Fullerton’s Nuisance Noise and The Ongoing Saga of Incompetence and Corruption. Part 5
When people talk about “government circles” you can believe they mean it: some things just keep circling around and around yet, like when you have a clogged sewer liner, the circling flotsam never goes down the drain.
And so it is with the City of Fullerton’s hapless Community Development Department that can’t seem to adopt a plan and stick to it; that can’t be honest and straight forward; that refuses to enforce its own code; and as we shall see in this final installment, steadfastly refuses to notify the public of what it’s up to.
When I left off, I noted the odd three-month hiatus of the latest noise go-round that was once again being disguised within broader land use code update In February 2019, the Planning Department was again convened to review the matter, after two opponents of amplified outdoor music had been conveniently removed from the Commission. By this time the new and soon to be former Planning Director, Ted White, was directing the charge to push for the noise free-for-all, likening the impending racket to the noise blast known as Broadway Avenue in Nashville – but in a good way.
But this time there was another problem. The hearing hadn’t been properly noticed to the public as should have been the case, particularly since the noise issue has such an impact on the citizenry. George and Tony Bushala lawyered up and informed the City that it had failed to notify the public about what it was doing. Mr. White declared that the downtown noise issue would be removed from the discussion that night. But it wasn’t – not entirely – as other code sections that pertained to noise slipped through.
A compliant and complaisant Council adopted the zone code changes in April, 2019.
But the story was not over, because, well, Fullerton. The bar owners still needed to be pacified and the bar still needed to be lowered. By November 2020 Ted White was gone only to be replaced by an in-house lackey named Matt Foulkes who had been part of the ongoing mess since 2015, and knew exactly which side of his toast had the butter on it.
So the downtown noise mess was brought back to the council again, where lame-duck members Jennifer Fitzgerald and her puppet, Jan Flory were guaranteed yes votes. But alas, once again the City failed to properly notice the public, and this time there was no way to hide the incompetence in a broader mish-mash of code changes. So the hearing was continued until…well, who knows when? Apparently Jeremy Popoff has fled the scene to Nashville to enjoy whatever douchebaggery he can find there, and Covid has silenced DTF – for now.
But one thing is certain. The City’s downtown creation, AKA Dick Jones “monster” will continue to suck millions in resources out of the General Fund even as the bureaucrats continue to admire the mess they did nothing to stop and continue to characterize a liability as an asset. And because of that complete disconnect with reality, they will continue to push for a noise-a-palooza – no matter how long it takes.
How does it as you state “suck millions in resources out of the General Fund?”
Because the downtown annually cost the City $1,500,000 more than it raised in tax revenue. The money comes from the General Fund. “Downtown Fullerton” as conceived by Doc HeeHaw, Shawn Nelson, Leland Wilson, Sharon Quirk, Don Bankhead and Jan Flory has been an unmitigated disaster, but, ironically, a disaster that the City continues to hold up as some sort of accomplishment.
What do you think should be done with the area?
I think it needs serious code enforcement and a midnight curfew. The cost is in the cops.
Check mate!
Checkmate? I was asking questions.
I remember back a few years ago the code was amended so that, according to Code Enforcement Supervisor Kirk Warren, they now had the “tools” to do their job and would now be able to enforce the Noise standards. What happened to that? The only job they performed since then was autofalacio.
Kirke Warren was a most useless POS.
Staff is plotting to revise the code to make it impossible to enforce. Their trick is to require measurement of the sound level at the inside of the “affected” property while using the City’s sound measuring devises and simultaneously at the “source”. There is no way that will or could be done.
The noise created by the bars affects hundreds of people. A big problem is that since the cops and staff have let this free for all go on for so long, most people think that the bars have a right to create the nuisance and have given up complaining. Let’s hope that the Bushalas’ lawyers force Staff to actually notify all the property owners within earshot of the proposed “Noise Zone” and they will not get away with just meeting with the bar owners in private study sessions and continue to lie about notification.