FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
Author: The Fullerton Harpoon
The Fullerton Harpoon is a retired commerical fisherman having served many years on the Japanese whaler Nisshin Maru where he unfortunately lost the right side of his brain and his sense of propriety in a Greenpeace attack.
The other day the Register’s number two press agent for the Repug Machine, Martin Wisckol wrote what he no doubt hoped would pass as a species of objective reporting, here. Yet somehow it fails the smell test, as might have been predicted.
Notice how Wisckol equates Norby’s pointing out that Ackerwoman is a carpetbagger (true!) with her campaign’s libelous misuse of court transcripts in a case that was dismissed by an appellate court! Martin unhelpfully points out how Ackerwoman did live in the 72nd District for a long time – a long time ago; as if anybody thought that was germane to the fact that SHE LIVES IN IRVINE NOW!
Notice too, how Wisckol passes directly along, without a shred of skepticism that Ackerwoman is some sort of “well versed” authority on water issues (of course he diligently omits reference to her MWD vote last spring to raise commodity costs to local water retailers by 20%). Typical. We remember how he swallowed whole her lie about being a businesswoman, here, and then actually tried to explain away his apparent credulity as some sort of reporter’s strategy.
Wisckol permits a delicious quote from Ackerwoman about all the hordes of ethically upstanding Repuglican electeds who have endorsed her (including her own husband – say, Dick, how’s that Fair thing working out?) without any mention of Norby’s endorsements – by Tom McClintock, for instance – a real conservative who’s worth all of the Ackerwoman’s RINOs put together – and then some.
We could go on and on, but why bother.
Fortunately, we’ve only got one day to go. And hopefully after tomorrow Martin and Frank can go have their Friday drinkies with the head ‘Pugs at Gulfstream without having to worry about writing any more press releases.
Of course if there’s a crashing defeat for Ackerwoman they may not even be invited anymore.
Over at the Orange Juice blog, the ever-ebullient Vern Nelson has posted an overview of the big pow-wow held the other day in Costa Mesa that was organized to clarify the whole proposed sale deal. Apparently the two masterminds of the meeting – Assemblymen Van Tran and Jose Solorio – have as much grasp of the issue as a pair of two-week old jack o’ lanterns.
Tran and Solorio know the score
Vern, to his credit, keeps the issue of Dick Ackerman’s lobbying for the secret Fair Board cabal in front of the public. Ex-legislators are supposed to refrain from lobbying for a full year after their departure from office, but apparently Dick was up in Sacto this summer pushing to get the necessary enabling language in the budget bill.
What is that obnoxious odor?
Now the Fair Board members involved in the deal are trying to nicely characterize his efforts as “consulting,” even as they pretend not to know how much money was spent on Ackerman’s questionable services. Well, the distinction between a consultant glad-handing votes and a lobbyist is lost on us. It’s probably a moot point since nobody in law enforcement seems to want to enforce it. Ah! Another one of those unenforceable laws dispensed with! God it’s great being a Repuglican!
Ever since some of our critics chastised us for being unduly negative, we have sought contributions from folks who, well, just have a rosier outlook than we. So from time time we post stuff sent to us from our loyal follower “Chamber Star.” Today this individual shares his/her views on the 72nd Special Election Primary.
Election time is nearing! The 72nd State Assembly Special Election is at hand. Many people have already mailed in their absentee ballots and many others will do so soon.
A lot of unpleasant things have been said and done during this campaign and at least that will soon be over. But before it is I want to share my choice for the job: Linda Ackerman.
Why Linda? First because she seems like a real team-player, and not one of those mavericks who can’t get things done. When she says she is not defined by being a Republican she is giving a real signal that she wants to compromise and make deals with the opposition to get things done. And boy do we really need to get things done in California!
As a business person myself, I appreciate that she understands our problems. This site has been very critical of her lack of business experience, but I can tell you that not just anyone can sit on a board of directors, or be part of a non-profit organization. And being on the Board of the MWD is not easy either. It must take a tremendous amount of time to go through all that mountain of paperwork and analysis to make it run more like a business.
I believe Linda shares our values. As a replacement for Mike Duvall we need someone who brings those values to Sacramento. A lot has been made of the Ackermans mentoring Duvall in the first place, but I just don’t believe it. Good, honest people like the Ackermans don’t have anything to do with individuals like Duvall. On top of that Linda has never held office before so she represents a real change, and boy do we need change in California!
Some people have made an issue out of the fact that Linda’s husband is really calling the shots. I don’t know if he literally “speaks for her” but I’m not worried. I like the fact that we can have his vast experience, wisdom, and political connections “on call” as it were; we are really getting two well-connected and knowlegeable people for the price of one!
Finally I want to address (and dismiss) the charge of “carpetbagging” leveled against this fine woman. It’s true that she moved to Irvine and has rented an address in Fullerton, but who cares? If you wanted to hire someone to work for you, would you restrict yourself to only someone from your town? Of course not. You’d try to find the best person for the job – regardless of where they live – and put them to work ASAP. And Linda with her years of charity work and with the PTA in Fullerton before she moved out is just the person for the job.
Well, don’t just take my word for it. Check out all the voices of Linda’s endorsements from OCs best and brightest elected officials, men and women who have selflessly dedicated their lives to our betterment, and who have absolutely nothing to gain personally from an Ackerman victory.
When you add it all up, the choice is very clear, and I’m confident Team Fullerton will make it : Linda Ackerman for State Assembly!
Ed Roski is friends with many famous dead Americans
Although we haven’t seen it, Martin Wisckol at the Register has posted a youtube clip of a cable TV run ad that basically paints Norby as some sort of anti-feminist monster. The thing is so hyperventilated that it’s hard to believe anybody would take it seriously. It starts out with an image of Mike Duvall that morphs into Norby. Only problem is by now voters have a pretty good idea that it was Dick Ackerman who selected and groomed Duvall in the first place, and even that Norby supported his opponent.
Wisckol claims the ad has been paid for by an independent expenditure of as yet unknown origin.
A strong whiff of Ed Roski Jr. is emanating from this garbage. Since the Alliance for California’s Tumors has stopped its work, Roski has undoubtedly discovered a new conduit for his torrent of slime. But this crap is bound to backfire just like all the other Ackerman slime seems to have done.
I know all about water. We fly over a bunch of it on the way to Hawaii!
We have thoroughly and comprehensively debunked the campaign blather about Linda Ackerman being some sort of businesswoman. She’s not, of course. That’s just a lie, and almost as bad as her claim to be living in Fullerton. The sum and substance of her business experience seems to be calling up lobbyists to raise moolah for her husband Dick’s campaigns.
She doesn’t mention that in her resume, of course, because that wouldn’t look too good. Intead she shares the fact that she is on the board of a collection agency. And her campaign propaganda never fails to mention that she sits on the board of the Metropolitan Water District, an appointment no doubt orchestrated by her husband.
But let us reflect upon the MWD, a giant government entity that acts like a public utility but that in reality is an association of governments. We have already shared how Loophole Linda voted for a massive water rate hike last spring (oh no, not a tax, heaven forfend!). A recent editorial by the San Diego Union Tribune raises questions about the complete lack of leadership at the MWD – leadership the Ackerwoman is pitching as hard as she can. The SDUT notes that during the run -up to the now abandoned pension spike the MWD authorized a $100,000 contract with an operation called Marathon Communications to push the contract through; and a $300,000 contract with Agreement Dynamics to craft an agreement that would fly.
Think of it: $400,000 spent on consultants to create a deal and PR-ram it through. All at the expense of everybody at the end of the shower nozzle. And all wasted. Who agreed to all this? Good question. If the Board didn’t, then why didn’t they? If they did…
I'd sell my soul for a cold one right about now...
When we returned to the FFFF HQ today we noticed that somebody had been rummaging around in the medicine cabinet. Sure enough, some of our ritual mescaline had disappeared. And later today we received the following communication from the boys in the white, unmarked van, purporting to be yet another snagged Dick Ackerman telephone conversation. Although we know who the other communicant is (or claims to be) we have been unable to discover anything about this individual. If any of the Friends can help out we would certainly appreciate the assistance.
(phone ringing)
Dick Ackerman: (snort) Yeah, Ackerman here.
Louis Cyphere: Hello Richard. Louis Cyphere calling.
DA: Oh, Jesus.
LC: Come again?
DA: (Grunting sounds) Heh heh. Sorry, boss.
LC: Richard please stop making animal sounds. I want to know what’s been going on lately. You haven’t been in touch.
DA: Been busy. Trying to beat that bastard Norby. Need some more help. Things aren’t looking too good.
LC: Ah, Richard, they rarely do. But I’m wondering, well, you know, what’s in it for me?
DA: Hgpmph. Um. Well, Hell…
LC: Hmmm?
DA: I mean, you know…
LC: You see Richard, the thing of it is, I feel I’ve already pretty much optimized my investment in you and the missus, and I have so many political things on my plate right now.
DA: 72nd at stake. (grunting) Lots of possibilities in Sacramento.
LC: Yes, well, the 72nd was pretty much bought and paid for back in ’95. Surely you remember that arrangement.
DA: Ughmpmphh. Yeah, sure boss.
LC: Good. Well, the World Series is over and the Yanks have won again, so I suppose…what more do you want?
DA: Gotta shut down the blogs. That Bushala. Goddammit! Killing me. I mean killing us. I mean killing Linda! Phone calls, signs, blogthings, Goddamn signs. Right there on the way to Dolan’s house.
LC: Richard. No need to blaspheme. What do you want?
DA: (snarling sound and a low bark) Take him out. Accident. Overdose. Suicide. Something.
LC: Calm down now Richard. You know I can’t do that. Bushala, again? You mean our arrangement with Malcolm didn’t work out? I could try to cut a deal with him.
DA: Yeah. Heh. Heh heh. A deal (three quick grunts).
LC: Greek Orthodox?
DA: (undecipherable) What? Goddamit, that white van is out back behind the badminton courts.
A new month, the same old weeping by the Fullerton Observer about how the good ol’ boys are keeping poor Pam Keller from her entitlement to be mayor when the next term starts. It’s not fair! Not fair!
(Ed. – Never a word about Keller’s dismal votes on massive projects or her unique working relationship with FSD/Fullerton Collaborative, but that’s another story.)
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the person who is entitled to be mayor is the council person who can get two other people on the council to vote for him. Pretty simple. Nothing else really matters.
The author of this indignant drivel lays out a conspiracy tale of events behind the scenes to keep a Democrat out of the presiding chair; and as usual the plot centers around Shawn Nelson, without whom the Observer would have a lot less to natter on about. Ironically the tangled web includes Observer favorite Don Bankhead and by necessity another Observer endorsement recipient – Dick Jones! Observer chickens coming home to roost? God, let’s hope so!
Politics might be going on. The horror! Of course despite the Observer trying to emphasize the ceremonial (i.e. non-political) aspects of the mayorship, the fact is it is a very coveted title when re-election time rolls around – as it does for Pam Keller, next year. Aha! Politics!
So is a scheme being worked out to elect somebody else mayor for 2010? Possibly. Quite likely, although since none of the supposed principles would be likely to talk to Sharon Kennedy about it, it seems much more likely to be a pure guess on her part. Our congressman Ed Royce loves to meddle in these affairs; to him it seems easier than simply turning on the light and opening the closet door to discover that there really is no monster in there. Just some mops and brooms.
And speaking of politics, maybe The Observer should quit endorsing Ed Royce puppets like the chowderhead Jones and focus on somebody who could actually be counted on to support Keller for mayor. Oh no! More politics.
We’ve made a pretty big deal on this blog about the use of brick veneer, specifically, the way our Redevelopment Agency has always insisted on slathering it on to stuff to try to give the false appearance of historic structure, or under the guise of matching what is supposed to be the building material par excellence of downtown Fullerton: red brick.
We thought it was about time to get an historical perspective on the uses of architectural veneer – particularly masonry veneer, and so we have once again called upon the good offices of Dr. Ralph E. Haldemann, Professor or Art History (Emeritus) at Otterbein College, and our adjunct Arts and Architecture Editor. Doc?
When you want to find out, go to the best...
The question of the role of veneers in architectural history is really quite fascinating, but requires an amount (admittedly minimal) of erudition. I will try to sum up some thoughts on the subject.
In pre-modern times the nature of building materials basically necessitated that structural materials were de facto finished materials as well – although historical exceptions are not uncommon: we know of course, that the Romans during the Imperial Era were fond of using stone veneers on brick buildings to dress them up. Such uses of marble veneer were often used in the Western Mediterranean basin countries in Romanesque and Italian/Venetian Gothic buildings.
The use of plaster cement or lime-based coatings on brick, especially non-fired brick, has an ancient lineage that reaches forward into the adobe buildings of California’s own Mission period; however neither this application nor the modern use of lath and plaster on studs can be considered a veneer.
Medieval Europe, particularly in the non-deforested climes of the north, saw a rise in timber construction in which the structural members were exposed and the interstitial areas filled with plastered wattling. Again, such fill even though non-structural, cannot rightly be called a veneer.
With the advent of structural iron and steel, fill materials in modern commercial architecture remained brick (for practical and fireproofing reasons). However, terra cotta facings with ceramic finishes attached to the underlying structure became the norm from the 1890s through the 1920s; the wide adoption of moderne styles in the 20s and 30s often replaced highly detailed terra cotta with simpler and smoother concrete and even ceramic tile finishes. These uses generally applied a finished masonry surface over an unfinished substrate of common brick. These are veneers.
It was really in American domestic architecture that brick veneers (almost exclusively brick) captured the imagination of a growing bourgeois sensibility. After the industrial age had ushered in standardized lumber, machine made nails and mass produced balloon-frame wood houses, a longing for the perceived hominess and historicity of brick set in. This was aided by several cultural American Colonial Revivals, particularly in the early 20th Century that coincided nicely with eras of vast suburban expansion. It was all mostly a real eastate come-on.
The use of phony brick surfaces continued unabated in the little cracker box houses of the ’50s and persists happily to this very day, particularly in subdivisions where an emotional attachment to American historical antecedents is being peddled.
The use of fake brick fronts in commercial areas followed the same suburban trajectory as the use of the material in domiciles. It too persits today, particularly where city fathers and chambers of commerce wish to deal out a conjured up historical image for their otherwise unremarkable and humble burgs.
Modern architectural theory held that this sort of use of non-structural masonry veneer is fundamentally non-truthful, meretricious and basically a middlebrow (or lower) affectation. And so it is! And yet the Robert Venturi school of Post-Modernists embraced such use for its exuberance, color and tactile properties, as well as potential (often ironical) historical connotations. However it must be said that when the historical connotation is wrong, or the deployment is meant to be deceptive or even slavish, a real aestheic problem exists; and can, if left uncontrolled, lead to real civic embarrassment.
Friends, have you noticed the sudden subsidence of big glossy mailers sent out by Ackerman, Inc. and Alliance for California’s Tomorrow (ACT) attacking Chris Norby? You know, the ones that take uncorroborated testimony from a disgruntled ex-County employee fired for misfeasance and turned into third person language to make it look like somebody was a witness to her bogus claims?
We were getting pieces almost everyday (sometimes two) ladled out of the Ackerwoman slop-bucket, but that has stopped. Even Ackerwoman’s obsequious press agent Martin Wisckol has noticed it – and actually tried to figure out why. The ACT has run out of money. The last dough they spent went to a poll – and no more money has come in since.
Possible poll results that look bad for Ackerwoman, plus the fact that the majority of permanent absentee voters who are voting have already mailed in their ballots may well mean that the investment value in Ackerwoman’s candidacy has been reassessed.
So, have Ed Roski, the Indian casinos, and the other anti-Norby interests finally given up on the Ackerwoman campaign? Wisckol asked Jim Nygren, the parasite who runs ACT. Nygren said he was told to keep quiet. Apparently Roski doesn’t care for idle chatter.
The OC Register reports about a strange event that went awry: a pumpkin launched from a pnuematic “cannon” by engineering students overshot its target and crashed through the scoreboard of the CSUF football field.
So why is this an apt metaphor for Redevelopment? Consider the venue: a football stadium financed by the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency for a football program that was disbanded the year after the stadium was built . Then consider the dopiness of the event itself. Then reflect upon the fact that the participants didn’t seem to have a clue what they were doing – missing their mark by 120%.
And finally, the cavalier attitude of the event organizer: damage was minor, and “They had no idea how far it was going to go,” (Keith) Brush said. “You know, with engineering projects, they usually don’t work out the first time.” And of course the the ultimate subjective stamp of approval that would have done any Redevelopment Director proud: 3000 kids had a good time. And of course we can’t put a price tag on that, now can we?
At least the pumpkin launch damage will only cost a few thousand bucks to fix (just wait’ll CSUF gets done with that bill!). Fullerton Redevelopment boondoggles cost a lot more.
