Watch Your Wallet Archives - Page 82 of 86 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

May 26, 2010May 26, 2010Orange County Government

The No Account County

One of the things we here at FFFF stand for is the idea of government accountability.

So naturally we were pretty sore when we saw the memo from County CEO Tom Mauk to the Board of Supervisors downplaying the disastrous purchase of the money pit at 433 W. Civic Center Dr. here.

Dark-Clouds-looming-500x375 — Those clouds seem to be getting darker

Mauk finally produced the smoking gun—three years too late—an RDMD analysis estimating the needed cost to make the building functional. The amounts reached into the millions but for some reason this critical information, which was known to staff in June 2007, was withheld from the Board. Any guesses as to why?

View the memo

Evidently Mr. Mauk is not interested in accountability. But we are, so please take note of the names of the people in the County Clerks office and the RDMD who were copied on this June 2007 memo. They are:

Phil Brigandi, Paul Lanning, Jean Pasco, Bob Wilson, Clark Shen, Mark Browning, Tony Ferrulli, Tony Mason, Michael Stein.

See any familiar names ? Jean Pasco in particular stands out since she was the clerk employee who acted as liaison with the Board in the matter of the building at 433 W. Civic.

This is not the story of an inadvertent error; no this was a deliberate attempt to mislead the Board of Supervisors and the evidence lies in the statements contained in the staff reports that deliberately mischaracterized the condition of the building and that were in fact untrue.

Hopefully the Board of Supervisors will be more interested in finding out what really happened and why crucial information that staff had been aware of for many months was intentionally withheld from them.

May 25, 2010May 25, 2010Orange County Government

CLERK-RECORDER TOM DALY LIES (AGAIN) TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY CEO

by admin6 Comments

In a May 12^th memo sent to the Board of Supervisors by County CEO Tom Mauk, it was confirmed by Mauk that Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly was less than truthful with regards to the acquisition of the $2.1 million money-sucking building that he decided splurge on with tax payers’ money.

Mauk says that “…it has become apparent to me that the Board was not provided with all the information known to staff at the time given the June 29^th RDMD A&E memo among RDMD and Clerk-Recorder staff.”

In that sentence, Mauk confirmed what we have known for a very long time… that Tom Daly is deceitful and that he believes it’s OK to lie to the public and the Board of Supervisors.

Tom Daly lies so much that he can’t keep his lies straight. For example, in the same memo Mauk was told that “Since the acquisition of the property, the thirty-four spaces have been utilized and saved the County approximately $26, 100 a year due the ability to reduce the number of parking spaces the County leases from the private sector.”

We received several calls from Clerk-Recorder employees indicating that only one Clerk-Recorder employee parks at that parking lot. Guess who it is? Low and behold, it’s the wife of Disneyland’s Manager of Government Relations Chris Lowe. As reported in a previous blog post here, Disney has contributed to Tom Daly’s campaigns since 2002. Apparently the scampaign contribution not only led to a job for Lowe’s wife but also prime parking space. This has several long-time Clerk-Recorder employees fuming.

The truth about the parking lot is that it is being leased by Daly to a private company. The parking management company leases the parking lot and pays the Clerk-Recorder Department about $1,500 a month to manage the lot for profit. Any revenue above the $1,500 mark is kept by the company.

Does this sound like a fair trade off? Daly spent $2.1 million of tax payers’ money for a return of about $18,000 annually and 34 parking spaces. The math doesn’t add up! Daly is really putting his English major from Harvard to work here.

Look at the photos. The lot is clearly marked for public parking for $5 a day. This is a blatant lie to the Board and to CEO Tom Mauk.

The other baldfaced lie is that according to the memo, the department has reduced the number of spaces leased from privately owned parking lots for its’ employees. Since 2008, Tom Daly has been leasing about 17 spaces from Mike Harrah’s parking company Sycamore Parking Concepts to the tune of about $1,200 a month or $14,400 a year. This lot is located behind the run-down YMCA building on Civic Center Dr.

The best outcome for the money sucking building is that it be sold. If the tax payers are lucky they will recover the cost of the property and break even. However, the condition of the building is horrendous, per the memo. So I find it odd that Tom Mauk would say that “…having the property in our inventory is a positive outcome.” Is Tom Mauk covering for Tom Daly? Or did good-old friend of Tom Daly, Rob Richardson, write this memo without clearing it with Mauk or even verifying the information given. All Mauk or Richardson had to do was take a little stroll to the parking lot across the street and see that it is public parking.

Tom Daly is a red-faced liar and deserves to be voted out of office. Daly and company are running a misinformation campaign not only to voters but to the public, the Board of Supervisors and CEO Tom Mauk. Supervisor John Moorlach needs to call for audits of the Clerk-Recorder Department to see what other lies are uncovered.

May 24, 2010May 24, 2010Dead heads

What Is Harry Sidhu Hiding? Just About Everything

by Joe Sipowicz16 Comments

John Lewis told me to move — I'll be back!

By now we have all seen the campaign mailers produced by Hide-n-Seek Sidhu and his union pals asking what Shawn Nelson is hiding and that got me thinking about Harry Sidhu and what he might be hiding from the people of the 4th district.

So to be helpful I made a list:

1. Sidhu doesn’t live in this district and he doesn’t want you to know it.

2. Sidhu committed perjury twice when he claimed to have live at the Calabria apartments.

3. Sidhu is the public employee union candidate and his pals in the union are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to put their puppet in office.

4. Sidhu is barely intelligible and has no grasp of the basic functions of county government.

5. Sidhu is a perpetual office seeker who is constantly running for higher office.

6. Despite his claims to the contrary as an Anaheim city council member Sidhu has voted for dozens of fee and utility rate increases.

So there’s the Sidhu record. No wonder his handlers want to keep it a secret and I’ve only just scratched the surface.

May 22, 2010May 22, 2010Fullerton City Council

The 10 Million Dollar Library Expansion

by Travis9 Comments

On Tuesday Fullerton held a groundbreaking ceremony on the $10 million Main Library Expansion and approved the first round of construction contracts.

Fullerton resident Helen Logan sent us her thoughts on the expansion. They are printed below.

Before the library drains more precious tax dollars into its “Meet the Jetsons” architecture, Fullerton’s city council should be made aware of other futuristic stuff like the Kindle, the iPad and the Nook that can download hundreds of books right into our hands. With the advent of internet technology, libraries and their staff are nothing more than appendages to our society.

Our tax dollars would best be spent helping Fullerton’s residents afford the future by defraying the costs of laptops, internet services, and other digital reading devices.

The city of Fullerton should partner with local businesses to reduce the cost of internet technology to its residents. This move would directly benefit our residents and stimulate Fullerton’s business sector.

Fullerton’s city council members’ approval of this library expansion exposes their ignorance that books and knowledge may only be found in an actual building. Expansion of the Fullerton library is a growing monument to the dinosaurs who rule our city from their seats on our town’s city council.

May 14, 2010May 14, 2010Dead heads

NICK – WHY NOT SEND A MAILER TELLING VOTERS ABOUT FREE-SPENDING, INCOMPETENT CAREER POLITICIAN CLERK-RECORDER TOM DALY?

by admin25 Comments

Last week Nick Berardino and his goons at OCEA sent out mailers alleging that 4^th District Supervisor candidate Shawn Nelson voted in his own business interest to and that he did something for the campaign contributor who owned the Fox Theatre in Fullerton. All nonsense, of course.

These were really lame pieces and probably got Nelson a lot more votes than they cost him. But this effort was quite revealing in that it demonstrates the utter hypocrisy and self-interest of “Bullhorn” Bernardino and his crew.

bernardino — What? I can't hear you, Bullhorn.

While this guy is making up stories about Nelson, he has turned a blind eye to a real government miscreant, County Clerk, Tom Daly whom we have busted giving jobs and no-bid contracts to friends and relatives of contributors, as well as pitching over two million bucks into the worthless property at 433 West Civic Center Drive. Oh yeah, and then there was that $48,000 contract given to another campaign contributor to “study” a sports hall of fame.

The OCEA has watered Tom Daly campaigns with more than $4000 over the years, no doubt hoping the investment would some day flower into something that looked like a county supervisor. Instead it helped create an incompetent little emperor that has no accountability, no oversight, and whose fiefdom is rife with cronyism and kickbackery and wasted millions.

I would love to believe that Berardino meant to put Tom Daly’s name on those mailers because I would love to believe that Berardino was venting his righteous anger at the wrong candidate. Yeah, right! The County’s public employee unions are going after Nelson because they are terrified of a real Board majority that will institute permanent and meaningful pension reform and conduct responsible contract negotiations.

But who knows? Someday maybe the OCEA will stand up to real corruption – even on the part of a Democrat. If they ever do they know where to come to get all the info they need. But I’m not holding my breath.

May 13, 2010May 13, 2010Harry Sidhu

So What Did Jennifer Muir and Harry Sidhu Talk About Over Breakfast?

by admin12 Comments

Harry'sFriend — I'll have one Grand Slam, please!

I had it on pretty good authority that OC Register reporter Jennifer Muir was spotted brekfasting with Harry Sidhu this morning at the Denny’s at State College and Katella.

What on earth could they have been talking about? Carpetbaggery? Perjury? Jobs, jobs, jobs? Clown make-up? C’mon Jen, spill it!

Well, whether she does or not I’ll probably have something for you. As soon as I heard the news I immediately dispatched the FFFF surveillance crew in the non-discript white van that has been spotted all over Anaheim, recently. The boys were still a little groggy from the denatured alcohol/grapefruit party last night, but I think they got there in time.

Van — Harry promises jobs. Well, he's sure provided employment for the guys in the van.

We’ll be reporting back what we have learned.

May 12, 2010May 12, 2010Orange County Government

Tom Daly Finally Has a Website, And Boy Is It Lame – Real Lame

by admin14 Comments

tom — Complete with photo of Tom - taken 15 years ago.

Friends, by the time I got around to posting this piece, Daly had modified his website, but not before I culled the quotations below. Notice how those generic accolades have been tweaked to the actual circumstances. Now they make the endorsers like Jordan Brandman look ridiculous. And boy is that par for Daly’s course.

If you thought that our Clerk Recorder Tom Daly was arrogant and lazy you were right. Get a load of this crappola straight from his website:

“I am proud to support Tom Daly to be Fullerton’s next representative on the County Board of Supervisors. The people of Fullerton can count on him to listen to our concerns and deliver results for our community.”

Fullerton City Councilwoman Sharon Quirk

and there’s this:

“No candidate for 4th District Supervisor offers the proven record of success that Tom Daly has achieved as Orange County Clerk-Recorder, Mayor of Anaheim and member of a local School Board. His experience will make a difference for all of our communities.”

–Molly McClanahan
North OC Community College Board Trustee

and this:

“Tom Daly is a passionate and effective advocate for our schools. He will be a strong voice for education as our next County Supervisor.”

– Jordan Brandman Anaheim Union High School District Board Member

Oh, brother! Daly quit on the supervisor gig several months ago, but apparently he is still confused about which office he is running for. Or he really wants to fool people. Or he’s really lazy. Or something.

Let’s see how long it takes before Daly does something about his lame ass website.

May 11, 2010Arts & Architecture

Coyote Hills Brouhaha; Tonight at 5:00

by Christian19 Comments

Tonight we have the first of a two-meeting public hearing at City Hall to discuss West Coyote Hills. Actually, after reading tonight’s agenda, it looks like council just might clear the way for the bulldozers. If you have something to say to the council members, tonight’s your chance, just show up early.

If Councilman Shawn Nelson wins the 4th Supervisorial District race, we will have three council seats to fill in November. Tonight’s meeting could be the nail in the political coffin for some of council members no matter how they vote. West Coyote Hills isn’t new to City Hall and it has been a hot-button issue for environmentalists and residents in La Habra and Fullerton for decades. There are those who see an opportunity to generate desperately needed tax revenue while others see their open spaces shrinking and pollution growing. Whichever side of the fence you are on, I think we can all agree that this has been one political football that has been fumbled for far too long. There are pros and cons to this development just like any other.

The meeting is scheduled for 5PM in the council chambers (303 W. Commonwealth Ave.). As I mentioned, it will be a full house, standing room only, so show up early to get your chance to either support or oppose the development.

May 10, 2010May 10, 2010Behind Closed Doors

MORE MONKEY BUSINESS AT THE CLERK-RECORDER’S OFFICE; TOM DALY AND HIS PAY-TO-PLAY CONTRACTS.

by Grover Cleveland7 Comments

It looks like we can add another skill to Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly’s public money squandering resume. As previously reported here, not only does Daly excel at wasting public money and doling out jobs to his contributor’s relatives, it appears that he also hands out no-bid contracts to campaign contributors as well. It turns out that the contracts are more of what we’re used to: highly questionable and unaudited relationships, and of course, ultimate failure.

Get a load of this one.

Between 2002 and 2007, Christopher Townsend, who is the president of Townsend Public Affairs, contributed a total of $2600 to Tom Daly’s campaigns. During this period, Townsend was awarded two $60,000 no-bid contracts for “consulting services.” Townsend was awarded these contracts without bidding because of their supposed know-how in obtaining grants from the California Cultural Historical Endowment. What for, you ask?

In late 2005/2006 the grant application was for $150,000 to go to “planning” the archives expansion in the old Courthouse building in Santa Ana. Apparently the contract and the grant application were approved solely on the authority of Daly himself – that’s right, no Board of Supervisor’s oversight.

The big problem was that the grant application was for a building over which the “Manager of the Year” Daly had no authority. Apparently it is controlled by the Harbors Parks and Beaches Department that lets the Clerk-Recorder use it for some of his functions. And seemingly they had no clue what Daly was up to.

Even though Daly got the grant he wanted, the County had to turn the money back in April, 2006 because of the inability of Daly to communicate what he was doing with the other County bureaucrats. The official excuse was “unanticipated space and stakeholder concerns.” Translated from Bureaucratese into English: Big Daly F-up.

Well, there’s $60,000 down the toilet.

Undaunted by failure, late in 2006 the indefatigable Daly was before the Board of Supervisors asking for another $60,000 no-bid contract with Townsend. The motive was the same, but by now Daly’s covetous eye likely rested on the wretched building at 433 West Civic Center, a $2.1 million liability that he would talk the Board into acquiring in 2007. We shared that mess with you, here. The second grant application ended up with a big goose egg, however the purchase of the money pit on Civic Center Drive proceeded headlong, full speed ahead.

Another $60,000 chunked into the water hazard.

Oh, dear me. Another Tom Daly fiasco; another example of incompetence and cronyism his pals in the media won’t touch; yet another mauve feather in the dismal repuglican headdress of Daly’s admirer, John Lewis (& Co.) who keeps insisting that the egregious Daly is some sort of “fiscal conservative.”

And good grief, we’ve only just scratched the surface. Be sure to stay tuned.

May 7, 2010Harry Sidhu

Sidhu on Defined Benefits

by admin9 Comments

Just in case you missed the recent OCGOP showdown between Shawn Nelson and carpetbagger Harry Sidhu, we generously share a video clip showing Sidhu trying to to talk about defined contributions versus defined benefits.

Since this is the major problem contributing to government unfunded liabilities you would think a competent supervisorial candidate would be all over this – especially at a Republican nominating meeting.

Well see if you can understand what Yahoo Harry is talking about before stammering that he really doesn’t know anything about it! Enjoy this quintessential Sidhu moment.