Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
and Fullerton College safety officer Dino Skokos is still on paid administrative leave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9KyMyo-fcA
Come to think of it, we’re still waiting for the word on Fullerton PD’s criminal investigation into this assault and battery. Do you think they ever started one?
And what have we heard from Fulleron’s representative on the NOCCCD Board? Deafening silence, of course.
There is a newly minted blog called OC Daily, evidently the brain child of GOP slime ball Dave Gilliard, and operated by another small-time hack named Matthew Cunningham. A Friend directed my attention to this post written by Cunningham about our recent Fullerton election that blames Larry Bennetts’ fourth place finish on a divided GOP – basically throwing the rat on Bruce Whitaker (by name) for not supporting Bennett, due lack of supposed conservative purity on the part of the latter. Cunningham also points out Bennett’s broad bi-partisan support as an indication of his strength.
Since this post shared a link to Bennett’s fabulous list of endorses, I will too. Except that I will pick out a few familiar names and add some piquant commentary that may come as surprise to those who hold the opinion that these endorsements have much value outside the aging little clique who signed on. They won’t surprise you, Friends.
| Bob Huff | CA State Senate bag man for Redevelopment profiteers |
| Dick Ackerman | State Senate Minority Leader – Retired (Tried to sell OC Fair to pals, tried to carpetbag wife into Assembly; 1994 & 2012 recall opponent) |
| Jennifer Fitzgerald | RINO Mayor – lobbyist for Curt Pringle; refuses to release client list |
| Jan Flory | Mayor Pro Tem, 2012 recall opponent; illegal water tax supporter; supported utility tax in 1993 |
| John (Jack) Bedell, Ph.D. | RINO Vice President Orange County Board of Education, recently smeared Chris Norby in BoE election |
| Molly Mc Clanahan | North OC Community College Vice President (recalled from Fullerton council in 1994 for unnecessary utility tax |
| Hilda Sugarman | RINO Fullerton School Board Vice President, |
| Janny Meyer | RINO Fullerton School Board Member; wife of previous city manager |
| Chris Meyer | Former Fullerton City Manager (holder of MASSIVE pension; oversaw a city government with zero accountability) |
| Paul Dudley | Former Director of Community Development (responsible for massive over development of Fullerton) |
| Dick Ackerman | Former Mayor (see above; this scumbag is so repulsive he gets listed TWICE) |
| Don Bankhead | Former Mayor, only person in the history of California to be recalled Twice from the same office |
| Buck Catlin | Former Mayor, recalled in 1994 for imposition of unnecessary utility tax, father of Janny Meyer |
| F. Richard Jones | Former Mayor, recalled in 2012; rude, bombastic Southern-fried imbecile |
| Linda LeQuire | Former Mayor, repulsive former councilperson resurrected for nasty duty every election cycle |
| Molly Mc Clanahan | Former Mayor (also listed TWICE did I metioned she was recalled?) |
| Leland Wilson | Former Mayor,(RINO- mitigating factor – got rid of Flory in 2002) |
| Peter Godfrey | Former Mayor Pro Tem, completely useless RINO |
| Pat Mc Kinley | Former Council Member, recalled in 2012 – created the FPD Culture of Corruption “I hired them all” |
| Jim Blake | Former MWD Board, busted partying on the taxpayers dime as the perpetual appointee to the MWD |
| Rick Crane | Former Planning Commissioner, Redevelopment Agency bonanza beneficiary |
| Samuel Han | Former Planning Commission, Grace Ministries front man for dad and booze peddler map supporter |
| Roy LeQuire | Former Planning Commissioner, spouse of Linda LeQuire, above |
| Wade Richmond | Former Planning Commissioner ( Bankhead crony since the year 1492) |
| Jim Alexander | Local small-time lobbyist |
| Carol Bankhead | Wife of Don Bankhead |
| Karen Dudley | Wife of Paul Dudley, above |
| Norma Jones | Wife of Richard Joes, above |
| Tony Florentine | (Guy who buil restaurant addition on public sidewalk; operated illegal dance club) |
| Pat Florentine | Spouse of sidewalk grabber, above |
| Barbara McKinley | Wife of Pat Mckinley, above |
So, basically Bennett was the front man for Old Fullerton, the same crew that has done everything possible to keep Fullerton in a weird stasis in which they ran the show. These were the people that fought BOTH recalls, tooth and nail; that imposed a utility tax in 1993, that have given away the store to the public employees and upper managers alike; that stole $27,000,000 from us in illegal water taxes, denied it, and never even bothered to say “sorry;” that enabled a Culture of Corruption to pervade the FPD, who denied its existence contrary to all the evidence, and who hid behind their curtains when an innocent man was bludgeoned to death by their own little Praetorian Guard.
And every rancid step of the way proclaiming with hosannas their dedication to “good government.”
These are the people who now survive in ever-dwindling numbers, their days long past, who see in people like Fitzgerald and Bennett some sort of embryonic form in which their own feeble genetic material is passed on.
Blaming Whitaker for not backing Bennett? How about shame on all of those who did? Electing Republicans qua Republicans, even though they are supported by all of Fullerton’s Old Guard liberals, instead of principled conservatives is how we got into the place we are today – awash in red ink, overdeveloped and with zero accountability in sight.
Of course everybody in City hall knew the dirty little secret. The illegal 10% water tax that was hidden by the confusing name of “in-lieu fee.” Year after rancid year the City Fathers and Mothers – from daffy and angry liberal spendthrifts like Molly McClanahan and Jan Flory, to supposed conservatives Dick Ackerman and Chris Norby blessed the scam and put their imprimatur of approval upon it.
Of course they knew, or must have suspected, that the 10% was nothing other than a greasy rake-off that made their jobs easier and rewarded their friends in the bureaucracy. And they knew, or must have suspected, that the various City departments were already charging directly to the Water Fund – in direct contravention to the purpose of the original Resolution that created the”fee.”
This means that because the City departments were already charging to the Water Fund, that cost too jacked up the tax. Double Dip.
And all that free water wasted by the City over the years? You guessed it: the cost jacked up the illegal water tax. Triple Dip.
The fee was set at 10% of gross water revenue, meaning that every time the commodity cost of water went up, or transmission cost went up, so did the absolute amount of the tax itself. Quadruple Dip.
Naturally, the water tax itself was considered to be part of the gross “cost” of the water works, meaning that as the absolute value of the 10% increment rose, so did total of the tax!! The true amount of the tax was 10% of cost plus 10% of the 10%!!! Which is why the tax was actually about 11% of the true cost. Got it? Quintuple Dip.
The defenders of the Old Culture of Corruption and its slimey shakedown want you to believe that everything is pretty okay, that no harm was done, and that refunding any part of this felonious rip-off would just be a big waste of everybody’s time.
Wrong. Accountability and responsibility have their cost. Sooner or later you have to pay the piper.
It’s funny, in a sick sort of way, but the very types who used to bray the loudest about the need for “social justice” have been virtually silent in Fullerton in the wake of the Kelly Thomas murder at the hands of members of an out-of-control police department.
The graying establishment Democrats had been hiding behind their drawn chintz curtains, curled up in an intellectual fetal position on their plastic slip-covered Naugahyde sofas. It was just too scary and, well, controversial to say anything, let alone actually do anything.
Fortunately, others, such as Stephan Baxter, Marlena Carrillo and Lauren Becker are willing to keep up the pressure.
Here is a link to Becker’s website that reminds us exactly what a Culture of Corruption can do, and try to get away with, when left to its own devices. It also reminds us what we can do to push back against an entrenched system.
Democrats like Jan Flory, and Molly McClanahan and Pam Keller didn’t say a word in the aftermath of the murder. No, they only got outraged when people outside their cozy little circle took the reins of government out of the hands of three incompetent old fools.
These people are a lot more worried about the fate of the bureaucracy than they are about the people of Fullerton. All of them.
Here are Jan Flory’s recent musings on the topic of selecting a Fullerton representative for the Metropolitan Water District. Mrs. Flory has herself torqued up into a faux outrage that a council majority may appoint whomever it chooses. It seems she believes that Doug Chaffee should be the Met rep, simply because he wants the job – instead of a “crony.”
Hang in there, Doug!
Too bad Mrs. Flory’s own history turns her indignation into a laughable lie. In 2003 Mrs. Flory, having been kicked off the City Council by the voters tried to represent Fullerton on the Orange County Water District! Back then Flory didn’t care that a duly elected councilman wanted the job. Oh, no. In her delusional state of self-aggrandizement, only she could do it!
But of course it gets worse. Much worse. Flory now attacks Thom Babcock as a “rate payer advocate” (Oh! The horror!). What Flory isn’t telling her 113 friends is that when she was on the City Council, from 1994-2002 she rubber stamped the re-appointment of a useless local hack named James Blake with zero professional credentials, to the MWD. Of course Blake was also a Flory campaign contributor, by why worry about details, right? FFFF has written all about Blake on numerous occasions, including here and here when we tuned him up for unnecessary travel and wining/dining on the water rate payers’ dime.
Looks like the rate payers could use an advocate, and it looks like Jan Flory has once again waterboarded the truth.
Could be. Since July 2011 Recall candidate Doug Chaffee has been the invisible man. No presence at protests, no support of the Recall, no denunciation of the recall, no comment on the Culture of Corruption in the FPD, no defense of the McKinley police regime, either.
Some Democrats who supported Chaffee in 2010 are jumping ship – to independent candidate Matt Rowe. They are claiming that Chaffee is just a mealy-mouthed guy who wants to get elected without saying a damn thing substantive.
Here is a letter from Stephan and Noelle Baxter, and William Zdan sent to our friends at The Fullertonian. It’s a hard-hitting piece, born of the frustration of a politician who is so petrified of saying anything that he says nothing, and evidently stands for nothing.
The choice of Rowe over Doug Chaffee is the proverbial no-brainer. When you check out Chaffee’s supporters you’ll you’ll see the Old Guard Left like Molly McClanahan and Jan Flory who sat on their hands and kept their mouth shut in the wake of the Kelly Thomas murder. Many of his supporters actually oppose the recall and that speaks volumes about what they expect from their boy. He’s even being supported behind the scenes by repuglicans like Dick Ackerman and his sleazy ilk who apparently see in Chaffee their Main Chance.
The opponents of the Fullerton Recall, just like their predecessors in 1994, keep yammering about the “proper” use of the recall process. According to these worthy folks, the power of recall is only to be exercised in cases where an office holder has perpetrated malfeasance in office. Their argument is self-serving. And wrong. Here is what the State Constitution actually says, clearly and succinctly:
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 2 VOTING, INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM, AND RECALL SEC. 13.
Recall is the power of the electors to remove an elective officer.
And that’s it. The rest is all about the technical procedure of doing it. There is no discussion of when recall is appropriate or when it may be used. None. From this terse definition we may reasonably infer that any use of recall is appropriate when the electorate deems it to be so. But what about malfeasance in office? That’s why we have a criminal code!
Of course it hardly needs to be pointed out that the Fullerton Recall has several great reasons to get rid of the Three Dithering Dinosaurs, including failure to lead, creating and tolerating a Culture of Corruption in the FPD, backing an illegal tax on your water for 15 years, and of course, let us not forget, all those insider deals to cronies and campaign contributors in which they gave away streets, sidewalks and government subsidies worth millions.
Anyway, next time you hear somebody like Molly McClanahan or Jan Flory cluck-clucking about this, be sure to to ask them if they’ve ever even bothered to read the State’s Constitution.
I want to know why Dick Ackerman hates Fullerton so much. You may wonder at the question, but to me the fact that he does is inescapable.
The Dickster used to live in Fullerton many years ago, and sat on the city council. His claim to fame was excluding Democrat Molly McClanahan from the mayorship year after year.
Subsequently Ackerman has never seemed to want to let go of Fullerton, possibly because he saw the opportunity to ascend the political ladder on our backs. After getting elected to the State Assembly and then the State Senate, Fullerton was ever on his mind. When the Legislature redrew district boundaries in 2001, Ackerman’s 33rd Senate District shifted way south, which was convenient for Ackerman who had already moved to Irvine. And Fullerton made the trip south, too.
Notice how Fullerton was gerrymandered into a district that extends into south county – virtually to the Pacific Ocean, connected by the thinnest of geographical tendons a few hundred feet wide. It would appear that Dick just couldn’t bear to be separated from his pals in the Fullerton Rotary and the long series of political clowns like F. “Dick” Jones that he helped to foist on us.
After a dismal Sacramento career that included self-serving budget deals and courting lobbyists in Hawaii under cover of a fake charity, Ackerman was mercifully termed out. But the Dick was a long way from finished with Fullerton.
In 2009 an embarrassing opening occurred for the 72nd Assembly District. Not one to let an opportunity for political greasing to pass him by, Ackerman set up his wife Linda to run in a special election to represent Fullerton. Forget for a moment that Linda A was less qualified than a ling cod.
There was a bigger problem: the Ackermans lived in a secret, gated community – in Irvine! No problem for the ethically challenged Dick, who found a compliant stooge in Fullerton willing to pretend the Ackerman lived in his spare room! A rancid collection of repuglicans including Ed Royce, Don Bankhead, Dick Jones, and Pat McKinley, lined up to endorse this cheap fraud.
During this campaign Ackerman even tried legal intimidation against Fullerton citizen bloggers on FFFF. Off course we told him to shove it up is lower alimentary canal.
After the saddest, sleaziest campaign imaginable, the Ackerwoman got her posterior kicked by Chris Norby, and the Ackermans almost immediately re-registered to vote, citing as their address the Irvine mini-mansion they never left.
After this attempted swindle, any man with an iota of shame would have left Fullerton forever, but possessing an iota of shame precludes The Dickster. In 2010 Dick was back meddling in Fullerton politics on the Pat McPension bandwagon. Was it a quid pro quo? Who cares? It was definitely a way to create a solid council majority which could be lobbied hard for his new client – St. Antons Partners – that eyed the huge pile of cash the Three Tree Sloths had lined up for Ackerman.
In August 2011, the lobbyist Ackerman called in his markers and got his client jumped from number eight on the list to the top spot for a hyper-dense, massively subsidized public housing project of the type Ackerman railed against when he was seeking election in Fullerton. What a difference 20 years makes.
Comically, at almost the same time Ackerman was also tagged as a defender for inept and corrupt stasis everywhere as he taught a seminar on how to handle people like the good folks in Fullerton who had finally had enough of their government selling out to special interests like him.
And finally, Ackerman continues to wage war against the people of Fullerton, against competent government, against accountability and responsibility; he protects his investment by organizing to fight the Recall of his Three Dim Dinosaurs.
But Ackerman’s ship has sailed. His anti-recall campaign has been an expensive and unmitigated disaster. And when the Recall succeeds, Ackerman will finally be finished in Fullerton. His endorsement will be less than useless and his lobbying for government subsidies will fall on deaf ears. He can spend the rest of his days around the bar, telling anybody who will listen about how important he used to be.
How ashamed can one dog get? I haven’t felt so embarrassed since my mistress had my masculinity removed. Ouch. Thanks to timely reminders from some helpful Friends, I add two late entries to the Nominees in the category. They are ten and eleven. And I predict they will gain immediate support for the award.
– JFD
Still images are fun and artistic, but there’s nothing quite like a little moving picture to stir up some good, clean fun. And in the popular Fringie® category of Best Video, the Nominating Committee had lots of submissions from which to choose. Some have been nominated for their auteurship, others for their comedic value – intended, or otherwise. Enjoy.
1. Back in the innocent days of May 2011 it looked like the most action this blog might see in2011 was a little fun in the sun. Here’s our admin doing a tuck and roll, Glamis-style. His ctitics will note his head goes into the sand, but that’s better than having it go up his backside a la the Three Dead Tree Stumps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DAVMr9iCds2. In June we discovered an amusing video by some entertaining FJC slackers who could tell useless architecture when they saw it. And that puts them way ahead of trustee Molly McClanahan and her pals at Fullerton Heritage. Also notice the appearance of aggrieved FPD trolls in the comments thread.
3. In July we shared the video of Fullerton cops in action, featuring Mr. Kenton Hampton beating up an innocent witness, Veth Mam, for the unforgivable act of video recording the incident. We discovered later that Mam was actually prosecuted and absolved of attacking the cops! Hampton and cohort Frank Nguyen lied on the stand that Mam had jumped on some cop’s back. No charges of perjury from the DA. Hmm.
4. At the end of July we shared the first video of the Kelly Thomas murder, a shocking revelation of the extent of the damage inflicted on the homeless man by a gang of Fullerton cops. 940,00 people have watched this video.
5. In mid-August the weekly protesters took to the streets in a defiant march from the police station to the spot in the Transportation Center where Kelly Thomas was bludgeoned to death by members of the Fullerton police department. For an hour the streets of Fullerton really belonged to us again. Power to the people!
6. In mid-September KFI radio hosts John and Ken invited Fullerton citizenry to honk at FPD HQ in protest of the ham-fisted tickets handed out by Andrew Goodrich, Barry Coffman & Co. And honk they did!
7. Sleepy Bankhead becomes an unintentional movie star.
8. Confusing our tax dollars with handing out candy to kids is nothing new for Doc HeeHaw who’s been doing it for 15 years. Here he is handing out millions of simoleons to the anti-reacall team leader, Dick Ackerman!
9. Will you please shut up!
10. Watch Fullerton cops orchestrate the Tickets for Honkers Scam (see Nominee #6, above) and enjoy union president Barry Coffman harassing a law abiding citizen. And especially notice the last bit where Mr. Desk Cop can’t find the pen hole in his own shirt. I wonder if this is symptomatic issue for Mr. Coffman. Arf!!
11. And here’s an artistic take on Mr. Goodrich & Coffman, courtesy of a creative Friend. Excessive horning? WTF? That’s stupid even to me and I’m just a dog!
Of course the most important video of 2011 is still not available for public inspection. That’s the video WE own. The killers have seen it; their bosses have seen it; the DA and his minions have seen it. But for some reason the people’s elected representatives are still not permitted to see it – denied by the people who ostensibly work for them. We now know that’s just a sham. The cops run Fullerton and thanks to the incompetence of Jones, McKinley and Bankhead they run it any damn way they please. But that’s coming to an end.
When the sun rose on January 1, 2011, who could have foreseen the strange and disturbing circumstance that would produce a veritable cavalcade of scary ghosts from Fullerton’s olden days.
Sweet Baby Jebus!
And who knew that so many vaporous remnants of Fullerton’s horse and buggy days would be putting in appearances to remind us of the bad old days before talking pictures and x-rays.
Damn Recall!
1. First we heard the name A.B. “Buck” Catlin, supporter of the anti-recall crew, and inveterate staff stooge/big government RINO when he was on the City Council in the 1880s. Catlin was a proud supporter of every Redevelopment boondoggle in Fullerton’s history; and some that were so hare-brained even his pals wouldn’t support them. How frightful! Good Old Buck was recalled alongside Don Bankhead and Molly McClanahan for promoting a totally unnecessary utility tax. Wow, things don’t change much around here, do they? Shriek!
2. Another scary ghost reappeared to support the Three Dithering Dinosaurs: the hideous spectral phenomenon known as Linda LeQuire. Linda’s image does not appear in mirrors or photographs so you’ll just have to take our word for it. She also popped up to haunt Fullerton two years ago, so I guess we’re just going to have to get used to these biennial visitations! Brrrr!
3. Then there was the horrifying and serial re-appearances of my former, broomstick wielding mistress, Jan Flory. Like her former colleagues she too glady voted to approve an illegal 10% tax on your water bills. Even her offspring are creepy. That’s enough to make you cough up your kibble! EEK!
4. Some purists may quibble that Molly McClanahan can’t possibly be a eerie apparition since she is actually an elected member of the North Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees. But if that isn’t an insubstantial graveyard I don’t know what is. Like Catlin, and Bankhead, McClanahan was recalled in 1994 for backing that shameful utility tax; her eerie manifestation in defense of the indefensible Three Sluggish Sloths says all that need be said about this transparent emanation.
5. And finally, in 2011 we were treated to a horrifying visitation from the Great Beyond in the vacuous form of former city councilwoman Pam Keller. Don’t be fooled by any apparent substance. There’s no there, there.
First she showed up to scream union slogans into a radio show mike; later she appeared at a city council meeting in some sort of cryogenic suit. If that don’t send you shrieking into the night then I don’t know from Milk Bones. Boo!
Feel free to run screaming into the night, yourself.