Bruce Whitaker Archives - Page 25 of 27 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

February 7, 2012February 7, 2012Arts & Architecture

Amerige Court—How to Give Away Public Land for $500

Last December The Fullerton Redevelopment Agency approved yet another extension to Pelican, the hapless developer of the gigantic Amerige Court project downtown. Readers will recall that this project was approved in 2008 over the objections of hundreds of people who saw it for what it was, yet another cheap looking, insipid copy of the retail/loft model that is supposed to revive downtowns.

This time the now unemployed redevelopment staff allowed the developer to plan to rent the housing units at first, even though when it was first approved years ago it was supposed to be all about classing up the area by inviting the landowning gentry to move in and stare down the lawless drunks of Fullerton’s bar culture.

So two months ago, despite several people speaking out against the fourth (!) amendment to the original agreement, and no one speaking in favor of it, the extension was granted. Bruce Whitaker and Sharon Quirk-Silva dissented, having had enough of developer excuses for why they haven’t been able to build anything, but Bankhead, McKinley, and Jones predictably went along with this giveaway of taxpayer owned land in the heart of the city.

Well, that was back before Redevelopment disappeared last week, so now they have to do it all over as the City Council tonight.

Show up to watch developer owned politicians try to give away your land once again, if you let them.

Last week we showed you why the Three Dinosaurs were so willing to perpetuate this disaster of a project.

When you take their money, you have to do their bidding. Besides, if you can give away public land to build a monstrous and unneeded architecturally appalling project that will add more traffic to the area and tear down some really old buildings to do it, why wouldn’t you? Especially when the half of the development partnership that’s still in business gives you $500 to keep you from being recalled?

February 5, 2012February 5, 2012Behind Closed Doors

She Bear About to Turn Violent?

by Joe Sipowicz84 Comments

MCKinley3 — Frustrated that the slow working of his mind could not process the new data, McKinley was about to flail about violently.

Here‘s an article in the Register about Fullerton Councilman Bruce Whitaker asking his fellow councilmembers to vote on whether to see the video of the Kelly Thomas killing at the hands of the FPD. He seems to be suffering from the delusion that Fullerton elected leaders should be intelligently informed.

It’s an interesting article for two reasons. First is the reaction of councilman Pat McKinley, former FPD Chief, and architect of the Culture of Corruption in the force. You would expect him to be opposed to letting anybody see the actions of goons he hired personally and let loose on the streets of Fullerton. But what’s that you say, Pat?:

Councilman Pat McKinley, Fullerton’s former police chief, said he is “violently opposed” to the release of the video.

“I think it’s completely off-base,” McKinley said. “It’s absolutely unprecedented, and it would be wrong to view that before the trial.”

Violently opposed? Now that doesn’t sound like a balanced man, does it? His reaction to a perfectly reasonable request says much about McPension the man. Is he about to go off the deep end?

Mcpension may not want the video released, but I assure you it has nothing to do with any trial, and everything to do with a recall election.

The other thing that struck me as odd is the City Attorney’s alleged request to the DA for permission to view the video and the imbecilic comments ascribed to DA spokesholetress Susan Kang Schroeder, who seems to be just making shit up. The council could watch this video as a closed session personnel issue and nobody else would have to see it. Also, the FPD is bound to have made copies so why ask the DA for permission at all – except to get that “no” answer you want? Acting Chief Hughes, who is neither investigating nor trying anybody, claims to have viewed the video 400 times! I’m starting to suspect everybody has seen this video – except some of the council and of course, the public.

And as a final thought, is there anybody in Fullerton who believed the serial prevaricator Pat McKinley when, after an awkward pause on CNN, he denied seeing the video himself?

January 27, 2012January 27, 2012Bruce Whitaker

Denying the Culture of Corruption: The New Acting Chief Speaks!

by Joe Sipowicz126 Comments

He speaks to a website called FullertonStories. And what he says is disturbing, to say the least. In a story that quickly dissolves into the typical mushy fell-good bio, newly minted Acting Chief Dan Hughes does drop a few nuggets that are worth considering. Such as a blanket denial that a culture of corruption even exists in the FPD.

“If somebody says there is a culture of corruption, they’re either lying, they have other motives or they are grossly misinformed.” Those are the words of acting Police Chief Dan Hughes while defending the Fullerton police department after it has faced six months of attacks from protesters and bloggers.”

Uh, oh. So we critics of the serial malfeasance in the FDPD are liars; or have other motives; or are “grossly” ignorant. Hmm. Tellingly, there are no embarrassing questions about, and consequently no awkward answers about Rincon, Mater, Mejia, Power, Hampton, Nguyen, Tong, et al. Gee, that was convenient.

In what he hopes will mark a new era of transparency and openness within the Fullerton police department, Hughes recently sat down with reporters from FullertonStories to discuss his plans for the department and his actions on July 5, 2011, the night of the violent altercation at the Fullerton bus depot that resulted in the death of Kelly Thomas.

Well, gee, Danny Boy is willing to sit down with some compliant “reporters” in the service of “transparency,” yet doesn’t address the issue of why transparency is needed in the first place, or why his spokesman, Andrew Goodrich was permitted (or instructed) to lie to the public about the facts in the Kelly Thomas murder.

Hughes describes what happened that night – up to a point. And that point is right before he (or someone working for him) permitted the cops involved in the killing to view the video and then re-write their reports. Neither does he address the sticky issue of his force not treating the site as a possible crime scene, or the alleged confiscation of witnesses’ cell phones and camera film by his cops. He also conveniently omits to explain why the DA was not called in for two days, and then only after being prompted to do so by a call from the DA’s office itself.

Come to think about it, he also never bothers to inform the incurious “reporters” from FullertonStories about how come no internal investigation was done until Michael Gennaco was hired two months after the crime. Details, details.

Hughes paused. “When you look at those steps that were taken in a period of 15 minutes, I ask what of any of that would indicate that we were trying to conceal any information?”

That’s just disingenuous garbage, there. Within that first 15 minutes he had no idea of what really happened. And the fact is that within a short time of the bludgeoning, Andrew Goodrich was already in the process of peddling the bogus story of a violent struggle in which the superman Kelly Thomas, in possession of stolen property, was responsible for breaking the bones of the poor undermanned cops.

What wasn’t done correctly, he said, was that the department didn’t come out and say, “this is what occurred, this is what we did, and this is what we’re going to be doing.

Wrong, again, Dan. What wasn’t done correctly was to put the cops on leave immediately and do a real investigation instead of lying to the public about Thomas.

“And because of that silence, it created a tremendous amount of problems for the police department and the city,” Hughes said.

Incorrect. What caused a tremendous amount of problems for the police department and the city was hiring, deploying, and tolerating drug addicts, con men, pickpockets, thugs, perjurers, Brady cops, sex perverts and sadistic killers on the streets of Fullerton, and in its jail.

We are supposed to be relieved and grateful that Dan is working hard to mollify protesters:

“This is a prime example of how we can respect each others opinions,” Hughes explained. “It’s something that’s been very beneficial, to sit down with the protestors and have a dialogue and admit to them when we have blown it.”

Except that the issues surrounding the crime wave perpetrated by Hughes’ colleagues over the past few years is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact. Sorry, Dan, unless you’re going to admit the problem I have no interest in your “opinion.”

But Hughes admitted there is still “lots of work to be done” in the area of restoring public confidence in the department. “We’ve done a very poor job in my opinion on being able to communicate to our community why we do what we do. We have to build that trust and relationship again,” Hughes said.

Uh, huh. More denial. The problem is not lack of communication. The problem is a police force chock-full of miscreants who have obviously taken advantage of a department with little or no moral or ethical leadership, a department that has clearly been tacitly instructed to resort to physical abuse to fix the mess made by the politicians in downtown Fullerton.

P.S. Dan, tearing up bogus tickets your cops just handed out for “excessive horning” doesn’t equate to building trust.

Some of the ways he plans to accomplish that include giving tours of the department, holding community meetings and stepping up the citizens’ academy and ride-along programs.

Tours? Ride alongs? Oh, Brother! How about firing dirty, abusive cops, and not hiring any more, if it’s not too much trouble?

Hughes is also looking at ways the department can build an ethical consequence component to its current training programs to further restore public trust.

Keep looking, Chief. And while you’re at it, how about a genuine punishment component for cops when they violate the very laws they have sworn to uphold?

But rebuilding trust won’t happen overnight, according to Samuel Walker, emeritus professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a nationally recognized expert in police accountability. He said the timetable depends on how credible the response to the crisis is. “One incident like this destroys years and years of building trust within the community,” he explained.

Here’s the obligatory academic on hand to ladle out the cliche soup. The only problem is nobody bothered to tell Professor Walker about the conga line of ethical issues and outright lawbreaking perpetrated by Fullerton cops, and presumably condoned by the department (for the perfect case study consult our posts on Albert Rincon).

Many questions remain about the death of Kelly Thomas and Hughes is looking forward to additional information coming out at the March preliminary trial of officers Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli. He also eagerly awaits Gennaco’s report about the night of July 5.

Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. Sounds like Dan’s been reading Doc HeeHaw’s memoirs!

Hughes said he has seen the controversial videotape of the Kelly Thomas beating probably 400 times and he calls it “horrific.” Although he would not discuss the details of the video, he said it “clearly depicts the majority of what took place that evening,” and it will clarify a lot of misinformation that has been reported.

Misinformation reported? Come on Dan, you’ve got to be kidding. Most of the misinformation was peddled by your own PIO, Andrew Goodrich.

As for accusations by local bloggers that a “culture of corruption” exists at the Fullerton police department, Hughes calls them completely false.

“From being 18 and fresh out of high school to now holding the highest position in the police department, I can tell you there is no corruption,” Hughes said. “Certainly there have been officers that have made poor ethical decisions. We’ve dealt with those officers, and we will continue to do so.”

This is just pure, unadulterated bullshit. Poor “ethical” decisions? No more comment necessary.

I have to give credit to FullertonStories by surprisingly permitting councilman Bruce Whitaker to spray some much needed cold water on the love fest:

But City Councilman Bruce Whitaker said he is reserving judgment until he gets all the information. “On every other level I like what I see (about Hughes), but we’re going to have a whole lot of information at our disposal when the Gennaco report comes our way in about three weeks.”

Whitaker said it’s not just the Kelly Thomas incident that concerns him, but a number of police-related problems that have occurred within a short window, including the death-in-custody case last April that triggered his skepticism as to what is going on in the department.

He noted that Hughes and Capt. Kevin Hamilton are both part of the leadership culture that includes Police Chief Michael Sellers (now on medical leave) and former Police Chief Pat McKinley. “I need to sort out and determine who may have contributed to the current culture,” Whitaker said.

Thanks for that, Bruce. But no, you don’t get the last word on FullertonStories, no siree!

But Hughes stands by his officers. “They are absolutely dedicated to serving this community in an ethical manner, and that’s what I’m committed to ensuring they’re doing,” he said. “We have a lot of leaders in our police department, and we’re excited about the opportunities and challenges we have before us. We’re going to come out a better police department.”

Oh, really? The only reason the community should have one iota of confidence in that statement is because all the FPD bad guys are finally on the right side of the jail bars.

They aren’t. Not yet.

January 7, 2012January 6, 2012Behind Closed Doors

Joe, Lou, and Mike; Does Anybody Know What’s Going On?

by admin75 Comments

Here’s a couple of interesting e-mails from the final day of July, 2011, between Acting City Manager Joe Felz and soon to be MIA Police Chief Sellers.

SellersbyEdcarrascoweekly — The options were running out...

On the surface it seems that Acting City Manager Joe Felz is unhappy with Lou Ponsi for writing “Very Old” news. But maybe he is really upset that the public gets to hear (again) that the cops who killed Kelly Thomas had been out on the streets for over three weeks like nothing had happened; or that maybe Sharon Quirk looks like she is actually in charge. Sellers seems to be concerned with the latter, and he can already see the writing on the wall.

“Hopefully the remaining three council members don’t feel left out” is code for: “Make sure the Three Dead Tree Sumps get lined up, fast!”

“Lou is Not a bad guy from what I understand,” means that Sylvia Palmer and Andrew Goodrich have previously informed Felz that Ponsi is a reliable regurgitator of their crap.

By the way, is anybody else appalled by the weird punctuation and capitalization deployed by these $200,000+ per year bureaucrats?

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012About Us

Broken Bones and Blaming Whitaker for the Truth

by Grover Cleveland132 Comments

Syl — Oh, oh! The truth almost escaped her mouth! (Image generously borrowed from Fullerton Stories)

It is July 22, 2011 and now-MIA Chief Sellers gets an e-mail from City Hall’s version of Andrew Goodrich, city publicist, Syliva Palmer.

She’s subsequently fled the the scene of the crime, and won’t have to answer embarrassing questions about this correspondence – like her insinuation that Councilman Bruce Whitaker leaked inside information to FFFF in a post. Apparently the otiose Palmer was too lazy to actually read the post, and too stupid to follow the link to The Fullertonian – the ones who actually caught Goodrich in the broken bones lie.

But so what if Whitaker had actually had a hand in disseminating the truth? The outright lie about Fullerton cops suffering broken bones was propagated by Goodrich, clearly with the blessing of Sellers and Plamer, and now we may safely assume, Palmer’s boss City Manager, Joe Felz. Perhaps with the blessing of the Three Dead Tree Stumps, too. That would certainly fit the truth-challenged profile of Pat McKinley.

Note also that Palmer laments the fact that the media didn’t talk to other reliable councilmen who, presumably were only too happy to toe the party line.

December 23, 2011December 23, 2011Behind Closed Doors

Your Tithe is Man-dated At The Altar of The Almighty Bureaucrat

by The Desert Rat20 Comments

cath1-29 — The upkeep just kept getting more expensive...

Everybody who goes to church is familiar with the concept of tithing – literally giving one tenth of your income to support the church and its good works. Of course the act is voluntary.

The people who pay for water from the Fullerton Water Works have been paying a tithe, too. You see, since 1970 the Citycrats have decreed that ten percent of the cost of a monopoly supplying you with water will be added to your bill, and then be immediately re-directed to the City’s General Fund.

In the early days, when water was dirt cheap it was a way to help pay for certain indirect costs of employees who were considered overhead support for the water works. It was called an “in-lieu franchise fee” like the ones the City charges other utilities to operate in Fullerton. Still, there was an immediate problem that nobody addressed: it was bad management, and bad accounting, and opened the door for all sorts of abuse. Decades later, in 1997, Proposition 218 was passed that specifically addressed the scam of governments charging “fees” that were nothing more than hidden taxes – just like Fullerton’s 10% in-lieu fee. It was now required that fee amounts be established through objective supportable analysis that was conducted transparently, in the light of public scrutiny. No longer could governments legally charge for more than any service was worth.

But Fullerton did. For 15 years the City continued to charge, then rake off a ten percent tribute from the Water Fund that went to pay for things like pensions and pay raises for all Fullerton city employees, stuff that had nothing to do with providing water to you. Not only did the city councils know about the scam, they heartily approved the slight-of-hand, year after year.

Meantime, the cost of water skyrocketed, increasing nearly 350% between 1997 and now, jacking up the illegal tax from $700,000 a year in 1997 to over $2.5 million a year now. That’s a rate of about 23% a year, just in case you’re inclined to keep track. A staggering total of almost $27 million has been surreptitiously extorted from you since Proposition 218 went into effect.

Those who support this cheapjack end run think it’s right and proper for you to pay this tithe without your knowing it, and without your consent. After all they’ve had plenty of opportunity to insist, at least, that notification of the 10% diversion be made on each water bill. But they never have. And that’s because their first priority is continue funding six-figure pensions, automatic raises for employees, and all the other things that constitute business as usual in their Church of The Almighty Bureaucrat. It’s their church, and as far as the High Priests and pharisees are concerned, you taxpayers can just sit in the back pew, way, way back there in the dark, and keep your mouths shut.

December 7, 2011"Dick" Ackerman

The Recall Campaign’s First Victory; When You’re Right, You’re Right.

by Joe Sipowicz223 Comments

And I was right. But enough about me. Last night the Three Gasping Gastropods chose Sharon Quirk-Silva to be Fullerton’s mayor in 2012.

In meeting that can only be characterized as bizarre, the repuglicans did the heretofore unthinkable: make a Democrat mayor in her re-election year. The visceral pain that must have caused anti-recall handler “Dick” Ackerman” is a wonderful bonus gift of the Recall. See, Tricky Dick is courting what’s left of the old liberal rear guard and the Recall gave him no choice but to promote Q-S. Ha! Suck on that, Dicky Boy.

First came public comments, Part 1, with the usuall brow-beating of the Three Triceratops, plus a special guest stars, Pam Keller. The goofy grin and air-headed air of self-importance reminded me of just how grateful we should all be that she bid the council adios.

The Colonel — Ah said, that there was sum bad chicken...

Then some business items which o’ Doc Heehaw blew through so fast you would have thought he was either double parked or was anticipating an urgent case of diarrhea. Then the elections of mayor, and mayor pro tem. I wonder what Ed Royce thinks about this since any elevation in stature for Q-S means the greater likelihood for an eventual Congressional challenger for him.

As anticipated the Trio of Broken Bivalves elected the youngest, and sprightliest of their gang, Pat McPension, to be back-up mayor. The fact that McKinley believes it’s not dangerous for cops to fondle women in the backseats of their patrol car seems not to have been a deterrent to his promotion. Bruce Whitaker was nominated by Q-S, to her credit. The vote was 3-2.

mckinley-she-bear — Lookin' out for the ladies, oh yeah!

And then the sublime. Public comments were re-opened. The reading of Marisa Gerber’s article on the sad state of affairs in the Fullerton Police Deapartment followed; a litany of law-breaking and head breaking that sums up what the department became under Jones, Bankhead and McKinley’s over-long tenures. It’s now on the public record and McKinley can no longer hide from the truth: under his command, or lack of same, the police department sank into an undeniable Culture of Corruption.

December 6, 2011"Dick" Ackerman

City Council Meeting Tonight!

by The Fullerton Harpoon269 Comments

Yessiree, Friends, tonight is the night when our “esteemed” City Council chooses our mayor for 2012.

It’s also the night when the Council will be entertained (not enlightened we may reasonably assume) by a reading from Marisa Gerber’s great exposition of Fullerton’s bad cops, bad cops in the OC Weekly. After hearing the extensive (and not even exhaustive) report on the Culture of Corruption created and abetted by Jones, Bankhead and McKinley, even the most die hard loyalist to the Ancient Regime must cringe and slink off in shame. But not the Three Dyspeptic Dinosaurs.

But I digress.

It used to be that if you were on the Fullerton City Council and you were a Democrat; and if the following year happened to be an election year, your chances of being selected mayor by your colleagues were pretty damn slim. This is because the old guard country club Republicans like Dick Ackerman and Ed Royce would start pulling the strings of whichever featherheaded RINO nincompoops they had put on the council and the “rotation” that everybody talked about was out the window.

This year is a lot different. With the Recall of Jones, Bankhead, and McPension signature gathering phase coming to a successful completion, Ackerman & Co. know that this year their creaky boys cannot afford to offend anymore constituents, especially what’s left of the antique liberal cadre in Fullerton. So he must now do what for him is unthinkable, under ordinary circumstances, that goes diametrically against every fiber in his corrupt being, and that is order the Triumverate of Tone Deafness to support Sharon Quirk-Silva for mayor.

It will hurt, but it must be done. But will it help in the Recall campaign? Presumably there are some libs old, and young, who, while they won’t support the Recall publicly will certainly vote for accountability when it matters.

Stay tuned for the fun.

December 4, 2011December 4, 2011Behind Closed Doors

You Said What You Said

by Mr. Peabody147 Comments

Politicians are forever saying asinine things and then denying they said them. Small time politicians like our own mutton head Don Bankhead have been getting away with this sort of thing for years. Televised council meetings have helped expose the intra-noggin confusion that exists in minds like Bankhead’s, but youtube has really been invaluable.

A while back we ran a post that highlighted Bruce Whitaker rightfully taking Bankhead to task for sharing his opinion that Fullerton would be ghost town without Redevelopment. No, no said Bankhead, testy-like. He really said “downtown Fullerton.” Forget that neither would be a ghost town without Redevelopment – that’s just Big Gummint Bankhead passing along all the lies he’s swallowed over the years, and of course his own campaign literature year after dreary year – taking credit for “revitalizing” DTF over and over and over and over and over again.

Here’s what Bankhead really said, verbatim, an insult to the hundreds of businesses in DTF and in the rest of the city that never took a nickel of Bankhead’s largess:

Or, to put it another way:

November 27, 2011December 8, 2011"Dick" Ackerman

Who Will Be the Next Mayor of Fullerton? (Improved with Fun Pictures!)

by Joe Sipowicz53 Comments

Friends, it’s that time of year when the Fullerton City Council selects one of its number to be the voice and face of Fullerton to the community, and beyond.

Some folks say the title of Mayor is really only just a name for another voting member of the council; the person who just manages (or mismanages, as the case may be) the meetings, and signs documents approved by a council majority.

JonesMouthOpenFor Business — Ah resemble that remark, bah golly!

But consider this: how might the world, the nation, the State and the County have perceived Fullerton, if, as the Kelly Thomas police murder saga unfolded, Fullerton’s mayor had been other than the cantankerous southern-fried buffoon who, by all appearances treated the whole event as an annoying inconvenience on his way to a ribbon-cutting.

Which brings us to the December 6th vote. Last year Pat McKinley weaseled out on supporting Sharon Quirk-Silva for the number two spot, as he, at the behest of the repuglican establishment, joined Bankhead and Jones in keeping the Democrat Quirk-Silva out of the rotation.

Three-Councilmen — What happens when age overtakes IQ.

Well, as they say, that was then. Under normal circumstances the Ed Royce/Dick Ackerman crowd would love to cut her out again. But this year is different all right, and the Slush Fund Gang can’t afford to alienate any more voters, especially a significant liberal-leaning crowd who may very well relish yet another reason to sign a petition, and then vote to recall the Three Blind Brontosaurii.

The fact that many of these folks also qualified a referendum on the Coyote Hills development issue will cause The Three Silent Sloths’ handlers cause to pause: when the Recall signatures qualify the Fullerton lefties will have two swings to reverse the Chevron entitlements approved by Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley.

tricky dick — Heh heh, I'm pretty savvy. If you don't count that Ackerwoman campaign.

Ackerman isn’t stupid (although he has recently made some horrendous underestimations of the electorate). The anti-recall campaign has made a deliberate attempt to woo Fullerton’s liberal/schools/feel-good cadre by attacking a real conservative, FSD Trustee Chris Thompson. Well, okay, maybe Ackerman isn’t smart at all: Thompson out-polled every other candidate in every Fullerton ballot in 2010, so let’s see how that works out for The Dickster.

Still, wait and observe how Quirk-Silva is quietly selected as Mayor by the same bastards that refused her the Mayor Pro Tem job just a year ago.We may even hear lame explanations about last year’s vote

How would that be for cynicism of the lowest kind?

Upon further consideration, I believe this post should address the solitary figure of Bruce Whitaker, a principled conservative who is worth ten armies of Jonses, Bankheads, and McPensions. By virtue of his intelligence, stability, and ethics, Whitaker should be the next Mayor Pro Tem, and Mayor in 2013. If that happens I’ll unscrew my right arm and throw it across the room. The Three Silent Slugs will never let that happen. And one more great reason to Recall them.