could somehow be legitimately withheld from public scrutiny. Voice won in court, got their documents and ran their story. And then this week the taxpayers of Orange County got stuck with Voice’s legal tab – over $120,000. Again the Supervisors, including Nelson, voted to make us pay for their idiotic decision to protect one of their own club from…us.

The politicians are always telling us about their dedication to public service. But if anybody ever needed a perfect example of how they will use our money to protect themselves and their employees, he need look no farther than the Todd Spitzer Wahoo’s Fish Taco Tale.

July 29, 2017July 29, 2017Behind Closed Doors

FJC’s Dino Skokos “Not Going to Be An Employee of District.” Or Will He? Schulz Zigs, Zags and Ends up Where He Started

by Joe Sipowicz16 Comments

The Schulz Factor: happy-looking but not believable

A while back, Fullerton junior College president Greg Schulz held an open house to share information with the constituents of the North Orange College Community College District. If anyone expected the usual milquetoast tea party, they would have been much mistaken.

One intrepid citizen brought up the matter of Dino Skokos, the FJC security goon who attacked a student last fall. Here is the audio of the interrogation accompanied by a video of the beat down applied to the kid by Skokos.

To his credit, the interrogator will not let Schulz off the hook, and grills him pretty good. Schulz of course will say nothing specific and refuses to pass on the results of the taxpayer funded “investigation” commissioned by him via a law firm that specializes in protecting the people who run government agencies. It’s a “human resources” issue, see, and we poor saps who pay for the salaries of these individuals and the civil claims they cause, are not to know anything about them.

Schulz is happy to remind folks of the investigation; but what it accomplished and how much it cost us will be shrouded in mystery until long after Schulz has taken his massive pension. Schulz won’t even say if the Fullerton Police Department investigated this matter, an issue that has no bearing on personnel confidentiality at all.

Did you notice that at the 1:05 mark the esteemed Schulz says Skokos “is not going to be an employee of the district,” a curious statement given that Skokos is still on administrative leave nine months after the assault . Later he states that he is not permitted to say whether Skokos is coming back or not. It’s all a big secret, see. So which is it? Who knows? Not the public, that’s for certain.

July 27, 2017July 30, 2017Chronic Failure

Fhern

by Mr. Peabody13 Comments

Remember Fullerton First? It’s the feel-good facebook fraud created by one Gretchen Cox, and populated by the usual suspects – whose mission is to run interference for the scamology perpetrated by the likes of our former DUI city manager, Joe Felz, the cops who let him go, and lobbyist-councilperson Jennifer Fitzgerald and her campaign contributors – like the construction manager Griffin Structures that “oversaw” the Hillcrest Stairs to Nowhere ripoff. You might recall that the egregious Fitzgerald is also a proud, flag-waving member of Fullerton First. Well, that sure figures.

Here’s a fun reminder of how the folks of Fullerton First deal with the embarrassment of expensive Fullerton government failure. The strategy is to bury legitimate criticism in double talk and obfuscation.

“Fhern” Alvarez brings up the serious problem of the manifest shoddy workmanship on the Hillcrest steps. Notice how Ms. Cox immediately concocts a made-up “report” that allegedly addresses “point by point every construction concern.” Somehow the worst example of a public works f-up is transformed into a “well-done” project where the contractor went “above and beyond contract and safety requirements” – an outright lie.

When Alvarez persists, Cox hilariously tells her (or him) that people might have rolled down the hill anyway before the $1.6 million steps were built and suggests that somehow child safety on these rickety contraptions is a matter of individual responsibility!

Fortunately, Alvarez will not be dissuaded by the bullshit. And so Fhern, FFFF salutes you.

Gretchen Gregory Cox Fhern- I was writing a response to your comment and accidentally deleted it when some wierd thing popped up. My apologies and please feel free to repost it. In the meantime, there is a report that goes point by point thru every construction concern that has been raised since the steps opened in May. It is actually a well done project where the builder went above and beyond the contract and safety requirements at no additional cost to the city- and came in under budget. Just so you know.
· July 8 at 12:46pm

Fhern Alvarez No worries. But I have been there numerous times and there are spots where the boards are cracking and areas where if a kid is left unattended they can fall down a hill. Doesn’t matter if it’s under budget. In the long run it will cost more.
· July 8 at 3:50pm

Gretchen Gregory Cox People could have fallen down that hill long before the stairs went in. At some point when are individuals responsible for not paying attention? Should the city fence off every inch to prevent that- I don’t mean that to be sarcastic…. just asking what people think would work best.
· July 8 at 4:03pm

Fhern Alvarez Gretchen Gregory Cox it is a city project and people now a days are only looking for an easy way to make money. Just saying
· July 8 at 4:05pm

Peggy Jarman Ciley Really 😳
· July 8 at 9:23pm

Kim Wolfe The exposed wires I saw in a photo by the stairs really concerned me
· July 11 at 9:09pm

Fhern Alvarez Kim Wolfe not just the wires, the big gaps left unblocked, concrete cracking, boards cracking and the danger for splinters. Oh well very poor job in general

July 4, 2017July 6, 2017Bad Cops

Another $280,000 Flies Out the Window Thanks to the FPD Culture of Corruption

by Joe Sipowicz26 Comments

In the early morning hours of the very same day that six FPD cops harassed, attacked and left Kelly Thomas to die in the gutter, four of their bad apple brethren had a run-in only a few yards away with the Ortiz brothers – Luiz and Antonio – a couple of downtown Fullerton bar patrons.

Here are the names of the four cops: Bryan Bybee, Billy Phu, Emanuel Pulido and Matthew Martinez. Remember the names. According to the complaint Bybee began the July 5, 2011 altercation by attacking Antonio with a baton while his colleagues joined in the fun and also went to work on Luiz. The beat down ended with the usual ride to the Fullerton Jail, lack of medical attention to the beaten Antonio, refusal to pursue an internal investigation following Antonio’s formal complaint, and the eventual filing of criminal charges by our illustrious DA – who never seems to tire of prosecuting citizens based on fraudulent FPD reports.

Miraculously, Luiz was acquitted 11-1 by an OC jury in 2016, and the DA dropped the charges against Antonio – giving plenty of credence to the allegations made by the brothers in a civil suit against the taxpayers of Fullerton, a suit that was recently settled for the tidy sum of $280,000, only about $1.90 of which will come out of the pocket of Jan Flory, or Jennifer Fitzgerald or Pat “I Hired Them All” McKinley, or any of the other vocal cop apologists who bask in the warmth of Fullerton First membership.

Four more demerit badges for former Chief Danny “Galahad” Hughes’ boy scout sash, even as he rakes in a $20K per month pension.

Here are the relevant documents. Read ’em and weep.

Ortiz – Mutual Settlement Agreement & Release

031125815475 Culture of Corruption

Ortiz v Fullerton Ammended Compliant

June 26, 2017July 14, 2017Behind Closed Doors

Gretchen Cox and Fullerton First

by Mr. Peabody60 Comments

Quadrangle of Casual Corruption and Fullerton First brain trust. Gretch’ is the one in the middle. The rest you already know.

Apparently Gretchen Cox, reactionary pal of J. Flory and J. Fitzgerald has become weary of “malcontents” wasting everybody’s time at City Council meetings. She seems to think all this attention to city employee malfeasance, misfeasance and dumbassfeasance reflects poorly on our great town, using the usual “blame the messenger” routine always deployed by people who have something to hide: like shoddy construction, unnecessary and mind-blowingly expensive boondoggles, drunken city managers, a corrupt police department and a budget that’s a few years away from going supernova.

Her strategy is to drown out the cries off honest men and women with hosannas of praise for everything Fullerton. But she needs a choir. So she started a facebook group laughingly called “Fullerton First” where she limits the membership to folk of her own stripe. And what a membership list it is. Here you will find a lot of familiar faces, including sad sack stooge Larry Bennett, incompetent planner Paul Dudley, serial liar-cop Andrew Goodrich, and dim-bulb government apologist Jan Flory, who is w-a-a-a-y past her stated expiration date. That alone should tell you all you need to know about Fullerton First.

But that’s not the interesting part. Not surprisingly, lobbyist city council creature Jennifer Fitzgerald is an enthusiastic member of this tribe; but, very tellingly, so is the ethically flexible Matthew Cunningham, whose job is proprietor of “Anaheim Blog” where he runs interference for uber-lobbyist Curt Pringle’s interests, praises Pringle’s political tools, and denigrates Pringle’s political opponents.

You can’t hurt me. I’ve got no moral compass…

And of course Ms. Fitzgerald also “works” for Pringle. She is his “Vice President of Minor Scams and Local Government Taxpayer Ripoffs” where she enjoys mixing business with pleasure.

It’s pretty obvious that Pringle has set his slimy sights on Fullerton now that his Anaheim well is running dry. We are the pigeons he wants to pluck. Just think “College Town” and other possible gold mines where influence peddling moves things along.

And when Curt Pringle says “Fullerton First” what he really will mean is “Fullerton Next.”

June 24, 2017June 24, 2017Carpetbaggery

Carpetbaggers of a Feather Flock Together

by Joe Sipowicz12 Comments

I just got wind that preteenage girl-silly Anaheim carpetbaggtress, scammer, and dubious charity operator, Lorri Galloway, has endorsed carpetbagging union executive and Coto de Caza resident, Joe Kerr for County Supervisor for our 4th District. That’s pretty funny – first that anybody would value this endorsement of this ethically challenged nincompoop, and second because Galloway set a record in 2010 for fake addresses – three of them – in her own comical run for the same job. A lot of comedy came out of that scampaign, but not a dime’s worth of substance.

I wonder how many of these people are going to sue me…

Here’s a snippet from some sort of press release:

Brea, CA – Former Anaheim City Councilmember Lorri Galloway announced her endorsement of Joe Kerr’s campaign for Orange County Supervisor today. Galloway joins a growing list of local leaders rallying around Kerr, which already includes Congressman Lou Correa and State Assemblymember Tom Daly.

“Joe Kerr is an effective problem solver who will bring new energy and new ideas to county government,” said Galloway. “Joe’s experiences, as both a fire captain and an advocate for first responders, will serve him well on the board. I am excited to announce my endorsement of his campaign.”

Lorri Galloway served on the Anaheim City Council between 2004 and 2012. She is the founder and Executive Director of The Eli Home, which provides shelter for abused children and their mothers.

I always love those fake, canned endorsements, written by campaign consultants for endorsers who are too lazy or illiterate to scribble their own. Lorri would have us believe that Coto Joe, a public employee union president is going to bring “new ideas” to county government. Really? Like what? Fire Heroes retiring at 40 with 100% of their pay?

May 19, 2017May 19, 2017Chronic Failure

More Pine Forest Steps Fail

by Fullerton Engineer24 Comments

In case you needed any more evidence of the slipshod way the “exercise stairs” at Hillcrest Park were built, I offer in evidence some images taken by the FFFF Construction Field Documentation Team (CFDT) that has been awfully busy lately examining the many failures at the “Pine Forest Stairs” to nowhere.

Here is what the foundations are supposed to look like:

Here is what happened at one location. The top of the caisson was too high and had to be broken out to accommodate a post or cross beam supporting the stair stringer. Unfortunately the rebar in the caisson has been exposed to rust away and eventually spall the concrete.

Here’s a location where a large chunk of the caisson has mysteriously broken off. Here there is no reinforcing steel in sight.

And finally, here’s an example of what can happen when you decide to sink a big 6″x 6″ wood post into concrete:

Apparently many of the caissons are already cracking just like this one. Are these structures even safe? Will our common seismic events cause serious problems? I’m not privy to those answers, but I can tell you that there’s no way I’m getting on those things.

And just for fun, note that the contractor reworked the top the caisson to get water to run off. This sloppy effort is going to flake off – exposing the post to a permanent puddle.

It’s hard to believe that “professionals” inside and outside of City Hall were extremely well paid to oversee this hodgepodge of construction horrors, but there you have it. $1.6 million dollars and this is the best Fullerton can do.

May 15, 2017May 15, 2017Boohooism

Rusty’s Trombone

by Joe Sipowicz32 Comments

Brazenly hypocritical? Check. Shiningly self-righteous? Check. Slavishly sycophantic? Check.

Here is the Director of the OC Human Relations Council, Fullerton’s own Rusty Kennedy (in a letter to his sister’s Fullerton Observer) simultaneously congratulating himself and his fellow professional do-gooders, boot-licking the County Supervisors who will soon reflect upon the merits of Kennedy’s operation, and of course, denigrating all the citizens who are rightfully concerned that having several hundred homeless people imported into the vicinity of their homes, schools and businesses are misguided, etc., etc.

Of course none of this semi-literate screed is surprising. In fact it’s all old stuff – particularly the nauseating part about the death of Kelly Thomas being some sort of wake up call. From the very beginning of that saga, Fullerton’s old guard liberals were determined to make the death of Thomas at the hands of six FPD goons a homeless issue, instead of what it really was – the worst example of a police department mired in corruption, incompetence and denial.

For Rusty Kennedy in particular, this distraction was essential and based on his own self-interest. Kennedy’s crew collects income from local police departments who “partner” with him in the aftermath of one of their outrages, ostensibly to calm troubled waters, until the next crisis. He relies upon police chiefs to recommend him and his “council” to be the County’s operator of another useless organization: the OC Human Relations Commission. And that contract is reviewed periodically as part of the County’s frugality theater kabuki.

May 8, 2017May 8, 2017Fullerton City Council

Photo Fun: SparkyFitz’s $1.6 Mil Stairs to Nowhere

by Disillusioned Ex-Hippy10 Comments

Being a political creature means keeping your happy face on – even when your happy speech is done. On Saturday our lobbyist-councilperson Jennifer Fitzgerald happily talked up her moronic wooden stairs that don’t do anything – $1,600,000 worth of nothing. She was soooo excited (twice). Even her pal Jan Flory was there to help put a shine on this smoking road apple. But when her talk was done, Fitzy sure looked grim walking away from this monumental misadventure in government waste.

Maybe the enormity of the waste actually set in? Shame? Guilt? Anger?

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