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What’s going on tonight in Fullerton? I have no idea. But these guys do:
Inside Fullerton is a new website that posts the latest happenings in Fullerton’s restaurants, bars, shops, theaters and everywhere else you can think of.
The site seems to update once or twice a day. That’s quite a lot of work. In fact, there’s only one other Fullerton site that can pull that off, and it’s us!
Welcome to the world wide web, Inside Fullerton.
Yesterday I put up a post on a recent Register article about…well, I still don’t know what it was really about, but it had to do with graffiti in Fullerton. I noted somewhat acerbically that the authors, Townsend & Terrell, cited some cop from LA who worried about Fullerton’s “Art Scene” as somehow being a catalyst for graffiti!
Now let’s consider the rest of the piece. The title asks a question that is meant to be provocative, and it succeeds; but the article only dances around the topic from there on out. Hmm. Asking provocative questions then letting them dangle. Almost sounds like irresponsible bloggery to me.
First we note that only some buildings in the 600 block of Williamson are cited as typical of the sort of graffiti train riders see all the way to LA. And Deputy Thibodeaux is only concerned that Fullerton could become a “mecca” for taggery, thus echoing the tentative nature of the headline.
A city employee is invited to comment on the situation:
Fullerton Maintenance Services Manager Bob Savage said he’s seen the square footage of graffiti the city paints over increase sevenfold in the last 15 years. (A link. To a 2006 article that includes a very interesting Anaheim quotation: Community Preservation Manager Bill Sell said there’s no indication that graffiti is increasing, but the city is tracking it more closely.)
“When I first started 15 or 16 years ago, I was doing about 100,000 square feet (per year),” Savage said. “Now, I’m up to about 700,000.”
That sure sounds impressive. But could it be that Mr. Savage’s four man crew has grown and is now just doing a more thorough job, or is responding to faster response times? It’s possible. Hard to tell.
As to the actual statistics we still don’t really know much since the article only cites County-wide convictions for vandalism, not just graffiti: 85 in 2000, 321, in 2009. In 2010 the numbers seem to be going down. No data for Fullerton, no useful statistics at all to support some existing or impending apocalyptic wave; just a story from a property manager along the train tracks where tagging is likely always high.
Back to Mr. Thibodeaux, who starts talking tough about resolving a problem that has still not been established. Mr. T. breaks out this scary screamer:
“Technically, these crews fall under the Street Terrorism Protection Act,” Thibodeaux said.
Oh boy! Now we have another “War” on our hands!
Of course this is an age-old ploy as the authors try to fool us into thinking some sort of case has been made and now opinions for a solution must be solicited. But then they foul up their own strategy by inviting comment from an old pal of ours, as the story takes an abrupt turn:
Fullerton Police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said that Fullerton isn’t known to have a big problem with graffiti, and most of the tags that maintenance services covers up are black scrawls, often connected with street gangs. The vandal’s purpose is the message, not any artistry in the tag itself, he said.
Now we have one cop talking about tagging crews and another who says the real problem is gang markings and suggests that maybe Fullerton isn’t in any way unique. What a cluster. And Mr. Savage, it turns out, agrees that most of the graffiti is “nuisance stuff,” not “art” although the distinction is probably lost on the property owner who has to pay to get it removed. Parenthetically we note that Savage actually admires “street art”:
“Some of it is just beautiful artistry, that’s all there is to it,” he said.
The article stumbles toward a blurry finish line by stubbornly clinging to the still unsubstantiated fact that graffiti is on the rise in Fullerton. Evidence that it is seemingly on the decline in Placentia, as well as in cash laid out for graffiti removal by the OCTA is posited as if to somehow indirectly support the thesis that there is a peculiar graffiti problem in Fullerton:
Although graffiti is still a significant problem in nearby Placentia, incidents have dropped over the last five years, with graffiti reports in the city shrinking by more than 40 percent between 2006 and 2010, according to police department records.
Most Orange County cities have started using the Orange County Sheriff Department’s online tracking system to share and track graffiti incidents, helping law enforcement officials in OC and neighboring counties identify and prosecute tagging crews. The collaboration, which includes Fullerton, is helping to reduce graffiti in the county, said Ramin Aminloo, senior developer for the sheriff’s department.
Since the Tracking Automated and Graffiti Reporting System’s implementation three years ago, the amount of cash shelled out by the Orange County Transportation Authority to clean up graffiti has dropped from $283,000 in 2007 to less than $170,000 in 2009, according to the sheriff’s department.
Hmm. If we accept the premise of our authors, we are now inevitably forced to ask: is the anti-graffiti collaboration really failing in Fullerton? But of course local reporters are not taught to mention embarrassing things like failure, and so the possibility is not even addressed in the article – which should really be the most significant part of the story if graffiti actually is on a precipitous rise here.
The piece mercifully ends with the obligatory interview with a vandal and a former vandal to get their perspective, and a posting of the city’s hotline.
At least by the end of this hodge-podge of logic and confusion nobody is blaming Fullerton students and artists for urban social pathology.
A recent article on Fullerton graffiti by professional reporters Adam Townsend and Jessica Terrell of the Orange County Register, Junior Grade, sets all sorts of standards for general slackery; yet the worst part of it was taking some lame-brain LA County Deputy Sheriff as an authority – on anything.
The Deputy Sheriff, Mike Thibodeaux, knows all about graffiti from his day job in LA. And at night he comes home to Orange County, and to Townsend and Terrell, seemingly, that makes him an authority on graffiti in Fullerton. Here’s the egregious Deputy Thibodeaux worrying out loud about the fate of Fullerton, and his analysis of the situation:
He said that he worries Fullerton may become a mecca for graffiti artists. He cited the youth culture around Cal State Fullerton, the proliferation of tattoo shops to which graffiti artists often gravitate as a career move and the thriving legitimate arts scene in the town.
Mecca. Well, you can’t have a Mecca without a jihad.
And of course the idiotic statement goes unchallenged by our intrepid reporters by at least asking for a single shred of evidence tying graffiti to “youth culture” at CSUF, tattoo parlors, or even legitimate artists.
Say, what is “youth culture,” anyway?
More on the graffiti story to follow.
On Tuesday, four OC Supervisors voted to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated County areas. Only one voted in support – and that someone was Fullerton’s Shawn Nelson, who emphasized that medical MJ was the will of the people and also explained to me that it would encourage a black market for medically helpful marijuana. As Supervisor Nelson pointed out, government spends way too much time trying to figure out how to thwart what people want instead of facilitating it. According to Nelson, the main issue is “zoning.” Medical marijuana is legal in California and the County of Orange should not use proscriptive use zoning within the County’s jurisdiction that would ban any dispensaries from distributing medical marijuana, or prohibit activity that is already illegal.
The proposed ordinance lumped “sales” and “dispensing” into the same category of banned activity. And therein lies the problem.
Just a few years back my friend’s dad died of cancer, he did, however, enjoy a heightened quality of life in his final year once he got access to medical marijuana. It not only gave him an appetite but it also made him feel better and actually laugh.
Supervisor Nelson showed a lot courage on this vote as the other Supes caved into pressure of the County staff and the Sheriff. Nelson will no doubt draw fire from the army of dead-heads and fake drug warrior ‘pugs who either love the annual billions wasted on the disastrous War on Drugs, or even worse, those who are too chicken to stand up to them.
And I thought Supervisor John Moorlach had more courage than he showed, but boy, I sure got that wrong. Scratch a “conservative,” hit an authoritarian.
Here’s what happens when your school board doesn’t stand up for kids:
There are now only 14 school days in November. Why? Because the school union demanded days off instead of pay cuts. Sadly, your elected trustees didn’t have the spine to go against them.
Here’s the funny part: the school closures were negotiated by our fainthearted board to prevent some sort of union strike.
So we traded days off due to a strike for… days off.
But rest assured, undereducated children… it was all done in the spirit of “working together,” and only in an effort to do “what’s best for the kids.”
And not in a way you want it to appear.
In an article yesterday, the OC Register lit up Deputy DA Mike Flory for six instances of courtroom misbehavin’ between 2001 and 2005 – more than any other prosecutor in the entire state o’ Californy.
Flory? Why does that name sound familiar? Maybe because this guy is the offspring of former Fullerton Councilmember, Jan Flory.
A study emanating from Santa Clara Law School tracked 707 cases in which Courts of Appeal cited misconduct; then they laboriously tracked down the names.
Apparently the 4th District Court of Appeals in Santa Ana has not been happy with Mr. Flory’s behavior, including his apparent dislike of artists, philosophers, and “Hispanics.”
What has been going on since 2005 is anybody’s guess. We do know that Flory tried to get himself elected judge a couple years ago with disastrous results. As the article acidly notes:
Flory once aspired to be a Superior Court judge, but received criticism during his 2008 run for a judicial seat. Presidents of both the Orange County deputy sheriff’s union and the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association accused Flory of lying in an attempt to secure their endorsement. The Orange County Bar Association rated Flory as “not qualified” to be a judge.
Yikers!
And to cap it off the Assistant DA. Bill Feccia (which I am told is Italian for bullshit) claims the study is somehow biased. Well, let’s have Bill’s own words take us home:
“Mistakes are sometimes made in the heat of battle, and sometimes tempers get frayed,” he added. “But this is the finest class of people you’ll find anywhere.”
It’s that time of year again when Fullerton council selects one of its own to preside over the crackpot, klutzy and expensive meetings it holds.
We count on the hare-brain, corn pone braying of F. Richard “Dick” Jones to supply us with the material we need to keep our ratings up. And so to the question of whether the hot-headed Jones should take up the gavel and lead us into the teens we say: Hell yes!
And let’s not forget that like us, Jones, too, received Weekly OC recognition, but not in a good way.
As a teaser we provide this council-clip of a constituent of marginal competence; it culminates in the inevitable ravings (Ahma Colonel) and crazy gesticulations of Dr. Dick, in response. Rather than let the poor bastard have his say and go away, Heehaw leaps into the breach to defend the honor of…well, of something. He ain’t gonna take no shit from some whacked-out dog face, nuh-uh, noooosirree!
And so we say: Go Doc, go!
So who really is responsible for Fullerton’s out-of-control “public safety” pension vortex?
Here’s a handy list of everyone in the history of Fullerton who’s ever voted for the public safety 3 @ 50 pension scam, and their current whereabouts:
Don Bankhead (R) – Fullerton City Councilmember, and Mayor.
Dick Jones (R) – Fullerton City Councilmember.
Chris Norby (R) – State Assemblyman, 72nd District
Mike Clesceri (R) – is rumored to be working security at suburban Chicago mall.
Jan Flory (D) – tries to remain relevant by stirring up neighborhood resentment against kids riding bikes.
And there you have it. A 5-0 vote. Motion made by Flory and seconded by Norby, to go along with the most irresponsible vote in the history of Fullerton.
Last week a judge stepped in to slow down the sale of the OC Fairgounds to a private developer as reported by the Voice of OC(EA). Seems hizzoner wants some time to look into all the allegations of hanky-panky that have been swirling around for the past year.
More allegations of monkey business at the fair that creates a pattern of obfuscation, disingenuousness, and misfeasance that goes back well over a year.
But wait, hasn’t Tony Rackaukas already blessed the doings with his benediction? Yep, but despite our do-nothing DA’s whitewash of the entire 2009 Summer of Fair Love, lots of people have lingering questions about the role of some of OCs leading repuglicans in this whole mess.
Those doubts are fueled by a guy named David Padilla, a Fair trustee who apparently didn’t go along with his colleagues who were busted trying to create their own entity to acquire the property. As reported in the Daily Pilot, here, and the Voice, here, Padilla, who was recently removed from the Board by outgoing Governor Schwarzenegger, still has lots of unanswered questions himself. And even a few assertions.
One of the most intriguing parts of the story was this:
Among the things the board does not know are details of the activities of the law firm of Nossaman LLP through former State Sen. Dick Ackerman as well as the activities of the county’s lobbyist, Platinum Advisors, which has close ties to county GOP Chairman Scott Baugh.
Padilla was the only board member to respond to public inquiries and records requests for information on the role of both individuals. Padilla said earlier this year that he was told Ackerman was only paid $19,000 for his work.
“I have recently determined, after months of inquiry, they were paid over $150,000 for services I have not been able to get answers for,” Padilla said. “It was my intention to continue to press for the details on both these issues.”
We know that the DA has found nothing untoward in Ackerman’s behavior, despite Ackerman’s own morphing tale, but $150,000 grand would pay for a helluva lot of schmoozing with the Guv, and it’s about time the public found out exactly what Dickie Boy was up to in Sacramento during those long hot summer days of 2009, including billings, invoices, and diaries.
You remember a fellow named Jon Fleischman, don’t you? Well, of course you do. He starred in the now historic 2007 holiday visit video to Dick Ackerman at the latter’s house inside a “secret, gated community” in Irvine.
An alert Friend just forwarded a post that was published on the completely hackish blog-for-sale, The Flash Report, of which Fleischman is proprietor. It’s a rousing condemnation of the practice of bogus non-profit, public benefit corporations staging legislative love-ins at plush resorts on Hawaiian islands. The things are bought and paid for by lobbyists who get to corner state legislators at fraudulent “conferences” that are nothing more than schmooze fests, golf and cocktails on the veranda. The Sac Bee gives more info on the latest scams, here. At the end you’ll read about “The Pacific Policy Research Foundation” that just perpetrated its annual scam on Kauai.
Sound familiar? It should.
We reported about the scam over a year ago, here. And the biggest offender of course was the hideous Linda Ackerwoman, bogus 72 AD candidate, who participated in the sham front known as the Pacific Policy Research Foundation that got her and husband, Dick Ackerman, annual junkets to Hawaii. And of course Ackerwoman was an officer of the bogus “charity.”
And to close the circle we have to recall that Fleischman was a big Ackerwoman cheerleader. Ackerwoman. No record, no accomplishment, no residence, no sale. What a difference a year makes.