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August 9, 2022August 9, 2022About Us

CASTRATING CASTRO/WHERE’S WALDO? PART 1

Allow me to introduce Tony Castro. Or known to his buddies as Antonio Castro.

Not to be confused with the former Deputy City Manager under hapless Ken Domer, Antonia Castro-Graham.

Tony just pulled papers for District 5, the same District as our criminal Zahra.

The 38-year-old couch surfer with a couple of conflicting known addresses of record describes himself as an “internet and online marketing” expert.

Sounds about as fishy as Zahra explaining his prowess as a “filmmaker”.

2300 E. Commonwealth Avenue, apartment #4 in Fullerton is the registered “business” address of one Maximum Creativity, of which Antonio Saucedo Castro is the listed contact. The address also shows Unlimited Possibilities as being “headquartered” there, also owned by one Antonio Saucedo Castro.

If this all sounds curiously comedic, you would not be in the minority. Castro was also a staffer for one Peter Mathews, a junior college professor who ran for Congress in the June primary.

Who is Peter Mathews? Again, you would not be in the minority because Mathews came in a very, very distant fourth place, mustering only 3% of the vote.

Way to pick a winner Tony!

Court documents also show that Tony was sued for “unlawful detainer” in 2009, which is legal mumbo jumbo for eviction and has a judgement in the amount of $3,022.

The obvious question is what business is someone who can’t rent an apartment per the negative credit history doing running for Fullerton City Council. Perhaps Zahra made the poor patsy do it. Because Tony’s “business” Maximum Creativity has a few reviews on Yelp. And safe to say they are not Michelin quality:

“Our company hired “tony” to do basic merchant services and design on our website. After paying 1000 dollars to start, over a month later…tony is missing in action. He is a fraud. We have received nothing for our money except empty promises and perpetual headaches. Do not, I repeat do not do business with this “company” especially tony. He lied, lied to cover his lies and long in the short did nothing but waste our time, and steal our hard earned money.” says one review.

Another reads, “This guy is a complete scam artist took 1000 dollar deposit to complete our website and never did any work wont answer a phone call or return a call or email from any body at our business. We have tried contacting him for over 2 weeks as we were on a dead line to complete website due to a huge marketing campaign, that he was aware of and promised to meet. Do not use him for any of your business needs! He will promise you the world and all he will do is steel from you ! Businesses beware of Tony and his company he will take your money and disappear ! Had to get our lawyers involved just to show him he cant do business like this 1k dollars isn’t a lot but the principal of just stealing from people needs to be addressed ! one star because that’s the lowest you can give a crook on YELP!”

JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU’VE HIT ROCK BOTTOM IN AWFUL CANDIDATES FULLERTON, SOMEBODY SAYS HOLD MY BEER AND HANDS YOU A SHOVEL.

August 8, 2022August 8, 2022About Us

PUBLIC ENEMY

by Emily Roe17 Comments

The postcard at the restaurants reads “SAVE THE WALK ON WILSHIRE AND OUTDOOR DINING!”

give it away, give it away, give it away now

“Fullerton City Council voted to remove the Walk on Wilshire in September”.

FALSE!

A few months ago, the City Council haphazardly voted: Whitaker, Jesus, and Ahmad, to explore keeping it permanent, whatever that means nowadays in this city.

What it fails to acknowledge is that their precious Walk on Wilshire is not a community benefit.

It is far from that.

It is a government subsidized revenue mechanism for a handful of “downtown” restaurants/bars.

Closing Wilshire Avenue to vehicle traffic in the name of public health is dumb government when latest COVID numbers are trending down to such a degree, even hypersensitive Los Angeles has opted not to have an indoor mask mandate.

Blocking Wilshire Avenue – Fullerton’s bike boulevard – in a feeble attempt to turn a very small section of downtown Fullerton into dining al fresco is nonsense since the view for diners is barriers and an asphalt street.

What’s that saying about lipstick on a pig?

“Downtown” Fullerton is not London or Rome!

Walk on Wilshire is Whitaker, Jesus, and Ahmad’s way of sponsoring a select group of “downtown” businesses like Mulberry Street Ristorante, Fullerton Brew Co (formerly Stadium Tavern), Green Bliss and Rialto Cafes, and Les Amis Restaurant.

Les Amis Restaurant recently hosted and sponsored the bitchin’ Zahra campaign kick off fundraiser so it is plainly obvious why that criminal would support Walk on Wilshire.

Jesus Quirk-Silva is just a moron who can’t find his way out of his pants wearing wife’s political shadow.

He’s a lame duck anyway with redistricting sidelining him for a few years.

But Bruce?!!?

He has consistently challenged zone changes, government’s heavy handedness, and city thumb on the scale for years.

So why would an anti-government interventionist support this?

Ronald Reagan warned that the top 9 most terrifying words in the English Language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.

Maybe Bruce is not at the wheel anymore.

Fullerton can’t figure out street and road repair with most residents living in street conditions resembling a third world country.

Yet somehow, its City Council and its small group of vocal influencers want to have their cake and eat it too by saving its failed Museum, its Fox Theatre, its outdated library, its overgrown parks system, and “community” events like Founders Day.

Keep spending taxpayer money on closing perfectly good streets like Wilshire Avenue so businesses that financially support Zahra get a financial kickback disguised as public safety benefits.

We need leadership Bruce!

I miss the old Bruce, straight from the ‘Go Bruce!

August 7, 2022August 7, 2022Ahmad Zahra

City Council Election Update

by The Fullerton Harpoon19 Comments

As a public service to Fullertonions, we here at FFFF like to keep folks apprised of who’s who in the political zoo.

And so, with 5 days left for November 2022 City Council election filing, we present those who have “pulled papers” in order to qualify for the ballot. Here’s the current list:

The list wasn’t very big around, but it sure was short…

In D5 we see Shana Charles, whom we have already introduced, here. This individual is part of the academic healthy neighborhoods mafia who mobilize Latinas to babble about things about which they are completely ignorant. She is buddies with the egregious Ahmad Zahra, which tells you all you want to know about her. She will try to mobilize the hard-core lefties over CSUF way, but are there really that many of them?

Doctor Shana has an opponent, a person called Arnel Dino. Mr. Dino is on the Fullerton Planning Commission, a common stepping stone for the City Council. I’m not familiar with this individual but I will be.

Over in D3 we have Zahra himself, a guy who has tried to cash in regurgitating boohoo generalities and photobombing every picture taken in Fullerton. In 4 years he has accomplished nothing except hiding his own arrest and charge for battery and vandalism against a woman. Even his emergency vote to allow weed stores within 100 feet of a school was later rescinded.

A potential opponent for Zahra is a fellow named Oscar Valadez. I haven’t learned much about this man, but I have been told he works for his long-time Fullerton family business. That alone makes him supremely more qualified than Zahra who apparently has been unemployed since being on the City Council. A guy who pays taxes, employs people, and has a family? Hmm.

At the bottom of the list we find somebody named “Tony Castro” who pulled papers the very day after Mr. Valadez. That makes one wonder. Nobody I have spoken to knows anything about this individual which leads me to smell a rat. Or in this case, a rata. It’s an old trick to find a patsy to enter a political campaign to split off an opponents votes, in this case, possibly Latino voters. Who would benefit from this? Why, the ethically-challenged Zahra, of course. So we’ll be keeping an eye on Tony Castro and will let the Friends know what’s going on.

July 30, 2022July 30, 2022About Us

FEEL THE BERN! FEEL THE BURN!

by Emily Roe17 Comments

Amateurs and concerned residents who attend Fullerton City Council meetings to address grievances and gripes are off limits from FFFF evaluation.

But professionals like labor unions and social “justice” non-profits are fair game.

FFFF regularly shines our light on them.

Which brings us to enemy of the people, Ahmad Zahra, who recently held a fundraiser to kick off his re-election campaign.

Hardly newsworthy.

His guest list, however, was a who’s who of Fullerton’s past failures.

Remember Paul Dudley, the Fullerton Development Department head who brought us the infamous Florentine Bump Out, now Mario Bump Out!

He was there! As was Jan Flory, his boat drinks friend who vacations with the former city staffer Dudley. She was hangin’ with Ahmad.

The Ahmad endorsed city council candidate Shana Charles walked the Zahra red carpet. She’s a socialist in Dem clothing.

A curious guest of honor was frequent public comment maker and victim to Fullerton’s mean streets and even meaner sidewalks: Bernard.

Berny reads an Ahmad prepared speech at meetings because Zahra is too chicken to debate and risk offending the sensibilities of politically correct liberals.

Berny moans on about how important staff is (a constant suck up of his boss Zahra).

Or you can find him criticizing Bruce, Jung, or Dunlap.

His favorite obsession is Bushala, who just happens to be Ahmad’s infatuation.

Big, bad Bushala who uses his “council majority” a frequently peddled phrase by both Berny and his boss, to pad his own pockets.

No examples are ever provided. Just more pro-Ahmad propaganda.

That is what Fullerton voters can expect from the con artist Zahra.

He is not beyond using the disabled, Latina moms, seniors in mobile home parks, former city councilwomen, all of whom he manipulates with ease for his own personal gains.

Another guest on the Zahra guest list was Fullerton hero firefighter Dan Lancaster, who is the union rep.

Should a current public employee show his face at a campaign fundraiser?

I wonder how much influence he and his heroes have on the decisions Ahmad makes.

According to the Orange County Grand Jury here, Fullerton Firefighters are using million dollar fire trucks to rumble down torn up streets to respond to medical calls instead of nimble paramedic vans.

Medical calls are 80 percent of all fire emergency calls.

The fire hero union and its leader Lancaster are milking Fullerton taxpayers dry in unlimited overtime riding around to car accidents and getting cats out of trees.

There is no accountability and no supervision of their overtime expenses because Ahmad is too busy hosting them at fundraisers.

Zahra, Jung, and Silva were all supported by the fire union with thousands of independent expenditure dollars.

Election season can give Fullerton a new choice away from the status quo support these heroes receive from nearly every politician but Dunlap and Whitaker.

Let’s feel the burn and find more courageous candidates.

The report points out that “sending a 36,000 to 60,000-pound fire engine or aerial ladder truck down residential streets for strictly medical calls is not only dangerous and costly, but it also results in unnecessary wear and tear on our streets.”

Fullerton already has terrible roads.

“To improve the overall response performance of the OCFA delivery system the number of units sent to most emergency medical incidents must be reduced.”

The City Council is expected to consider joining OCFA. If the fire heroes union already owns Zahra, is being in OCFA a forgone conclusion?

“City of Placentia reported that out of 43 fire departments surveyed in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, 27 departments (67 percent) utilize a three-person engine crew. This was the most common standard among the three counties,” concludes the OC Grand Jury.

Fullerton uses a four-person engine crew. That is why the city is forced to pay some of the highest percentages of overtime to its firefighters.

Fullerton taxpayers will keep paying until we have better leaders

July 23, 2022July 24, 2022About Us

Off To The Races

by Emily Roe21 Comments

The starter gun has gone off!

The 2022 race for the Fullerton City Council has begun.

Per the City Clerk, candidates for District 3 and District 5 may begin to pull nomination paperwork starting Monday, July 18, 2022.

The recent redistricting process threw out the previously gerrymandered election map and established a new District 3.

Side note: a casualty of the new map, Jesus Quirk-Silva, who is now in District 2.

Jesus Quirk-Silva will also be sidelined for two years because the next scheduled District 2 election is 2024.

The largest obstacle in what’s left of Jesus Quirk-Silva’s political career will be running for a Council seat in a heavily Republican favored district.

Jesus Quirk-Silva would also have to run against his current Council mate Nicholas Dunlap, who won his election by a landslide.

Only one candidate has “declared”.

Has anyone heard of Shana Charles?

Quick Google search shows she is currently a professor in the Health Science Department at Cal State Fullerton. Google second page discloses she ran for Fullerton Elementary School Board in 2018 and failed.

More research shows she also ran for Fullerton City Council’s appointed seat vacated by the before mentioned Jesus Quirk-Silva in 2019, which brought us the unbearable return of Jan Flory.

She also ran for the vacant Trustee appointment for the Orange County Board of Education in 2022, which Tim Shaw received. Is there anything she won’t run for?

We don’t need another Doug or Paulette Chaffee.

District 5 is more predictable.

Man who never saw a selfie opportunity he didn’t take and criminally charged, woman beater Ahmad Zahra is already proclaiming endorsements and fundraisers for himself, so Fullerton is damned to his candidacy. Again.

Feel free to play along to the Zahra Facebook Drinking Game. Take a shot for every Zahra post that features a badly aimed selfie. You’ll be hammered inside of 5 minutes.

Will Sharon Quirk-Silva endorse him when he was involved in a year long legal fight with her and Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia? Zahra wasn’t the one suing Sharon and poor Cristina Garcia. Danny Fierro did.

Fierro was integrally involved in Zahra’s campaign. Maybe Sharon – like Jesus – forgives our sins! Will Lou Correa endorse a criminal? Will Josh Newman endorse a liar and fraud? These and many other questions will be answered in the coming weeks and FFFF will be holding Democrats Newman, Quirk-Silva, and Correa responsible if they choose to support a man who was arrested by the FPD and charged by Orange County’s DA, Todd Spitzer, for vandalism, graffiti, and battery against a woman, Monica F.

January 22, 2022January 24, 2022Ahmad Zahra

The Second Try

by Mr. Peabody48 Comments

Nothing says 1962 like Fullerton City Hall

Back in 2020 our Lords and Masters at City Hall cooked up a plan to impose a sales tax increase upon people buying stuff in Fullerton. It was staff-driven natch, and lazy liberals Zahra, Quirk-Silva, Flory and Fitzgerald were on board. It was called Measure S. See, they figured the path of least resistance was deploying a new tax rather than finally exercising fiscal restraint.

Measure S soon found itself in the crosshairs of Fullerton anti-tax advocates and some well-placed signs describing the true nature of the beast doomed it to failure come election time.

Well guess what? They’re at it again. This time the idea is something called a Pension Obligation Bond, a mechanism for paying off part of Fullerton’s massive unfunded pension actuarial liability at CalPERS, the State’s giant pension administrator.

An introductory briefing was on the Council’s agenda last Tuesday to start the cheerleading process – a process that will entail the employment of an “expert” who will certainly benefit from a positive result; and of course “bond counsel” the legal camp-followers who push bonds on lazy elected officials after a hot meal and a few glasses of wine.

As everybody knows, the interest on the bonds are ultimately backed up by the collateral of new property taxes. This revenue would go to pay down the pension debt and free up money owed to CalPERS for staff salaries and benefits that will ultimately, and ironically, increase pension debt.

Here’s the second kicker: because a pension obligation bond is not deemed new debt, per se, but a sort of pea-under-the-walnut shell maneuver, no vote of the people is required – as it is in the case of general obligation bonds. It just gets “validated” by a judge and goes through on the nod unless challenged. Ouch. Of course the Council, if it wanted to could put the issue on a ballot anyhow, if they chose to move ahead with this scheme.

Of course the strategy for this type of thing is to reprimand opponents by citing the fact that the daily cost is little more than a Big Mac, or some other trifle and in return we get…what do we get again? Our loyal and devoted “public safety” club will almost certainly gobble up the lion’s share of this taxpayer largesse, just like they already do, and we’ll be even worse off than we already are, and no desperately needed cultural changes will have been made.

I looked over the agenda material on line and found nary a clue as to how this was even agendized. Another smoke screen protecting somebody.

January 17, 2022January 17, 2022Ahmad Zahra

Real Competition for Bud Chaffee

by The Fullerton Harpoon18 Comments

Our 4th District County Supervisor, Doug “Bud” Chaffee probably figured he’d receive some token Republican competition in a re-election campaign this year. Another dud opponent in a district going blue for good.

What he probably didn’t expect was competition from members of his own party. FFFF has already chronicled the backroom ambitions of Ahmad Zahra whose only legitimate interest is getting name recognition.

Buena Park City Councilwoman Sunny Park stands accused of stealing campaign signs critical of her 2018 run. (Courtesy of Sunny Park)

Well, now he has a another opponent: Democrat Sunny Park of Buena Park’s City Council. Ms. Park has put out notices ‘n everything, so it’s a real deal. Whether she too, is in it for name recognition, is highly likely. There are less than 5 months to the June 7 Primary so good luck, Sunny.

The fact that Chaffee is being challenged by members of his own tribe suggest a deep dissatisfaction with his feeble presence at the County where he seems to be nothing but a puppet of Republican crook, Supervisor Andrew Do. Chaffee’s vulnerable.

Paulette Stolen Sign — Crime doesn’t always pay in Fullerton…

And finally, an amusing coincidence vis-a-vis Park and Chaffee. During her first campaign Sunny was busted stealing campaign signs pronouncing her a carpetbagger; and of course Bud Chaffee’s wifie, Paulette, was caught stealing signs naming her a carpetbagger, too!

And that’s where I put the sign in the back of the car…

Sunny lawyered up and took her case to a jury who hanged itself 10-2 for acquittal. Pilferin’ Paulette pleaded guilty to petty theft, paid Tony Bushala $20, and did some piddling “community service” which she may or may not have used for photo ops.

December 12, 2021December 12, 2021A Step in the Right Direction

Hansburg Says Sayonara

by Joe Sipowicz28 Comments

Last Wednesday, Elizabeth Hansburg quit the Fullerton Planning Commission.

FFFF has already introduced Ms. Hansburg to the Friends, noting her involvement in the drive to cover Fullerton in penitentiary-like apartment blocks. Her “non-profit” is used to provide Astroturf support for developers of huge housing projects and of course donations from said developers are always welcome.

Ms. Hansburg was also part of the shadowing clan that developed a new housing plan that almost nobody knew anything about until it was conceptually presented the the City Council. The idea was (and is) to achieve the preposterous new housing unit needs count – 13,000 -proffered by SCAG, the Southern California Association of Government – an unelected agency run by and for bureaucrats and their Big Ideas.

Well, anyhow, Hansburg has had enough. Here’s her petulant good-bye speech at the end of the meeting in which she attacks the City Council, bemoans the loss of her beloved fellow 5th Columnists in City Hall, and of course praises the contemptible camera hog and credit thief, Ahmad Zahra.

Consistently awful…

Self-righteous, indignant, know-it-all. Hansburg went out of her way to promote God-awful projects that were intrusive, obnoxious, and promised a tsunami of negative impacts on our neighborhoods including more parking disasters.

Good riddance. This is exactly the sort of person that causes regular folks to be wary of self-proclaimed “experts” and the bureaucracies they love so dearly. Now she can peddle her services to developers free from legitimate charges of conflict of interest.

December 4, 2021Ahmad Zahra

The Deal

by Joe Sipowicz17 Comments

When he’s not lecturing us on ethics, Fullerton City Councilman Ahmad Zahra climbs down from his high horse to participate in all sorts of activities that don’t seem very ethical at all.

Zahra-Busted — It’s the though that counts…

We have seen how he became embroiled in a battery and vandalism case in which he had the record permanently sealed. He claims exoneration but word has escaped the DAs office that Zahra pleaded guilty, did community service had had his record expunged.

We have also seen how Zahra claimed authorship of Water District-related articles actually ghost-written by a district bureaucrat; and how he tried to leverage this pseudo-expertise to keep his well-compensated seat on that board.

Grab it and consume it as fast as you can…

Then there’s the about-face Zahra played on the suckers of Fullerton when he announced that the open seat on the Council should be decided by a vote, and then promptly voted to appoint Jan Flory to the vacancy at the behest of Jennifer Fitzgerald.

And that last bit is what this story is about. The deal that Zahra cut with Fitzgerald to appoint Flory and get himself appointed to the lucrative Orange County Water District Board, a board that pays stipends for all sorts of meetings and sub-committee meetings.

Check this out:

Just before Zahra was replaced on the Water Board in 2021 by Bruce Whitaker, the District paid $10,000 to “CL7” for something called a “OC Water Special Water Insert.” I don’t know what that means, but I do know that CL7 is the name of Jennifer Fitzgerald’s side biz – when she wasn’t using the City to make bank for lobbyist Curt Pringle. So what’s going on here? A little gravy slopping out of the boat, or a legitimate job for a real public service? Knowing Fitzgerald’s complete lack of ethical compass and her influence peddling, I would bet on the former. Easy enough to find out: a PRA on the work order and a sample of the work product, and maybe any correspondence regarding this contract ought to do it.

And did Zahra have a role in this little handout? Was this a little payback for getting appointed in the first place? These sorts of little deals happen in OC political/government circles all the time. It’s all just easy government cheese. Maybe Zahra will be forthcoming about what this was all about. Maybe, but don’t count on it.

November 30, 2021December 2, 2021A Step in the Right Direction

Fish Farm Failure

by Joe Sipowicz7 Comments

Some folks might think that continuing conversation about Jesus Quirk-Silva’s and Ahmad Zahra’s aquaponic farm/event center scheme would be like smacking a dead mackerel.

The train of thought was weak but it sure was short…

Well, here at FFFF we believe it’s never a bad idea to remind the public of hare-brained proposals made by bureaucrats and supported by bobble-headed politicians.

So to recap: last spring the Fullerton City Council deliberated on a scheme to create an aquaponic farm on the site of the abandoned Union Pacific Park site. The problem was that the exclusive negotiating deal was with a guy who had no financial wherewithal and proposed an event center on the site – just like he had done in Anaheim and Aliso Viejo. Staff even dredged up a last minute “partner” to sell the deal. The idea was rejected, but not for lack of trying.

And we have just received word from down south in Aliso Viejo about the negative impacts of an identical operation there, Renewable Farms, run by the same people.

Let’s hear from a MV resident to a concerned Fullerton resident:

My name is Dena LeCave and I am a resident of Aliso Viejo. While looking into information and press on Renewable Farms I came across a story from the Fullerton Observer regarding the aforementioned. I wish to congratulate you on terminating your contract with Renewable Farms. As a long time resident of the city of Aliso Viejo, 20+ years, I am astonished and horrified by what our city council has allowed to happen to my community, neighborhood and particularly our quality of life since Renewable Farms started hosting wedding receptions on the vacant land behind our home. We live less than 50 yards from the event center for Renewable Farms and they host weddings every single Saturday night and have been doing so since May. The noise, lights, music and constant yelling goes on for 7+ hours.
The city has done little to alleviate the problem and has instead hamstringed us by making these events private by the City, meaning we have almost no recourse in getting them to quiet down.
I do not wish to take up your time, I’m sure you’re quite busy, but if you would like to further discuss our situation you may email me back or call me.
Thank you, and have a good day.

Sincerely,

Dena LeCave

Ms. Le Cave’s words have the ring of truth, all right, and they certainly would have applied to the proposal in Fullerton – problems that show the complete lack of concern, disdain even, that our staff shows for this neighborhood. And then of course there was the attitude shown by Quirk-Silva and Zahra about the residents who would have suffered the negative impacts of this proposal, without so much as a by-your-leave. Their current concern over public input on the park site is extremely recent and undisputedly hypocritical.

The purveyors of bad ideas were holding their own. For a while, anyway.

And of course the deal would have illegally converted a public park into a private, fenced and gated place to hold events, and incidentally an aquaponic facility, effectively giving away parkland – something our City Attorney Dick Jones just got caught approving in Westminster. Of course there was no parking, no business plan and nothing but a site plan to recommend it to the Council, so naturally Quirk-Silva and Zahra latched on to it like a couple of lamprey eels.