Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
Here’s one of the more curious pieces of mail we’ve seen in town. Check out what landed in a friend’s mailbox in District 5 over the weekend:
According an October 8th 2018 e-mail from the Chaffee campaign to supporters and the Fullerton Observer, Mrs. Chaffee suspended her campaign.
If she suspended her campaign on the 8th then why were people getting mail supporting her campaign on the 13th?
Did she think we wouldn’t notice?
We here at FFF have been following the news of Paulette Chaffee’s sign stealing shenanigans. We’ve also been wondering where Mayor Doug Chaffee has been this whole time considering he’s yet to issue a single word to the public.
Then today this hit a friend’s mailbox.
I wonder how many of these people still stand behind Doug based on the recent news.
The timing on this is hilarious if nothing else. What say you, fellow friends?
Fullerton can be a funny town with funny stories.
Earlier this week, we asked you to consider a version of Fullerton where Doug (Chaffee), (Acting Chief) Dunn & (City Manager) Domer had come to an agreement. That agreement included a plan to protect Pilfering Paulette Marshall Chaffee and to minimize damage to Mayor Doug Chaffee’s campaign for Orange County Supervisor.
Shortly after publishing our leak hypothetical, the City issued a press release stating that the case had been handed over to the District Attorney. A couple things are curiously absent from the City’s Press Release.
There’s no indication of who is being investigated, what is being investigated, how it is being investigated, or when the investigation will be completed. No mention of Paulette, Doug, any citation to the penal code, the investigator or department assigned, all missing.
Why is that?
Is Doug Chaffee under investigation for receiving stolen property?
First Fox11, now KTLA. It looks like the news is starting to take notice of the Mayor’s wife’s pilfering.
Paulette Marshall Chaffee has also moved into Stage 3 in Kübler-Ross model of grief.
We saw denial when there was no acknowledgement. Anger when she suspended her campaign blaming toxicity. Now she’s at bargaining as she’s hired an attorney according to Chip Yost with KTLA:
Last night Fox 11 News came down to Fullerton for an investigation into Paulette Chaffee’s sign stealing and carpetbagging.
It’s been a week since Pilfering Paulette was busted interfering in our local election. Since then no comment from either of the Chaffees concerning allegations of theft, censorship, poor choices, or anything resembling acknowledgement of wrong doing.
Notable in yesterday’s coverage, Paulette hung up on the reporter. Doug? Well, he couldn’t be reached for comment.
Who really wants an elected official word who responds to a crisis by ignoring it?
Good luck getting any followup before the election as Tony Rackauckas is more worried about Todd Spitzer than doing his job.
We received this in the mail and thought we should share it in case people think that the issue of Paulette Chaffee’s pilfering and FPD’s obvious conflict of interest isn’t be followed up in every possible way.
Fullerton can be a funny town with funny stories.
Consider if you will a version of Fullerton where Doug (Chaffee), (Acting Chief) Dunn & (City Manager) Domer have come to an agreement.
In exchange for not referring the Mayor’s wife to the District Attorney’s Office and not investigating the true extent of just how many signs Paulette stole, the Chaffees agreed to suspend Paulette’s campaign. They’ve agreed that she’ll stay out of the public eye through the election.
Doug will also skip the next Council meeting and the city will make no public statement on the matter until December. All parties agreed this was the best way to minimize impacting Doug’s campaign for Supervisor.
That wouldn’t be so hard to believe. That level of corruption feels about right for these idiots in the town we call home.
Even we have a hard time with the next part.
Apparently, Doug, Dunn, and Domer agreed to send a city vehicle to collect Paulette’s various sign caches. The collection is substantial and the triple alliance can’t decide if they’ll move the signs to the city yard to be reclaimed by their owners or to destroy them.
Keeping a crime quiet is one thing. Using city resources to cover it up? Well. That’s quite another.
How does your version of Fullerton align with this potential reality?
In any case, this clearly needs to be taken up by someone well outside Doug’s reach. It’s clear that Doug has influence over Fullerton’s management, but he may also control the purse strings of county officials soon. That means we can’t trust that favors haven’t already been exchanged with the District Attorney and Sheriff offices.
Stealing signs may be Petty Theft, but using government resources to cover up a crime is not. We hate to make a federal case over something so insane, but if Doug, Dunn & Domer really are colluding to cover up Paulette’s crime to benefit Doug’s campaign, that’s serious business.
In any case, this much is clear: we’re owed an explanation. Has Paulette and Doug’s property been searched? What about their cars where videos show her putting the stolen property? Did Doug, Dunn & Domer meet? If so, when and where? How long did the meeting last?
So far, the city has said nothing. Not one word. Not one iota of acknowledgement. Nothing from PD. Nor the Mayor. Nor the Council. Not even the City Manager. Not a word has been uttered publicly from anybody.
Even for Fullerton, that’s odd.
The County has been equally as silent. Our DA is too busy campaigning to make sure this is handled in an expeditious and honest fashion.
We think that all this silence means that at least part of this leak. . . hypothetical . . . might be true. Here’s why:
In Fullerton we’re accustomed to our city hiding behind disclosure laws to “protect the city from liability” while managing to only protect bad apples from being thrown in the waste bin. We watched it after the Kelly Thomas murder and we watched it again with the Felz Sappy McTree coverup. We’ve seen it countless times before and since.
Our rotating crop of City Council members, City Managers and staff just default to incompetency, lies and dubious readings of the law out of habit. It’s the natural state at City Hall.
Usually POBAR (the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights) can be blamed for a lot of this when a cop is involved.
Sometimes we’re told nothing for no reason whatsoever (How did that Parks & Rec vehicle end up on it’s roof and who was to blame?).
But this time is different.
Just yesterday a City Council candidate, Paulette Marshall Chaffee, dropped out of the race for the District 5 seat on council because she got caught red handed being a thief.
Her pity-me-party dropout letter is nonsense and we all know she’d be at the candidate forum tonight were it not for the videos we posted here to FFFF.
This time, there’s no scapegoat. There’s no underling for the Chief of Police to blame, there’s no entry level parks employee to take the heat, and there’s no crazy homeless person to label as the problem.
This time, it’s the very rich Mayor’s wife. The Mayor who’s about to become a County Supervisor and control the very large budgets for some very powerful people.
Maybe we’ll get lucky and somebody at City Hall will do the right and honest thing and tell us what’s happened so far and what’s happening.
We’ll have our eyes on the city yard otherwise.
Anyone know what to know a defining feature of shitty politician?
They never, ever, apologize.
Enter, Paulette Marshall Chaffee. Over the past week, FFFF’s crack investigative pool embarrassed Pilfering Paulette into suspending her campaign after posting not one, but two separate videos of Mrs. Chaffee taking down political signage and driving away with property that isn’t hers.
Hat tip to Sharon Kennedy at the Fullerton Observer for getting a statement from Chaffee:
“I have too much respect for the people in this community to put them through this clearly toxic campaign. therefore I have decided for the good of the community to suspend my campaign for Fullerton City Council District 5.”
Really? Too much respect?
Let’s consider that. Pilfering Paulette has “too much respect for the people in *this* community to put them through this clearly toxic campaign”, but not enough respect not to steal.
Over the weekend the rumors have been swirling as to the fate of Paulette Marshall Chaffee City Council campaign after having apparently been caught on camera removing No Paulette – Carpetbagger signs. We will probably have a clearer picture of the truth of that rumor at tomorrow’s City Council candidate form, but even if she does drop out of the race, this does not end the story.
Her husband, Doug Chaffee, is currently the Mayor of Fullerton and a candidate for Board of Supervisors. While he was not involved in either recorded sign theft, his title as Mayor creates a conflict for the City to investigate the crime. Also, as an active candidate for the Board of Supervisors race, he has an obligation to speak out on this matter and do what he can to make things right. especially since he was the direct beneficiary of an almost identical anti-carpetbagger campaign against his Democratic opponent in June (one Joe Kerr, aka Cotto Joe).
Tony Bushala (one of the founders of this very blog, although he divested his interest two years ago), though Residents for Reform and his brother George Bushala, paid for the political signs that were stolen and he wants them back. He has penned a written request to Mayor Chaffee requesting return of the signs in his residence and has authorized publication here. As an initial good faith gesture, Mayor Chaffee should be strongly encouraged to return the signs on his property forthwith.
The text of the letter is provided below, (more…)