Friends For Fullerton's Future

September 10, 2010September 10, 2010Fullerton City Council

What’s Another $30 Million? Charge It.

What happens when you run up a credit card but only make the minimum payment? It never works out very well. But that’s how Fullerton is handling $30,000,000 in retiree health care commitments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntIaUiv9seU

Jack Dean passed along this unfortunate piece from the OC Register which exposes over $1 billion in unfunded retiree health commitments for Orange County and its cities. Fullerton’s spending problem is summarized here:

City	Fullerton
Population	138,610
Unfunded costs	$29,986,735
Unfunded cost per capita	$216
Maximum benefit (per year)	$9,744
Paid in 2009	$1,927,528
Does the agency pay only the minimum cost?	Yes
Is a lifetime benefit offered?	Fire employees
Source: Retiree health costs and other retiree data from local cities and the county; population statistics from the California Department of Finance

Retiree health benefits are negotiated between our city council and the public employee unions during contract renewals. Supervisor John Moorlach says they are an easy squeeze for unions because boosting benefits for employees requires no up-front cost to the city.

Much like exorbitant pensions, these benefits are a long-term commitment where the future costs are impossible to calculate at the time the entitlements are given. Ultimately, taxpayers are responsible if costs “unexpectedly” spiral out of control. And of course, they always do.

September 10, 2010September 10, 201072nd Election

Green Party to Hold State Convention in Fullerton

by admin9 Comments

The Green Party, which declares independence from influence of special interest money, will unveil a slate of candidates at State Convention in Fullerton this weekend.

FULLERTON – Billing itself as the most “independent” political party in the state – in stark contrast to Democrats and Republicans, who voters are increasingly shunning – the Green Party of California will hold a pre-election state convention here Saturday and Sunday.

A PRESS CONFERENCE featuring many of the party’s state and congressional candidates will be held at 12:30 p.m. SATURDAY at the Fullerton Dancesport Center/Imperial Ballroom (114 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton).

Thirty-four Greens are on the ballot throughout California Nov. 2, including seven up for state offices from the Governor to State Treasurer. One Green is running for U.S. Senator, five for the House of Representatives, five for State Assembly (all in Southern California) and the remainder for school boards, rent boards and other local offices.

About 40 Greens hold elected office in the state, including five mayors (Gayle McLaughlin is running for re-election in Richmond, a city of more than 100,000), and Greens dominate several city councils in the northern part of the state, including Fairfax and Sonoma.

“The Green Party is truly different. It’s independent of special interests. The two ‘Titanic’ parties are mired in big money influence, and govern according to those special interests, and not in the best interests of the people,” said Laura Wells, the Green candidate for Governor.

“Real issues like healthcare, campaign finance reform, renewable energy and our failing economy need to be solved without the corrupting influence of corporate and big union money,” said Jane Rands, Green Party candidate for the 72nd Assembly District, which includes Fullerton.

The Green Party of California General Assembly will address proposed platform revisions, announce positions on state ballot initiatives, and hold a strategy session entitled “2011 & Beyond”. The meeting is being hosted by the Green Party of Orange County.

The Green Party’s platform is guided by the principals of Grassroots Democracy, Environmental Wisdom, Social Justice, and Nonviolence. For more information visit www.cagreens.org.

September 10, 2010March 3, 2011Harry Sidhu

“Quit Lying, Sidhu!” Says OCTAX

by admin28 Comments

Looks like Hide and Seek Sidhu has been claiming he has the endorsement of the OCTAXPAC. Well, not anymore as the boss of the operation points out. Has Hairball been misleading folks again? Bad boy!

In the meantime it will be very interesting to see if the same people who were bamboozled into supporting the newly minted Democrat-hugging Sidhu will be persuaded by the Pringle types to screw up again.

September 9, 2010Fullerton 2010

Riddle: Which Fullerton Candidate Wears the Biggest Hat?

by Jan Florys Dog8 Comments

September 8, 2010September 8, 2010Repuglicanism

The Two Faces of Matthew J. Cunningham

by Grover Cleveland7 Comments

Yesterday our favorite repuglican hypocrite, Matthew J. Cunningham, put up a post whining about the hypocrisy of Loretta Sanchez who apparently had a fundraiser at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion and who subsequently applauded Craigslist for “censoring” adult services.

Here’s the quote from Loretta that offends the sensibilities of the tender Cunningham the most:

By shutting down the adult services section, Craigslist is showing that it truly values people over its own profits.

Hmm.The fact that Playboy preys upon nobody seems to have escaped the authoritarian pea brain Cunningham, but Hell, we’ll let that pass.

What’s really funny is that not so very long ago FFFF exposed the self-described small gummint conservative Cunningham as the recipient of huge windfall largess from Rob Reiner’s tax and redistribute Prop 10 that put bread on Mr. Conservative’s table for over four years. Almost all of the bread, as it turns out.

Here’s a hypothetical quotation to ponder:

By advocating to shut down the socialist Children and Families Commission, Matthew J. Cunningham is showing that he truly values conservative principles over his own profits.

As long as Mr. Cunningham keeps trying to pretend that he’s anything other than the biggest hypocrite in Orange County, we’ll be right there to remind folks the truth.

September 7, 2010September 7, 2010About Us

Another Reason to Be Glad You Don’t Live in the Bible Belt

by Jan Florys Dog14 Comments

Okay, this isn’t about Fullerton, per se, although I have no doubt that there are a few Fullertonian authoritarian Republicans who would subscribe to the ravings of this brain-dead cracker fucktard:

Even up here in dog heaven I thank my lucky stars I didn’t live in Orlando, Florida, and y’all know my life in Fullerton was no bed of roses.

Do yourselves a favor. Next time you run into one of these moronic “neo-con” assholes, make sure to slap ’em up alongside their empty melons. And remember 9/11 by listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

NAZIs burn books. Free men and women and canines celebrate freedom.

September 7, 2010September 8, 2010Marijuana

Freedom vs. Oppression – Judge Jim Gray vs. Dick Ackerman. Topic: Prop 19

by admin16 Comments

On September 11th, the Orange County Lincoln Club will be hosting a debate on the initiatives that are on the November ballot, including Prop 19, the “legalize marijuana” initiative. The debate host is Clare Venegas.

The debate is open to Lincoln Club members who are in good standing, whatever that means. The event will feature a pro/con speaker for each side. On the Prop 19 pro side is probably the most knowledgeable man in the United States when it comes to drug policy – retired Judge Jim Gray. Judge Gray recently wrote a book titled Why our drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It.

On the con (pun intended) side is Mr. Dick Ackerman who’s wife recently ran for the state assembly in the 72nd district while claiming she lived in a rented room at a friend’s house even though everyone knew she (and Dick) were living in a “top secret” gated community in Irvine. Carpetbaggin’ and lying to the public is just fine; smoking a joint is the devil’s work.

At the end of the debate, the club’s Legislative Committee will present their recommendations and any general member in good standing will be able to cast a vote on the Club’s position for each initiative on our ballot.

The Lincoln Club’s commitment to acting on shared principles of limiting government and expanding economic and personal freedoms is a breath of fresh air, if you can really believe it. Personal freedom means adults being able to do what they want so long as they aren’t bothering anybody. That means having a beer or taking a hit of some of California’s Gold. Or both.

Let’s hope the voting members who have committed to such principles don’t get cold feet on such a hot topic when it comes time to vote.

September 7, 2010September 7, 2010Harry Sidhu

Harry and The Dems; or #2 Goes To The Zoo

by admin24 Comments

Now that only the worst repugs still support his torpedoed campaign for 4th District supervisor (a district in which he doesn’t live), Hide and Seek Harry Sidhu seems to have decided that chumming it up with Democrats is his only prayer. Seems he even went so far as to attended the big Democrat Labor Day bash at the Santa Ana Zoo.

While Harry Sidhu was at Zoo, whooping it up for California’s #1 union stooge Jerry Brown, as reported by the Orange Juice blog here, he also happened to run across Pam Keller. Poor Harry selling his soul again just to get elected. Jeeze, this guy would do just about anything to be a political somebody. Will he re-register as a Democrat? Why not?

Well I hate to pop your bubble, Hide and Seek, but people can see right through your transparent BS, fake residences and all. All they can see is Sidhu the assclown.

HarryPamSharon3169 — That cologne is a real chick magnet.

September 6, 2010September 12, 2010Fullerton School Board

Norby Pushes Schools to Adopt Teacher Scorecards

by Travis17 Comments

The LA Times has published it’s entire database of what it calls “Value Added” teacher ratings, scoring LAUSD teachers with a method that tracks individual students’ advancement as they pass through classrooms over the years.

Sample Rating — Example of a teacher's rating

In support of this idea, State Assemblyman Chris Norby just sent the following letter to current school board members and to this year’s candidates. In the letter, Norby asks them to figure out how to publish similar rankings for Fullerton teachers and schools.

Click to read Norby’s letter

The LA Times’ controversial scoring method is supposed to reflect a teacher’s effectiveness at raising standardized test scores using seven years of student testing data. While the Times admits that the scores do not rate every aspect of a teacher’s effectiveness, they do “bear on the performance of public employees who provide and important service.”

In defense against the teachers’ union outcry over the release of this data, the Times asserts that parents and the rest of the public have a right to view all of this data for the benefit of children.

We’re anxious to find out how the candidates respond to Norby’s request. This information would be extremely beneficial for Fullerton parents.

September 5, 2010September 5, 2010Fullerton 2010

Who Else Took The School Union Endorsement?

by Travis15 Comments

Last week this blog criticized school board candidate Janny Meyer for announcing her acceptance of the endorsement of the Fullerton teachers’ union while simultaneously claiming to be a fiscal conservative. Shortly thereafter we had learned that Bev Berryman and Aaruni Thakur had also accepted union support, albeit much more quietly.

For Aaruni, the endorsement was a given. Being a union tool is practically a requirement for the modern Democrat politician. Who can fault a guy for latching onto the massive union political machine which has helped put so many Democrats into office? Well, I suppose Republicans could find that to be a cause for concern.

Berryman’s acceptance, on the other hand, is much more disappointing. She won her first school board campaign without any union support, so she certainly didn’t need it now that she is an incumbent. Saying “no” to this powerful special interest would have been the best way for her to preserve her independence. She certainly has opened herself up to closer scrutiny on future votes.

On the bright side, Bev does have a history of taking stands on important issues that put her at odds with the union. She led the charge against the most recent attempt to launch a parcel tax on Fullerton voters. Bev also was the only school boarder who has repeatedly said no to imposing the expensive Apple laptop fees on parents throughout the entire One-to-One laptop fiasco. And she has never been on the receiving end of union’s negotiating power as a government employee.

So that begs the question: Why did the union endorse her anyway?