Union Goons Archives - Page 29 of 47 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

March 14, 2012March 14, 2012Dead heads

The Cover-Up Club

Yesterday, the OC Register did a story about the Fullerton jail house death of Dean Francis Gochenour, and the role played by Vincent Mater, who smashed his DAR against a steel door in order to destroy the evidence it contained.

Our Acting Chief, Dan Hughes, was unusually chatty.

For instance, he shares with trusted police scribe Lou Ponsi the fact that an internal investigation was concluded by June 20, 2011, that discipline was recommended by Hughes, himself, and then Mater quit on August 2: I made recommendations for discipline and in that process, he resigned,” Hughes said.

So let us ponder a few things. Mater destroys his DAR in mid April, and disciplinary action is started over two months later? And what is this disciplinary “process?” Hard to say; it may have included firing the creep, but if so the process is designed to permit the perp to quit first. And that’s a shame because in the case of Mater we already know he was considered by the DA to be a Brady Cop, (i.e. unfit for court testimony due to unfamiliarity with the truth). We also know that he was complicit in some way in the wrongful incarceration of Emanuel Martinez.

Whatever this so-called discipline process entailed (including, no doubt, union exacted rights for appeal hearings, ad nauseam), Mater decided his best option was to walk away, perhaps to try his luck as a cop somewhere else. So Mater quietly went his merry way on August 2, 2011 – curiously, just as the Kelly Thomas murder protests were starting in earnest.

And now, for the $64,000 question: what was going on between the FPD and the DAs office between August 2 2011 and March 13, 2012? Seven and a half months had passed since Mater’s departure; eleven months had passed since the original crime. It would appear to the outsider that nothing was going to happen at all.

And then somebody changed their mind. I wonder why.

March 11, 2012March 14, 2012Dead heads

Where Is Albert Rincon?

by The Fullerton Shadow133 Comments

The police unions in California have become so powerful that they have paid for legislation that makes it virtually impossible to find out anything about individual cops, including the ones that shame their badges and violate their oaths.

In Fullerton we have seen how this curtain of secrecy immediately descended when Kelly Thomas, a homeless man, was bludgeoned to death by several members of the police department. Well, okay, some of these goons were eventually brought to the bar of justice, and they get the same rights as the rest of us, even if it takes a veritable act of Congress to get crooked cops charged with a crime.

Of course the difference between them and us is that if they arrest us for something, our pictures can be plastered all over the evening news, and forensic evidence be damned.

So let us now consider the case of Albert Rincon, poster boy for the FPD Culture of Corruption, and the creep you will nevermore hear McKinley, Jones or Bankhead or Lou Ponsi talk about. Over several years, Rincon serially violated department policy by turning off his DAR and then, according to numerous complaints, sexually assaulted women in his patrol car. Rincon was given “pat-down” training as a corrective measure and sent back out on the streets of Fullerton to molest more females.

The City was upbraided by Federal Judge Andrew Guilford, for its years’ long tolerance of Rincon’s behavior as he denied a summary judgment in a civil suit brought by two of Rincon’s victims. The City immediately settled with the two women for a massive $350,000. And here’s where it gets even sicker, if that’s even possible.

Sometime in October, Rincon left the department. But we are not permitted to know the details. And for that matter we know nothing of the separations of the iPad thief, Kelly Mejia, or the Brady Cop, Vincent Mater.

Were these people fired? Were they permitted to quit? Are they still, or can they become cops someplace else? These things we shall never know – unless they continue the behavior cultivated under the corrupt chiefship of Pat McKinley, and get caught again.

But the case of Albert Rincon deserves special attention. We cannot see what this perverted sociapath looks like, nor know where he went, although such behavior by a civilian would certainly have resulted in a conviction and a life-long sex offender tag. That civilian’s name would be in an index the rest of his life; but not Rincon’s.

For all we know Rincon may already be a police officer in some other jurisdiction, fulfilling his life-long dream of being a cop.

Such is the ridiculous shroud of secrecy and special protections the cops’ politicians have erected for their patrons; the shroud protects all cops, good and bad. And that’s the way they want it.

March 2, 2012March 2, 2012Behind Closed Doors

So Who (Besides Bruce Whitaker) Hasn’t Seen The Video?

by Joe Sipowicz262 Comments

Here’s an article by the pathetic Lou Ponsi in the OC Register about a guy named John Huelsman, an ex-cop, who unluckily happens to be the step-father of Jay Cicinelli, the Fullerton policeman charged with the beating death of schizophrenic homeless man Kelly Thomas, last July.

This man popped up at the last council meeting nattering the same nonsense about what an angel his step-boy is, so this isn’t really news. What is news is this guy’s claim that he has been able to review the City-owned video that captured the Thomas killing.

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Huelsman is actually telling the truth. This begs the question – who hasn’t seen the video? We know that our elected representative, Bruce Whitaker is being illegally denied the opportunity to see it. But, really: the freakin’ step-father of the accused gets to watch it? Really? And a Fullerton council member may not?

So who let this guy watch the video? Was it the FPD? Was it the District Attorney? Such questions seem not to have occurred to the incurious idiot Lou Ponsi whom we can all count upon to miss the real story while peddling pro-cop bullshit.

Somebody better explain soon why some clown from who knows where can watch the video, when the people’s elected representative can’t.

March 1, 2012March 1, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Oh, No. Not Again! Another Black Eye For The FPD.

by Mr. Peabody258 Comments

The Fullerton FPD Culture of Corruption just got a new inductee into its Hall of Shame today, as reported by the OC Register’s Sean Emery, here.

It seems that FPD employee April Baughman, 52, is cooling her heels in the County jail, alleged to have swiped cash from the FPD property room for – get this – two freakin’ years!

The money quote comes from our friend “Acting” Chief Dan Hughes who is quoted as saying:

“When there are violations of public trust or actions which result in the reduction of confidence in the police department, disciplinary action will be taken swiftly and decisively.”

Uh, yeah, Dan, sure. Whatever you say. At least we didn’t have to read such inane bullshit as spoken by the otiose Sgt. Goodrich, although he probably wrote it.

Too bad swift and decisive disciplinary action wasn’t taken against the thugs who killed Kelley Thomas until ten weeks after he was murdered.

This latest humiliation begs two questions. One, how could there have been no accounting of property room inventory over this period without the collusion of at least one other miscreant; and two, how much will the Culture of Corruption created by Pat McKinley and tolerated by sleepwalking councilmembers Don Bankhead and Dick Jones end up costing us?

And naturally we are left to ponder the previous assertion of Acting Chief Hughes: anyone who believes there is a Culture of corruption in the FPD is either lying or misinformed.

Newsflash, Chief: we are not lying and we are not misinformed.

February 28, 2012February 28, 2012Behind Closed Doors

The Empire Strikes Back!: WHO IS TONY BUSHALA?

by Jan Florys Dog130 Comments

With Three You Get Meatballs — You thought we were going to take this lying down?

The boys in the White Van are back, out of rehab, and once again patrolling the streets of OC.

They have intercepted and decoded a file containing the following video emanating from Dick Ackerman’s topiary compound within a top-secreted gated community in Irvine. Will this hit-piece be effective in salvaging the political careers of the Three Blind Mice? Will it resonate? You decide!

February 28, 2012February 28, 2012"Dick" Ackerman

Larry Bennett’s Hot Air Balloon Deflated. Again.

by admin33 Comments

Blimp Crash — Another bag of hot air goes down.

A few weeks ago Larry Bennett posted some wild-ass claim on his website that the Recall had broken some rule about reporting expenses . He was threatening to call the Fair Political Practices Commission by February 22. In the words of Doc HeeHaw, it looks like Larry’s a-steppin’ on his own weenie, again.

Our Recall Treasurer, Helen Myers, called the FPPC, and here’s what she learned:

Dear Tony,

As per your request I reviewed the assertions made by Larry Bennett on the anti-recall website and discussed them at length with the FPPC. As per my initial beliefs I confirmed that we are in compliance in all matters raised by Mr. Bennett’s post.

Obviously we are aware that we did not launder funds or misreport income and expenses, but the claim that we’re in violation of an election code by not reporting payments made by Tim Whitacre to his people is incorrect according to the FPPC. All expenditures, large and small, were correctly reported on form 460 and form 461. It is pretty clear to me that Mr. Bennett was reaching rather desperately, which was made even more obvious by the fact that he would have simply filed a complaint had he truly had legal basis. In case you care to read for yourself, According to the FPPC Campaign Manual 3, page 7-19; you will read:

The names of individuals paid to collect signatures (petition circulators) are not required to be disclosed on the campaign statement. However, a business entity, including a sole proprietorship, that contracts with a committee to obtain signatures must be identified. For example, if Hector Gonzales is an independent contractor that contracts with a ballot measure committee to obtain signatures in Sacramento County and he does not personally ask voters to sign petitions, but contracts the work to college students, the names of the college students are not required to be disclosed. Hector Gonzales must be identified as a vendor to the committee.

I correctly issued to Mr. Tim Whitacre a 1099-misc. form in the amount of $64,177. And he, in turn, issued 1099-misc. forms to those persons who collected signatures through his company. I also verified with the FPPC via telephone that these expenses were, indeed, properly reported. Frankly, Bennett’s comments are simply foolish.

As a side note, it amazes me that somebody like Larry Bennett is working so hard to keep such persons in office. Does he somehow have his snout in the pig trough?

Sincerely,

Helen Myers

February 27, 2012February 28, 2012About Us

A Congruency of Interest; Defender of Killers Defends Jones, Bankhead and McKinley

by The Fullerton Harpoon164 Comments

Just in case you thought the Fullerton Recall was just some sort of power play by a mythical “downtown developer” against fine, honorable men who refuse to be bought and sold like cheap swamp land, consider this inconvenient fact: last fall an organization called PORAC poured thousands of dollars into the anti-recall campaign to save the useless, dessicated hides of Jones, Bankhead and McKinley.

So what is PORAC? It stands for Police Officers Research Association California and it appears to be heavily into lobbying for ever greater benefits for cops – regardless of the fiscal impact on the people whom the cops have sworn to serve and protect. It is also a massive fund cops pay into to pay the for the legal defense of bad cops caught doing bad things.

Both of these PORAC goals intersect in Fullerton.

PORAC is paying to defend the suspended-without-pay cops Manny Ramos and Jay Cicinelli, who have been charged with murder and manslaughter, respectively, in the beating death of the homeless man; Kelly Thomas was bludgeoned to death by FPD cops last July.

3 Dead Batteries2 — Dead batteries need defending, too.

But get this: PORAC also contributed to defend the Tuckered Out Triumvirate of Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley. The Fullerton cop union chunked $19,000 into the anti-recall water hazard, too. So what does that tell you, other than organized police labor sees its main chance in the continuation of Fullerton FPD’s Culture of Corruption, a culture where any sort of malfeasance will be swept under the rug, even the death of a harmless man; a culture where there is no accountability, no responsibility, and no apparent discipline.

The same people who are defending the killers of Kelly Thomas are also defending Jones, McKinley and Bankhead. And the Three Dead Batteries are proud of their support.

The choices in the Recall election couldn’t be clearer.

February 27, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Chris Meyer Gets His

by Grover Cleveland37 Comments

Just when you thought you’d seen every kind of gluttony, along comes former City Manager and Recall opponent, Chris Meyer to give new meaning to the concept of pigging out.

Here is a summary of Meyer’s final day payout as he bid the taxpayers of Fullerton adios:

Yes, folks you read that right. Almost $110,000 of unused sick days and vacation days racked up by Meyer in our service. Well, really in his own service. And that one massive payday on January 7th put Meyer into the Fullerton high roller club for the entire year of 2011.

The worst part, of course, is that Mr. Meyer presided over Fullerton for about ten years – as the disastrous 3@50 pension was enacted, as the FPD Culture of Corruption went into full swing, as Downtown Fullerton became a boozy free-for-all, as the City illegally added a 10% tax to our water bill each and every month, and as the City’s infrastructure began falling into a massive sinkhole.

BigHole — It'll take decades to fill that in.

And had not Shawn Nelson blown the whistle on him in 2008, he would have gotten away with another pension spike for the paper pushers – himself included.

The Meyer regime passed on a financial and infrastructure legacy of debt to future generations without an apparent pang of remorse. In his world we are just there to pay the bills and keep our mouths shut.

February 23, 2012A Step in the Right Direction

Fullerton Mayor Wants To Offer Thomas Family An Apology

by Mr. Peabody109 Comments

The Voice of OC(EA) is reporting here that Fullerton mayor Sharon Quirk-Silva intends to issue an apology to the Thomas family on behalf of the people of Fullerton; and apparently she also wants name a small part of Fullerton after Kelly Thomas, the homeless, schizophrenic man beaten to death by members of the Fullerton police department last July.

What’s the apology for? According to the article, it’s not entirely clear if it’s for the deliberate smear campaign against Thomas to help make the cops look justified in their actions, or for the actual killing itself.

If it’s the former, I guess the apology would focus on the FPD/City totally mischaracterizing as a “fight” the horrible beat down that took place on Thomas; for telling the public that cops had suffered broken bones; for insinuating that Kelly was amped up on drugs and had stolen property on his person.

Of course all that nonsense was pitched by FPD spokesdonut Andrew Goodrich who never thought it necessary to correct any misinformation he had peddled in those first days after the crime, which makes it deliberate, obviously. If this will be the gist of it, then the apology will be nothing more than a repudiation of Goodriches’ sad performance trying to defend the indefensible actions of his union brethren.

Personally, I would be happier with an apology for the murder itself, along with a personal apology from Quirk-Silva to the citizens of Fullerton for helping permit a Culture of Corruption in the FPD during her seven-plus years in office. I guess this ins’t too likely.

An apology may make Q-S feel better, but sincere or not, I think it falls under the heading of too little, too late; still, better late than never, I suppose.

Oh, by the way, Ms. Quirk-Silva is letting the City Attorney edit the “apology” and that’s not good sign.

As to the issue of placing and naming a bench after KT, I think that’s not helpful. But I relish the idea of watching Pat McPension vote to recognize the homeless man who was beaten to death by thugs he personally hired and vouched for.

February 21, 2012February 21, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Don’t Get Your Hopes Up. I’m Not.

by Joe Sipowicz369 Comments

Today Fullerton will be favored with the first installment of reports produced by Michael Gennaco. The one tonight is supposed to deal with the FPD PR apparatus and the way it disseminated information in the wake of the Kelly Thomas killing by members of the FPD. We’ve editorialized plenty on what was said (self-serving claptrap), and not said (the truth) by FPD spokesopening Andrew Goodrich. I do wonder what Gennaco would have to say about the City using a police union boss as its official spokesman – if he addresses it at all, which I think is doubtful.

I have a feeling that the reports issued by Gennaco will be little more than expensive PR for the City.

This might be a good time to remind everybody that the offical sounding “County of Los Angeles Office of Independent Review” is actually a private law firm for hire by anybody with the dough to pay. It’s a small law firm with half a dozen lawyers and a logo that just happens to look like a city seal.

Gennaco is really no different than Jones and Mayer or Rutan and Tucker, hired to limit the damage caused by the serial misdeeds of the FPD and limit liability.

Does that sound harsh? Remember, as an attorney, Gennaco’s main concern is to protect his client and gin up more business in the future. Does that sound like a formula for reform?

Color me skeptical.