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Neighbors United for Fullerton is bringing together some of OC’s most popular bloggers to talk about how blogs influence our city. Join FFFF, the Orange Juice Blog and a few others at the Fullerton Public Library on Monday at 6:45 pm for an event that promises to be at least interesting, and quite possibly explosive.
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I can only wonder what’s it’s like to have virtually no moral bearing – to be at the whim of whichever authority figure is pushing you at a given moment. Like a leaf blown in the wind.
Today a supporter of Hugh Nguyen’s campaign to unseat the deplorably incompetent Democrat County Clerk Tom Daly passed along the news that Matthew J. Cunningham of Mauve County fame had a devoted an entire post to the untrustworthiness of Nguyen. His running buddies? The lefties at the LiberalOC blog!
First it seems that he, like his candidate Tom Daly, takes exception to Nguyen’s ballot designation.
He also makes a big harrumph about Nguyen changing the story he told some of Cunningham’s Blue County boyfriends a couple of months ago about the unsolicited ad Art Pedroza is running for him on the OJ blog. You’re joking, right?
But here’s the kicker. Hugh Nguyen is mostly shifty and not to be trusted because when he was soliciting endorsements last summer for the Clerk-recorder job he didn’t inform those folks of the presence of his wife Laura Cunningham in the race, thereby precluding them from endorsing her!
Of course the idea that Nguyen was under any moral or legal obligation to advertise the hapless and long-defunct Mrs. Jerbal campaign is so preposterously comical that no more need be said about it.
Meanwhile from the vantage of his lofty moral authority Cunningham seems unable to discern the manifest failures of his boy Tom Daly. You know, like the $48,000 Daly passed along to a campaign consultant for “studying” a sports hall of fame; like the $100,000+ he has wasted (and is still wasting) on monthly retainers for a do-nothing Sacramento “consultant;” oh yeah, and let’s not forget the $2,100,000 chunked into the toilet on the acquisition of the uninhabitable building at 433 Civic Center West. What was the issue again? Oh, yeah – trustworthiness!
On top of all that, Daly is a Democrat and Cunningham is supposed to be a conservative Republican! No bueno!
Come to think of it, Cunningham has never said a word about the two fraudulent voting registrations of one Harry C. Sidhu, the 4th District carpetbagger who lied about living at the Calabria Apartments on two separate public documents. Which sounds a lot like voter fraud and perjury if you ask me.
And speaking of shifty, how about Sidhu’s campaign signs that advertise the carpetbagger simply as “Mayor Pro Tem” despite the fact that they are posted in cities where Sidhu is not on the city council? Hows that for shifty?
But oh yeah, his boss John Lewis is working for Sidhu now, too; so that means that the regular rules don’t apply, see?
Jesus H., it must suck to be Cunningham.
I was describing the Sidhu for Supervisor campaign to my neighbor yesterday and she asked me why anybody with any self-respect would be associated with a carpetbagging campaign that started out with a completely phony address behind a bowling alley.
I explained that there really is no lower class of organism than the professional political campaign parasite – a rather shocking combination of character traits that most of us can’t even begin to fathom. And I felt constrained to point out that sadly, many politicians are in the same class of humanoid.
In the case of Sidhu I pointed out that although his own campaign people laugh at his carpetbagging and evident buffooneries they are there because Sidhu has a lot of cash he is willing to waste in order to satisfy his desperate hunger for political recognition, and they will be there until it is all gone – no matter how many offices he runs for.
I’ve never heard much good about Diane Harkey, the State Assemblywoman from, um, down there somewhere.
But that changed dramatically when a Friend of mine and a devout High Speed Rail opponent sent me a link to a San Mateo County Times story that talks about Harkey’s attempt to kill the bond sale to raise $9.5 billion dollars and start putting it into the greasy palms of Curt Pringle and Harry Sidhu’s backroom buddies.
It seems Ms. Harkey thinks it’s a poor idea for the State to take on more debt given its current catatonic fiscal condition. And maybe she’s come to the realization that “jobs, jobs, jobs” at the cost of billions more indebtedness is not a conservative recipe for success. So she’s introducing legislation to stop the the floating o’ the bond (ambiguous St. Pat’s Day reference).
And I say good for her!
And I also say it’s time for Fullerton politicians and residents to figure out what the alignment impacts will have on Fullerton and how much that’ll cost us.
Here’s a painful pill for those Yellowing Observers who offer up their criticisms about the accuracy of our blog.
Today the tattered Fullerton Observer released its Mid March bird cage liner with a front page story on the 4th district Supervisorial race. The story inexplicably claimed that candidates Harry Sidhu, Rose Espinosa and Richard Faher had dropped out of the race. Ay, caramba! Not even close! Jebus, how did that happen?
Actually, when you come to think about it, the screw up is not all that unusual for the Observer where news, editorial, and incompetency are often shot through Sharon Kennedy’s particle accelerator in opposite directions.
Anyway, the Observer elves got hard at work right away making the fix, albeit on-line:
Good Lord. And Sharon Kennedy says we are widely discredited. Hoo boy!
It should be pointed out that the Friends here at FFFF have published 721 blog posts in the last 18 months; and had my bloggers coughed up any thing this errant I would have introduced corporal punishment into our editorial board meetings.
Upon the threshold
A flying dragon alights
Sunshine turns to grief
Apparently my ongoing exploration into the encroachment of County 1st District Supervisor Janet Nguyen into the management of the 4th District office has created some angst on the Hall of Admin 5th Floor. Apparently Her Highness is displeased with the revelation that she has hired 3 new people to occupy that office even though there is no supervisor there. She has been snooping around to find out where the “leak” is.
Leak? Why is Empress Nguyen concerned about news of her doings leaking out? Is she trying to hide something?
After all, the Imperial story has been that these additional people are needed to help inform all us poor, ignorant denizens of the 4th District learn all about the wonderful County programs available to make our lives ever so much better. Ferchrissakes you’d think she’d issue a press release, right? But no! Maybe she’s worried about being perceived as a manipulative, scheming empire builder.
She has reason to be worried about that.
Sometimes it’s nice to know you’re not alone.
Last week we were alerted to a mysterious new blog called “Who is Craig Hunter,” which claims to reveal the true power structure behind the candidacy of the Anaheim Deputy Chief for County Sheriff.
The blog seems focused the connections between political heavyweight Mike Schroeder and Hunter, who is called Schroeder’s protegé. Hunter was hand picked to fill in the void left by ex-sheriff Mike Carona’s felony conviction, alleges the author who goes by the pseudonym “V”.
A few ancillary players are introduced into the picture on a page called The Players, including Jack Anderson (Carona’s own pick for successor), Carona apologist and OCCCWS member Greg Block (that name sounds familiar), DA spokesperson Susan Kang Schroeder and GOP Chairman/lobbyist Scott Baugh.
Motives are questioned, empires are sketched out and historic similarities are drawn. What emerges? A sketch of a picture that isn’t very pretty.
I’ve also heard rumors that the site was created by Friends for Fullerton’s Future, citing a humorous yet biting style that is similar to many of our own posts. For what it’s worth, nobody here knows where this blog came from or where it’s going.
But we’ll be watching.
Back by popular demand…
March Madness of the Mindless is here.
Tuesday night’s Closed Session means Rob Zur Schmiede, everyone’s favorite redevelopment director, will be speaking with council regarding 324 W. Valencia Drive to negotiate the strong-arm takeover and redevelopment of the property.
Also, council will be discussing “Parameters of authority for negotiating salaries, benefits, and working conditions.”
In the open session we have the usual dog and pony shows of certificates and feel-good resolutions. At the top of that list is a man I remember from my Junior year of high school at Fullerton High, Wayne Daniels. He is one heck of a nice guy and a snazzy dresser for sure. But why exactly is the council giving him a certificate for being “The Tulip Man”?
There are no appointments on the agenda which is a little sad since the City could use some good people to help steer the staff and council away from stupid decisions.
There are a total of 19 items on to be discussed and/or voted on so sit back as I try to scrape off the layers of doublespeak to uncover the depth of waste we are about to endure.
The minutes and financial reports are items #1 and #2, respectively. We jump right in at #3 which is a massive reconstruction of Harbor Boulevard from Chapman to Berkley. This stretch of road is plagued with potholes, cracked concrete, broken curbs, general disrepair, and lumpy asphalt created by trucks and buses. As soon as the project is complete, I would imagine a utility company will come in and tear it up. At least that’s Murphy’s Law. This little paving effort is to run about $1,121,000. That’s a lot of asphalt… Staff reported that the low bidder isn’t the winner because they didn’t get their forms filled out completely or correctly and that they didn’t have sufficiently disadvantaged business owners that met the City’s requirements. The contract will be going to PALPA, Inc. DBA Excel Paving Company.
Item #4 is a brand new sewer for Riverside Drive and Raymond Avenue area. This section of fecal conduit will run us a mere $1,064,038.50. Several streets in this area received fresh asphalt just in the last year or so. You would think someone could plan it out a little bit so that we replace the broken and aging pipes and THEN replace the asphalt. But that’s Fullerton for you: placing the cart in front of the horse…
It looks like the airport is signing a new lease agreement with Cardinal Air Services and a long term lease for Frank Sator under Item #5. If you want to see some pretty slick shell games with public funds, check out the supporting documentation for this item. We, the city, take a loss but in comes OC Fire Authority to lease a portion of the area we are taking a loss on and then they make up the difference. The problem is that we are paying for OC Fire to lease the space through our taxes. Does this mean we are subsidizing ourselves?
Item #6 is all about John Shipman who as a member of the Community Development Citizen’s Committee showed up to some meetings and not others. After missing three in a row, he was booted for being absent too many times pursuant to municipal code 2.11.050. He is now appealing and wants to participate. Shipman, it appears, is a Keller appointment and some sort of teacher whose teaching assignment conflicted with the committee meetings.
Item #7 contains two resolutions for grant funding of Independence Park and the Fullerton Community Center. Each grant is worth $5,000,000 but you will need to chip in an addition $4,000,000 for the Independence Park project to make it happen. That’s like paving Harbor Boulevard from Commonwealth to Brea Boulevard! But I suppose the kids need a place to loiter… At the risk of expressing my own ignorance, once we pay for the project, how will we pay for maintenance? Maybe I should show up at the Park & Rec meetings so I’ll understand the funding.
According to item #8 and #9, a few people need special disabled person’s parking spots.
Item #10 seeks to make it illegal to park in the alley that runs north/south and is south of Valencia and west of harbor Boulevard. If you live in that area, be sure to show and express your feelings on the pros and cons.
It looks like the PD wants to buy some guns and ammo with the approval of item #11. They will be using asset seizure funds so, in theory, it won’t cost you a dime. What’s not included is the training to use these guns and the training for the armor to repair and service them. Training is expensive and necessary. There is no reason we cannot include the other costs incidental to the purchase. The details are: 14 guns for $18,812.92; ammo for $25,719.38; 36 gun safes $5,617.64. I assume the PD has other guns which will use the safes and ammo.
The FD wants some donations to be “accepted” by the council under item #12. The total amount is a whopping $650.00. Maybe the council should make a motion to allow the City Manager to “accept” on behalf of the city any donation under $1,000.00 so long as the manager reports them in the City’s financial reports.
Item #13 is titled “GOOGLE FIBER FOR COMMUNITIES PROGRAM”. It sounds intriguing but what is it? The summary states that Google is looking for communities in which to test ultra-high speed broadband networks to ultimately compete against the cable and telephone companies. Good idea! I know I have to pay extra for AT&T to NOT slow down my connection. It’s the same wires as everyone else except that if you pay the minimum, your connection is slower. Pay more and it get’s a little faster. FFFF has a few IT/ITS people who can explain better…
Thales Raytheon wants to donate six laptops to the Park & Rec for use at the Gilbert Community Center. Item #14 doesn’t state the total value. I would guess the laptops, if new, would be worth $1,000 each or more. I find it humorous that Parks & Rec have to justify why the laptops would be beneficial but the PD doesn’t have to say what the guns are for. In both cases it is obvious so why the extra ink?
Now you get to punch that gas pedal and really feel the wind in your hair! Item #15 seeks to change the speed limits on Sunny Ridge and Pioneer Avenue. The PD asked Traffic Engineering to conduct a traffic study. The results: RAISE, that is correct, the speed limit! Here is the breakdown:
Pioneer Ave (Sunny Ridge to Gilbert) Increase from 25mph to 30mph
Pioneer Ave (Gilbert to Parks) Establish a speed limit of 40mph
Sunny Ridge Dr (Malvern to Pioneer) Increase from 25mph to 35mph
Sunny Ridge Dr (Pioneer to Roscrans) Increase from 25mph to 30mph
All other speed limits remain unchanged.
Item #16 eliminates a bike path that isn’t complete due to OCTA Metrolink expansion which would not give bike riders enough room.
Posting public notices comes in as item #17. It looks like running the notices in the papers is a bit pricy. This item will give staff four places to post public notices. They are:
City Hall
Maintenance Services Yard
Museum
Main Library
Item #18 is the continuance of the aforementioned shell game. It involves leases on the airport property.
Lastly, item #19 is titled “LOCAL TAXPAYER, PUBLIC SAFETY AND TRANSPORTATION PROTECTION ACT OF 2010”. Californians to Protect Local Taxpayers and Vital Services Coalition is requesting that Fullerton adopt a resolution in support of this Act. It sounds nice but the reality is that our state assembly has to stop allowing our local coffers to be raided by Sacramento. This is a feel-good resolution with no teeth. It should be noted that MAJOR funding for this “coalition” comes from the League of California Cities. In other words, you and I have already paid them, their lobbyists, and whoever else has their hands in our cookie jar. The bottom of the website has this:
“Paid for by Californians to Protect Local Taxpayers and Vital Services, a coalition of taxpayers, public safety, local government, transportation, business and labor, with major funding from the League of California Cities (non-public funds and CitiPAC) and the California Alliance for Jobs — Rebuild California Committee”
Coming up:
March 23, 2010 – Special Meeting
2010/11 Budget Decision Packages
April 6, 2010 – Council Meeting
BID – Agreement with Urban Place
Fox Block Extension of ENA
Recovery Zone Designation
More strong-arm wrangling of property rights a.k.a. property negotiations
A few days ago I related how Board of Supervisors Chair Janet Ngyuen had hired a couple of people to occupy Chris Norby’s former 4th District office. I opined that it seemed like a real extravagance given the fact that there was no supervisor to support, and likely diminishing “constituency work” since there was no supervisor to direct and approve it. Also the replacement election is just a short 10 weeks away.
I also speculated that perhaps Nguyen was just placing her people inside the office to report back directly to her; and perhaps that she was embedding her personnel in the office in the unlikely event of A Sidhu victory in June. Did Nguyen make a deal with Sidhu to keep these people employed later? Just wondering.
The latest word from several sources is that Nguyen has hired yet another person to work in the 4th District office and that this person started today. Good grief, this is ridiculous. One of those sources informs us that Nguyen’s explanation for this idiocy is that “her” people are there to help make sure folks in the 4th District are aware of all the programs the County offers them. Oh, really?
Frankly, none of the explanations make Nguyen look like anything other than a devious empire-builder.
She should keep her hands off the 4th District. She has enough trouble in her own.
