The Six Million Dollar Burger
Fullerton’s Redevelopment Chairman Don Bankhead, and members Pam Keller and Sharon Quirk led the charge to spend $6 million in tax payer’s money to relocate McDonalds 2oo feet closer to Fullerton High School. As part of the total figure, the Agency previously spent $3 million to buy and demolish four historic California bungalows on the site.
Redevelopment Agency Director Rob Zur Schmiede said “funds for the project had been set aside years ago”. Governments flawed incremental approval process at work again.
The move will pave the way for The Fox Block project– a proposed parking structure type development fronting on Chapman Avenue between Harbor Boulevard and the new McDonald’s which will resemble a McMiniature McSpanish McCastle.
Not everyone favored the deal, longtime Fox critic, Councilman Jones opposed the deal, indicating that he was disappointed a big corporation like McDonald’s was not putting a nickle into the multimillion dollar burger deal.
“This is a huge cost of the citizens’ money,” Jones said.
Councilman Nelson asked if it were possible to postpone the final decision until the Fox Block developer, Arteco Partners, could come up with a plan and a feasibility study.
With nothing at stake and everything to gain, the out of town Developer’s spokesman Jerry Tessier said the new proposed parking structure and project would not work if McDonald’s stayed in its current location. Yet, he could not provide any guarantees for much.
Councilwoman Quirk agreed it was time to move forward. “We have the funds, and we need to get sales tax in.”
As a school teacher, Quirk must know what causes obesity in children; eating too much of the wrong kinds of food and not getting enough exercise. Now the kids wont have to walk as far to get their subsidized happy meal deals.
McDonald’s franchisee Mr. Frisbie reminded the Redevelopment Agency members that the City staff approached him to relocate his business, which was started by his father, James, in 1969 as a family business. A recent study shows the presence of an fastfood outlet within easy walking distance of a high school — about 530 feet or less — resulted in a 5.2% increase in the incidence of student obesity compared with the average for California youths, a correlation deemed “sizable” according to the findings. Great job Quirk, Bankhead and Keller!
“Our business is better suited where we are now,” Frisbie said. Dear Friends but another example that government is part of the problem and not the solution.
Now I get it, if the City can’t spend millions and millions, why would there be a need for raising tax revenues. Quirk has it right! We need to move this project along because the City already made a hugh investment and needs to go deeper into the hole so that no one feels bad about needing more taxes to pay for the bad desisions that were already made by prior Councilmembers.
I can’t wait to sit down with my greasy big mac and pretend that I am dining in a remote Spanish villa.
The whole Fox and Fox related projects have just become a super-sized mess.
It’s so typical to see the way City staff took a worthy goal (save the Fox) and cantelever it into a monstrosity that will cost God knows how much.
To do this we have to do that; to do that we have to do something else, blah, blah blah.
And these ninnies justify this incrementalized mess by “we have funding.” The “we need tax reveunue” is comical. Does that nicompoop Quirk have any idea how much sales tax revenue will ever be generated here? How much potential sales tax and property tax has already been lost due to public ownership. I sure hope this woman doesn’t have plans for higher office.
And the McSpanish McMess. What an insult. One can only hope Corporate will have an oportunity for their own design review since Zur Schmied seems incapable of doing it himself.
And now that I come to think of it, wasn’t Zur Schmied on the Fullerton Planning Commission during some of those early f-ups we’ve been telling our readers about? He’s no better than Galvan or Chaplupsky.
Mr. Harpoon, go easy on Robert Zur Schmiede. He has two last names so he must be good.
Fake food and fake architecture combined with Jones’ fake outrage – trifecta!
Hey, Just-a-Guy, give Jones credit for voting “no”. I do.
The Harpoon’s right on–public funds are fine for historical preservation, but this has morphed big time. Politicians make poor developers, especially with other people’s money. And the real “developer” (Arteco Partners) didn’t put in a nickel.
“We have the funds” is no rationale. All funding involves choices & options.
Do the math–we’re paying $40,000 per foot to move this McD’s 150 feet closer to my alma mater. Is this really the biggest bang for our blight-fighting buck?
But we can’t spend a nickel for very low income affordable housing because that would be socialism.
Matt, hard to explain, unbelievable!
Fine Mr. Norby, I’ll give credit to Jones for voting the right way, but his reasoning was off. He wanted McDonalds to pay for part of the bill, but McDonalds never wanted to move in the first place – it was the city who came up with the whole stupid plan. Jones should have been questioning the redevelopment folks, not the entrepreneur.
“blight-fighting buck”
Norby, I challenge you to say that three times, very fast…
Here is the rhetorical question.What does an elementary school teacher know about generating tax revenue and viable redevelopment? I trust her judgement on how best to make paper and paste projects.
The save the fox and its surrounding shops are an eyesore and have been for decades. fullerton’s city council is the blight on fullerton because it wastes precious tax dollars on useless projects. Quirk’s continuing promotion and support of these pointless redevelopment projects tells me she been imbibing too much paste in her classroom
she has
Quirk’s an imposter, so is jonesbanksteller…
So, who ya gonna call?
The city councils vote to use our tax dollars to move MickyD’s closer to the HS is criminal. It’s a fact that their decision to do so will contribute to more obesity at Fullerton HS. I’m still in shock! Oz, you are right, “Quirk’s an impostor”.
Sounds like it was McDone ages ago –pre McQuirk and McKeller. With the $3 McMillion and the $6 McMillion, this makes this portion a $9 McMillion McDeal. Can’t wait to see the plaque with the names McBankhead, McKeller and McQuirk.
Leave the freakin’ McDonalds where it is at or condem it because it is actually a filthy place.
No amount of cleaning that grease trap will do, should they move they should move behind the that “tea room building” but not on the taxpayers dime.
The owner is a freakin’ tight as*, why should I give my hard earned tax dollars so that he can make a profit off of our children’s backs in addition most of these very same children will have high cholesterol and will need all the tax monies to help pay for all the medical bills they will incur during their lifetime.
The tax money will be better off to be given to the nutrition departments of all the school districts to improve the food they serve our children for lunch.
Instead of greasy fries and greasy pizza they could get better quality and healthier foods in addition help educate on diabetes prevention management of diet so that they do not have to feel the addiction of “Mc Donalds”
Rachel, I agree with you, if they left things up to the FREE MARKET that would mean that government would do something right, and that cannot happen.
Get the picture, what government desires… the result is the complete opposite. It happens when government competes with the free market.
Let the McDonalds remodel their freaking grease trap the way they want to, at least the government wont be held accountable for the additional obese kids that will be produced by moving it closer to the High School. THIS WHOLE MEAL DEAL IS UNFREAKING BELIEVABLE.
I’ve got issues with several of the council members but specific to Quirk, two things come to mind: 1) She would win any contest for people that know the most synonyms for the word listening; 2) the word Stupid.
My take is too many people are drunk on the fact that she keeps SAYING she is listening, working with people, collaborating etc. but is she doing anything to back that up?
Rip check out the post here a few months back about Quirk and her “hearing” problem!
Joe S–
blightfightingbuck
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