City Hall Disasters Archives - Friends For Fullerton's Future

April 12, 2026April 12, 2026Ahmad Zahra

More Trouble in College Park

After my post the other day, FFFF received this communication from a gentleman who refers to himself as Richard From College Park.

Dear Friends for Fullerton’s Future,

I’m reaching out about something deeply concerning in Fullerton that I believe needs immediate attention on your blog. You blogged about it yesterday.

The City of Fullerton has issued a permit for a development in our preservation district that is completely out of character with the neighborhood. As you can see from the attached image, this structure is a jarring addition that completely disregards the historic character and architectural integrity of the area.

What’s particularly frustrating is that this is happening in a designated preservation zone where there should be stricter oversight to maintain the neighborhood’s historic charm. The building looks completely out of place and frankly, it’s an eyesore that detracts from the surrounding properties.

I’m wondering how the city could possibly approve something like this in a preservation district. There seems to be a serious disconnect between the preservation guidelines and what’s actually being approved. This sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to more inappropriate developments that undermine the character of our historic neighborhoods.

I think this would make for an excellent blog post that could bring attention to this issue. Perhaps you could explore:

How this project got approved despite preservation guidelines
What recourse residents have when inappropriate developments are approved
Whether there’s been a pattern of similar approvals in preservation districts
How the city’s planning process might be failing to protect historic areas

I believe your readers would be very interested in this story, and it might help pressure the city to be more thoughtful about future development in preservation districts.

I really want my District Councilman Ahmad Zahra to do something about this travesty.

Please let me know if you’d be interested in covering this story. I’m happy to provide any additional information you might need.

Thank you for any assistance.

Richard from College Park

Thanks for the input. I’m going to stay on top of this. We need to find out who dropped the ball, and why Sunaya Thomas cooked up a rasher of bullshit for the City Councul.

April 9, 2026April 9, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Trouble in College Park

by Disillusioned Ex-Hippy34 Comments

College Park is an old neighborhood adjacent to Fullerton Junior College. Back in 1979 the City designated it as an historic preservation zone. That was 46 years ago if you’re counting. The area is full of little bungalows and small spanishy looking houses. It’s a nice neighborhood even if you add in the dinky roundabouts on Wilshire – the brainstorm of Wild Ride Joe Felz, who certainly could not have navigated them on election night, 2016.

But I digress.

At the last City Council meeting a woman who lives on Cornell Avenue in the district complained about a building on her street under construction that was completely out of character with the neighborhood and the preservation rules, adopted in 1996, that are supposed to protect against such things. She kindly reminded the Council that she lives in D5 – Ahmad Zahra’s district.

So I went over to the 100 North block of Cornell Avenue and snapped some images.

Now I’m not an architect, but something is awfully wrong here. Yeah, it’s a big box with cheap, misaligned windows that is completely out of scale with the houses around it. Yikes. Check out the puny little rooflet over the cheapo Home Depot door.

How could this happen? It looks like somebody in City Hall dropped the melon with a loud plop. As I understand it, there is a staff process for reviewing these developments. Did it occur? I don’t know. But whether it did or didn’t happen, the problem is obvious. If it didn’t, why not? If they did what sort of knucklehead(s) could have approved this?

Eyesore is right.

At the meeting Development Director Sunaya Thomas preposterously claimed this hulking monster was somehow an ADU development – meaning a mere accessory dwelling unit, a “granny unit,” and that the City had no real control over the design of the beast; and also that it was up to the owner to figure out parking for his tenants! Up to the owner? Since when?

Of course Ms. Thomas is talking out of her backside, as is so often the case. The rules for preservation in the R2P zone are called out in the Municipal Code – Chapter 15.17.60, from which I quote:

All proposed development, including the rehabilitation of existing structures, will be reviewed for compliance with established design criteria and standards, specific to the preservation zones and identified significant properties. These adopted design criteria and standards, entitled “Design Guidelines for Residential Preservation Zones,” are intended to serve as a baseline — a set of elementary guidelines — by which a proposal will be evaluated.

Here are the the guidelines, supposedly unknown to the very person in charge of applying them to new development in preservation zones:

https://www.cityoffullerton.com/home/showpublisheddocument/1232/637436214735730000

I learned a long time ago that it’s almost impossible to make Fullerton planning bureaucrats do their jobs (see noise ordinance issues). The defensiveness and lack of shame will always prevail. But this is appalling. The rules are there to follow, not to pick and choose.

Thomas failed and failed badly. The Council was lied to on Tuesday night. Does anybody care?

Hopefully the D5 council representative Ahmad Zahra, who champions transparency and accountability, will get to the bottom of this fiasco.

March 21, 2026March 21, 2026Behind Closed Doors

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

by The Fullerton Harpoon15 Comments

The City of Fullerton has issued a press release to address the recent revelation that $10,000,000 was erroneously counted in general reserves when it really belonged in special restricted categories. Peruse this soporific and condescending verbiage and see if you can read a single reference to City employees having made a mistake, honest or otherwise.

Alternatively, take an Ambien and relax. Everything’s gonna be fine.

City of Fullerton Budget Update

At the March 17, 2026, City Council meeting, City staff presented an agenda item titled “Second Quarter Financial Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025–26 and Mid-Year Budget Adjustments.” The purpose of this item was to provide an overview of the City’s financial position through mid-year FY 2025–26, report on revenues and expenditures from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, and present the updated financial position based on the finalized FY 2024–25 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). Following this presentation, the City would like to provide additional context and clarification to support a clear and shared understanding of the information discussed.

The City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2024–25 budget on June 4, 2024, which included a planned structural deficit of approximately $9.4 million. As part of that budget, it was understood that the City would utilize a portion of its reserves—similar to drawing from savings—to balance the difference between revenues and expenditures. This approach was discussed publicly during the budget adoption process.

Throughout FY 2024–25, the City took steps to manage costs, including holding vacant positions and limiting expenditures where feasible. As a result of these efforts, the City reduced the actual year-end operating deficit to approximately $5.7 million, reflecting ongoing attention to fiscal responsibility.

At the close of Fiscal Year 2024–25, the City’s General Fund—the primary operating fund used to provide essential services such as police, fire, parks, and infrastructure—reported a total fund balance of $30.0 million. A fund balance can be thought of as the City’s overall savings. Of this amount, $19.8 million is held in the City’s contingency reserve, which serves as the City’s emergency fund to maintain services during economic uncertainty or unexpected events.

A portion of the City’s fund balance—approximately $10.2 million—is categorized as restricted, committed, or assigned for specific purposes. During the fiscal year, approximately $2.7 million was more clearly designated within these categories, increasing the allocated portion of the City’s savings from approximately $7.5 million to $10.2 million. These funds support important community priorities such as capital improvements, General Plan updates, Downtown parking, and street and infrastructure improvements, including road repairs. These funds remain part of the City’s overall financial resources but are set aside for their intended purposes.

Additionally, a $2.9 million prior-period adjustment identified through the City’s independent audit was related to the proper classification of assets between the General Fund and the Successor Agency. This adjustment ensures that funds are reflected in the appropriate account in accordance with accounting standards. The funds were not lost or misspent, but rather properly reallocated.

At the end of FY 2024–25, the City’s contingency reserve was approximately 14% of annual General Fund expenditures, which is above the City’s minimum policy requirement of 10%, though below the long-term goal of 17%. Based on current projections, the City is anticipated to end FY 2025–26 with approximately 12% in reserves, which remains within policy guidelines.

There has also been discussion regarding a potential 2% reserve level. It is important to clarify that this figure represents a baseline, starting position in the City’s long-term financial forecast, assuming no changes to current revenues or expenditures. It is neither the City’s current condition nor its expected outcome. As part of the upcoming budget process, the City Manager will present options during public budget study sessions to reduce the funding gap and improve reserve levels over time, ensuring the City remains on a path toward long-term financial stability.

The City’s financial outlook reflects broader trends impacting many communities, including rising costs for labor, materials, and services. At the same time, revenues remain stable, with property tax revenues increasing by 6.23% due to growth in assessed property values.

To help illustrate, the City’s finances can be compared to a household budget. Revenues function like a paycheck, expenses represent the cost of essential services, and the fund balance serves as savings. Over the past year, the City used a portion of its savings to support planned expenditures, while continuing to maintain an emergency reserve. Moving forward, the City is focused on aligning ongoing revenues and expenses to support long-term financial sustainability.

The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) referenced above is the City’s official year-end financial report and is independently audited. In simple terms, it is similar to a household’s year-end financial statement—it shows how much money came in, how much was spent, and how much remains in savings, along with how those funds are designated.

Looking ahead, the City will continue to evaluate cost containment strategies, operational efficiencies, and potential revenue opportunities, which will be discussed during upcoming public budget study sessions along with updates to the City’s multi-year financial forecast.

In summary, the City of Fullerton’s financial position reflects a planned and publicly approved use of savings to address a budget gap, along with standard accounting updates to ensure funds are properly tracked. No money was lost, missing, or improperly spent. Approximately $2.7 million was reclassified to reflect funds set aside for specific purposes—such as road repairs and capital projects—and a $2.9 million adjustment was made to the appropriate account for those funds. The City ended FY 2024–25 with 14% in reserves and is projected to have about 12% this year, both above the City’s minimum requirement. The 2% figure referenced in recent discussions reflects the City’s baseline financial outlook if no changes are made to current spending or revenue levels, underscoring the importance of taking action. The City is actively working to reduce the budget gap and strengthen its financial position moving forward.

The City of Fullerton remains committed to transparency and keeping the community informed. Residents are encouraged to review financial documents available on the City’s website and participate in the budget process.

March 2, 2026March 2, 2026Boohooism

Government Make-work Alive and Well

by Disillusioned Ex-Hippy29 Comments

Fullerton may be on the verge of financial crisis, but let it not be said that creative ways for its employees to stay busy aren’t possible, if you can find “other peoples’ money” to do it. We’ve seen it in spades on the ridiculous Trail to Nowhere, built mostly with money from an unaccountable and irresponsible State agency whose only observable job is to give away money with no answers to questions even checked for truthfulness.

The next silly project in line comes to us courtesy of the State Legislature, again, in the form of AB 1572 that mandates that “non-functional” turf can’t be watered with potable water. Municipalities are first on the hit list, and that includes the formal lawn in front of City Hall. The item is on tomorrows Council meeting agenda.

The City can declare that the City Hall lawn is functional and walk away. Oh, but that won’t do! We have to get rid of the grass and replace it with drought resistant plantings of some sort or other. This strategy scratches the itch of those who feel moral gestures are more important that facts, who love big government mandates, no matter how footling, and those who want city staff to be happy and productive.

How much water will *this* use? Who cares?

The City thoughtfully promulgated a call for ideas from the citizenry in a press release a couple of months ago. Re-imagine the municipal front yard! A blank slate! A blue sky! The world is your oyster! Presumably your idea will save water and respect the ecosystem, etc., etc. Grateful citizens sent in pictures of idyllic succulented and lavendered walkways!

At least one submission had a sense of the ridiculous nature of this nonsense.

A giant Hornet and a giant Titan! Come to think of it, maybe this suggestion was serious, Fullerton being Fullerton.

But there is no money budgeted, alas! What to do? Well a budget transfer from Water Non-Rate Revenue funds can be tapped. I have no idea where this money would even come from, the Water Fund being supplied by rate payers. Another option to pay for the new, giant cactus garden is to apply for, and get, a grant from the Metropolitan Water District, one of those huge, opaque agencies that practically answer to nobody.

I have to wonder what the ultimate savings would be water-wise, and what the existing cost of watering the grass is. The fact that the City uses free water paid for by the rate payers has always been an issue and naturally no facts about the acre foot volume or the cost to the rate payers are included in Tuesday’s staff report. No data will be presented except the results of the survey done to solicit public opinion.

I could make the pitch that the reflecting pool, steps and lawn were part of a neo-formal aesthetic that went along with the 1962 building, but that would be a waste of my time and yours. Somebody has decided that the pool and the grass is offensive to modern sensibility, and provides an opportunity to engage the public in a feel-good Kabuki drama.

February 15, 2026February 18, 2026Ahmad Zahra

The Marovic Drama Resurfaces

by Mr. Peabody43 Comments

Here’s a fun item on Tuesday’s Closed Session calender.

And some backstory for the uninitiated:

Meet the new proprietor, same as the old proprietor…

Three and a half years ago, Mario Marovic, who owns the building on the northeast corner of Commonwealth and Harbor, agreed to a deal with the City to remove the City’s (formerly Florentine’s) notorious “bump out” encroachment that was stuck onto the side of his structure, on the public sidewalk – a space he didn’t own and was making improvements to at the time.

The idea, I suppose, was to get Marovic to rid the public sidewalk of the illegal room addition without the City having to pay for it and answer embarrassing questions; and Marovic would get to open his fake Irish pub, a facility whose CUP drawings included the bump out. Happiness all around, right? Only a couple decades late.

Wrong.

It turns out that Marovic never had any intention of demolishing the bump out. The deal required demolition to start March 2023, three years ago. Of course Marovic has done absolutely nothing except submit a claim for damages to the City provoking a lawsuit that has dragged on for over a year.

Zahra Congratulates Marovic for his lawsuit…against us.

Will this saga finally be over on Tuesday? Don’t bet on it. The City is always diffident in these matters, going so far as “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra mugging with the scofflaw and giving him some sort of certificate of appreciation; but Marovic isn’t the diffident sort. He may be tired of paying legal bills, but there’s almost nothing stopping him from resetting the clock and beginning a whole new delay cycle.

February 14, 2026February 14, 2026A Manfro All Seasons

Is Fullerton Getting a New City Manager?

by The Fullerton Harpoon8 Comments

Item 1 on the Closed Session agenda looks a lot like this:

Since right now we have an “Acting” City Manager, Eddie Manfro, I think we can surmise that this is either an item to select a replacement or to appoint a permanent City Manager, who might be Manfro himself.

Manfro has held a bunch of jobs in Fullerton since his retirement as City Manager in Westminster, a situation that has caused a complaint from CalPERS, the State public employees retirement system, that is currently the subject of possible litigation.

Since I am not privy to the closed door doings of the City Council, it is possible that interviews with other candidates have taken place since the last City Manager, Eric Levitt ditched Fullerton for San Bernardino last summer. If the CM job was posted, it isn’t anymore.

On the face of it, the Fullerton City Manager job can’t be an enviable one what with the looming financial crisis and the roads being the worst in Orange County. Still, the job remuneration will be exceedingly high, and the accountability, as we have seen over the past four City Managers, exceedingly low.

If a decision is made next Tuesday we will be informed at the start of the public meeting.

January 28, 2026January 28, 2026Ahmad Zahra

Zahra Gets Tongue Bath From Sitskia Kennedy

by Mr. Peabody29 Comments

Figuratively, of course.

A Fullerton Observer post ostensibly about money going to improve Independence Park became a saccharine tribute to “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra wherein his name is mention nine times in a few disjointed paragraphs. It’s all about how the good doctor from Damascus has worked soooo hard to secure funding for stuff in the underserved 5th District. There is even a link to one of his long-winded speechifications.

Pathetic.

As usual, Skitsa folds one of her imagined grievances into the Zahra encomium, in this case it’s a completely fictional threat to “privatize” part of Independence Park – for soccer programs, apparently – an unsolicited proposal having been mentioned by a City bureaucrat at a Parks Commission meeting.

No, Skakia, is not pleased by a fright of her own creation, but she has a champion, doncha know. And of course his name is Zahra. To wit:

“Zahra has been a strong advocate for public parks, opposing the privatization of these community spaces, which he believes prioritizes profit over local needs.”

Hmm. Poor Stiksa has a very poor, or a very selective memory. It was Ahmad Zahra who voted to convert the Union Pacific Park site into a private events center with a hedge and a fence around it – and a locked gate. That’s right – a possibly illegal move to take public park space into which the City had previously poured millions of dollars into and privatize it.

Fortunately, FFFF’s memory is better that Skitia’s. No matter how many scatterbrained tributes she can cook up for the lame duck Zahra, facts remain facts outside the precincts of Fullerton Boohoo.

January 17, 2026January 17, 2026Ahmad Zahra

The Marovic Sidewalk

by Mr. Peabody22 Comments

A new year, and for Fullerton, lingering problems remain a municipal embarrassment, except that the people in charge don’t seemed particularly inclined to terminate them.

The seven year-old boutique hotel has lots of current actors’ fingerprints on it. And then there’s the decades old case of the hijacked sidewalk on Commonwealth and Harbor, heisted by the Florentine Crime Family in 2002, who put a permanent structure on it, attached to a building they didn’t even own. It has never been returned.

Zahra Congratulates Marovic (in green cap) for his lawsuit…against us.

The current owner of the adjacent structure and the business in it, Mario Marovic, made a deal with the City in 2022 to remove the offending structure.

Marovic reneged on the agreement, and boy he reneged hard. The demotion was to start in March 2023 and be done by that July. Nothing started except that Marovic filed some sort of claim and lawsuit against the City for some made up reason, and the the whole mess disappeared into the usual mists of Closed Session.

In the meantime, Marovic has continued to benefit from the add-on as an integral part of his bar – Mickey’s Irish Pub for three years, and counting.

Although I can’t verify the rumor, Marovic finally got sick of paying legal bills last fall and decided to perform the scope of his original agreement. A status (secret) of the lawsuit popped up on the October 7th, 2025 City Council Closed Session agenda. This might have led to some new deal.

According to the deal rumor, Marovic was supposed to start removing the addition this month, January 2026. If there was a behind the scenes agreement, it should have been made public, although the City lawyers would proclaim the lawsuits pending until the removal is complete, and therefore not subject to public airing in public. Of course that would make no practical difference, but that’s the way it is – secrecy for secrecy’s sake.

I can’t see Marovic settling anything, stalling has been so fun; but maybe his legal bills are costing him more than revenue from the dozen chairs within the “bump out.” It would be nice to see Fullerton play hardball with this scofflaw, but it probably won’t happen. If the add-on actually does go away, I bet the taxpayers get stuck with the legal bill.

In the meantime the small contingent of “transparency” whiners at City Council meeting, the Fullerton Observer and their tender young investigative reporter Sweet Elijah Manassero don’t seem at all curious about this twenty four year-old scandal. I wonder why.

January 13, 2026January 16, 2026Ahmad Zahra

The Boutique Hotel to Nowhere, Part 2

by Mr. Peabody25 Comments

Warning: Conceptual only, not to be taken seriously!

The other day I described the history of the idiotic Boutique Hotel – a notion to build a high-end hotel on the site of the East Santa Fe parking lot at the Depot. The idea was, and is so stupid that it astounds any commonsensical thinker. And even worse, as the “unsolicited,” exclusive deal became less and less likely, the concept became bigger and dumber. The approved plan more than doubled the density allowed by the Transportation Center Specific Plan.

City projects are virtually immortal if they look like work for eager “economic development” bureaucrats or look like they can be sold as accomplishment by people like Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles, who think (or pretend to think) that their gullible followers can be fooled into believing something good is happening.

Except that nothing good is happening. Our City officials increased the value of the property ten-fold through entitlements, but sold it for its original value – a staggering subsidy of at least ten million bucks. And that subsidy was handed to TA Partners, a flimflam operation fronted by a couple of con men, Johnny Lu and Larry Liu, at the end of 2022.

In the three intervening years nothing has happened so far as the public knows, even as TA Partners’ legal and financial woes have become public; woes that certainly should have been known by our economic development experts in City Hall prior to signing a contract, but weren’t. Why not? And why is the project at least two years behind schedule? Don’t ask. Fullerton being Fullerton.

The land was deeded over to Johnny and Larry without even an approved set of conceptual plans. But the deed was encumbered after a fashion with development and construction milestones.

And here’s the Schedule of Performance mentioned above:

I don’t know what sort of plans have been submitted, if any, but I know that grading should have started at least 20 months ago and hasn’t. And look at that project completion deadline – a Certificate of Occupancy by 10/21/26. That’s only nine months from now. As this fiasco looks worse and worse, not a peep from our friends at Fullerton Angry and Fullerton Transparency about the initial giveaway or the state of the schedule. They have more important if less expensive “scandals” to rant about.

Of course the paragraph tacked on to the Grant Deed, above, describes the covenants attached to the land, but that’s it. Other language talks about the City’s right to legal recourse if the conditions of the covenants are not met. That’s pretty toothless since lawsuits are always possible; there is no mention of Johnny and Larry surrendering their new asset, an asset whose entitlements could still make it worth a fortune. Why the City hasn’t already initiated legal action is a mystery worth speculating upon.

We all know that when it comes to Fullerton redevelopment boondoggles, nobody ever takes responsibility for failures. It’s just not good form to hold the masterminds accountable. Often it’s not enough to just keep quiet; sometimes staff actively tries to keep the boondoggle gasping for air so it can be reassigned to some new front man. That’s what I think must be happening now.

By the way, a majority of the current City Council has not voted for this hot mess. It’s a legacy mess.

It’s way past time to learn what’s going on, to find out what the status of the Boutique Hotel and Apartment monster and to find out why the City hasn’t pursued legal remedy to protect our interests.

December 17, 2025December 18, 2025A Step in the Right Direction

Fullerton Asks DA to Investigate Closed Session Leak

by The Fullerton Harpoon33 Comments

At the end of yesterday’s City Council Closed Session Meeting, City Attorney Dick Jones reported that the council had voted 4-0 (Zahra absent) to request that DA Todd Spitzer’s office investigate the possible leak of closed session information.

The relevant matter was the CalPERS action and appeal with regard to four retirees who have or still work for Fullerton, post-retirement. Grover Cleveland posted about it, here.

But apparently young Elijah Manassero of Fullerton Observer fame also wrote about it for the Fullerton Observer. And his effort raised suspicion of information leaked out of closed session, which is a violation of California’s Brown Act. Government Code section 54963 provides that a person may not disclose confidential closed session
information without the consent of the legislative body holding the closed session. One of the prescribed actions in the code is to turn the matter over to the district attorney.

I don’t know what sweet Elijah wrote, but it’s hard to believe he wrote about CalPERS issues without being coached by somebody who knows at least a little about them. And did this person, while coaching the tender sprout, also pass along closed session information? Somebody thinks it might have happened.

So let’s consider who this potential culprit might be. There were probably only seven people in that little room, back of the Council chamber – the five City Councilpersons, the City Attorney Dick Jones, and Interim City Manager Eddie Manfro.

We may be sure that neither Manfro or Jones blabbed anything since they are both involved personally in the CalPERS problem. We know that none of the so-called “council majority” Fred Jung, Jamie Valencia, and Nick Dunlap are on speaking terms with Sanksia Kennedy’s Observer, let alone a source of confidential information. That leaves Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles, both of whom are cozy with Observer Folk with whom they collaborate all the time.

But wait. Shana Charles not only voted to send the matter to the DA, she seconded Jung’s motion to do so according to Jones.

Who is left? The dishonorable doctor from Damascus, Zahra, that’s who. And we have all have noticed Zahra’s fingerprints all over the lively and impressionable Manassero’s work product. I wonder if the DA will dig into communications between the two.

A Friend has forwarded a video captured from the City’s feed, and creatively edited:

If Zahra did leak something he could be in trouble, although I don’t know what sort of penalties have been assessed in case law. Probably not much. The Council could censure him.

Something about Ahmad and Michelle’s nuptials didn’t seem quite right…

But being on the wrong side of the law and righteousness has never been much of a deterrent to Zahra. After all, he committed Marriage Fraud to stay in the country, he got rung up by Todd Spitzer for assault and vandalism, he was caught by FFFF plagiarizing water articles for the same, incurious Fullerton Observer, etc., etc.

We are left to ponder the reason for Zahra leaking information about the four individuals involved in the CalPERS deal. What would be the goal. The only thing I can think of is that he wanted to somehow embarrass Jung and Dunlap for somehow being responsible for whatever mess is abrew, and of course the “journalists” at the Fullerton Observers and the Kennedy Sisters would be only to happy to assist.