Being Dick Jones; Sharing the Crazy Hillbilly Routine

The Orange County Vector Control Board meets monthly with all its 3 dozen Board Members, and Vector staff. Our own Dick Jones represents Fullerton on the Vector board where he now has the reputation of being a nut. Sound familiar?

During a staff presentation at the May 21, 2009 meeting, Jones had a typical Jones moment. First he pops up out of his seat waving hand in the air, screaming “enough…enough for God’s sake,” then minutes later he compliments staff for baffling him. We’re not sure how to read this other than we think Dick Jones had some sort of a mental snap, and then he flew the coop. We’re used to this sort of things, but apparently it shocked some of his Vector colleagues.

You may have trouble sorting through the man’s mangled syntax so we are providing a transcript of his remarks:
“I would like to compliment you all on the extensive report you gave, however when I get on an airplane I’d like to think that some agency says it’s air worthy, I don’t want to know the percentage of the materials that make up the wing spars, your intentions are laudible and so forth. I think this was over done, when people come to me for an operation I did not give them 4 years of surgical information during my residency, this was excellent. It’s nice to be baffled by brilliance, and it was baffling”.

We would like to think that’s it’s not asking too much of our elected officials to act like adults, not spoiled children used to getting their own way. If Jones can’t control himself in public perhaps he could just limit his idiotic outbursts to Fullerton rather than make the city a laughingstock when he takes his show on the road.

Who is Jane Reifer?

We spend a lot of time criticizing the self-styled leaders of Fullerton that we decided to post once in a while about the postitive things done by Fullerton’s true leaders. 

A few days ago The Harpoon floated a trial balloon: Jane Reifer For City Council in 2010? We got several comments, pro and con, and so we thought we would share some more information on Jane and her participation in Fullerton activities.

Jane Reifer is one of the founders of Friends for a Livable Fullerton, an organization formed to influence development decisions in order to promote and preserve Fullerton’s uniqueness and livability.  For many years Reifer has provided crucial leadership to the community by advocating small business, responsible development, and transparent government process.

Jane Reifer is also one of the most outspoken and influential transit advocates in Orange County.  She currently serves on the Orange County Transportation Agency’s Citizens Advisory Committee where she advocates for increased and improved bus service as well as for better conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists.

She is well known for her successful fundraising efforts to Save the Fox, culminating in a partnership with the City of Fullerton that saved the historic theater from demolition.

Jane Reifer is a small business owner and operator of the Fullerton-based Clutter Control.

When the Going Gets Tough The City Raises Your Fees

It is what it is
They tell us there's a bone in there somewhere.

Tonight the City has its first of two annual budget review special meetings.  Have you ever known a government agency that proposed cutbacks during tough economic times? Of course not. And it really helps when you  can incorporate “revenue enhancements” with out raising taxes. It’s called fee increases. And that’s what the Fullerton city staff is proposing:

OPERATING BUDGET CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM:
Mayor opens public hearings for the proposed 2009-11 operating budget City and Redevelopment Agency Fee increases for the:

Parks and Recreation

Fire Department

Community Development

Engineering Department

(see page 5)

The department heads will stand up, hats in hand,  and request that the City Council increase fees that the public has to pay for certain services. Did you really expect any of these people would suggest  budget cuts for their departments?

The City of Fullerton Keeps Breaking The Law for Jack Franklyn. Why?

We did what we were told to do
Jack's musicians waiting for the amplifiers to arrive...

For some strange reason, the surrounding business owners and/or residents of properties within proximity of Roscoe’s were NOT notified to allow input at the Planning Commissions recent Public Hearing. A violation of the law (Sec 15.58.060).

Is an on going ’special event’ spanning 3 months the intent of this section? Obviously not. (Sec 15.58.020)

Was the application filed 90 days prior to June 14th? N0. (Sec 15.58.040)

Here’s the relevant section of the Fullerton Municipal Code:

15.58.010. Intent and purpose.

The intent of this chapter is to identify special events and to specify the requirements and provisions for their approval regardless of the proposed location or zone classification. The requirements and provisions established for each special event are intended to ensure the general safety, health, and welfare of the community and to ensure that the temporary operation of the special event will be a compatible activity for the neighborhood in which it is located. (Ord. 2982, 2001)

15.58.020. Definitions.

A “special event” is an event that will be conducted outdoors to which the general public is admitted or invited. Such an event includes a carnival, festival, tent or car show, circus, parade, auction, rally, or a similar kind of temporary outdoor exhibition or performance. A temporary commercial activity, such as a “sidewalk” or parking lot sale, which is intended to promote the sale of merchandise from on-site businesses, shall not be considered a “special event.” (Ord. 2982, 2001)

15.58.040. Application for permit and fees.

A. An application for a special event permit must be on file with the Director of Development Services at least 90 days before the scheduled special event. The City Council may, by resolution, set appropriate fees for the filing of the application.

15.58.060. Procedure for review of application.

B. A permit for a special event proposed on all other types of private property shall not be issued without a review and approval of the application by the Planning Commission. Prior to the Planning Commission reviewing the application, the Director of Development Services shall do the following:

1. Consult with other departments of the city on the request.

2. Notify business owners and/or residents of properties within proximity of the proposed venue, stating the nature of the request, the date, time and location where the Planning Commission will review the request, and the opportunity for the public to comment on the request during that review.

3. State all reasonable concerns and issues identified by city staff and the general public when the Planning Commission reviews the request. (Ord. 2982, 2001)

All this begs the very obvious question: why is the City bending its own laws past the breaking point to accommodate Jack Franklyn and his outdoor nuisance? The City Manager and his planning staff are obviously doing this for a reason. What could it be?

Mommy, I don't think the meter is working today
Mommy, I don't think the meter is working today

Young Artist Moves to Fullerton

newmiguel

New Fullerton resident Marco Torres is a young self taught photographer whose work can be described as the fifth and final stage of sleep where the mind produces its most lucid hallucinations, confusing a dream with life, the ambiguity of tragedy or triumph engages the audience through out the entirety of each piece; a keen eye for bizarre locations both extraordinary and mundane is what sets this young up and coming artist apart from the rest. Click here to see more of Marco’s work.

Being Dick Jones; The Sequel

A couple of days ago we shared this post about our favorite punching bag, Dick Jones. We pointed out that we had been criticized during last year’s campaign for producing a creative version of this classic moment; so we shared the original, unedited film.

And now we would like to present, once again, our original art film version that was nominated in 2008 for the prestigious Orson Welles Award for Excellence in Political Satire from the Teddy J. Brinkerhof Multi-media Institute in Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania . We didn’t win, but we have high hopes for 2009. 

We have to admit it was tough competing with the real McCoy, but we did our best! Decide for youself which version is more entertaining.

Rosecrans/Euclid Project Update

 

Does RDRC like fake 2nd floors?
The RDRC likes fake 2nd floors.

A few months ago we posted  on the remodeling underway at the Rosecrans/Euclid shopping center. We shared information that a city planner had insinuated himself into the design process; we opined that government and good design rarely mix; and we promised periodic visual updates.

 

Is that a caretakers unit above retail?
Is that a caretakers unit above retail?

On that last point we have been remiss, and so we now share some images. They don’t seem to have made a lot of progress, but as you can see all that wasted space has been wrapped in lath and stuccoed – all wasted materials, too.

 

Are those multi-units above retail, or, perhaps mixed use?
Are those multi-units above retail, or, perhaps it's a mixed use project? We will soon find out.

Dick Jones Pops His Cork; Witnesses Describe Wide Devastation

jones-gone-wild1
Dick Jones in a subdued moment...

We’ve been hearing now for several days that Fullerton’s own volcanic phenomenon, Dick Jones, really lost it at a recent OC Vector Control District Board meeting, blown head gasket-wise.

they get paid for this?
The OC Vector Control District Board gets down to work...

We’re not clear on what happened, precisely, but according to reliable sources (several council members from neighboring cities) Jones experienced some sort of cataclysmic melt-down. More than this we cannot say. However, we have ordered a copy of the the audio tape of the meeting to figure out exactly what happened. When we get this record we will be sure to share it with you, our Faithful Friends. Then you can judge for yourselves.

Ackerman Hates Norby; Just Like the Good Old Days

A wide-awake Chris Norby contemplates his future as a paper shuffler
A wide-awake Chris Norby contemplates his future as a paper shuffler
Dick Ackerman
An apparently pleasant Dick Ackerman. Out of power, but not out of venom.

Tip o’ the bowler to Art Pedroza at the Orange Juice blog for this entertaining bit . It seems that former Fullerton  City Councilman, State Assemblyman, State Senator, architect of the hideously gerrymandered 33rd State Senate District, and proprietor of the record for the shortest Congressional campaign on record, Dick Ackerman, has named himself honorary chairman of the “Hugh” Nguyen for County Clerk/Recorder campaign. Nguyen’s opponent at this point is our own beloved Chris Norby – termed out County Supervisor about whom some cynical people are saying that he’s just looking for a soft place to land.

feather-bed

Now, why would a former bigshot like Ackerman deign to bestow his name to the candidacy of an unknown government file clerk with political ambition over a sitting supervisor? Well, Friends, it all goes back to the 1980s when both served on the Fullerton City Council, and when Ackerman discovered a deep and abiding hatred of Norby. No one is really sure from which deep well of bile this animosity sprang – but it is a profound source, that’s for sure.

a river of bile runs through it...
a river of bile runs through it...

Ackerman doesn’t give a damn who the County Clerk is, and we wonder if he’s ever even met this Nguyen fellow. But the fact that Norby wants something is enough motivation for Dick to try to keep him from getting it.

Why does Fullerton seem to produce so many Dicks?

Design Review Member Steve Lynch on Jefferson Commons

Stucco, Styrofoam, and lots of it
Stucco, styrofoam, but where's the parking structure?

Greetings Everyone-

I would like to apologize to you for the manner in which I left the meeting last night. I wish I could fabricate a better reason than being absolutely disgusted with JPI Development for their thinly veiled deception of the RDRC and Staff…but I can’t. I felt my blood pressure elevating and thought it was best for me to leave before making any more comments regarding their six shades of shadiness. As you may have guessed by now I believe the JPI group deliberately misrepresented the mass of the parking structure in the colored elevation drawing that they presented to us at the RDRC meeting in which they earned our approval. I also believe it was a calculated move for them to casually slip the actual scale of the structure into the elevations in the construction drawings and hope nobody caught it. If I am not mistaken Heather caught this little “revision” and that is why they were a last minute addition to our agenda last night. If I had to do it over again I would have dug my heels in and tried to sway the other members towards my belief that what JPI presented last night was significantly different than what was approved, however, I felt at the time that would have been futile as the other members didn’t seem too affected by the change. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things none of this is going to make any difference to anybody and the building will get built and the citizens of Fullerton will be none the wiser to what the building should have looked like, but I know, and the sense of satisfaction I once felt for having collaborated on this project is now a bit corrupted. When the minutes are being drafted for last nights meeting I would like the record to reflect my true feelings as accurately as possible.

Jay/ Heather…if it’s not in violation of any policy, I would like this email shared with the other members of the committee.

Regards,

Steve Lynch

Last October, this letter was sent to the Fullerton Observer, but NEVER got published.

Demo update
Demo update