Friends For Fullerton's Future

December 27, 2011December 27, 2011Fullerton City Council

It’s a Long Way to San Clemente

This letter just came in from councilman Bruce Whitaker, who seems to be a bit peeved that the wayward FPD is still slithering along without a leader. The pictures are courtesy of FFFF. Enjoy!

In less than a week, the City of Fullerton will be more than one year derelict in enforcing performance of a critical requirement outlined in its employment agreement with current Chief of Police, Michael Sellers.

I have frequently asserted in print, television and radio interviews that Sellers is in violation of a residency requirement (point #11) which states “Sellers will make a bona fide effort to relocate his primary residence to Fullerton no later than December 2010.”

Chief Sellers Good Times — 'Twas the best of times...

Though hired two and a half years ago, Sellers continues to reside in San Clemente where his home is 43 miles from the Fullerton Police Station. Of California’s 69 cities with a population of 100,000 or more, Fullerton is the ONLY city whose police chief resides more than 40 miles away. The vast majority of California cities are served by chiefs who reside within the city they serve.

In my opinion, the clear intent of the council at that time was to compel Sellers to relocate to Fullerton, no later than December 2010. Merely making “an effort” would provide no value or benefit whatsoever, the intent was for him to live here. The Chief’s being less than an hour away was not just preferred, but essential. Since leadership in an emergency, and understanding fully the community one serves are core, critical requirements . . . without agreeing to this point, would Sellers even have been hired in the first place?

A strong case can be made that since San Clemente home values are 74% higher than in Fullerton there is no financial barrier for Sellers refusal to comply. In any event, it is Sellers burden to prove that he has met requirements in the employment agreement. Despite my efforts, an aggressive legal interpretation, one which would protect Fullerton taxpayers interests has not surfaced.

San Clemente Sunset — Fullerton? Just a distant memory now.

It is nearly 2012 and Sellers remains the Chief of Police, a current employee of the City of Fullerton. Immediate action is required to enforce this contract which even a year later is still being violated without consequence. It should have long ago been rendered “null and void.” It remains for the council majority to explain how “giving away public money” is a preferable course of inaction.

-Bruce Whitaker

December 27, 2011December 27, 2011I Aint a Swallerin That

Is Goodrich on Thin Ice?

by Mr. Peabody23 Comments

Here’s a Lou Ponsi effort from The Register, December 21.

Describing ongoing investigations by a special consultant, Ponsi notes a second investigation, as described by outgoing “Acting Chief” Kevin Hamilton:

a second (investigation) is on “allegations of misinformation disseminated from Fullerton P.D,” Hamilton said;

Wow. I didn’t know Michael Gennaco had been directed to look into the disinformation campaign waged by the FPD in the aftermath of the Kelly Thomas killing. Maybe I wasn’t paying sufficient attention. It’s going to be really hard for Gennaco to whitewash the various and multiple deliberate falsehoods uttered by police spokeshole Andrew Goodrich.

After the killing, when the perp-cops were still on duty pretending nothing had happened, Goodrich began lying to the press. First was the characterization of Thomas as combative and violent, two assertions we now know were false; then there was the whopper about cops receiving serious injuries – broken bones in fact. Later Goodrich was forced to admit to squishy “soft tissue” injuries of some sort, although the broken bone lies and the mischaracterization of the beating death, alternatively as a “tussle,” “scuffle,” “confrontation,” or “fight” was perpetuated, and never corrected. In fact Register scribes still insist on avoiding the use of the phrase “beating death.”

Goodrich was also quick to note that Thomas had objects not his own in his possession, that he knew was nothing more than trash fished out of a train station trash can.

Thin Ice — It won't support much weight...

Goodrich whoppers in other cases surfaced this fall, too. Like the sad defense of Kenton Hampton and Frank Nguyen whose untruths were an attempt to convict the completely innocent Veth Mam of assaulting cops. After a jury unanimously acquitted Mam, Goodrich’s lame defense was that the cops did not commit perjury because they thought they had the right man, a story that requires us to substitute utter incompetence for outright perjury. Well, take your pick. It hardly matters anymore.

If Gennaco’s investigation really is legit, and if Goodrich wants to save his oily hide, he may have to finger somebody higher up.

In any case, let’s hope the new “Acting” Chief Hughes starts acting, and starts by putting the odious and arrogant Goodrich where he belongs – behind the wheel of a squad car; or better yet, pounding the Barf Beat in downtown Fullerton.

December 26, 2011Dead heads

More Carnage in Downtown Fullerton

by Mr. Peabody54 Comments

So reports the Register, here. Seems a serious accident took place. Wednesday, at 1:45 in the morning.

Apparently some pedestrians (i.e. jaywalkers) were crossing mid-block on Harbor between Santa Fe and Commonwealth. They were smacked by a northbound vehicle into the southbound lane, where injury was added to injury. The victims were reported to be in critical condition at UCI, favored treatment locale for DTF trauma victims.

In what must have been an attempt at deadpan humor, the register’s Denisse Salazar’s writes:

The investigation is continuing, and it’s not yet known if alcohol played a role in the accident.

Of course we will be told that the open air booze-a-thon created by the Fullerton City Council played no part in the accident.

December 25, 2011Small Stuff Adds Up

Making’ Ya Work Hard to Get Yer Two Bucks Back!

by Joe Sipowicz136 Comments

My grandfather Casimir once told me you can always gauge the overall performance of an organization by its attention to seemingly small details. Here’s a video that shows that something’s not quite right at the Fullerton Public Library.

The idea that these folks are disabling their own DVDs is just sort of funny. But really? It takes the City four weeks to cut a $2 check? Of course processing and mailing that check is going to cost a lot more than two bucks.

December 23, 2011"Dick" Ackerman

Heeeeere’s Molly!

by admin165 Comments

Almost on cue, who pops up to start cluck-clucking anti-recall nonsense? That’s right, the old dithering bird-brain herself, Molly McClanahan, who was recalled in 1994 for instituting an unnecessary utility tax.

Enjoy the vague abstractions and self-righteous pontification. You are left to your own devices to figure out what in the hell “emotional mischief” is. It’s anybody’s guess.

Let Molly do what Molly does best: babble idiocy about “the body politic” and the “soul of the City.” Let Molly roll out the same garbage she did eighteen years ago: that recall is only supposed to punish “malfeasance.” Wrong, dingbat. That’s what the Penal Code is for. Recall was instituted in California to get rid of politicians who had obviously failed in their duty to their constituents by placing special interests first. And that is precisely what has happened in Fullerton. And that’s why the recall of ’12, like that of ’94, is going to succeed.

December 23, 2011December 23, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Your Tithe is Man-dated At The Altar of The Almighty Bureaucrat

by The Desert Rat20 Comments

cath1-29 — The upkeep just kept getting more expensive...

Everybody who goes to church is familiar with the concept of tithing – literally giving one tenth of your income to support the church and its good works. Of course the act is voluntary.

The people who pay for water from the Fullerton Water Works have been paying a tithe, too. You see, since 1970 the Citycrats have decreed that ten percent of the cost of a monopoly supplying you with water will be added to your bill, and then be immediately re-directed to the City’s General Fund.

In the early days, when water was dirt cheap it was a way to help pay for certain indirect costs of employees who were considered overhead support for the water works. It was called an “in-lieu franchise fee” like the ones the City charges other utilities to operate in Fullerton. Still, there was an immediate problem that nobody addressed: it was bad management, and bad accounting, and opened the door for all sorts of abuse. Decades later, in 1997, Proposition 218 was passed that specifically addressed the scam of governments charging “fees” that were nothing more than hidden taxes – just like Fullerton’s 10% in-lieu fee. It was now required that fee amounts be established through objective supportable analysis that was conducted transparently, in the light of public scrutiny. No longer could governments legally charge for more than any service was worth.

But Fullerton did. For 15 years the City continued to charge, then rake off a ten percent tribute from the Water Fund that went to pay for things like pensions and pay raises for all Fullerton city employees, stuff that had nothing to do with providing water to you. Not only did the city councils know about the scam, they heartily approved the slight-of-hand, year after year.

Meantime, the cost of water skyrocketed, increasing nearly 350% between 1997 and now, jacking up the illegal tax from $700,000 a year in 1997 to over $2.5 million a year now. That’s a rate of about 23% a year, just in case you’re inclined to keep track. A staggering total of almost $27 million has been surreptitiously extorted from you since Proposition 218 went into effect.

Those who support this cheapjack end run think it’s right and proper for you to pay this tithe without your knowing it, and without your consent. After all they’ve had plenty of opportunity to insist, at least, that notification of the 10% diversion be made on each water bill. But they never have. And that’s because their first priority is continue funding six-figure pensions, automatic raises for employees, and all the other things that constitute business as usual in their Church of The Almighty Bureaucrat. It’s their church, and as far as the High Priests and pharisees are concerned, you taxpayers can just sit in the back pew, way, way back there in the dark, and keep your mouths shut.

December 22, 2011December 22, 2011Behind Closed Doors

The Numbers Are In — The Illegal Water Tax Cost Us $27 Million Since 1997

by admin36 Comments

The City of Fullerton bookkeepers have provided us with a summary of the money illegally added to our water bills over the last 15 years, and boy does it add up. You see, 10% has been added on to our water rates, then immediately siphoned off to pay for non-water related expenses.

Where does the money go, you ask? Well, among other things it goes to pay for Pat McKinley’s bloated pension, stays at four-star hotels for Don Bankhead and Dick Jones, etc., etc., etc. Feel violated by the scam? You should.

Here’s the shameful tally. Read. Weep.

Year	Illegal Franchise Tax
1997	$704,480.50
1998	$1,281,107.00
1999	$1,364,716.00
2000	$1,456,399.00
2001	$1,435,202.00
2002	$1,558,578.00
2003	$1,576,091.00
2004	$1,775,133.00
2005	$1,771,294.00
2006	$2,065,417.00
2007	$2,287,693.00
2008	$2,278,041.00
2009	$2,388,515.00
2010	$2,479,930.00
2011	$2,532,595.00
Total	$26,955,191.50

December 22, 2011December 22, 2011Law N Disorder

What is Corruption?

by Mr. Peabody107 Comments

That is a rather provocative question, and it came up in a comments thread in another post. The comments were by frequent guest “Vernon Dozier” and our own one-armed gunslinger, Joe Sipowicz. Here’s what they had to say:

#48 by Vernon Dozier on December 22, 2011

There is zero, I repeat zero evidence that the entire Fullerton Police Department is corrupt. Some of the people on this blog have such hatred for police in general they will go after anybody in the department for no reason at all.

I think it’s completely reasonable to point out the faults of the police here, but it needs to be tempered with the GOOD that is done by the GOOD officers of the department. The morale is very bad at the Fullerton PD right now. An insider recently told me that numerous officers are considering employment with other cities. Who’s going to replace them? Who would want to work for Fullerton PD when certain residents – and commenters on this blog – automatically will hate them because of their career choice? The longer people continue with unsubstantiated trash talk, the worse this problem becomes.

Eventually it will get so bad, the only people willing to work for Fullerton PD are clones of Cicinelli and Ramos.

Do you really want that?

Reply Quote

#49 by Joe Sipowicz on December 22, 2011

Vernon, your statement rests upon the definition of “corrupt.”

How can so many instances of law-breaking by members of the FPD have occurred without the knowledge and silent acquiescence of the whole crowd. I am not being flip here. We’ve identified around twenty cops with direct knowledge or participation in crimes/coverups. So what was Hughes doing? What was Hamilton doing? What were the rest of the 120 sworn cops doing?

That’s right, going along – for their FPOA brethren, their early retirement and their six-figure pensions.

Is that a form of corruption? You tell me.

Good point, counter point. Do good people look the other way when bad things are being done? Does that make them no longer good? Feel free to share your thoughts.

As to Vernon’s point about good cops not wanting to work in the current environment, that’s hard to argue with. However, I would think that good cops would want to work in an environment where honor really means something. Right now it’s all a sham and almost everyone knows it. And it’s not “trash talk” to call it like it is.

We need a new, zero-tolerance cop culture run by a chief who will not mistake protecting the institution with his real responsibility to the people of Fullerton. Hard to find? probably. Can our current council find the right man, or woman? Unlikely. But it’s a job that needs to be done and soon.

As the criminal, federal and civil lawsuit costs keep mounting, not even the most die-hard FPD defenders will be able to deny it.

December 22, 2011December 22, 2011About Us

Fullerton Is Under Attack!

by Joe Sipowicz23 Comments

Last night my compadre the Harpoon penned an angry response to words attributed to outgoing “Acting” Chief Kevin Hamilton that Fullerton was “a town under attack.”

It was a good try, but Harpoon missed the point. Fullerton is under attack!

Fullerton is under attack by a rogue police force that couldn’t control its own uniformed hoodlums, even if it wanted to. And apparently it doesn’t.

Fullerton is under attack by a sclerotic trio of antiquated imbeciles who will never take responsibility for their own failure of leadership.

Fullerton is under attack by a bureaucracy that has fraudulently duped the water rate payers for at least 15 years by tacking on a 10% tax on their water bills without a single effort to inform them about it. Every step of the way in this squalid scam the City Council nodded agreement, and said nothing.

Fullerton is under attack from the Redevelopment Army of jobbers, fixers, bag, men, whores, and other assorted camp followers who want to divert funds from necessary public use into the pockets of favored “developers,” consultants, and lobbyists. And our Three Sclerotic Tree Sloths? Bamboozled? Of course not. These supposedly staunch conservatives are hooked on the smack of Central Government Economic Planning like a street hype is to his junk.Jones even referred to Redevelopment money as candy to be handed out to deserving kids.

Think the threat is false? Even now the Three Dry Wells are pursuing a legal battle to illegally broaden Fullerton’s Redevelopment zone into areas where there is no blight, a basic legal requirement.

Fullerton is under attack by an ignorant, somnolent, rude, self-righteous Turgid Trio that has left the city’s infrastructure a mess, the citizens in fear of their safety, and budget reserves depleted.

Yes Fullerton is under attack. Harpoon got one thing right. We are Fullerton. And we’re fighting back

December 21, 2011December 21, 2011Dead heads

Hamilton Makes It Official: Fullerton Under Attack!

by The Fullerton Harpoon75 Comments

In case you missed it, the City Hall cheerleading Fullerton Stories website did a typical fluff post on the departure of Sylvia Palmer-Mudrick, the person who has been writing all those propaganda press releases that Jackie Brown, Barbara Giasone, and Lou Ponsi have been re-typing under their own names for the past twenty-five years. Good-bye Sylvia, enjoy your pension.

What caught my eye was the remarkable quote by four-month old “Acting” Chief (and soon to be massive pension recipient) Kevin Hamilton, who coughed up this oily hairball:

“Sylvia loves this town with all of her heart. She’s (recently) seen a side of Fullerton she’s never seen before … a town under attack.

“She continues to defend the reputation of this city, and she would give her life for this town,” Hamilton said.

A town under attack? Really?

And just who the in Hell do you think you are you jackass? It was your police force that robbed, beat up, perjured, sexually assaulted, and murdered innocent citizens. How goddam dare you claim that the City is under attack.Your filthy, corrupt department is under attack – by us, the citizens of Fullerton. We are the City, not you and your gang of thugs, hoodlums and pickpockets.