Friends For Fullerton's Future

September 27, 2010Fullerton City Council

Bruce Whitaker Responds: Game On!

Over the week-end we received an e-mail from none other than Fullerton Council candidate, Bruce Whitaker. It seems Bruce wanted to respond to a couple of rather pessimistic posts by our bloggers The Desert Rat and English Major. Here’s what Whitaker had to say:

Subject: Game On!

I’ve been reading some posts and comments here that are “doom and gloom” regarding Fullerton’s future. And while there are many reasons for concern, there are solutions.

Taxpayers/residents/small business owners and those (and there are many) who support rational public policy, objective decisions and open, ethical government: There is still time to put your shoulder to the wheel of my campaign!

If you believe and lament that the outcome of this election is already decided . . . I submit that now more than ever, you should consider helping me to attain a seat on the Fullerton City Council.

Even if we do not agree on every issue, you should consider voting for me for the following reasons:

I believe that a councilmember should ensure openness; invite public input; demand fair and thorough deliberations and hearings; avoid conflicts; continuously conduct independent research and exercise due diligence that would keep him/her fully informed and prepared regarding items coming before the City Council.

Your councilmember should be available, be a good listener and treat the public with respect. A good City Council represents the people in the process, not the agendas of special interests which would work to the detriment of the people.

You can be assured that I will “speak up” when confronted with unethical, harmful or wasteful acts in our city government while representing you as a member of the Fullerton City Council.

Please visit my website for a closer look at my candidacy – www.brucewhitaker.com
and review Fullerton Planning Commission meetings which are archived on the City of Fullerton website.

September 26, 2010About Us

Stop the Madness Now! The G-Rated Version

by Travis60 Comments

Last week we presented this hilarious dialog between a distraught taxpayer and a union firefighter, which became an instant hit across the country. While the clip had no problem making it onto the workstations of public agencies far and wide, we also had many requests for a G-Rated version.

Despite our concern that self-censorship may inhibit the fine directorial talents of our anonymous Oliver Stone, he was happy to oblige:

Of course, most will probably prefer the original profanity-laced version here: Stop the Madness Now!

September 26, 2010September 26, 2010About Us

And Now For Some Good News! A Sunday Morning Essay

by English Major10 Comments

After reading the Desert Rat’s pithy and mordant post about the likelihood of having three antiquated and liberal repuglican geezers on the Fullerton City Council, I felt compelled to respond with my own message – a message of hope and good will to those who can only contemplate Ed Royce’s RINO triad with a sense of gorge-rising horror.

No, I will not dwell upon the morbid actuarial statistics for the American male. Rather I invite the Friends to contemplate, along with me, the New Reality. My grandfather Frank always admonished us to seek out the proverbial silver lining in bad news; and so we shall. The Economic Recession that has hit so many in the private sector, and that so far has barely affected the public sector at all, will, in 2011, deliver its overdue bill to government employees.

Can Obama keep cranking out money fast enough to preserve all the government jobs it has protected so far through the comically named American Recovery and Reinvestment Act? The answer to that is likely no. Not after the November election. And even if he could, California had received barely 10 billion through the end of the last fiscal year – not nearly enough to grease all the bureaucratic skids in our dysfunctional state at the various levels. The presses just can’t print that fast.

The chances of raising local taxes, like Don Bankhead did (and McKinley and Jones would have likely joined him) in 1993 seems dim. Nobody’s going to stand for it. Not even the ignoramuses who voted them in.

And this leaves us with the spectacle of the public employees fighting among themselves for their share of the diminishing fiscal pie. And to that I say: Amen! Competition is good. It causes us constantly to assess our priorities. It’s true that the cops and emergency service providers will have the advantage, standing, as they already do, at the head of the line. But will the public stand for library or park closures in order to fund these people? The RINO mantra of “public safety” can only take its chanters so far. Sooner or later reality demands a check.

And hovering in the back of the room, like the chorus in a Greek tragedy is the specter of municipal bankruptcy, Vallejo-style – the game changing possibility that all public administrators and employees should want to avoid like a plague. But the public may have reason to be more ambivalent about that prospect.

So cheer up!

September 25, 2010September 25, 2010Boohooism

Fullerton Is Doomed!

by The Desert Rat9 Comments

Out here on Screech Owl Road, east of Twentynine Palms you can see things pretty clearly. Sometimes the heat causes shimmer mirages; sometimes the wind kicks up some devilish sand storms – the kind that can strip the chrome off your Hummer. But most of the time you get used to seeing a long way. Even as far away as my former home, Fullerton.

McKinley2 — Banacek called. He wants his clothes back.

The City Council race of 2010 is already over. You will re-elect the brain dead sea cucumber known as Don Bankhead – pension spiker, staff stooge, abysmal decision maker. And you will also elect Pat McKinley – poster boy for pension abuse, supporter of the hideous Ackerwoman, repuglican de-jour, and yet another retired cop. And it won’t even be close.

Bankhead, Dick Jones, McKinley; please contemplate that triumverate of septuagenarian, lint-headed, RINO back washers and tell me why you aren’t in deep shit. Can anyone say gerontocracy?

In the two-year seat Bruce Whitaker has a chance, but let’s face it: he’s up against a bankrupt and a carpetbagging food poisoner. Really, I don’t see how he can pull it off.

roland-chi-079-200x300 — Aw, none of those folks died...

Fullerton, the Education Community, has a special knack for electing the weak, the feeble-minded, the incomprehensible. Jeez, do I have to draw you a diagram? Molly McClanahan, Buck Catlin, Julie Sa, Peter Godfrey, HeeHaw Jones, Mike Clesceri, Leland Wilson, Pam Keller. This rougues gallery of incompetence even starts to make Jan Flory look good. Well, no, cancel that.

Yes, I believe you are doomed.

September 24, 2010September 24, 2010About Us

What If Your Boss Gave You a 1200% Retirement Match?

by Travis62 Comments

That’s what members of Fullerton’s police and fire unions get from us.

Almost all of the candidates are talking about pension reform now, but they don’t quite have their figures right. According to the city’s HR Director, public safety employees currently pay 2.557% of thier salaries towards their multi-million dollar retirements, while taxpayers pick up the rest. This year, we’re paying an additional 29.752% of their salaries towards their retirements, and it’s set to shoot much higher.

In private-sector terms, that’s equivalent to an employer 401(k) match of 1200%. That’s twenty-four times the average out here in the real world.

September 23, 2010September 23, 2010Fullerton 2010

Chaffee’s Magical Tax

by Travis19 Comments

Plenty of bad ideas were tossed about at the candidate at the forum on Monday night, but this one from council hopeful Doug Chaffee takes the cake:

So according to Chaffee, doubling the hotel tax in the middle of a recession will bring more hotels and visitors into the area. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of logic behind his idea, but perhaps that’s why he calls it “magical.”

Chaffee pushes the idea further by suggesting that Fullerton should “generate” (aka subsidize) a new hotel to compete with Disneyland, the most famous theme park in the entire world.

ihasafunny-disneyland — Gee, another one?

Of course we’re later reassured by Chaffee that the tax would only be tacked on to “other people” who make the mistake of taking brief refuge in our city. That’s the old divide-and-conquer tax scheme that’s plagued California businesses for a long time: levy heavy taxes against each industry, one at a time. Who’s next?

Hey Doug, a tax is a tax, and there has never been a worse time to raise taxes. And quit trying to convince us that we should be more like Anaheim.

Update: Click here to suffer through the entire event.

September 21, 2010Fullerton 2010

Orange County Republican Party Endorses Greg Sebourn

by admin18 Comments

This press release just came over from the Greg Sebourn campaign:

With a 2/3 margin, the Orange County Republican Party’s Central Committee voted to give Greg Sebourn the Party’s endorsement. The vote came after a 5-0 recommendation from the Endorsement Committee just two weeks ago.

“The Orange County Republican Party stood up and spoke. Clearly they want to further advance the Party’s platform which speaks of limited government, lower taxes, and the power of the entrepreneur,” says endorsed council candidate Greg Sebourn. “The Party has recognized that being a Republican In Name Only, or RINO, does nothing to advance the conservative movement. RINOs are what have turned off so many good conservatives from the Republican Party.”

The endorsement comes just days after Sebourn received endorsements from the California Republican Assembly (Fullerton), the North Orange County Conservative Coalition, and the Fullerton Tea Party. Greg Sebourn is also endorsed by Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, Assemblyman Chris Norby, and Supervisor Shawn Nelson.

Greg Sebourn has distinguished himself from the other 4-year candidates with his promises to not take the City’s pension and medical benefits, to close down the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency, and reform the City’s broken and unfunded pension system.

If you would like to meet Greg Sebourn, please attend the grand opening of his new campaign headquarters, Tuesday, September 28, 5:30PM, at 511 S. Harbor Blvd. , Fullerton 92832 . The headquarters is being shared by Assemblyman Chris Norby, Bruce Whitaker (candidate for the 2-year seat), and Chris Thompson (candidate for the Fullerton School Board) all of whom will be on hand to speak with.

More information about Greg can be found on the campaign website at www.gregsebourn.com.

September 21, 2010Dead heads

So Why Did Rackauckas Endorse Roland Chi After Criminally Charging Him?

by Mr. Peabody20 Comments

Your guess is as good as mine.

The charges leveled by the OC DA Tony Rackauckas against Roland Chi were as long as your arm, and stemmed from the tsunami of flagrant and persistent health code violations at a Garden Grove market. The case appears to have finally culminated in a plea agreement reached last April.

An alert Friend calling him/herself Vic Tayback noticed that our hapless DA, just a few short months later, has lent his name to the Chi Fullerton Council campaign as an endorser! Wow, that’s setting the bar pretty low, even for Rackauckas, and of course not only makes you wonder what T-Rack’s endorsement is worth, but also to contemplate the composition of the man’s moral fiber – if any exists.

Tony-Rackauckas — Jesus, it's not like he actually killed anybody...

Rack has been criticized in the past for his inability or unwillingness to pursue political corruption in OC – like Harry Siduh’s blatant perjury. Now it appears he is willing to endorse just about any kind of misfeasance.

September 18, 2010Union Goons

Greenhut: Pension Reform Must Happen at a Local Level

by Travis15 Comments

Author Steven Greenhut delivers a dismal report for those looking for pension reform to come out of the state legislature: It ain’t gonna happen. Cities and schools must save themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujCwsG4P9ZI

But we are still the masters of our fate. If we move quickly, there are things that can be done to prevent this financial disaster from passing on to our children, although they will require unconventional courage, wisdom and action. So who’s going to step up to the plate and rescue Fullerton?

September 17, 2010Fullerton City Council

Jessica’s Law Enforcement Ordinance Comes Up For A Vote

by admin23 Comments

This just came in from city council candidate Barry Levinson:

This Tuesday night at 6:30 PM, September 21, 2010 at city hall, the culmination of 7 months of hard work by my wife Susan and myself should result in a victory for all children and their parents and grandparents, etc. in the city of Fullerton. An ordinance presented and recommended by the Fullerton Police Department will be brought before the city council for a vote. The ordinance will make it a misdemeanor crime for a convicted pedophile to live within 2000 feet of a school, park or day care center. The penalty is up to one year in jail! Almost 4 years to the day that the voters in California spoke through their support of Proposition No. 87, known as Jessica’s Law will there be an actual penalty attached to the above actions.

This is just the start. I have been working with and getting the cooperation of the County District Attorney’s Office to make sure that a similar law is presented to our Orange County Board of Supervisors. We want the same protections for our kids throughout the County.

Please attend the Tuesday night meeting! Send a firm and clear message to all our current council members. A full house will provide leverage to make sure that the council does the right thing by passing this ordinance to provide additional protection for the weakest and most vulnerable among us, our kids.

-Barry Levinson