Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned…

Dueling Incompetence

Fullerton’s City Council, on the other hand reminds me of Porch Boy from Deliverance: good at one thing and, well, everything else? Not so much.

Our council’s skill-set is entirely focused on hiding screw-ups – from auto crashes to mismanaged construction progress to a breathtaking budgetary neglect that can only be discussed by lying about it.

At the heart of the matter is a council that is just incompetent, and worse, refuses to hold anybody accountable for their expensive errors. But the one thing that can be relied upon: no one will ever admit mistake.

The bars stayed open and the band played on…

If you had any doubts on the matter, simply refer yourselves to the silly charade of picking a council replacement. The fix was in from the beginning. There was zero chance anybody but the egregious Jan Flory would be chosen, despite other applicants who had actual ability. Why? Because Flory was already complicit in all of Fullerton’s misadventures that have led to an an FPD Culture of Corruption, an out of control booze riot downtown, a near empty treasury and the worst roads in Orange County; and if anybody was willing to stay the course, lie about a balanced budget, blame the stingy taxpayers for the state of the roads, and prop up clearly useless and grossly overpaid city manager and city attorney it was her.

But the people that have made a mess out of Fullerton are running out of options, especially pension options, when the State pension board decides to lower its actuarial assumptions again. And then the gravy train will run out of gas. And who will be asked to fill ‘er up? That’s right you and me.

 

It’s SB1421 Day

Today is the Day.

Today Police records are supposed to become a little more transparent and officers with “sustained” complaints (and a few other issues) get to share with the world their bad deeds by virtue of some Sacramento mandated sunshine disinfectant. With SB1421 to the rescue we might finally get to see what happens behind union closed doors when officers misbehave.

The law changing and becoming effective today, owing to the holiday, convinced some friends to put in a few records requests based on suggestions which we complied and others which were emailed to us after this post dropped.

Thanks to everybody who shared what they knew and pointed us in a few interesting directions. I was copied on the request and it contains over 40 officers both current and former, most of whom we believe to have had sustained findings against them. Because police departments refuse to tell us who has findings against them we had to take quite a few guesses based on the best information we could obtain. That or pay FPD $250+ to maybe compile a list per their Public Information Officer.

Being that we’re volunteers who don’t run ads or try to monetize FFFF we opted against the $250 check to FPD.

With the requests in the virtual mail we should be seeing some interesting things provided that the records aren’t obfuscated, buried and denied. We’ll keep you posted as things come back or don’t.

We’re also always open to suggestions so if we missed anybody let us know the details in the comments or via email. Who did what and where should we look? What officers had sustained findings in other departments? We’ll send requests for those records as well.

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Who Are the Bad Apples?

Bad Cop

Over the years we here at Friends for Fullerton’s Future have written about what feels like countless stories on the culture of corruption. A lot of facts, some rumors and a lot of annoyance as the city, police department and union goons do everything in their power to keep all of us from knowing anything even slightly negative happening behind the badges of our betters.

Well, on January 1st, 2019 California law changes to allow a little bit of information to eek its way past the Blue Wall of Silence. Thanks to the usually ridiculous California legislature and soon to be former Governor Jerry Brown, we’ll be able to learn about some of the actions perpetuated by some of the officers around the state. Here’s the law in question.

You’ll want to read section C and the bits about lies and dishonesty. I previously had it quoted it here but it’s too much legalese to blockquote. Basically if it’s proven that a cop lies or falsifies a report you can get the records of those findings.

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Another Possible Cover-up by FPD

This involves some rumors. Proceed accordingly.

Roseler-Stabbing-Investiation

A few months ago an unnamed Fullerton Police Officer was allegedly stabbed in Placentia by an unidentified “Hispanic male”. Four agencies swarmed (Placentia PD, Fullerton PD, CSUF State Police & OC Sheriff’s) and a suspect was picked up, had his info blasted on social media and in press releases — only later to be cleared and released.

Carerra-Arrested

This is where all four agencies left things and no new information has been publicly presented.

Here are the relevant news stories.

Per CBS (22 Sept):

The Fullerton Police Department, Orange County Sheriffs Department and Cal State Fullerton Police Department, made an extensive search of the area.

Officers detained and later arrested a parolee named James Carrera, a 19-year-old Placentia resident. Carrera was booked on an assault with a deadly weapon charge.

Police did not know if the officer was targeted but they said Carrera was out on parole for weapons violations and possibly knew the officer.

Per OC Register (23 Sept):

The victim was released hours after being treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Fullerton Police Lt. Tony Rios. He said the injured officer was at home recovering the day after the attack and is expected to return to duty in the next few days.

“I spoke to him this morning and he seems to be doing well,” said Rios. “He’s a strong young guy and he should be back soon.”

Per KTLA (23 Sept):

Investigators described the attacker as a Latino man in his late-teens or early-20s, of thin build. He had short, black hair and wore a baggie, black T-shirt.

Rumors lately have it that the officer made up the “Hispanic Male” and has been put on admin leave with nary a word or apology by the cites or agencies involved. Apparently now we’re hiring Leopold “Butters” Stotch’s mom at Fullerton PD:

SomePuertoRicanGuy

Alas, that might turn out differently because ultimately Mrs. Stotch confessed. Instead we now actually know, thanks to diligent records requests, that the officer in question is one Nathan Roesler.

Roelser Got Stabbed (more…)

Another One Bites The Dust

Detective Barry Coffman, former president of the Fullerton police union, is the latest victim of housecleaning at the Fullerton Police Department.

The Original Tommy Burger

Two weeks ago management kicked Coffman out of his comfy detective chair and forced him onto patrol duty with the working stiffs. Coffman must have been unhappy because he started calling in with tummy aches. When Coffman saw that his pitiful work stoppage had no effect on management, he gave his two week notice. If I were a betting man, I’d say he stopped coming into work altogether.

For those who don’t remember, Coffman was responsible for defending the indefensible behavior of his union and its members after they murdered Kelly Thomas, repeatedly denying the existence of any corruption inside the FPD despite all of the evidence to the contrary. In addition to handing out ridiculous “excessive horning” tickets during a public protest, Coffman was also responsible for this sad tale where his lazy police work helped land an innocent couple in county jail.

Coffman’s early retirement means he left a few years of weighty pension gains on the table.  Farewell and good riddance.

Complaint Against Officers Involved in Felz DUI Cover-up Sustained

Back in 2016, FFFF filed a personnel complaint with the Fullerton Police Department against the officers involved in the attempted cover-up Joe Felz DUI accident. The complaint offered a tiny bit of hope that a quasi-legitimate internal investigation might be carried out. It also entitled us to a legally-mandated notification as to whether the complaint was “sustained” or “not sustained.” Sadly, this process represents the absolute limit of public visibility into the California system of police self-governance that has drawn the ire of FFFF for a decade.

Well over a year later, this letter shows that some of the accusations leveled at Sergeant Jeff Corbett and Lieutenant Goodrich, under the leadership of the since-departed Chief Danny Hughes, were indeed sustained.


While state law prevents the public from knowing what disciplinary actions were taken as a result of the investigation, sources inside the Fullerton Police Department indicate that Sergeant Jeff Corbett was terminated in February. Lieutenant Goodrich, who once considered himself a promising candidate for promotion to Captain, was pushed into an earlier-than-planned retirement beginning this Tuesday.

Fullerton about to lose a Fire Engine

The City is in the process of approving a new labor contract with the Fullerton Firefighter’s Association.  Buried deep in the agreement on page 52 is this nugget — the City will be going from six (6) engines to five (5) engines.  We’ve had six fire engines in Fullerton for many, many years.

At no time has the City come forward with any candor to admit to this change, except when I brought it up during the previous City Council meeting.  Even then, none of our council members seem to care very much.

This change may well result in every property owner in the City paying higher property (fire) insurance rates. One of the factors that insurance companies use to determine rates is the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification (PPC) score calculated for every fire district around the country.

The ISO score takes into consideration many factors, including the strength of the fire department and the City’s water supply.   More specifically, the fire department score includes calculations for the number of engine and truck companies, their locations around the City, and the number of firefighters on duty.  The fire union agreement, set for final approval on Tuesday, reduces the level of staffing by 1 position per rotating shift, which will further reduce our score.

Fullerton scored 76.71 points out of a possible 100 the last time ISO evaluated the City of Fullerton in 2012.  This equates to an ISO PPC “class” of 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being best).

You can read the full report here.  As much as the City wants to rubber stamp the agreement and forget all about it, this is very much a matter of public policy that warrants further discussion.  We will likely pay more for homeowner’s insurance due to the City having one less fire engine in service.

Do we, as a City, want to:

  • Pay more in homeowner’s insurance premiums in return for less fire department staffing and resources?
    -or-
  • Pay more in taxes to maintain the current level of fire department staffing, and, hopefully, preserve lower insurance premiums?
    -or-
  • Pay the same amount in taxes, for the same, or even improved levels of fire department staffing, by forcing the firefighters to contribute more toward their pensions?

This is a choice that needs to be made now before going any further.  I suggest attending Tuesday’s meeting prepared to speak, and/or send your thoughts to council@cityoffullerton.com.

Coto Joe On The Move Again

Remember last year when County Supervisor candidate Joe Kerr kicked off his 4th District campaign by claiming he had moved from his Coto de Caza palace to someone else’s house on Stony Lane in Brea?

Perhaps the rent was too high, or maybe the neighborhood just didn’t feel right. A few days ago Coto Joe registered to vote at the fine Merrick Apartments over in Placentia. Here’s a closer look at his new digs.

Free furniture.

Joe’s wife is still registered to vote 35 miles away behind the gate at Joe’s million dollar south county home.

Who knew “firefighting” paid so well? Well, almost everybody…
Left behind for apartment 49D.

The clumsy execution of this carpetbagging scam reminds one of another failed Supervisor candidate from a few years ago.

Welcome to the traveling circus.

Sonny’s Admission of Guilt

Those who saw my post from the other day would probably be interested in Sonny Siliceo’s misdemeanor plea and sentencing documents.

Once the Orange County DA took the Felony charge off the table, Sonny readily admitted to making a false police report, among other things:

On 7/9/15, I was a police officer employed by Fullerton Police Department and on this date I did use excessive force by assaulting John Doe while acting under the color of authority.  Additionally, I knowingly & intentionally filed a false police report with Fullerton Police Department in case number 15-44269, making a material false statement regarding the commission of a crime.

There you have it, everyone.  Sonny just admitted to being a corrupt police officer.  Now that he’s unemployed, one can only hope this is a positive step forward for the Fullerton Police Department.

The full document can be found here.