Fullerton Collaborative Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

August 28, 2009January 5, 2010Pam Keller

Pam Keller Week Wrap-up

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, 2009January 5, 2010Fullerton School Board

Keller’s Fullerton Collaborative: A Call for Transparency

by Travis Kiger11 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, 2009December 28, 2009About Us

The Fullerton Collaborative Website Off Line

by The Fullerton Shadow12 Comments

http://www.fullertoncollaborative.org/

Well, you can give it a try. But as of 8/25/09 it doesn’t work anymore. Hopefully the proprietors will have it back on-line soon so that Fullertonians can see what the Collaborative is up to. In the meantime:

Please try this site again later. If you still experience the problem, try contacting the Web site administrator.

http://pamkeller.com/

Damn. This one doesn’t work, either. What’s going on around here? Transparency?

August 24, 2009August 15, 2011Pam Keller

Some Information About “The Fullerton Collaborative”

by The Fullerton Shadow44 Comments

Apparently there are many Pam Kellers — Just a few of the many faces of Pam Keller

Pam Keller likes to talk a lot about her role as Executive Director of something called The Fullerton Collaborative. We didn’t use the word “job” because we’re not sure yet how much actual “work” goes into the function.

We do know that the Collaborative seems to be run by, and for the principle benefit of Pam Keller herself.

Here is the first page from the Collaborative’s 2007 tax filing:

Note that the Collaborative’s expenses exceeded its revenue by 13k, covered by a surplus from the year before. Notice also that the corporation’s address is the same as the Fullerton School District’s headquarters on West Valencia Drive. This latter fact is explained on page 4:

The Collaborative has an agreement with the FSD to provide an “executive director” for 44K. That’s Keller. The only explanation for this is that this way Pam gets to remain an FSD employee with salary and benefits thereof, while doing her good works and self-promotion as a professional do-gooder on the taxpayer’s dime. Instead of a telling folks she’s a public employee, she gets to pretend that she’s the employee for a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Notice that the cost of Pam is the Collaborative’s main expense in 2007. The only other significant expense is a $26,000 contract with something called OCCO for “community organizing.” Rusty Kennedy’s do-nothing Human Relation Commission is in on the gravy to the tune of $4400 for “leadership training,” whatever that may consist of.

Since Keller is listed on the Collaborative’s website as a board member, we wonder whether she’s actually negotiating and voting on her own contract with the FSD. The dialog in the room during those discussions might be fairly amusing. And we also wonder if anybody else on the board is auditing that relationship for vendor performance management. Hmm.

We are a bit curious as to why public funds are being sluiced through this rather elaborate piping in the first place. And we wonder, given the fact that FSD Board member Minard Duncan is listed as a “member-at-large,” how closely the FSD negotiates and manages that contract itself. There is something called The Government Accounting Standards Board; are their rules being adhered to regarding accounting and public disclosure of their financial relationship with The Collaborative?

Of course we are also very interested in where The Fullerton Collaborative gets its funds, especially which private donors, if any, are contributing the wherewithal to cover the FSD contract that pays for Fullerton City Council woman Keller’s services. The Collaborative’s website is strangely silent on the identity of its donors; most charities boast about their benefactors, who generally like to be boasted about.

When we find out we’ll be sure to share the information. And if we can’t find out, we’ll let let our Friends know that, too.

August 24, 2009January 5, 2010Pam Keller

When Big Developers Almost Trumped Childhood Obesity Prevention

by The Fullerton Shadow6 Comments

A Happy Meal does wonders for your kids' disposition. — A Happy Meal does wonders for your kid's disposition.

Special Projects

The Fullerton Collaborative addresses the following problems: needs of at-risk youth and families; gang prevention; child safety issues; lack of health care access; childhood obesity and lack of fitness; racial divisiveness and isolation; poor educational performance.

Thus readeth the Fullerton Coollaborative’s website. So it was strange then (or not so strange, given her rather inconsistent adherence to principles), that Pam Keller supported moving a McDonald’s franchise right across the street from Fullerton High School.

Now just about everyone knows that purveyors of “fast food” are one of the prime contributors to adolescent obesity and “lack of fitness,” yet somehow the connection eluded Keller even though she’s paid by the Fullerton Collaborative (through the Fullerton School District) to supposedly do something about it in Fullerton.

Although she changed her vote at the last minute so as not to go down with the rapidly sinking S.S. Redevelopment Boondoggle, she was previously cheering (and voting for) an “upscale” Spanishified MickeyD’s that would “go with” the High School buildings across the street. It was all part of a grand bureaucratic scheme to build another massive apartment block in downtown Fullerton.

Apparently Pam Keller was more concerned about leaving her mark on Downtown Fullerton than on childrens mid-sections!

Bad, girl, Pam, bad, bad girl.