Friends For Fullerton's Future

August 30, 2009August 31, 2009About Us

The Sunday Drive: A Heap O’ Trouble In Vegas and Links To Milblogs

3 days of blogging gluttony in Las Vegas

Okay, we’re giving you a lot of good links in this post. Click on ’em all.

Right now the Divine Miss K is listening to French Radio on Pandora. She’s also wondering if it in any way is connected to this weird dream about people smoking cigars. Hack hack….phooooo

Yes, it’s confirmed. Courtesy of the most testosterone driven milbloggers at Blackfive, the Divine Miss K will be in Las Vegas at Blog World Expo. She’ll also be visiting her time-to-time haunt over at the Blogcritics. It’ll be a chance to pick up some work, meet a bunch of fellow bloggers, and see which tech companies are folding in on one another.

Learn more about it at the Divine Miss K’s Milblog, The Kitchen Dispatch, by clicking the icon on the sidebar. Btw… The Kitchen Dispatch was named “the best milspouse blog going” by no less than BabaTim of the excellent Afghanistan Blog Free Range International. The two blogs are the yin and yang of war.

Side rant: For a long time now, that other paper has run death stats of the wars in their paper. Though they are stats we in the milcommunity should and do keep in mind, they have, like many, boiled it down to this one sad, but true aspect. War is horrible. The many issues and people involved are deep and complex. But given the source, it’s par for their course. Though J. Dobrer’s August column was well intentioned, it’s also served as a reminder of the same elitism, snobbery and odd-distancing that has long entrenched this burg. He was surprised to be moved when he saw the ghost of the Twin Towers, though how anyone would not be is beyond my comprehension. I traveled there after a friend lost her husband in the horror. Let’s just say… I will never forget those crowds, the feeling of being pushed, the lights, the sounds, the smell and the finality of it all. And when I was there this summer, the effect was no less.

9/11 Memorial On A Fence In Chelsea (NYC)

He was however, correct about Al Qaeda.

The suggestion: The Divine Miss K highly recommends some of the side links on The Kitchen Dispatch to various milblogs. Each one will take the reader out of their comfort zone. But then that’s the point isn’t it? But this opinionating is for naught, since the hoi polloi claims to “never read the blog.”

Back to blogging: Hope to see you there.

August 28, 2009December 30, 2009Arts & Architecture

The RDRC and Jay Eastman Take A Curtain Call

by admin16 Comments

Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Because we did. In previous posts here and here, we tracked the progress (if you really want to use that word) of the strip center at Euclid and Rosecrans. Well, the scaffolding has come down and what’s revealed ain’t purty.

Our theme here was wasted space and building materials and of course, The City’s dubious commitment to the idea of sustainability. And our purpose was not to dwell upon the poor aesthetic choices made by the owner of this center. Instead we chose to focus on the City’s role in this aesthetic disaster. For some reason the Development Services Department (they serve developers) decided that this non-subsidized, private remodel needed to go to the hapless Redevelopment Design Review Committee – even though it is miles from a Redevelopment area.

Planner Jay Eastman made it clear that the RDRC intended to impress its preferences unto this site – no doubt assisted by Mr. Eastman himself. Let’s let Barbara Giasone help us with our narrative from a May1, 2008 story:

“The proposed remodel was reviewed by the Redevelopment Design Review Committee last week, but the panel felt the design was commonplace and didn’t reflect the character of the neighborhood, Acting Chief Planner Jay Eastman said. The architect was asked to look at the surrounding neighborhood with terms like “country,” “rural” and “equestrian,” Eastman added.”

Country. Rural. Equestrian. Got it?

The ensuing visual train wreck of disjointed parts, shed and gable roofs, the weird confusion of masonry veneer and stucco, and all the wasted attic space with its dinky windows provide a suitable denouement, fifteen months later, for this cautionary tale. If the property owner had been left to his own devices it is hard to conceive anything worse being done – and it could have been done a lot less expensively.

We wonder just what sort of idiots our staff and their RDRC think inhabit rural equestrian areas.

August 28, 2009January 5, 2010Pam Keller

Pam Keller Week Wrap-up

by The Fullerton Harpoon23 Comments

We’ve spent much of the week examining what we could find out about Pam Keller and her “Fullerton Collaborative.” As a Fullerton City Council member she has cast some votes that even some of her devoted supporters have found, well, mystifying. These include the gargantuan “Jefferson Commons” and the mammoth “Amerige Court” messes. Only a crappy economy has stalled these excrescences from going forward, although several historic, mid-century modern buildings have been destroyed to clear the land for Jefferson Commons.

Pam has made a great big deal about not taking developer’s money, and her 2006 campaign manifesto talks about protecting the citizens of Fullerton from the nasty developer special interests that want to “shape our future.” It still sounds like a lot of campaign drivel, but it was clearly intended to appeal to a certain profile voter – just the sort of voter who should now be appalled at those approved projects.

Our series started out with a giggle over her “Woodstock” fundraiser aimed at ex-hippies who could break out their ratty denims and tie-dye T shirts and kick in $1000 to be a “Jimi Hendrix Fan Club” member. The fact that the party nearly coincided with the one year anniversary of her vote to approve the Amerige Court project propelled the conversation in that direction.

The discussion took another turn when we also noticed that Keller’s Fullerton Collaborative is supposed to combat childhood obesity – so it seemed disconnected that she would vote to move a McDonald’s right across the street from Fullerton High; except that the move frees up land for another massive housing project!

The mention of the Collaborative began a look-see into that group. We discovered that Pam is an employee of the Fullerton School District – not the Collaborative, which is convenient – for her – since she can pursue her philanthropy on the public payroll. We remarked that the money that goes to pay the FSD for Pam’s services constitutes the majority of the Collaborative’s expenses, and that in 2007 it operated in the red.

We also discovered that the Collaborative website makes no mention of who its “donors” are, which is pretty weird for a charity and even weirder for people who donate to them; and this led to all sorts of unpleasant speculation about the possibility that private interests in Fullerton that have business with the City might be donating to the Collaborative.

As speculation mounted about the possibility that land developers might be donating to the Collaborative – developers like Steve Sheldon and the Pelican/Laing boys – we picked up a couple of other interesting tidbits, such as Fullerton City Departments being “members” of the Collaborative where their boss runs things (from FSD Trustee Minard Duncan); and then that Pam Keller attended the now infamous Newport Harbor drinkies boat ride and dinner hosted by Steve Sheldon for Sharon Quirk; a boat ride also attended by the Amerige Court developers who paid $1000 a piece for the privilege. Our Friends wondered if Sheldon gave Keller a freebie and whether that fact had been divulged anywhere.

Finally, FFFF blogmeister Travis Kiger issued a challenge for Pam to reveal who the donors to the Collaborative have been. And Pam responded by saying she would take it up with the Collaborative board (of which she is a member) at their meeting next month.

Well, that’s it so far. It’s been interesting digging into theses topics and others seem to be interested too: we have generated our highest visitor and page view numbers ever.

And rest assured, Friends, we won’t be letting go of this story any time soon, so stick around for the continuing saga!

August 27, 2009January 5, 2010Fullerton BooHoo

Contracting In: A New Twist On An Old Idea

by The Fullerton Shadow11 Comments

In government circles there is a concept known as “contracting out.” The idea is pretty simple. Certain services can be provided by the private sector at a fraction of the cost the government can manage. Things like tree trimming and janitorial services spring most readily to mind, but there’s no reason that any government function can’t be compared with the private sector for cost savings. Liberals hate the notion because it means smaller, less wasteful government.

It appears the Fullerton Collaborative has come up with a new wrinkle: contracting in. It pays a government agency, the Fullerton School District, for one of its employees, Fullerton City Council member Pam Keller, to act as Executive Director. Since the Collaborative also shares the same address as the District we assume they provide a desk and a telephone and a computer, too.

If we apply the notion that it generally costs more for the government to do something than a private citizen, we really have to wonder why the Fullerton Collaborative thinks it’s a good idea to have the School District provide this service. Common sense suggests that they could get a better deal by simply hiring Keller – or anybody else – directly, and cutting out the expensive bureaucratic middle-man. This may be a great deal for Keller, but what’s in it for the Collaborative? Of course some of our more cynical commenters have opined that the Collaborative is Keller!

Our guess is that most folks associated with the Fullerton Collaborative work for, or regularly importune the government at some level for something or other, and can’t quite bend their minds around this idea.

Oh, well.

August 27, 2009December 28, 2009Pam Keller

Pam Keller Responds! But Will We Get to See The Fullerton Collaborative’s Donation Records?

by The Fullerton Shadow13 Comments

Yesterday on our blog, our own intrepid Travis Kiger requested that Fullerton City Council member Pam Keller reveal the names of the parties that have made donations to the Fullerton Collaborative since she first became a candidate in 2006. He also sent the request personally to Ms. Keller who kindly responded.

Here’s the correspondence. First, the request by Travis:

I believe that you are a good person, but I am not able to explain some of your recent council votes. As you probably know, one of our bloggers has been researching your compensation arrangement with the Fullerton Collaborative. For reasons explained on today’s blog post, we are requesting full disclosure of all donations to the Fullerton Collaborative.

We will not back down from this request. I strongly believe that transparency is in the best interests of the public.

Furthermore, if there are any corrections that you feel need to be made to facts posted on our site, please let me know. This is an important discussion to engage in. If you remain silent on this issue, we can only make the assumption that something is wrong and we will amplify our call.

Thank you,

Travis Kiger
Friends for Fullerton’s Future

And Pam Keller’s response:

Good Afternoon Travis,

I will be happy to bring your request to the Fullerton Collaborative Board of Directors at our next meeting which is in September.

Thank you,

Pam Keller

Well there you have it. Let’s hope the board does the right thing – for itself – if for no one else – and let’s see who pays the bills, including the contract with FSD for Keller’s services. We will certainly stay on top of this issue and let the Friends know whatever we find out.

August 26, 2009September 11, 2009Arts & Architecture

Fullerton Junior College Subjected to More Horrors!

by admin18 Comments

Just in case you thought the North Orange County Community College District couldn’t possibly inflict any more architectural damage to what was once a quite lovely campus at FJC – you’d better think again.

The latest addition to an already overbuilt campus is this multi-storied monstrosity that bears all the hall-marks of the new bond-built FJC buildings: hollow and stuccoed walls, fake arches, and an overbearing presence that sort of sucks the life right out of you. No need to guess what’s coming:McSpanish Dinosaur!

Pretty soon all those wasteful hollow metal stud walls will be wrapped in lathing and then plastered to present the appearance of masonry; Styrofoam cornices will be tacked on to gratify the sort of taste that demands a hat on a mannequin; phony wrought iron accoutrements will be lagged into the plaster and then the administration can pat itself on the back for another job well-done.

Geez, that's really gonna be awful.. — Another embarrassing erection at FJC...

By the way, if you look carefully you’ll notice some sort of cupola emerging on the roof. Is another foolish clock tower avec dome on the way? We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on the latest architectural embarrassment at FJC.

August 26, 2009January 5, 2010Fullerton School Board

Keller’s Fullerton Collaborative: A Call for Transparency

by Travis11 Comments

Yesterday the Shadow exposed some dubious inner workings at the Fullerton Collaborative. We thought something was up since Pam Keller’s penchant for passing bad development projects while proclaiming that she does not take developer money seems madly disjointed. A little digging revealed that a large piece of her non-profit’s donations go right back to Pam’s pocket as payment for her extensive “collaborating” skills, but only after being carefully funneled through the Fullerton School District.

Next came the anonymous whispers – Pam doesn’t take developer donations, but does the Fullerton Collaborative? If so, things aren’t looking so good for Pam’s claims of honesty and transparency.

In light of these findings and on behalf of the public, we request that Fullerton Councilmember Pam Keller release all donation records for the Fullerton Collaborative dating back to the start of her 2006 campaign.

Many non-profits choose to disclose funding sources as a gesture of accountability. Any foundation being run by an elected official should be even more inclined to disclose financial data. Furthermore, if the elected official is being paid by the non-profit, full disclosure is a necessity. Pam claims to believe in the transparency of government, so let’s see if she has a problem showing the public who signs her paycheck.

Some will jump to Pam’s defense because she is generally well-liked. Being friendly and personable is not a reason to give any politician a complete pass. Put your personal feelings aside for a moment. That’s a difficult thing for many people to do and that’s probably why Pam has made it so far without scrutiny. We are merely investigating the motivations behind a politician’s choices. It’s hard to argue that the public is not better served by more transparency.

August 25, 2009Downtown Fullerton

“Heroes” On Union Street

by admin28 Comments

We received an e-mail a while back from a concerned Friend with a story to tell. In the interest of public information and dialogue we reprint it, below. Take it for what you think it’s worth. Comments on this event are more than welcome:

Sunday night, August 1st 2009, a motor crash involving two trucks occurred on West Union Street. The drivers of these vehicles were apparently racing while under the influence of alcohol. This seems to be less surprising in Fullerton these days, which is not a good thing for those who care about the direction of this city. If you are familiar with this street then you know that most residents park on both sides of the street, and there is no room for reckless driving.

The damage: One flipped truck, one totaled parked car, and consequentially, local residents that are now more concerned than the day before. It was reported that one of the drivers is actually an employee of the bar/restaurant Heroes, located in Downtown Fullerton. Although DUIs are not surprising in this city, the fact that this particular case involves an employee of a popular restaurant, turned popular bar by night, does. On a personal level, I despise Heroes for hiring bar tenders that treat customers with less or the same respect as manure, but that’s a whole other story.

Shouldn’t Heroes be teaching their very own employees about the dangers of drunk driving? Shouldn’t they be emphasizing, “drinking responsibly” not only to the public, but to their very own, as well? I’m not letting drunk drivers in Fullerton, or anywhere for that matter, get off easily, and Heroes shouldn’t either. It’s apparent to me that this establishment needs to have a group meeting about role modeling, employee representation, and accountability… and soon.

August 25, 2009About Us

Happy Birthday To Us, And To All The Loyal Friends

by admin12 Comments

Happy Birthday, and thanks to all of our dedicated Friends!

Friends For Fullerton’s Future is one year old. In our first year we have had 229,818 page views.

August 25, 2009December 28, 2009About Us

The Fart Boy Hard At Work

by Grover Cleveland16 Comments

A new air freshener, Boss! Sweet. — A new air freshener, Boss? Sweet!

Yesterday, Orange County’s original Fart Boy, Matthew Cunningham, the irrepressible toady and Energizer Bunny of boot licks, was hard at work for his de facto boss – the political impresario and lobbyist, John Lewis.

A few days before Lewis had sent out out a Chris Norby for County Clerk politcal contribution solicitation to County workers at their work e-mail addresses. That looked bad because it was (and is) bad, maybe illegal; and County employees are banned from using their computers for this sort of thing – both on the sending and receiving end. Well, yesterday Lewis sycophant Cunningham tried to downplay the episode on his own lame and tiresome “Red County” blog go here at the risk of extreme tedium.

The fact that Cunningham’s blog is alternatively referred to as “Red Klownty” and “Brown County” ought to be a giveaway as to the fringe crazies and paid hacks that blog there. Cunningham’s unfortunate nickname – Jerbal – is another telling clue about his personality.

Cunningham’s pathetic rhetoric once again revealed his only apparent talent: diverting attention from the real issue. But it’s only a talent if someone is dumb enough to fall for it. The issue was not, as Cunningham implied, how many government workers actually felt threatened or coerced by the e-mail, but the impropriety of sending it out in the first place, and the incompetence that let it happen.

Cunningham claims that Norby is not vindictive – part of his sleight-of-hand shtick, since nobody ever said he was. The issue is why the campaign is so screwed up it doesn’t know what it’s doing, and how Norby, who wants to be the County’s chief paper-pusher, let it happen.

John Lewis has created a cute little machine that generates him political consulting income as well as considerable wealth as a County lobbyist – after he gets his boys elected. How much Cunningham gets paid for his transparent efforts at damage control for Lewis is hard to say. He may just be doing it for a warm smile and a wink from his mentor.