New Taxes Are Coming . . . And Far Worse

The end comes soon.

We hear drums, drums in the deep.  They are coming.

They are coming.

Fullerton’s general fund hemorrhaged cash over the last half decade, losing tens of millions of reserves, and now stands at the bare legal minimum.  This blog, and others, warned Fullertonians of the looming fiscal cliff for some time, only to be dismissed by the powers that be as the hateful screed and wails from malcontents.

That cliff is here.

Tonight’s city council agenda includes yet another confirmation of Fullerton’s failed fiscal stewards. Last year, the city claimed to have a plan to reduce expenditures and raise revenue.  Millions would be saved though contract negotiations, fee increases, and fiscal discipline.

Have faith, we were told.  All will be well.  Each Union has sent a representative.  A Fellowship was formed.  Each will carry the burden.

The plan failed.  The Fellowship?  Broken.  Law Enforcement took their deal and ensured their burden would be shouldered by the smaller unions, who can’t possibly carry the load.

Expenditures are well over plan.  There are no new savings through negotiation.  None.  And property sales?  Over $3,000,000 worth poured into the general fund to fill to gap from missed projections.

Meanwhile, while we tread water by throwing a few million dollars onto the dumpster fire that is city hall, the roads are getting worse, the pension debt gets bigger, and the bare patches of dirt at our city parks get larger and larger each year.

That sound you hear as you drive down Euclid?  Those aren’t potholes.

Those are the drums in the deep.  The new taxes are coming, and the arguments sure look familiar.

But wait, there are darker and much more evil things deep in the basement at City Hall.  We know what Felz and Hughes awoke that fateful night they conspired to hide a secret.  We know what awoke after the hubris fueling their Subaru dug deep wide tracks beneath the soil where Sappy once stood.

The unimpeachability of our city leaders is often the only thing standing between the taxpayer and the liability for debts incurred by greed, stupidity, or just plain evil.  Right or wrong, our justice system places great weight on the integrity of those making decisions rather than the decision itself.  Wholesome decisionmaker? Wholesome decision.

Spoiled decisionmaker?  Spoiled decision.

As a result, when it’s made clear that those leaders involved in Fullerton’s darkest hour of this past decade not only committed moral turpitude (meaning lied to council about driving drunk), but may have actively directed interference in a police investigation (meaning Hughes may have a history of ordering officers to do bad things) the veil between the taxpayer and the full horror of what’s owed begins to become clear . . .

Officers Wolfe and Cicinelli have returned.  They’re suing Fullerton for millions, and you will pay for the sins of Joe Felz and Danny Hughes.

Either through a negotiated settlement approved by Council or a court verdict, you will pay and there is no one left to stop it from happening.

No one will stop what will come to pass.  There is no wizard, no great hero on the Council.

The cost will be more than we can bare.  Be it sales, parcel, fee, or property, the new taxes are coming.  $300 per family by 2020.  $500 to $1000 by 2025.

And you will pay, because you love Fullerton.

That’s what you do.