Watch Your Wallet Archives - Page 55 of 86 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

July 29, 2012July 29, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Out With Old, In With The…Old

Well they finally did it. Our pathetic county Board of Supervisors finally got rid of their pathetic excuse for a CEO, Tom Mauk. Of course they let him call it a retirement and they gave him $270,000. And it took about nine months after he helped cover up the sordid details of Carlos Bustamante’s sex assaults on female County employees.

Of course the Supervisors should have fired both their HR director and Mauk when news of the 20 page report that detailed the behavior (that has earned Busty a total of 12 felony charges courtesy of the District Attorney) came out. But they didn’t. The sad Supervisor from the Third District, Bill Campbell actually commended Mauk for a job well-done. The female members of the Board, Pat Bates and Janet Nguyen, who should have been most shocked about the whole thing, made no public statements, perhaps hoping the thing would just go away.

It didn’t. And the embarrassment got so bad even Mauk and his allies knew the jig was up – many months later.

Just in case you were wondering who would take the helm of the county ship of state in the time of crisis, scandal, turmoil, and erosion of public trust, the selection by the Board seems underwhelming, the present Finance Director, Robert Franz. He will be Acting CEO until an Interim CEO is chosen until a Permanent CEO can be discovered. It’s government, get it: and a completely dysfunctional one at that. The whole place needs to be cleaned out, and the sooner the better.

July 25, 2012July 26, 2012Boohooism

A Queasy Blast From The Past!

by admin14 Comments

FloryBird — Ms. Flory, three sheets to the wind at eight A.M.

Get ready for this Friends: Jan Flory has pulled papers to run for city council in November! Yes indeedie, the former councilwoman and unhappy dog owner who supported every crappy Redevelopment staff driven boondoggle, fought every attempt to bring accountability to city government, who gave Patdown Pat McPension an award last year where she bemoaned the mistreatment of “our esteemed council.”

She even orchestrated a mean spirited attack on young kids riding their bikes on their own property.

Florydog2 — You wouldn’t be smiling either if your zygomatic arch had just got smacked with the business end of a broomstick!

Will she return the papers and begin to explain publicly why she supported the incompetent and criminal Culture of Corruption under the Three Dessicated Dinosaurs? I sure hope so.

July 24, 2012July 23, 2012Chris Norby

Message to Norby: Kill POBAR

by Disillusioned Ex-Hippy74 Comments

Um, Chris Norby, you are a State Assemblyman, right? You stand for something, right? You ran for office for some reason, right?

So now that you’re up in Sacramento, why don’t you do something about the hideous union scam known as POBR – the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights – that grants special protection to cops good and bad. It seems that POBR keeps honest, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens from knowing which crooked cops have been preying upon the very citizens who pay for their salaries and exorbitant pensions. Are you in favor of this? Do you care? Are you worth a dehydrated ostrich turd?

You’ve been in Sacramento for over two years and so far have accomplished nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zero. So how about finally showing some guts by doing the right thing. Make it legal for all police departments to release all relevant information on cops who have been separated from their police force. If they’ve done nothing wrong the facts will bear this out. If they have violated policy, or worse, if they are criminals, the public has a right to know.

And Sharon Quirk, if you’re reading this (and I know you are) what do you have to say about fixing POBR.

July 23, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Life is Good

by Jan Florys Dog101 Comments

What’s this? A former Fullerton Police Chief Mike Sellers sighting! Here is Iron Mike confabbing with Placentia Police Chief R.A. Hicks in the booth of a cozy Yorba Linda eatery.

Perhaps Sellers is dispensing wisdom about how to bail on one’s professional responsibilities and duty as soon as times get tough; perhaps he is explaining how to run a clean, efficient department.

We do know that for Sellers, who is able to squeak by on a pension of $20,000 a month, life is indeed good.

July 23, 2012Boohooism

Quirk a No-Show At Anaheim Protest

by The Fullerton Shadow195 Comments

On Sunday various groups, objecting to what looks a lot like an assassination by the cops, and what was a police induced riot later, held a protest at the Anaheim Police Headquarters. My husband and I went down to show some solidarity with our neighbors to the south.

Tony Bushala was there along with some Kelly’s Army folks that I remembered from the Fullerton protests last summer. Even mean, uncaring Republican State Assemblyman Chris Norby was there with his family. But where was our would-be squishy-feely Assembly person for the 65th District, Sharon Quirk? I have no idea.

Quirk — Loretta and I were getting our nails done…

Most liberals used to stand for things like social justice, fighting cop brutality, especially when applied to minority neighborhoods. And this would have been a good opportunity for Quirk (whose sole chance of beating Norby, according to her drum-beaters, is winning over neighborhoods in the western part of Anaheim) to show she cares about the little people who can’t fight back. Of course after the Kelly Thomas thing I’ve come to realize that establishment liberals are mostly just empty talk on the subject of police malfeasance.

Oops.

Anyway, Ms. Quirk, here are some topics about the Anaheim incident you may contemplate at your leisure:

1) Possible assassination by cops of man in front yard

2) Arrest of innocent bystander for no particular reason, charged with obstruction, etc.,etc.

3) Overreaction by cops, contributing to near riot and assault on innocent men, women, and children by rubber bullets and attack dog.

4) Accusations of cops trying to buy potential evidence.

Yes, Sharon, Anaheim is in the district you wish to represent. Time to get out and meet your constituents.

Oh, yeah, about that PORAC endorsement thing…

July 21, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Compulsive Liars Lie

by The Fullerton Harpoon85 Comments

bankhead-crown — The closer you look, the less there is.

They lie about stuff big and small. They just can’t help it. Last year FFFF nailed former councilman Don Bankhead in a bald-faced lie here, when he denied saying Fullerton would be a ghost town without Redevelopment.

Here he is denying to Fullerton Stories that he had pulled papers to run for the city council (after having been recalled just six weeks ago). Possibly Bankhead is unaware that not only does the City Clerk keep track of who has pulled papers, but they list it on their web page.

Of course Bankhead has run so many times that he should know this, unless the teeth are just worn away and the old gears are spinning aimlessly.

July 20, 2012Behind Closed Doors

He’s Baaaaaack!

by Joe Sipowicz81 Comments

Bankhead3-226x300 — Tanned rested, and ready

Just in case there were any doubt about the state of Mr. Don Bankhead’s mental faculties, I am pleased to report that the recently recalled councilman has pulled papers to run again for the city council, just like he did in 1994 after being recalled. Bankhead is only one of two office holders in the history of the United States to be recalled from the same office twice, and the only man in the 152 year history of California.

This dunderhead snoozed while the FPD sank into a Culture of Corruption, while the water rate payers were ripped off, and as he handed out millions to his campaign contributors; and yet he seems to think himself still worthy of somebody’s trust.

Still, running for the office you were recalled from a mere six weeks ago takes a lot of gall, or disconnect from reality, or both; especially when you got your sorry old ass whipped 2-1.

I have no idea if this doorknob actually plans on running; but I doubt if he has a single friend of family member with the sense or decency to tell him no. But if he does, you can certainly look forward to some fun.

July 17, 2012July 17, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Adios, Wolfe.

by Joe Sipowicz209 Comments

According to the OC Register, Joe Wolfe, one of the instigators of the fatal confrontation between six Fullerton cops and a mentally ill homeless man in July 2011, is no longer in the employ of the good people of Fullerton.

Naturally the cops won’t say squat about the separation because the public is not to know about any of the bad things cops do under the color of authority. Wolfe was either fired or permitted to resign, perhaps so he could go be an upstanding cop somewhere else.

Included in the story was a typical Lou Ponsi whopper:

Wolfe was placed on unpaid leave since just after the fatal confrontation.

Incorrect on two counts. Wolfe was never placed on unpaid leave. He has been on a paid vacation for almost a year; and remember, it took a month to get the cops involved off the streets. Of course Wolfe allegedly re-injured his bad shoulder beating Kelly Thomas’s with his club and elbow, so it is likely he is the cop that was not back on active duty. Of course since these sorts of details are all hush-hush we’ll never know – although we can almost certainly expect a disability claim from Wolfe.

Does this mean there’s an impending charge from the DA against Wolfie? Maybe, if he was fired, but I wouldn’t bet a plug nickel on that possibility. If he was quietly permitted to resign he will still be expecting a call from Garo Mardirossian.

Other nagging questions: is who is Corporal Tim Kandler, what happened to OJ jailer Jeff Stuart, and why in the hell does Fullerton still have an FPOA member acting as public spokesmen?

July 15, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Rats Jumping Off Sinking County Ship. Fingering Each Other

by The Fullerton Shadow45 Comments

The Voice of OC(EA) on Friday posted a story about yet another high-level crony of County CEO Tom Mauk bailing out of the creaky tub that is taking on water fast in the wake of the Carlos Bustamante sex-assault case. This person’s name is Alisa Drakodidas, and she was in immediate charge of the patsy who just got canned last week, and about whom I wrote about, here.

Drakodidas was a Deputy CEO of Infrastructure (whatever that means) and apparently a close confidant of Mauk. She has taken a medical leave until the end of August, and of course is still being paid. She has got herself a lawyer, too, and according to Voice has sent the County a nasty letter blasting various individuals, including Supervisors, most specifically Pat Bates. According to the Voice’s source, the letter accuses Bates of getting one of her office flunkies a high paying job and generally botching things up. Other Supervisors, collectively, are blamed for interfering with contracts (I think this is probably code for doing favors for fund-raising lobbyists). It’s obvious that Ms. Drakodidas is not planning on coming back to work.

Apparently the County is not releasing any details of the letter via the Public Records Act, but it’s clear somebody at the County has leaked the general outline of this document. It must provide some interesting reading. Hopefully all of this finger pointing will result in a clear picture of why Bustamante was employed at all, and who let him get away with his twisted pervy sex attacks.

July 12, 2012I Aint a Swallerin That

A Close Look at Total Compensation

by Travis293 Comments

Thanks to the City of Bell scandal, local governments are now required to report compensation figures to the state every year. The other day a reader shared that report with us.

This is the first time that we’ve been able to see pension contributions, insurance premiums, overtime, etc. added together for each of the city’s employees, showing us the full value (and cost to the taxpayer) of a job with the city of Fullerton.

The numbers speak for themselves:

[iframe_loader width=’100%’ height=’600′ frameborder=’1′ scrolling=’auto’ src=’https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AiyL667gfsw9dHlZalV5WTQ2R3dqRnFMMEJucEI4LWc&output=html’]

Keep in mind that the city’s pension and retiree medical plans are severely underfunded even with these sizable contributions. That means these cost figures are actually understated.