Some of our loyal readers have asked us who Dick Ackerman is, and why is he the leader of the opposition to the recall of the Three Shop Worn Stooges on the Fullerton City Council: Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley.
Good question. After all, Ackerman is a resident of Irvine, and although he used to live in Fullerton a long, long time ago, it’s not immediately apparent why he should care about defending the Three Burned Out Bulbs on the council.
Well, these three did support Ackerman’s utterly unqualified wife when the Dickster tried to get her into the Legislature by cooking up a fake address in Fullerton.
But there’s more, and as you may have guessed, it’s the cash nexus. You see, ever since Ackerman termed out of the Legislature he’s been looking to grease his skids peddling the influence he accrued on the taxpayer’s dime. He is employed for lobbying purposes by a law firm called Nossaman; but rather than bring in business he’s actually become embroiled in embarrassing ethical and illegal incidents (more on that in Part 2). The word on Easy Street is that he’s got to bring in some do-re-mi to Nossaman and PDQ, or he’s out.
Which circuitously brings us to the latest round of “affordable” housing projects in Fullerton, the kind of housing that costs two or three times as much to build as the regular kind, and the sort that Dick Ackerman vociferously opposed on principal when he was on the Fullerton City Council. Well that was then, before Ackerman discovered he could profit handsomely from them. Now he is a lobbyist for one of the so-called developers, St. Anton’s Partners, who, not surprisingly, received the promise of millions of dollars in City Redevelopment subsidies from Jones, Bankhead and McKinley on a project just a few weeks ago. Jones, Bankhead and McKinley were so eager to pay off Ackerman that they actually tried to rush through their vote before the public hearing was even held!
And that’s why Ackerman needs to keep Fullerton’s Three Blind Bobbleheads in office, no matter what. There is no noble purpose, no moral justification, no principle at stake. There’s just a big potential payday for Ackerman and his employer, Nossaman. And if you don’t understand that, you don’t know Dick.
Stay tuned for Part 2, in which we share a little Dick Ackerman retrospective.
Some of our loyal readers have asked about the 3 @ 50 pension formula that many, if not most “public safety” employees receive. It’s pretty simple. You get to retire at age 50. The 3 is a multiplier applied to the number of years you have been employed. The guy or gal who works for 30 years would get 90% of his or her highest salary as a pension. For life. Pretty sweet gig, eh?
Go ahead have three. Somebody will pay for them later...
Many public agencies also tack on other benefits as income, boosting pensions even higher. The worst scam of all is foisted on the public by the agencies that consider the taxpayer’s payment of the employees’ share of pension paycheck deductions as income counted toward their pensions. This charming little ripoff is known colloquially as “PERS on PERS,” PERS being an acronym for Public Employee Retirement System.
So, what is the tie in to Fullerton?
Well, let’s start with the Three Dyspeptic Dinosaurs, Bankhead, Jones, and McKinley. Back in 2001, at the behest of Andy Goodrich and his union, these two voted to give the 3 @50 formula for the Fullerton Police and Fire Departments. The decision was voluntary and wittingly done. If that weren’t bad enough, of course the benefit was applied retroactively, meaning that many cops and firemen who had worked for decades under the previous formula were suddenly handed a titanic bonanza of taxpayer confiscated wealth, with the single stroke of Mayor Don Bankhead’s pen. And that single stroke of glaring incompetence has contributed to a massive unfunded pension liability that Fullerton citizens will have to carry indefinitely.
Yep, that's me!
And who is one of the principle beneficiaries of this generosity with the public purse? You guessed it. Former police Chief and current councilman Pat McKinley, who has picked up the moniker “Pat McPension” for his $215,000 a year pension – far more than he ever made working.
They may be dumb but they sure are slow...
Now this profligate behavior with public funds is typically the sort of behavior attributed to liberal Democrats. In Fullerton the heist was perpetrated by allegedly “conservative” Republicans who believe wearing stupid lapel pins is what really matters. Well, they sold us out, folks.
Reality is I'm gonna split yer head open like a cantaloupe!
Once in a while we here at FFFF get a really good comment that we want to single out for its humor, insight or just all ’round pithiness. Here is a Friend called Dr. Ott Says, who deploys the good doctor’s analysis of the police perspective of the world.
He responds to the rather comical cop fixation on what constitutes “reality.” Here’s what Dr. Ott Says said:
Titan of Truth, the hallmark of the narcissistic personality is the confusion of his self-centered universe with “reality.” This is referred to in psychological and philosophical literature as solipsism, a condition in which only ones’ own mind is known to exist; taken to the extreme other individuals are actually denied substantive reality.
This is why a policeman like McKinley must utter the word “alien” when referring to a bad cop. He’s not referring to a little green man from Mars, but to some unimaginable creature outside the bounds of his fairly paltry weltanschauung.
The detrimental consequence of this sort of mindset is obvious as we have seen in the whole Kelly Thomas murder saga.
This is why Dr. Ott advises that such individuals may be useful for basic tasks like frontal assaults on the battlefield and valet car parking. Give them a uniform and some minor authority. But never, never cease to monitor and supervise their activities.
Now enjoy The OC Weekly’s Scott Moxley (a real reporter, by the way) as he tunes up the OC Register’s hackling, here. There seems to be a long tradition of pro-cop stoogery at the the rag, er, I mean the Reg, and Whiting is the latest wearer of the crown.
The central theme of Moxley’s piece is the notion that members of the Fourth Estate have a moral obligation to challenge those in authority, not lick their, um, boots. Poor Lou Ponsi is forced by his boss to write fluff pieces. Whiting has no such excuse; he seems perfectly content to pet and pamper those in authority, no matter how little he actually knows about what’s really going on.
If the Register can’t do its job a journalistic endeavor, I say it’s time to pull the plug. Who will join me in a boycott?
Seems as if the mass exodus of LAPD cops gave McKinley the opportunity to take his pick of his former colleagues and put them on the streets of Fullerton.
Fullerton: a veritable jobs program for ex-LAPD cops. And it’s interesting to connect the dots in this Bilblical succession of miscreants: Armstrong hires McKinley; McKinly hires Cicinelli; the cop who never should have been on the street bashes in Kelly Thomas’ face like a piñata.
We’ve written about the control freak Armstrong before, perched as he was, atop an incompetent pyramid of his own construction. When Shakespeare said, “the evil that men do lives after them” he said a mouthful.
I was there. So was Ackerman, McClanahan, Catlin and Bankhead.
Here’s a copy of a letter to The Fullerton Observer by our State Assemblyman, Chris Norby, who puts the lie to the notion that Tony Bushala got some oct of subsidy in his lease deal with the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency. It’s funny how those who have routinely handed out millions in corporate welfare to their pals and cronies have chosen to attack Tony for actually paying to renovate the City-owned building!
Well, such are politics. The anti-recall crew are incapable of defending the Three Dessicated Dinosaurs so they have to attack the messenger of the Recall. Anyway, here’s Norby’s letter:
Santa Fe Depot Redevelopment Deal the Best We Could Get
I hesitate to get in the middle of your lively give-and-take with Tony Bushala (Mid-Sept Observer page 9 “Redevelopment Foe Also a Recipient,” and the Early October page 2 Rebuttal ).
However, since I was one of five Fullerton City Councilmembers (including Don Bankhead, Molly McClanahan, Buck Catlin, and Richard Ackerman) voting to approve the old Santa Fe Depot lease, allow me to defend our action.
That lease was the only way to save the historic structure from demolition and make an outdated building commercially viable.
In 1987, the Santa Fe Railroad sold the depot to a private developer who then sought a demolition permit. To avert its razing, the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency acquired the depot and sought bids for those who could preserve, restore and operate it. Agency staff recommended that the Bushala Brothers, Inc. (BBI) be awarded the project.
BBI was the only firm not requesting public subsidies. It offered a $41,000 up front payment to the agency plus $340,000 to restore the building to its original condition. As BBI had just completed an award-winning restoration of the old Ice House (just across the tracks from the depot) it was well qualified. When the depot restoration actually cost $540,000, the overruns were covered by BBI.
BBI also applied for and received the depot’s recognition on the National Registration of Historic Buildings and Places.
The monthly lease payment to the agency is $1,326, which is adjusted annually for inflation. While the Observer contends this is below market rate, it was the best offer we had at the time to restore this historic building. In addition, BBI pays $12,000 annually in building maintenance and for all property taxes and insurance.
The agency retained all rental income from Amtrak for the waiting room and ticketing areas. The rest of the depot was largely baggage storage rooms and an abandoned loading dock – areas difficult to lease out.
I have been critical of redevelopment agencies’ abuse of eminent domain, handouts to developers and diversion of property taxes from public schools. However, I have voted for agency-funded public projects (roads, parks, libraries) and for the preservation of historic buildings, such as the Santa Fe Depot.
One could argue that an old depot was not worth the public investment. However, given the council’s commitment to save the structure, I believe this was the best deal we had.
Chris Norby Fullerton Current California Assemblymember and former Fullerton City Council & Redevelopment Agency Member, 1984-2002
One of our Friends, “StormHarbor” wrote a comment yesterday that was so appropriate and well-written that I just had to give it a special post. Here it is:
Many of us find no gratification that police officers have been indicted and face serious consequences for heinous actions. Those emotions are most suitable for family members and loved ones of the victims. Perhaps what has fueled public outrage over this past summer’s revelations involving police misconduct is an inner patriotic desire to preserve our republic and a way of life that has been the envy of the world for so many decades. Unquestionably, we are becoming increasingly appalled by the utter contempt of those who govern towards those who are governed.
The Kelly Thomas killing was incredibly brazen. An American citizen was brutally tortured and beaten to death publicly in front of scores of witnesses. His unconscious, hogtied body was dragged out to the middle of the street for public viewing. Witnesses were understandably terrified and confused as to their personal responsibility to intervene. Afterwards, these six men calmly climbed back into their cruisers and sped away. They slept peacefully that night confident in a political machine and local press that would cover their misdeeds and perhaps even reward them with praise.
We understand that those who have created such a climate must see and acknowledge the error of their ways. Instead, these guys just deflect responsibility. Oh. Kelly was homeless. Is that why you’re upset? Yes, that must be the problem here. Well, we’ll just set up a commission to study the homeless problem. Problem solved.
They continue to flaunt an air of infallibility. No one has stepped up and accepted any responsibility for the climate that exists except for some of us citizens who realize we were asleep in our berths while the ship was being steered towards the rocks. Well, we’re not asleep anymore. We are calling out our city leaders, the district attorney and a compliant OC Register for propping up such a self-serving political machine in OC. Hopefully, a new attitude will start in Fullerton and spread across our land.
After several posts detailing the falsehoods and comically bizarre statements made by former Fullerton Police Department chief Pat McKinley, FFFF decided once again to call upon the good offices of Dr. Reinhold Ott, of the Institut fur Psychologie at the University of Tubingen. It appears to us that Mr. McKinley is desperately in need of professional help. And of course, we’re always here to help.
The penetrating gaze of Dr. Reinhold Ott; M.D., Ph.D
So, let’s hear from Dr. Ott.
I have reviewed the information you have provided me on the subject of your former police chief and city councillor, Mr. Pat McKinley, including the invaluable videos. I can say that the latter were particularly useful in developing a personality profile on this individual. While necessarily speculative without further in-depth analysis, I can assert that the available evidence leads me to some fairly confident conclusions.
Narcissism is a condition of excessive self-centeredness that entails the inability to critically assess one’s self and others from a rational perspective. When it attains a serious enough level it is manifested by an effective denial of reality, an inflated sense of entitlement, and an almost complete lack of empathy for others. The narcissist sees himself as perfectly formed and thus he must ascribe blame to others for his own failures and shortcomings.
I believe this description fits Mr. McKinley quite well, as evidenced by his refusal to even offer a token apology for all the serious problems in your police force, a force that he appears pleased to have assembled. I notice that lawless police officers that he hired and trained himself are deemed to be “aliens;” the concept of extra-terrestrials invading this man’s police department sounds ludicrous to us, but not to him. Since the idea that poor decisions on his part is not conceivable to him, the only explanation must be supernatural. And please note how he casually dismisses the victims of sexual assault by one of his policemen – a criminal act – by degrading the target of the crime. Thus the victims of his police force (those ladies…, etc.) are characterized as somehow to blame for events that are seen to be things that “just happen.”
In one interview I notice Mr. McKinley’s use of the first person plural pronoun. “When we came to Fullerton.” This is not merely casual misuse of language. It indicates the very real possibility of dual or perhaps even multiple personalities; at the least, the good cop/bad cop duality that is closely connected to the police psychology may here be in evidence. This possibility should not be dismissed lightly.
Furthermore, I must note a strong impulse to authoritarianism in our subject, the staunch defense of physical abuse of people who assert themselves at the expense of his authority, and, once again, a propensity to blame the targets of this impulse, such as the other worldly attributes he absurdly imputes to anti-abortion protesters.
People such as our subject are invariably drawn to the military, as well as crypto-militaristic organizations, and while they may be useful for limited tasks, such as full frontal battlefield assaults, crowd and traffic control, and the like, they must be constantly monitored by a competent civilian authority. The penchant to assert their control over others while evading responsibility for their own misdeeds can be disastrous. History is replete with this sort of megalomania with its attendant horrors: pogroms, wars, concentration camps, etc.
I should note that the narcissist may present himself in an attractive, even charming manner so long as he attains his desires. But in the face of resistance to his charm, and, more importantly, to his authority, the narcissist will likely drop any facade of congeniality and become belligerent; however the denial and dissimulation will persist.
The personality profile of Mr. McKinley cannot be considered complete without consideration of statements made by the subject for which he possesses no professional qualification, such as the nature of the head injuries suffered by Mr. Thomas; and by his attempt to psychoanalyze protesters and even criminals. Exercising what can only be deemed incompetent opinion under the guise of informed knowledge is typical behavior.
For the true megalomaniac it is insufficient to be merely an armed minion in service to the state. He craves an authority outside his rather narrow vocational limits; an authority that he can claim personally. This explains the production of a self-published book in which he presses his years of experience into service for the good of his fellow man. It matters not that his advice in this oeuvre is good or bad (it is likely to be highly dangerous or lethal to follow any advice the narcissist may proffer); what matters is that our subject is an author!
It is easy to smirk at the title and text of our subject’s literary endeavor, but some compassion should be exercised: the “She Bear” is obviously indicative of serious unresolved maternal issues, and very likely a distant or abusive father.
I’m starting to get a little annoyed about a system that coddles public employees, especially those who are supposed to be providing “public” safety, yet who seem to creating more public danger than safety, especially when budget time rolls around.
Let’s take our current police chief, Michael Sellers, who is on some sort of indefinite sick leave. Is he really sick? His doctor says so and like our idiot mayor, I am willing to believe he somehow got hold of a medical degree and a license to be a doctor.
So what’s ailing Sellers? Initial reports said high blood pressure and stress. Hell, I give my cat medicine for its high blood pressure, so that’s a load of bullshit right there. Stress?!! Jeez, some tax payers rightfully conclude that workplace stress is one of the reasons people like Sellers are paid huge salaries of almost $20,000 a month.
Maybe Sellers is just sick all of a sudden about being held accountable for something he was supposed to be in charge of.
And now that Sellers has disappeared to the friendly beach-side confines of San Clemente, he still pulls down that fabulous salary for doing nothing! At this point some cynical folks might assert that Sellers wasn’t doing anything anyway, so what’s the difference? Hard to argue against that. But Sellers has a boss – City Manager Joe Felz; and Joe Felz has five bosses – the city council. So who the Hell has been in charge of the Fullerton police the past two years? Nobody, apparently. It’s true that Pat McPension left Sellers a culture of corruption, but still, Sellers must have known what was going on.
Will he be back? The Three Mummified Miscreants don’t seem to think so, but their lawyer has told them they can’t talk about it.
