Watch Your Wallet Archives - Friends For Fullerton's Future

March 21, 2026March 21, 2026Behind Closed Doors

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

The City of Fullerton has issued a press release to address the recent revelation that $10,000,000 was erroneously counted in general reserves when it really belonged in special restricted categories. Peruse this soporific and condescending verbiage and see if you can read a single reference to City employees having made a mistake, honest or otherwise.

Alternatively, take an Ambien and relax. Everything’s gonna be fine.

City of Fullerton Budget Update

At the March 17, 2026, City Council meeting, City staff presented an agenda item titled “Second Quarter Financial Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025–26 and Mid-Year Budget Adjustments.” The purpose of this item was to provide an overview of the City’s financial position through mid-year FY 2025–26, report on revenues and expenditures from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, and present the updated financial position based on the finalized FY 2024–25 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). Following this presentation, the City would like to provide additional context and clarification to support a clear and shared understanding of the information discussed.

The City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2024–25 budget on June 4, 2024, which included a planned structural deficit of approximately $9.4 million. As part of that budget, it was understood that the City would utilize a portion of its reserves—similar to drawing from savings—to balance the difference between revenues and expenditures. This approach was discussed publicly during the budget adoption process.

Throughout FY 2024–25, the City took steps to manage costs, including holding vacant positions and limiting expenditures where feasible. As a result of these efforts, the City reduced the actual year-end operating deficit to approximately $5.7 million, reflecting ongoing attention to fiscal responsibility.

At the close of Fiscal Year 2024–25, the City’s General Fund—the primary operating fund used to provide essential services such as police, fire, parks, and infrastructure—reported a total fund balance of $30.0 million. A fund balance can be thought of as the City’s overall savings. Of this amount, $19.8 million is held in the City’s contingency reserve, which serves as the City’s emergency fund to maintain services during economic uncertainty or unexpected events.

A portion of the City’s fund balance—approximately $10.2 million—is categorized as restricted, committed, or assigned for specific purposes. During the fiscal year, approximately $2.7 million was more clearly designated within these categories, increasing the allocated portion of the City’s savings from approximately $7.5 million to $10.2 million. These funds support important community priorities such as capital improvements, General Plan updates, Downtown parking, and street and infrastructure improvements, including road repairs. These funds remain part of the City’s overall financial resources but are set aside for their intended purposes.

Additionally, a $2.9 million prior-period adjustment identified through the City’s independent audit was related to the proper classification of assets between the General Fund and the Successor Agency. This adjustment ensures that funds are reflected in the appropriate account in accordance with accounting standards. The funds were not lost or misspent, but rather properly reallocated.

At the end of FY 2024–25, the City’s contingency reserve was approximately 14% of annual General Fund expenditures, which is above the City’s minimum policy requirement of 10%, though below the long-term goal of 17%. Based on current projections, the City is anticipated to end FY 2025–26 with approximately 12% in reserves, which remains within policy guidelines.

There has also been discussion regarding a potential 2% reserve level. It is important to clarify that this figure represents a baseline, starting position in the City’s long-term financial forecast, assuming no changes to current revenues or expenditures. It is neither the City’s current condition nor its expected outcome. As part of the upcoming budget process, the City Manager will present options during public budget study sessions to reduce the funding gap and improve reserve levels over time, ensuring the City remains on a path toward long-term financial stability.

The City’s financial outlook reflects broader trends impacting many communities, including rising costs for labor, materials, and services. At the same time, revenues remain stable, with property tax revenues increasing by 6.23% due to growth in assessed property values.

To help illustrate, the City’s finances can be compared to a household budget. Revenues function like a paycheck, expenses represent the cost of essential services, and the fund balance serves as savings. Over the past year, the City used a portion of its savings to support planned expenditures, while continuing to maintain an emergency reserve. Moving forward, the City is focused on aligning ongoing revenues and expenses to support long-term financial sustainability.

The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) referenced above is the City’s official year-end financial report and is independently audited. In simple terms, it is similar to a household’s year-end financial statement—it shows how much money came in, how much was spent, and how much remains in savings, along with how those funds are designated.

Looking ahead, the City will continue to evaluate cost containment strategies, operational efficiencies, and potential revenue opportunities, which will be discussed during upcoming public budget study sessions along with updates to the City’s multi-year financial forecast.

In summary, the City of Fullerton’s financial position reflects a planned and publicly approved use of savings to address a budget gap, along with standard accounting updates to ensure funds are properly tracked. No money was lost, missing, or improperly spent. Approximately $2.7 million was reclassified to reflect funds set aside for specific purposes—such as road repairs and capital projects—and a $2.9 million adjustment was made to the appropriate account for those funds. The City ended FY 2024–25 with 14% in reserves and is projected to have about 12% this year, both above the City’s minimum requirement. The 2% figure referenced in recent discussions reflects the City’s baseline financial outlook if no changes are made to current spending or revenue levels, underscoring the importance of taking action. The City is actively working to reduce the budget gap and strengthen its financial position moving forward.

The City of Fullerton remains committed to transparency and keeping the community informed. Residents are encouraged to review financial documents available on the City’s website and participate in the budget process.

March 20, 2026March 20, 2026A Manfro All Seasons

$10,000,000 Misdirected; Budget Crisis Suddenly Gets Worse

by The Fullerton Harpoon26 Comments

At Tuesday’s Fullerton City Council meeting our honorable elected representatives found out that our fiscal reserve funds were overpopulated with bucks that belonged someplace else. I haven’t been able to view the video – the City Clerk’s link doesn’t work – so I’m relying on a Voice of OC article.

It seems monies that should have gone to Fullerton’s Redevelopment Successor Agency and other sequestered funds were being counted in the general fund reserve pool – $10,000,000 worth. How and why this occurred wasn’t spelled out in the article except as some sort of accounting error:

“These funds remain part of the city’s overall fund balance, but are now set aside in a way that better reflects their intended purpose,” said Steven Avalos, the city’s finance director, at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Mr. Steven Avalos, Fullerton’s New City Treasurer

Wow, that’s an application of bureaucratic soft soap, massaging what amounts to an egregious accounting error, or worse.

What it means is that all previous budget discussions led by Mr. Avalos and his predecessor have been nonsense for the past 5 years. And decisions in just the past year obliviously come into sharper focus for their foolishness – like going in-house with ambulance drivers and hiring a bunch of new, permanent “firefighters” based on a one-time FEMA grant. Parenthetically, I note that Mr. Avalos was appointed City Treasurer earlier in the Tuesday meeting. That’s a bit funny, really.

The Voice reports heated and loud interlocutions between Ahmad Zahra, the perpetual grandstander, liar, and victim, in exchanges with Mayor Fred Jung and Nick Dunlap. The exchanges as reported generated a lot more heat than light, but so it is when Zahra begins his sanctimonious routine. Ironically Zahra says a new sales tax increase won’t help.

We are informed by the article that City Manager Eddie Manfro is going to meet with the ad hoc Budget Sustainability Committee on March 30th which seems like just a stall of 12 days.

Won’t look you in the eye while you’re trashing him…

One interesting statement was uttered by Jung in a Voice interview:

“I think we were set up to fail.”

We don’t know what this means because apparently the reporter didn’t follow up. Does the Mayor believe this misallocation of funds was deliberate to create a budget crisis at some point? Who knows?

Things are grim in City Hall, and a cactus garden in front isn’t going to cheer anybody up.

March 16, 2026March 16, 2026Behind Closed Doors

Small Stuff Adds Up

by Fullerton Engineer23 Comments

The Fullerton City Council agenda for tomorrow’s meeting is pretty light. Except for a budget discussion everything is “Consent Calendar.” One of those items caught my attention. Item #10 is an emergency, non-bid request to work on some drainage channel wedged between the Uptown Apartments on Yorba Linda and the 57 CalTRANS right-of-way.

Staff is claiming the project (whose scope isn’t described, other than “a damaged wall”) is necessary due to “recent rain events,” always a useful pretext for doing stuff. The channel isn’t one of those big ones with perpendicular walls, but from a satellite view it looks like a simple concrete “V” ditch that enters and exits a concrete drain structure.

It must look something like this, right? A concrete “V” in cross section with woven wire mesh or thin rebar. Has a part of the been washed out or undermined? Who knows? We just know there’s some sort of damage, and I’d bet the “recent rain events” are an excuse for a long-developing issue.

Here’s a google earth view of a portion of the the existing “V” ditch that is either buried or washed out.

This is the funny part. The City Engineer has estimated a construction cost of $105,000, but with an overhead of almost 20%. That’s ridiculous. At $100 an hour for staff time we’d be looking at 200 manhours, or one person working on nothing else for five weeks. The design is negligible since you can just sketch a plan and pull a cross section and specs out of the Green Book or other standard sources, like I did, above. Administration? Processing? You’ve got to be kidding. And then there’s the amount budgeted for “contingencies.” $75,000, or 75% of the construction amount. So they really don’t know what the scope is and are expecting surprises.

If I were on the City Council I would be asking staff about these figures. They don’t make sense, at least not on the surface. Something is going on.

When the 57 freeway was built this drainage flow was created by a giant berm, but I have to wonder how and why the City created a drainage right-of-way on what appears to be the CalTRANS right-of-way, or on private land since the property looks like a jagged remnant of the State’s freeway land acquisitions.

Someone might also reasonably inquire into how come this thing is an emergency at all. That seems awfully strange. The rainy season is virtually over and the amounts of water collected here seem pretty insignificant.

But back to the finances. The problem with all municipal public works budgets are the amount used to cover staff expenses and overhead, and this, normally around 10% or more, is already padded. If you think about it, money from infrastructure funds are being used and abused to support to bureaucracy instead of pouring concrete.

The amounts in this instance are small, but they are indicative of an ongoing philosophy of abusing Capital Improvement budgets. Some might argue that unused funds will simply be returned to the fund from which they came. Could be. But how would anybody know?

March 12, 2026March 13, 2026Behind Closed Doors

More Trouble Down On The County Farm Vis-a-Vis the Do-Si-Do

by The Fullerton Harpoon22 Comments

Do with American flag, busy digging an escape tunnel…

The Voice of OC is reporting more suspicious activity on the part of crooked former County Supervisor Andrew Do. Do is already in the lockup after admitting to scamming OC out of millions in criminal scams with pals to steal COVID relief funds. His daughter, a co-conspirator got a slap on the wrist while his wife, Judge Cherie Pham still revels in the title of “Your Honor.”

“Now, auditors from the Weaver-Tidwell firm say they’ve reviewed over $486 million of contracts and found a series of questionable expenditures where Do ordered county staff to approve a vendor without the proper paperwork or covered up where grant money was actually going.”

You are ready to depart, young grasshopper…

Do is gone, but his self-proclaimed protégé and great friend, our County Supervisor Doug “Bud” Chaffee, isn’t. He has been stonewalling the Do affair from his dais and even now is quoted as saying:

“I don’t want to keep spending money if we can’t recover it in some way. The report is disturbing but it’s not what I’d call evidentiary quality.”

Right. Why pay to find out what happened and where the money went, and who benefitted? Nothing to see here, folks. So sayeth Chaffee, the staunch defender of public resources. Quality evidence is so darn expensive.

Paulette Chaffee discussing complicated education issues with a bunch of helium-filled balloons in front of her garage…

The rancid rodent Chafee has ten months left in his sketchy Supervisorial career. Perhaps he doesn’t want it tarnished by more scandal. Or maybe he’s got his own skeletons locked up some place he doesn’t want auditors poking around. Don’t forget the Little Lady – Pilferin’ Paulette is once again running for public office with her fake “4th District Ambassador” label, a non-job her hubby created to get her photo ops.

But if Chaffee hopes for peace and quiet he hopes in vain. Yet another galactic fuck up in which Andrew Do’s name is attached is addressed in a new Voice of OC post. Apparently the County claims a vendor in the public mental health game, Mind OC, owes them $65,000,000 for payments made without supporting evidence of accomplishment. And guess what? Mind OC has ties with…Andrew Do. Get this:

“Lawyers noted that Do helped increase Mind OC’s role in managing medical operations at the site, despite them being unlicensed, and pointed to a $275,000 contract the nonprofit created with the wife of Do’s then chief of staff Chris Wangsporn.”

Wangsaporn is not in jail, and neither is his wife. I don’t know whether Mr. or Mrs. Wangsaporn are or have ever been subjects of FBI investigations, but the Mr. W currently peddles his services as a government lobbyist. As usual, our DA Todd Spitzer has been singularly uninterested in the activities of Do and his Chief of Staff.

And now back to Chaffee. How much did he know about his best bud’s side gigs on the Board of Supervisors? What did he know and when did he know it? Chaffee has a million dollar+ office budget to help him “supervise” and there seems to have been nobody looking into a damn thing; if they did, Chaffee said nothing about the ocean of cash that was disappearing through the OC Health Care Agency funnel, abetted by the politcal puppets that ran it. And what did Pilferin’ Paulette know about the chicanery down on the County farm?

Traut endorsers. Look at names #1 and #2!

Have any of the current 4th District candidates addressed this ongoing scandal at the County? I am unaware of any statement promising a clean sweep and a reckoning for those who aided Do in his malfeasance. I would think this is something Fred Jung, Connor Traut, and Tim Shaw would be all over. But opposing corruption is scary because you never know who might prevail. And some of the miscreants may have endorsed you!

March 6, 2026March 10, 2026OC's Fourth District

Kilgore Was Here

by admin11 Comments

Spotted in Fullerton…

March 5, 2026March 5, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Surpise!

by Disillusioned Ex-Hippy12 Comments

On Tuesday night the Fullerton City Council did something very rare for a government agency. Nothing.

The issue at hand was a response to a State mandate to get rid of non-functional turf by denying it potable irrigation water. Therefore it was believed that some sort of xeriscape would be needed to replace the lawn in front of City Hall. I have has posted a couple times about this nonsense.

Oh Dear. Surveys were conducted, the charade of public input was exercised, copious staff time was spent culling and collating in preparation for the inevitable routine: hiring consultants and “designers,” organizing charettes, redrafts; months of fruitful effort developing bid quantities, taking bids, awarding and managing contracts, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

And then the remarkable occurred: leave the damn thing alone. In fact, while you’re leaving the grass alone, re-open the fountain that has been shut down as a virtue-signaling gesture years ago. Staff didn’t see that coming. Neither did I.

Some folks rightly pointed out that the lawn was functional – as a gathering place for meetings, protests and even municipal-sponsored events! First Amendment and civic pride. That sealed the deal.

But the road of lawn laissez-faire was not without a couple of speed bumps. “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra wanted a grand public arts gesture somewhere on the lawn; maybe All the Arts for Kids could help! Seeing the opportunity for a grand social gesture slipping away Shana Charles asked that “options” be presented to the Council, completely contradictory to the motion that had been made to leave the damn thing alone. She used to make this strategy of last minute obfuscation work, but it won’t work this time, despite her insistence on MORE TREES, maybe even an enormous fig that would serve as shade for generations to come.

Completely absent was the Fullerton Heritage Group who should have been there to protect the integrity of the original building elevation’s relationship to its surrounding. Nick Dunlap got it. The formal exterior of the building was part and parcel with the site design – created 65 years ago. It’s a landmark. The Heritage Group wasn’t interested, apparently.

I wonder if anybody has notices several empty tree wells in the sidewalk along Commonwealth in front of City Hall. There used to be shady ficus trees there (see picture, above), but not any more. If anybody had given this any thought they didn’t say so.

Anyhow, well-done Jung and Dunlap and Valencia for doing the smart and the right thing.

March 2, 2026March 2, 2026Boohooism

Government Make-work Alive and Well

by Disillusioned Ex-Hippy29 Comments

Fullerton may be on the verge of financial crisis, but let it not be said that creative ways for its employees to stay busy aren’t possible, if you can find “other peoples’ money” to do it. We’ve seen it in spades on the ridiculous Trail to Nowhere, built mostly with money from an unaccountable and irresponsible State agency whose only observable job is to give away money with no answers to questions even checked for truthfulness.

The next silly project in line comes to us courtesy of the State Legislature, again, in the form of AB 1572 that mandates that “non-functional” turf can’t be watered with potable water. Municipalities are first on the hit list, and that includes the formal lawn in front of City Hall. The item is on tomorrows Council meeting agenda.

The City can declare that the City Hall lawn is functional and walk away. Oh, but that won’t do! We have to get rid of the grass and replace it with drought resistant plantings of some sort or other. This strategy scratches the itch of those who feel moral gestures are more important that facts, who love big government mandates, no matter how footling, and those who want city staff to be happy and productive.

How much water will *this* use? Who cares?

The City thoughtfully promulgated a call for ideas from the citizenry in a press release a couple of months ago. Re-imagine the municipal front yard! A blank slate! A blue sky! The world is your oyster! Presumably your idea will save water and respect the ecosystem, etc., etc. Grateful citizens sent in pictures of idyllic succulented and lavendered walkways!

At least one submission had a sense of the ridiculous nature of this nonsense.

A giant Hornet and a giant Titan! Come to think of it, maybe this suggestion was serious, Fullerton being Fullerton.

But there is no money budgeted, alas! What to do? Well a budget transfer from Water Non-Rate Revenue funds can be tapped. I have no idea where this money would even come from, the Water Fund being supplied by rate payers. Another option to pay for the new, giant cactus garden is to apply for, and get, a grant from the Metropolitan Water District, one of those huge, opaque agencies that practically answer to nobody.

I have to wonder what the ultimate savings would be water-wise, and what the existing cost of watering the grass is. The fact that the City uses free water paid for by the rate payers has always been an issue and naturally no facts about the acre foot volume or the cost to the rate payers are included in Tuesday’s staff report. No data will be presented except the results of the survey done to solicit public opinion.

I could make the pitch that the reflecting pool, steps and lawn were part of a neo-formal aesthetic that went along with the 1962 building, but that would be a waste of my time and yours. Somebody has decided that the pool and the grass is offensive to modern sensibility, and provides an opportunity to engage the public in a feel-good Kabuki drama.

February 27, 2026A Manfro All Seasons

A Manfro All Seasons. Eddie Manfro to Be Anointed New City Manager

by The Fullerton Harpoon24 Comments

At next Tuesday’s Fullerton City Council meeting Eddie Manfo. Acting City Manager will be hired by the City Council to fill the job formally.

He will get $305,000 per year as base pay, plus a cornucopia of benefits that amount to, well, a helluva lot of money. Does he get to keep his current pension?

He’s quasi-at-will until this November, after which he gets nine months’ severance if fired.

Apparently there are at least three votes for Manfro’s appointment, but the sledding will not be without some controversy. Manfor was one of four Fullerton hires post COVID that attracted the negative attention of CalPERS, the State’s public employee retirement system. Once you officially retire there are limits to what you can do for employment inside the system. I don’t know what is required to unretire yourself so maybe Manfro has done that.

However, the CalPERS controversy, such as it is, is bound to arouse the indignation of certain elements in Fullerton Boohoo/Crazy who will use any opportunity, no matter how slim, to impugn the Jung/Dunlap/Valencia troika; the Kennedy Sisters, for instance, continue to bemoan the loss of “excellent” City Manager Ken Domer the incompetent stooge of Jennifer Fitzgerald, and wail about all subsequent replacements.

February 25, 2026Boohooism

Poor, Sad Sukhee Resurfaces

by Mr. Peabody18 Comments

Friends may remember the name: Sukhee Kang. Sukhee is one of those common cases where political ambition to hold office leaps far ahead of ability or commonsense.

Way back in 2016 Sukhee quit Irvine where he had been a Larry Agran flunky on the city council and bought himself a mini-McMansion on a Fullerton golf course, behind a security gate. Remember? Mr. Kang’s lust for higher office caused him to carpetbag in order to run for the State Senate. I seem to remember one of his lackeys in Irvine defended this foolishness as a sensible “empty nester” move and downsizing on the part of Sukhee and Mrs. Sukhee.

As usual, Sukhee had a phony ballot designation as an educated (he taught some made-up footling class at Chapman) and he was an author, too, producing a self-published biography. Sukhee promoted the fact that he was a veteran, although it turned out it wasn’t of our army.

Sukhee had all the usual endorsements – loads of Dem politicians, the sort of thing we now know is almost worthless. But Kang didn’t reckon with FFFF or Fullerton Taxpayers for Reform. He came in third and it was sayonara, Sukhee.

Anyhow, we learned shortly thereafter that the empty nesters had flown the coop – back to Irvine, demonstrating the bullshit of the rationalization.

I’m a leader. Larry told me to put that there…

Now Kang has kangaroo’d back into politics. He’s running for the Irvine City Council, a sad attempt of a 75 year old man to be relevant. It’s even sadder than an old dude trying to be important. The Irvine Council now has seven seats instead of five, and poor sad sack Sukhee has to run for a paltry district seat now.

Irvine District 1 residents may not even remembers this creep’s ditching Irvine just to run for an available office in a whole other town. Hopefully an opponent will remind them of Sukhee’s stay in Fullerton.

February 22, 2026February 23, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Meet Jozef Maldonado

by Grover Cleveland42 Comments

First, don’t ask me why the guy spells his name like that, because I don’t know.

Mr. Maldonado is a candidate for Fullerton’s 5th District in the election this fall. At least he has created a campaign committee. That’s the seat that will be left by “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra, the immigrant fraud, woman batterer and general prevaricator.

There’s a connection there. Zahra appointed Maldonado to the Parks and Rec Commission where he has been photo bombing boohoo events lately. He is also some sort of young Democrat Party operative, which makes sense, following in the footsteps of Jordan Brandman, Connor Traut and the like. Except that unlike them he seems to have a real job, being some sort of chemical tester. He’s yet another mid-twenties Fullerton fellow who seems very eager to make Zahra happy.

Is this a real candidacy? Some folks had thought that Vanessa Estrella, Sharon Quirk’s newly minted school trustee might leap into the breach to defend Fullerton Boohooism. She still might, but time is running out. The days of last minute candidacies in Fullerton are pretty much over.

It would also make sense that young Jozef is the Tony Castro of 2026. You all remember Tony Castro – the last minute candidate in 2022 recruited by the Team Zahra to draw votes away from genuine Latino candidate Oscar Valadez. This could be the same slimy strategy to help Estrella, I suppose. At least Maldonado’s candidacy would have verisimilitude. Tony Castro’s did not, and neither did the Dems fake candidate in 2024, Scott Markowitz, who had to plead guilty to perjury.

Curiously Maldonado’s form 501 shows no zip code in a redacted address, which is peculiar. Why would anybody omit that on a candidate statement?

On the other hand maybe I’m being too cynical. Perhaps this will be a real candidacy and maybe Estrella will be happy staying where she is – for now. After all she’s barely been in office for a year.

Maldonado spoke at the February 3rd City Council meeting solely to attack Mayor Fred Jung for some supposedly divisive remarks that criticized his detractors. Poor Jozef was obviously following direction from Ahmad Zahra; and he obviously doesn’t really understand that mindless attacks don’t get you elected and that Zahra is a spent force, if he was ever much of a force to begin with.

This candidacy begs the question of whether or not Fullerton wants or needs another Zahra-type liberal who is more than happy to spend your money, lots of it, on his conscience-causes, from illegal immigrant welfare to boondoggle park projects that have no budget for maintenance.