Friends For Fullerton's Future

Former Fullerton Councilperson Jan Flory (shown above, after three cocktails) filed a formal nuisance complaint on my property near the Brea Dam because my 14 year old son and his friends were riding their bikes on it. Mrs. Flory lives about half a mile from this property. Maybe she was offended because I put a fence around the area where she takes her dog to do its business. Seriously, Flory has never liked my family, and evidently saw an opportunity to cause trouble for me; but really, to take out her spite on kids is pretty low – even for her.

As ringleader of a phony neighborhood group she got a few folks agitated enough to believe they had a case. And for a while she must have thought things were going pretty well – Public Nuisance Inspector Clouseau agreed with Flory.

Fortunately reason and common sense prevailed over vindictiveness when the Planning Commission, acting as the Board of Appeals, unanimously denied Flory’s contention that riding bicycles on my property was a public nuisance. Click here to watch the meeting, scroll forward to 1:53:15.

The sorriest part of this nasty little episode was when Flory insinuated that my 14 year old son and his friends were responsible for a burglary and car theft in her neighborhood after the initial complaint was filed. This insinuation has become part of the record in two public hearings and stands as a permanent reminder of just how sad, bitter and vindictive Jan Flory can be.

Tony Bushala

December 18, 2008December 28, 2009OC Register

Barbara Giasone Wins Wurlitzer Prize

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Here in Fullerton we have long recognized Barbara Giasone’s special brand of journalism. Now it seems, others have caught on, too:

PHILADELPHIA – The Wurlitzer Press Foundation of Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania announced today that Barbara Giasone of the Fullerton (California) News Tribune has won the prestigious annual Wurlitzer Prize, which recognizes achievement in journalistic vacuity.

Herb Dillman of the Foundation was effusive in his praise for Giasone. “Barbara has established a new level of excellence in the regurgitation of city hall press releases. In her admirable career she has always managed to avoid writing anything with the slightest hint of criticism of officialdom; or anything that snacks of criticism of anything, really.” Giasone was generous to share credit with her employer. “My boss is wonderful,” she said. “Most editors demand that their reporters do things like investigate and report what really happened. Mine has never made me sully my principles with that kind of stuff. I’m really a team player at heart and I don’t want anybody in city hall to look bad. And, of course, all that digging and questioning that some reporters do really takes a lot of energy.”

Fullerton spokesperson, Cynthia Smudge was enthusiastic about the award. “I don’t know what we’d do without Barbara,” she said. “She is always so reliable and never asks any embarrassing questions. She’s a real treasure. Worth her weight in gold. We put out a press release and bang, there it is in the paper – just the way we wrote it. It’s great!” The Prize, a valuable coupon book good at unpermitted downtown Fullerton bars and dance halls, will be mailed to Giasone tomorrow.

Geez, we didn’t know there was a Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania.

December 18, 2008March 27, 2012Downtown Fullerton

Fullerton Council denies Roscoe’s appeal

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Under the wise direction of newly elected Fullerton Mayor Don Bankhead, City Attorney Richard Jones instructed the other City Council Members to deny Roscoe’s Famous Deli owner Jack Franklin’s appeal of the Planning Commission’s denial of an application to maintain a bandstand for live and recorded amplified music outside. Councilperson Quirk said “I’ve never had one person come up to me” and complain about the loud music and that it can’t be that loud because she “cant hear it from [her] house” which is about a mile away. However, Mrs. Teti who lives next to Richman School some 3,000 feet away, told this reporter that she had spoken to Quirk on several occasions regarding her family’s years long plight of being awoken between the hours of 10PM and 2AM by loud music and amplified background crowd noise emanating from Roscoe’s.

December 9, 2008March 27, 2012Downtown Fullerton

Roscoe’s “Famous” Deli is Appealing to the Council.

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Will the City Council uphold the noise Ordinance or will they break the rules for a prominent downtown businessman? The Fullerton Planning Commission instructed Roscoe’s to stop playing loud live amplified music outdoors on a patio built without permits. Click here to download a copy of Roscoes City Staff report Click here to watch the Planning Commissions meeting in streaming video, however, scroll to 1:37:25 in the video to get to the beginning of Roscoe’s public hearing. Click here to learn how noise affects the quality of life.

December 3, 2008December 30, 2009Downtown Fullerton

Fullerton Council Dumps Railroad Museum

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ChooChoo

On Dec 2, 2008 the Fullerton City Council voted not to include a first-class museum attraction, the Southern California Railroad Experience, in the Transportation Center Master Plan. Supporters of the attraction, which would be built on two acres of public land, claim that it could attract thousands of visitors into Downtown Fullerton. JMI/The Morgan Development Group is now planning to build more downtown apartments on this public land. The land was taken by eminent domain from longtime Fullerton businessman Harley Hartman. The Railroad Experience would have required a $22 million public subsidy. Councilman Dick Jones and Mayor Don Bankhead wanted to give the Railroad Experience supporters six months to come up with a fundraising plan. However, Councilwomen Sharon Quirk and Pam Keller wanted to put an end to the museum idea once and for all. Councilman Shawn Nelson recused himself due to a possible conflict of interest.

December 2, 2008April 15, 2009Coyote Hills

Fullerton’s General Plan Committee to Focus on Coyote Hills

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The City of Fullerton’s General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) took a bold step at their meeting last night to include West Coyote Hills as a Focus Area in the City’s new General Plan update. The Coyote Hills area was not included as a focus area in the last General plan update that was done in 1996. In a packed meeting room, a motion was made by Richard Lambros to uphold a prior “gag” order relating to discussing Coyote Hills. The motion failed. After several members of the audience voiced their opinions the Committee voted to create a new Coyote Hills Focus Area.

Coyote Hills

November 30, 2008December 30, 2009Downtown Fullerton

Fullerton City Council to Decide the Future of Downtown Fullerton

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The Fullerton City Council will make a monumental decision at this evenings City Council meeting. A decision that will impact the future of Downtown Fullerton. The question the Council must answer is: does the master plan for the Transportation Center include a First Class Railroad Attraction that could attract thousands of visitors into Downtown Fullerton or does the master plan call for more Morgan Group apartments to be built on public land. The Railroad Attraction would require a $22 million public subsidy.

However, the Morgan Group officials have raised thousands of dollars for Dick Jones who may be voting on the final plan. Railroad Attraction supporter and longtime Fullerton businessman John Phelps says “it should be all or nothing”.

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November 16, 2008March 28, 2009Fullerton City Council

2008 Fullerton City Council Election Recap

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Despite the efforts of Friends For Fullerton’s Future, 12 year incumbent Dick Jones was re-elected. Also winning re-election were Shawn Nelson and Sharon Quirk. Our campaign to inform the voters of Fullerton about Mr. Dick Jones, although ultimately unsuccessful, proved valuable in many ways. Apart from the demographic information we have gathered, our efforts arguably cost Jones several thousand votes from his 2004 election count when he gained over 20,000 votes and received the top number of votes; in 2008 he came in a distant third.

The campaign of Karen Haluza ended a few thousand votes behind Mr. Jones. One of the most interesting questions of this election is how Haluza failed when her main opponent was subjected to a strong, independent opposition. We believe the answer lies in the efforts of The Fullerton Observer to undermine Shawn Nelson’s campaign, an effort that included its endorsement of Mr. Jones. The endorsement of The Observer, whatever its intellectual merit, has been worth around 2500 votes in General Elections over the years – just about the difference in the vote total between Haluza and Jones. One can only speculate on the outcome of a Quirk/Haluza “bullet vote” strategy by the Observer and its kindred spirits. The Observer could have gotten its own favored liberals elected and rid Fullerton of a an incurably rude buffoon.

One thing is certain: FFFF will continue to monitor important issues – most importantly, land-use issues in the coming months and years and will continue to hold Fullerton’s politicians accountable for their words and actions, and those of their staff. We have begun the promotion of the idea of term limits in Fullerton, and are now contemplating a petition drive to begin the local referendum process. 12 YEARS IS ENOUGH!

2008 has been a great experience for FFFF. And the fun has only just begun.

November 7, 2008March 28, 2009Downtown Fullerton

The Downtown Styrofoam Plaza

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Who’s accountable for this junky clutter put on public land (the downtown plaza) using public funds? Think about the wasted space, materials, money. Think about how much effort it takes to keep these monsters clean, the paint is constantly peeling on their Cone Heads, styrofoam is popping out of it’s thin skin of stucco, the dirt streaks are becoming permanent. It’s time to remove the clutter.

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November 5, 2008March 28, 2009Dick Jones

Jones on Pot

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This clip is perhaps the best of them all. Enjoy!