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Remember 1969, free love, and all that? Many of us are too young perhaps, but others maybe not be. In any case, we evoke 40-year anniversary recollections of a film that was both epilogue to the 60s and harbinger of the 70s. Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Refresh your memories here.
But who can forget this image of Eliot Gould, Natalie Wood, Robert Culp and Dyan Canon? Not us.
Well, we got it straight from the horse’s mouth:
“Linda and Dick are renting and occupying a part of our house.”
The high-rolling Ackermans (who are getting thousands in campaign contributions from lobbyists for the Mrs.’ carpetbagging run for the 72nd State Assembly seat) are renting a part of a house in Fullerton’s Raymond Hills. Good thing their amigos have a big house! But seriously, does anyone actually believe they’re going to be living there, despite their “landlord” emphasizing the word “occupying”?
Actually the whole thing is a bit creepy, if you ask us, and the less we think about it, the better off we may be, although we can’t help wondering whether the Ackermans have taken out renter’s insurance.
But, really: how dumb do they think we are? The answer must be: “very.”
Hey who is in charge over there at City Hall? Doesn’t anybody have a clue?
At their September 15, 2009 meeting, the Fullerton City Council deliberated over whether or not the Fullerton School District could get a two-year pass making annual payments on a $1,320,000 loan the District had received from the Redevelopment Agency for the renovation of Maple School nine years ago.
Without debating the merits of the proposal, we note that the suspension of payments was approved 5-0 by the City Council.
But wait! Both Sharon Quirk-Silva and Pam Keller are employees of the School District, and have no business voting on issues, especially financial issues, in which their employer is involved. If ever there were a case for recusal, this was it. At the meeting Mitch Hovey the Superintendent of the Fullerton School District was in the audience. Imagine that! You’re voting to defer over $50K in loan payments to the operation you work for and your boss is sitting in the front row! Hmmm. No bueno!
We can’t imagine why it didn’t occur to either Keller or Quirk-Silva that there was an evident conflict of interest involved. Perhaps it never occurred to them because they see the District as some sort of charity, and doing favors for charities can’t possibly undermine the fiduciary responsibility that they have to the City of Fullerton. It’s all about the children, after all. But we merely speculate. Who really knows why they voted?
And even more baffling is why Richard Jones, the City Attorney failed to bring up this problem. Attorney Jones is paid, and paid a lot, to keep these meetings on the up and up, and keep his charges out of trouble, in loco parentis, as it were. Hmmm.
And finally we reserve a separate post for the performance by Mayor Don Bankhead, who really outdid himself on this item
The other day we did a post that dealt with the Republican “leaders” of Orange County treating government like it was their own private plantation to be worked, and worked hard for all it was worth.
Unfortunately, the Ackerman team seem to fit this profile almost perfectly, what with the Missus deciding to run to “represent’ us peons in a district in which she doesn’t even live, and getting Sacramento lobbyists to grease her skids.
And so we can’t help but recall that great Bob Dylan song Maggie’s Farm, from the Bringing it All Back Home album. Enjoy the clip. And just remember who you’re working for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnO2jwvaB5c&feature=related
Yes, Friends, our Mobile Surveillance squad is ever vigilant. This time they tapped into another Dick Ackerman phone conversation, this time with none other than Matthew Cunningham, all-purpose GOP fawner and current dilemma possessor: with John Lewis working for Chris Norby and Dick Ackerman working for Dick’s wife, poor Matthew has to tread a fine line. In his efforts to offend nobody he may very well up offending both sides as a brutal showdown looms.
The following is a possible transcript of the phone conversation. You may believe it or not, depending on how gullible you are.
(ringing)
Cunningham: Hello, Pacific Strategies…
Ackerman: (snorting sound) Cunningham, Dick Ackerman here.
C: Well, hello Senator. How was Linda’s fundraising party in Sacramento the other…
A: Forget about that. (snorting sounds) I’ve got a problem and you need to help me. That SOB Norby’s got Bushala and that blog of his attacking my wife.
C: Yes, I know. That Bushala is so fringe. He’s really a lunatic.
A: (growling sound) Shut up and listen. You need to write a blog attacking those FFFF sonsofbitches, you got that?
C: Well, sure. It’ll be my pleasure! I owe that Bushala good. He called me Fart Boy-
A: Heh. heh-heh. Fart Boy. That’s pretty good (multiple snorting and grunting sounds) Good, get on it now. They’re trying to make Linda look bad, like a carpetbager.
C: Don’t worry about that Senator. We’re going to bury that issue. Nobody cares where you live.
A: (a faint snarling sound) We live in Fullerton you little rat, and don’t forget it!
C: Yes, yes, of course. You’re sharing a house with that doctor.
A: (a distinct snarling sound) Who told you that?
C: (barely audible) I dunno, Sir. Guess I picked it up somewhere.
A: You heard it from Lewis. I’ll get him later. Now it’s its that bastard Norby’s turn (more snarls). By the way why haven’t you written anything bad about him?
C: Well, Senator, you see he and Linda are both my good friends and…
A: (multiple low growl sounds) Cut the crap Cunningham. Norby doesn’t have any friends. You’d better fly right, boy, or you’re gonna be real sorry. And what’s this horseshit about your wife running for that Clerk job? I’ve already endorsed someone, goddam it! Nugent. Nuggie (snorting sounds). Something like that.
C: Um…you see…that is…
A: More bullshit from Lewis! Okay. Side up, kid. Decide whose team you’re on. And prove it by writing one of those blog things you do. Hit ’em hard.
C: Yes, Sir! By the way if your car needs washing or if you’ve got cleanning to pick up I’ll be happy to take…
(sound of Ackerman hanging up)
At this point we lost contact with the participants in the conversation.
For those of you that haven’t heard, due to health issues of a family member, Sharon Quirk-Silva will not pursue the seat to replace Mike “Spanky” Duvall for the 72nd State Assembly.
Sharon left me a message that “family comes first”!
Okay Sharon. Too bad. We looked forward to a spirited campaign. The seat will be open again next year!
Well, Friends, today it happened. Friends for Fullerton’s Future brought suit in the Superior Court against the phony Redevelopment expansion, and against the County’s disbursement of any property tax increment.
This morning our attorney C. Robert Ferguson filed the necessary documents in Santa Ana.
The basis of our law suit is simplicity itself: the findings of blight in the proposed expansion area are completely contrived, solely for the purpose of creating a tax increment windfall for the Agency at the expense of other agencies, and to the detriment of all property owners shouldering the burden of this encumbrance on their properties.
How do we know the blight findings were made up? Because we looked at their silly pictures of “blight”; because we noticed how property owners were casually deleted for no other reason than that they appeared to be vocal opponents, or because they were the necessary third vote to pass the expansion; because we heard Dick Jones, on numerous occasions, braying that it was all about “needing the money.”
So now let’s let the legal process unfold and see where it takes us.
Our old pal Sharon Kennedy just couldn’t help taking a shot at the Friends in her latest edition of the Observer. In a story [it’s on page 8] about the City’s settlement with the County over the bogus Redevelopment expansion she takes her swing: “Chris Norby and his supporters in the FACT and FFF (sic) groups (both groups widely discredited by shameful campaign ads and tactics in past elections)…”
Shameful? Well, hell, we don’t feel the least bit of shame – let alone any sort of discredit, except perhaps from people whose opinion means almost nothing to us. Excuse us, Ms. Kennedy, for pointing out what a loud-mouthed, ignorant blowhard Dick Jones really is – and using his own words to do it!
Much more shameful was the Observer’s slavish endorsement of Jones, an undeniable corn pone numbskull, simply because he is a reliable City staff stooge. That endorsement may have cost Karen Haluza the election. Nice work for a “progressive” operation.
And speaking of shameful, will the Observer continue to support council members who have voted to approve massive corporate subsidized housing projects with deficient CEQA findings? Just asking.
Being called shameful by Sharon Kennedy and her yellowing Observer is like being called ugly by a toad.
Our own Travis Kiger met with the Chairman and Treasurer of the Fullerton Collaborative yesterday to review donations to that group from people who might have had business before the City of Fullerton where the Collaborative’s Executive Director, Pam Keller, sits on the city council. He also looked into whether or not the Collaborative had received contributions from developers – people from whom Pam Keller had specifically refused to take campaign contributions.
From the records made available to him, Travis discovered two prominent names: Pelican-Ontario, an affiliate of the Amerige Court project developers, and the egregious Steve Sheldon, pitchman for the massive Jefferson Commons project. Pelican and Sheldon gave $300 and $1000 to the Collaborative, respectively. Bushala Brothers, Inc., local property owners and developers in Fullerton gave $1000 as well.
The issue of the St. Jude Medical Center participation in the Collaborative, and Keller’s December 2007 votes in favor of their large project on the west side of Harbor Boulevard was also discussed at length.
The officers of the Collaborative have claimed that the Executive Director is paid from funds separate from those gathered from donations that support Collaborative activities. That may or may not be accurate, but it is true that the typical budget for “Faces of Fullerton,” for instance, includes $5000 for staff salary, and the Collaborative only has one employee – Keller. The larger issue is that contributions made to the Collaborative could, and may have gone to pay for the contract with FSD for Keller’s services. Is it really necessary to parse out different accounts?
The Collaborative leaders also related that in the future they will scrutinize and pre-approve all donations; but that is not any of our business. Our business throughout this affair has been to find out if Pam Keller has been voting on projects applied for by members and contributors to the Collaborative (she has), and whether she has solicited donations from the very developers who she refused to take money from for her campaign (she has).
In conclusion, we make no accusations of illegal behavior on anyone’s part; but is it ethical of Pam Keller to refuse developer campaign contributions only to turn around and solicit them for the Collaborative – an entity she is paid to run? We don’t think so. When she ran for council in 2006 Keller made a big deal about letting the development process be driven by public participation – rather than by outside developers. Her votes to approve the gigantic Jefferson Commons and Amerige Court projects were baffling to many who no doubt took her campaign promises at face value.
There you have it, Friends. You decide.
One of our Friends sent of the tidbit from the Capitol Morning Briefing:
(Linda) Ackerman for Assembly 2009 (72nd AD), reception, donation levels $3900, $2000, 5:30 p.m., Spataro, 1415 L St. Contact: 714 731 2233.
It seems that the carpetbagging object of our disaffection is having a fundraiser tonight at Spataro. Never heard of the place? That’s because it’s in Sacramento – right across from the Capitol building. What a place for the squadron of capital lobbyists to descend, en mass, and start their, er, investment in Mrs. Ackerman.
Oh, that’s right. She doesn’t live in our district, and it looks like she intends to finance her way to Sacramento – from Sacramento; where Dick Ackerman met a lot of monied interests in his tenure up there.
But, Mrs. Ackerman, sooner or later you will actually have to show up in the 72nd!