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December 15, 2009December 15, 2009Local Media

Missing Person: James Wernke

Update 12/15 11:30 AM: ABC7 and KTLA are reporting that James Wernke’s body was found near a creek this morning, 100 yards from St. Jude in a wooded area. Reporting no signs of trauma. Think water swept him away.

Update 12/15 7:30 AM: KFI is reporting that joggers this morning found a dog wondering behind Brea Dam that matches the description of the missing dog.

Update 12/14 6:00 PM: The Office of Emergency Services has offered the use of their search and rescue team to do an all night grid search of undeveloped areas including and surrounding the Brea Dam area, and adjacent trails. They will be staging at the Sports Complex, and the lights will be on all night. In addition to the search the PD is pursuing additional leads which may have a bearing on the missing person case.

Fullerton Police are looking for James Wernke, who went missing on Saturday, December 12th in Fullerton. He was last seen with a yellow Labrador near Sunnywood Dr. and Hermosa Dr. around 1 p.m.

Jason-Wernke

James Wernke is 6’4″ tall and weighs approximately 190 pounds. He has blue eyes and sandy blond hair.

James had no identification, jewelry, or money on him when he left, according to his family. He may have his cell phone with him because his family hasn’t been able to find it anywhere.

Jason-Wernke2

If you have any information about James Wernke’s whereabouts, please contact the Fullerton Police Department.

December 15, 2009January 4, 2010About Us

The Fringies Advance Apace: Worst Vote 2009

by Jan Florys Dog7 Comments

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UPDATE: WE HAVE NOW INCLUDED LAST NIGHT’S (12/15/09) CITY COUNCIL VOTE TO APPROVE THE RICHMAN HOUSING PROJECT (SEE #6). SINCE THE COUNCIL IS DONE VOTING IN 2009 WE CAN NOW CLOSE THE NOMINATIONS.

The Worst Vote 2009 category is reserved for politicians who really stepped in it big time. This is one of the biggies, so you won’t want to miss this award. Here are the five nominees:

1. Councilman Don Bankhead deserves recognition, all right. In a 22-year council career jam-packed with horrible decisions this year he truly distinguished himself. His “until death” support of the completely horrendous $6 million McDonald’s relocation move was just breathtaking. Even Doc Heehaw opposed that one, and that’s saying a lot.

2. A joint nomination: Don Bankhead (again!), Pam Keller, and our old pal Dick Jones for their brainless devotion to the Redevelopment expansion founded on a fraudulent finding of blight. We have catalogued all the idiotic things said in defense of the indefensible, and its an impressive catalogue of confused thinking, indeed. And FFFF has sued the Agency to help it get it’s collective mind right.

3. Another joint nomination. FSD Trustees Hilda Sugarman and Ellen Ballard for voting to hire (for up to $100,000) a consultant to “study” the feasibility of a parcel tax. Minard Duncan is also included in this nomination since he abstained, too cowardly to even make a decision one way or the other. Say why does Ed Royce keep endorsing Ballard and Sugarman? (Rhetorical question only – no response necessary).

4. The Fullerton Planning Commission for actually granting Jack Franklyn a bogus “special events” permit covering numerous events for several months so that he could continue to offend his neighbors with outdoor amplified music at Roscoe’s Famous Nuisance. We also note that one of his neighbors subsequently went out of business and another Franklyn enterprise is moving into the empty space.

5. The entire City Council for mindlessly jacking up the commodity rates on water and in doing so increasing the in-lieu franchise payment to the General Fund. Not a single council person even bothered to ask why. Shame, shame, shame.

6. Don Bankhead, Pam Keller, and Dick Jones. Again. And Again. For their vote to approve the utterly ill-conceived, staff-created Richaman Avenue subsidized condo project. Shawn Nelson recused himself.

December 14, 2009December 28, 2009About Us

The Fringies Continue: Least Distinguished “Journalist”

by Jan Florys Dog8 Comments

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As you Friends may well imagine, this category is chock-full of worthy nominees. In fact, choosing them was a real challenge. 2009 was an excellent year for journalistic incompetence, and our nominees each qualified for slightly different reasons. The nominees for Least Distinguished “Journalist” are:

1. Sharon Kennedy. She is nominated for her reprehensible tactic of forwarding Chris Norby’s anti-Redevelopment essays on to City Hall, where a staffer wrote responses and Don Bankhead, between pudding breaks, signed them. Hardly the actions of a responsible journalist. Which is why we put the word in quotation marks in our title.

2. Barbara Giasone. Barbara distinguished herself last year by snagging the coveted Wurlitzer Prize. This year she earns a Fringie nomination by an entire year’s worth of vapid vacuity. Just think of it. The Earth has accomplished a full orbit of the Sun and Babs has not made a single journalist contribution to the folks of Fullerton. An accomplishment crying out for recognition.

3. Frank Mickadeit. This homunculus receives his nomination for outstanding and relentless ass-kissing of the Repuglican elite – formerly people like Mike Carona, but this year Ackerman, Inc., as he slavishly passed along all of Dick Ackerman’s bullshit to the dwindling number of OC Register readers.

4. Lastly, lets not forget Mickadeit’s Register colleague Martin Wisckol, who seems to suffer from the same sick infatuation with the Repuglican clique’s collective posterior that infects Mickadeit. This year Wisckol distinguished himself by acting as Ackerman, Inc. press agent, doing so from the very beginning of the Ackerwoman scampaign. Our intrepid reporter even contacted the Ackerwoman in France as soon as the Duvall deal went down. Later he passed along her lame “businesswoman” resume as a matter of fact, not invention. Suspicious minds smelled collusion. Suspicious minds were right.

December 14, 2009December 28, 2009About Us

The Fringies: Nominations Begin

by Jan Florys Dog8 Comments

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Yes, Friends, it’s time to recognize the outstanding among us Fullertonians. And by outstanding I mean the brain-dead, the lethargic, the incredibly stupid, the greedy, the shifty, and, every so often, the actual achievers. So let’s start.

In the category of Stupidest Statements Made in Public in 2009 we have four nominees. It’s interesting because three of them center around the person of City Council woman Pam Keller.

1. First is Pam Keller herself with the now legendary “fiscal conservatives as the five of us are” comment. It’s not long but it’s pretty breathtaking. Here’s the link to the post.

2. Second is the loud-mouthed member of Pam’s Posse with no “political whatevers” who made a spectacle out of herself with a long-winded, lame, and ultimately satiro-brilliant string of drivel about why Pam Keller should be mayor. Although not nominated because she didn’t actually say anything, Saint Joan at the Stake in the background deserves special recognition for wonderfully pious gestures and glances skyward. Enjoy again.

3. Third, this wonderful piece of utter nonsense uttered by every one’s favorite hysterical corn pone pontificator, Dick Jones, on why you don’t change horses in mid-stream, and why Don Bankhead should be mayor two years in a row – because (not in spite of the fact!) that the City’s proverbial barrel bobs along in a “raging financial torrent” toward Doc Heehaw’s “symbolic Niagara Falls.” Great fun.

4. Finally, there’s this pearl mumbled out by Council aspirant Marty Burbank last summer: “as a lawyer” he doesn’t know if the Redevelopment expansion is legal, but of course he supports it anyway. Well he certainly demonstrates all the requisite qualifications to be on the Fullerton City Council with this gem.

December 14, 2009December 30, 2009Behind Closed Doors

On the Agenda: December 15th, 2009

by Christian4 Comments

The Fullerton City Council has just released their agenda for December 15, 2009 and it’s a fat package!

Something near and dear to me is baseball so I take a little more interest when the subject shows up on the agenda. Item 2 of the closed session is a conference with the real property negotiator concerning 304 W. Commonwealth Avenue. It would appear that the Orange County Flyers of Fullerton want to move to downtown Fullerton to be closer to City Hall. In fact they want to have the baseball field across the street where many a young man played pony league baseball. The Duane Winters Field just might be the sight of the next Golden Baseball League Championship. In March 2007 the team gave up being the Fullerton Flyers because the new partners wanted to be more marketable. Hmm, sounds like an Arty Moreno stunt! So the changed to the Orange County Flyers. I have a t-shirt that says “Top 10 Reason’s To Be a Fan: …Reason #4: They aren’t the L.A. Flyers of Fullerton.” That’s true; they’re the O.C. Flyers. So, will Parks and Rec Director, Joe Felz, give them the field? We’ll see…

Also in the closed session is another real property whiz-bang. Rob Zur Schmiede is working on 655 W. Valencia. In 2007 this was a 63 unit condo by John Laing and the project was in plan check. 3+ years later, what could they be discussing? Price and terms with C&C Development’s Barry Cottle, according to the agenda.

In the open session you can look forward to a presentation by MWD and a few awards to people like Quirk-Silva, Dick Waltz, and – drum roll please – The Golden Bell Award, Fullerton Union High School District and (another drum roll please) Fullerton School District! How ya like dem apples?

Make sure you fill out your blue card before you yell at the council – which you will want to do…

There are a few appointments being made to the Library Board of Trustees. Your favorite Mayor, Don “Don’t Mess With Me” Bankhead and Shawn “See Ya Later Alligator” Nelson. Their terms are to expire December 31, 2012 – if they last that long.

We have a busy consent calendar to cover so hang on tight. In the mix is the amended landscaping ordinance, group insurance for city employees, the employee’s deferred compensation, more sewer replacement, a bunch of Redevelopment stuff, air pollution, SALE OF THE ORANGE COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS (seriously – item 11), Raymond Avenue grade separation, Fire Management Association agreement, Bastanchury/Valencia Mesa bike path. There is too much for me to cover here so I’ll expand a little on just a few.

First, there for Redevelopment. Item 6’s title should tell you everything you need to know… “Redevelopment Agency’s Annual Determination That Planning And Administrative Expenses Are Necessary For The Production, Improvement, or Preservation of Low and Moderate Income Housing”. Yep that’s all you need to know so don’t look into it or question it. I suggest that if you ever had a beef with Redevelopment, this is a chance for you to SCREAM at your elected officials. This “determination” is the justification for wasting your money. Because if that isn’t enough reason, read item 7, the Redevelopment Agency’s annual report. This the RA’s justification for existence to the State and Feds. If it doesn’t dazzle you with brilliance, rest assured, it will baffle you with bullshit!

Ok, enough with the Redevelopment Agency, let’s get down to real business. According to item 8, it’s time to modify the signals at Orangethorpe and Highland, as well as re-stripe the area and add some signs.

Air pollution shows up 9^th on the list. It’s actually a MSRC grant for $450,000 for a compressed natural gas station. I wonder how much money we will throw at it to get the gas station operational. How much will we sell the gas for? Are there enough customers to make it profitable or are we, the tax payers, suppose to subsidize CNG vehicle owners? I’m sure the details are all there waiting to be found.

Don Hoppe gets an appointment as the Public Works Dispute Hearing Officer. Will he get paid extra for the job?

And then we have the Fairgrounds. It appears that the council would like to request the Governator to not sell the O.C. Fairgrounds. I’m sure Arnold will read the letter and quickly cancel the whole sale.

The Raymond Avenue Grade Separation is getting a change order for AECOM. Their fee is $2,450,000. It is unclear from the agenda or staff recommendation just how much the change order will cost us, if anything. According to the recommendation, there is $63,739,000 for the project. That’s a lot of money!

Skipping ahead to the Public Hearings we have some more Redevelopment doozies. The first one, item 15, is for 524 and 530 S. Richman Avenue where the Olson Company wants to erect 34 moderate income housing units. I believe the Honorable DR. Jones said we “…absolutely have to build these. It’s the law!” Well, sort of…not really.

Also, item 16 is the Five-Year Implementation Plan for Redevelopment Agency. The item is on the agenda so that a request can be made to have a public hearing on it and consider adopting the plan. What a racket!

Here is an interesting one. Item 17 is an appeal to install a nature/wildlife habitat along a portion of the Juanita Cooke Greenbelt (known to many who are not as up to date on official trail names as “The Equestrian Trail Behind the Court House that goes to Laguna Lake”). After looking at what they wanted to do and where, I’m not sure why the City didn’t take advantage of the situation. Here are a couple who want to improve the trail where it runs along their backyard. They wanted to make it wilder (I guess) on the slope NEXT TO the path. The fix could have been to enter into an agreement whereby they can install certain pre-approved plants in a pre-approved manner, the total costs of which would be paid by the applicant. The City could have the homeowners maintain it until such time as the agreement is cancelled in which case the homeowners could be on the hook for removal/restoration costs. The cop out from Parks that the trail has two paths and this would confuse people is silly. Are people really that stupid? Also, from what I have seen, the encroachment would be onto the slope. I don’t think the mountain bikers are on the slopes nor are the walkers or horses. So what’s the problem?

The city will also be looking at parking permit fees in certain areas. (See item 18)

Moving on to Regular Business (I said this was a big package), we have a few reports on the City’s financials as well as the Airport. Also in the Regular Business is the Commission/Committee At-Large Appointment Process.

I urge you to read through all of the supporting documents for the agenda. That is where you might find some nuggets of truth that should be brought forth. I simply don’t have enough hours in the day to do it. Thanks for reading and feel free to point out other topics that I missed or are important to you!

December 14, 2009December 28, 200972nd Election

Just In Case You Wanted Anymore Proof…

by Joe Sipowicz5 Comments

…that former State Senator, State Assemblyman, and Fullerton City Councilman Dick Ackerman is a lying sack of canine excrement, we have it.

Hard to do this with any sort of dignity...

Okay, it’s been a tough fall for good old Dick what with the lil’ lady getting her posterior kicked in the AD 72nd election, and then with Ackerman’s own dubious behavior on behalf of the OC Fair Foundation miscreants coming to light. Some folks might be inclined to think we’re just piling on at this point (we are, of course). But this latest revelation is just so, um, revealing into the stack of prevarication masquerading as a former State Senator that, well, we just had to share it.

(First, thanks to the FFFF political research team, although it would have been useful to get this a couple of months ago – so no Christmas bonuses for you!)

Let’s let our old friend Matthew J. Cunningham do the wordsmithing. Here’s an excerpt from a Cunningham blog post away back in ’06 when Norby was running for re-election as a County supervisor. Cunningham is describing a Norby campaign mailer. Too bad the links don’t work anymore but, you’ll get the gist all right:

But the most noteworthy aspect of this mailer: a big sloppy endorsement from Sen. Dick Ackerman! Norby and Ackerman have been mortal foes for years. They must have smoked a seriously potent peace pipe.

So let’s get this straight. Ackerman warmly endorses Norby in 2006, after the Pam Mokler phony lawsuit jury verdict! But by 2009 he remembers that poor Pam Mokler is just a poor victim; and he conveniently remembers that the man he endorsed in 2006 is actually a serial sexual harasser from way back in the 80’s – as passed along and dutifully repeated by the Register toady Frank Mickadeit. What a guy!

Odd that Norby and his ace team of political consultants had forgotten what would have been an acutely embarrassing situation for their arch enemy Ackerman. Of course we couldn’t expect Cunningham to recall it either; or if he did to publish it.

Anyway, Friends, there you have the sum and substance of a completely worthless individual, Dick Ackerman, whose gastropodic slime-sheen reflects back on all the scum-suckers who endorsed his wife’s completely fraudulent campaign.

But rest assured, Friends. We’re not done with Dick and his lackeys. Not by a long shot.

December 14, 2009December 28, 200972nd Election

The Ed Royce Endorsement

by admin4 Comments

On a very recent post commenter “Umbrella Alert” notes that Chris Norby’s use of the very very recent Ed Royce endorsement in his ballot statement is something of a “kick in the teeth” to folks who supported Norby when it counted. Now Norby doesn’t even need Royce’s bendable and character-free endorsement, but there it is.

Hard to disagree. This smells a lot like a “let’s all get together and forget the near past” orchestration – a past that included Royce’s warm endorsement of an unqualified carpetbagger who lied to the voters claiming to be a “businesswoman” and who spent two months slandering Norby’s reputation in just about the worst possible way. Remember that Ed?

No doubt Norby’s campaign consultants and lobbyists are telling Norby to climb into the Repuglican Clown Car. That’s where the money is. What’s next? A glowing testimonial to Dick and Linda Ackerman as life-long dedicated public servants?

Excuse me. I may just barf up my breakfast.

December 14, 2009December 15, 2009About Us

Fringe Alert!

by Jan Florys Dog1 Comment

Yes, Dear Friends, it is that time of year again. Well, not really “again” because we’ve never done it before. And whether we ever do it again will depend on whether Fullerton’s politicians and decision-makers quit doing and saying hare-brained things. Aw, momma, that’s a lead-pipe cinch.

Whoa, there, you say! What in the world is JFD going off on? Is somebody putting weird stuff in his kibble?

Remarkable qualities deserve recognition. The Fringies are coming!

No! What I’m going off on is the First Annual FFFF Fringie Awards. That’s right. We will recognize the most recognizable 2009 behavior by our political lords and masters/mistresses by awarding recognition for it. Several categories will be included, as well a special life-time achievement award.

Stay tuned as we announce the nominees! And don’t hesitate to make your feelings known. The Academy will take all views into consideration.

December 13, 2009December 28, 200972nd Election

The Candidates Should be Ashamed of Their Ballot Statements

by Mr. Peabody17 Comments

I was talking to a co-worker the other day about the 72nd AD Special Election Sample ballot that came out last week. He expressed a feeling of disgust about the statements of the two traditional party candidates. I asked him to write up a post on the subject and he obliged. Here it is. The images were added by yours truly.

The Republican and Democrat candidates for the 72nd Assembly District Election ought to be ashamed of their ballot statements. But shame, as we learned from the example of Mike Duvall, is an emotion with a real low threshold for most politicians.

Let’s first examine Chris Norby’s ballot statement. He mentions how his opposition to higher taxes has earned him the endorsement of Tom McClintock and Ed Royce. Ed Royce? What kind of nonsense is this? A few weeks ago Ed Royce was supporting the lying, fraudulent, carpetbagging campaign of Linda Ackerman. And now Norby is bragging about the value of the endorsement from this empty little suit?

Norby touts his “vote” to place immigration agents in County jails to weed out illegal aliens. Why INS agents are needed to “identify” aliens is unclear and what, exactly they are doing in the jails remains a mystery. Well “whoop-de-do” as Archie Bunker once said. This is not an accomplishment, just pandering to the rabid anti-immigrant crowd, and Norby should know better.

Norby also takes credit for “spearheading” “improvements” to the 5 and 22 freeways as Chairman of the OCTA, even though both projects were in the works long before Norby showed up; and of course, the 22 was months and months behind schedule until the OCTA bureaucrats and the contractor worked out a massive, mutual face-saving change order that cost the taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

So much for Norby.

Now, let’s take a look at the ballot statement of Norby’s opponent, Democrat John MacMurray.

MacMurray graduated from donkey college... — Why don't they send donkeys to college? Because nobody likes a smart ass.

As a public school teacher should we expect more from MacMurray than a clumsy metaphor? Of course not! For MacMurray the awkward concept is the “three-legged table” supported equally by the three balanced legs of private sector, non-profit sector, and public sector. Everybody who has ever seen a three legged table please raise his hand. Apparently, John is worried about using the word “stool,” which is what his statement starts to smell like in the very first sentence.

I have great reservations about Mr. MacMurray’s invention of a “non-profit sector,” especially after the FFFF discoveries about how Fullerton’s Pam Keller has so effectively blurred the line between non-profit and public sector – so as to make the distinction in the mind of a liberal, non-existent.

MacMurray’s assertion that “we keep cutting support for our education system and cutting access to it” is obviously designed to generate outrage in the noblest liberal breast, but it’s a lie. Proposition 98 provides that a guaranteed percentage of the State budget goes to “education.” At least it goes to education spending. Any overall budget reductions are the fault of MacMurray’s spend-crazy Democrats in the Legislature who just can’t say nyet to the demands of public employee unions.

Cliches, lies, nonsense. Can’t we finally get an honest and intelligent ballot statement from the two candidates who are able to pay for one? Guess not. Not yet, anyway.

December 11, 2009December 28, 200972nd Election

Irvine Gypsies “Return” To Irvine

by admin5 Comments

Well Friends, as they say: there you have it.

As was perfectly predictable Dick “Spanky’s Godfather” Ackerman and his wife Linda Ackerwoman have just re-registered to vote at their real abode: 2 Mineral King, Irvine.

Wait, this can't be Team Ackerman. They never left Irvine!

Of course, we are reporting the “move” sarcastically, because nobody believes they ever really lived in Fullerton, although the couple did actually register to vote in Fullerton so the missus could run for office in an Assembly district in which she didn’t live.

On the road again; just can't wait to get on the road again...

Although this pretty much ends the great Carpetbagging Scam of 2009, 2010 promises more of the same. And so we urge you to stay vigilant against rootless and roving politicians. They, and the establishment lobby who back them, seek to grab and maintain political power and influence while gutting the State Constitution’s protection against this despicable practice by rendering it “unenforceable”!

If you think I'm repellent now, you should have seen me when I was a larva.