The Speech From the Empty Chair
Lobbyist-councilmember Jennifer Fitzgerald took a powder from the budget meeting on Tuesday. Perhaps the potential embarrassment was too much to contemplate.
But she did send in this letter in lieu of her presence. Since she wants it to become “part of the record” we know that it is really meant to be a political PR document. For a little help FFFF has highlighted some fun parts.
Okay.We now know that Fitzgerald is blaming “Sacramento” for Fullerton’s gloomy, no, desperate fiscal projections. We can’t expect her to make reference to her own irresponsible deals with the unions or remind us of her campaign lie that Fullerton’s budget was balanced. We can’t expect her to admit that everyone has known CalPERS projections have been BS for years. No disappointment there.
Scrolling down her wish-list we see the properties she wants to sell off to her developer pals, a one-time fix that won’t fix anything. More insidious is the “public/private partnership” expansion, or P3 in the parlance of the lobbyist’s guild, in which the public generally pays for the same thing twice. Electronic billboards? Like the fuzzy, illegible ones along the 57 put up by Placentia when things got dire next door? Wow, that really is desperate! The ad revenue from signs would be peanuts (but oh no, let’s not discuss Behind the Badge. That loose change is lost in the couch forever).
You have to give Fitzgerald credit, being what she is. After putting Fullerton in a dire financial hole she is still looking for ways to direct profit to people who have or who might contribute to her political future; or to other politicians in cities where Pringle and Associates have clients.
Do you feel better knowing that “this community always rises to the occasion?”
Lobbyist Fitzgerald does not mention how Fullerton Police Department is ripping us off. Sparky does not see a problem there.
What a joke, get out your talking points while making yourself unavailable to avoid pesky and embarrassing questions. Well, there will be more council meetings. Can she duck all of them?
Could a former mayor and long time council member have the nerve to show up after lying to the public on the balanced budgets? Yes, if she is a person without remorse or sense of guilt, unethical, immoral and self-serving . Yes, she is all that and more!
“by former Chief, Dan Hughes.” ? What ever happened to English Teacher? Well, no one ever said lobbyists need to have an 8th grade education. They just need to know how to spell fellatio in sign language
After she campaigned on the promise of repairing the streets she has the balls to list street repairs as her last priority.
She didn’t say it was a priority at all. Could mean she just wants to drop it altogether.
Look, this turkey can only be carved up so many ways to sell off. She might as well have listed:
Sales Tax
Utility Tax
Business Improvement District
Raising all fees
Which council members are dumb enough to go along with any of these taxes? The voters and the recallers will be very unforgiving.
They couldn’t even get the votes for a first look at a BID tax. Good luck, Roeder.
That professor Joe Nation guy told Fitzgerald that CalPERS would soon start taking more money way back in 2013. For her to play the victim now, after giving out all of those safety raises, is incredibly deceptive and disingenuous.
Right. The actuarial assumptions have been lowered, and even so most honest observers know they are still too high.
But the defined benefit can’t change.
UNFUNDED LIABILITY.
Why can’t the define benefits change? If the city goes bankrupt, what happens to all those pensions? In the real world doesn’t unfunded pensions mean no pension or pennies on the dollar if the company/organization goes bankrupt? Please would someone who knows about such things answer? What happened when the county went bankrupt? City taxes will drive people out of Fullerton and create a greater downward spiral.
The pensions are backed by a contractual agreement between the employee, CalPERS and the city. They are protected even in municipal bankruptcy. The unions write the state laws, so that’s how it works.
So the downward spiral continues. The people who say Californis is imploding are correct.
Fitzgerald cannot blame Sacramento. She is the one who has given unsustainable raises to Fullerton police officers . She should take responsibility for her actions and resign
She is a liar and a manipulator. Look at the revised 2016-17 budget signed by her as a Mayor in June 2016. The revised budget shows the projected unbalanced budget. But Sparky Jenny was campaigning in July 2016 lying to all Fullerton neighbors about the past, present and future of our city.
Show up and apologize?
Nope.
Mail it in and blame someone else for not being able to do basic math.
Disgusting.
I wonder how many people appreciate just how bizarre it is to see Jennifer and Kris Murray, standing side by side and smiling, as if they were the bestest of friends?
Do people truly understand the “connection” between those two?
Can you enlighten us?
Is there more to it then their association with the crime boss to their right?
Kris Murray used to be Kris Fitzgerald before Jennifer became Jennifer Fitzgerald. They even give money to each other’s political campaigns.
Chris Fitzgerald? She is Jennifer Fitzgerald’s sister-in-law? Help me out.
They have both married the same parasite. Isn’t it interesting what a small little world of fixers and lobbyists they inhabit?
We’ve had too much of this lobbying endogamy in Fullerton
Lobbyist Sean Fitzgerald has been married to both of them. At different times, of course.
That’s disgusting. I thought this was a family-friendly blog.