Setting The Bar Low Archives - Page 106 of 107 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

January 23, 2010January 23, 201072nd Election

The Scott Baugh Manifesto

Last week the OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh addressed his cohorts at the periodic Republican Central Committee meeting.

His speech was much anticipated and much commented about the next day in such venues where anybody gives a damn about what Baugh has to say. I waited a few days to display my disdain for such antics.

It seems Mr. Baugh tried to channel some of the angry energy of the “Tea Party” movement to zap some life into his team.

Baugh unloaded on RINOs; on candidates who get the GOP endorsement and then take public union money; on the “slick consultants” who call the shots. It must have sounded pretty good to the true believers in the audience; but the Repuglican cadre that has turned Orange County into its own little plantation – people like John Lewis and Ackerman, Inc. must have rolled their eyes a bit. Electeds in the audience who gladly took money from police and fire unions were no doubt (quietly) offended and/or frightened, depending on their dispositions, and this includes just about every Republican city councilman and Supervisor in the County.

I’ve got four problems with Mr. Baugh’s manifesto.

First he coughed up a speech very much like it last year in the wake of the epic McCain disaster and a year of Democrat rule. Apparently not much came of that one; so why expect anything else from the ‘Pugs?

Second, he seems to have failed to address the virus of office seeking that infects the party and that has been manifested in the Ackerwoman and now Harry Sidhu strains. In fact, Baugh was a supporter of Linda Ackerwoman and her fraudulent campaign of deceit in the 72nd – which pretty much tells you all you need to know about him.

Third, the idea that a candidate can’t take the money of a public employee union and still represent the public interest is curious. By the same logic these folks would be unable to resist the blandishments of corporate lobbyists who donate to their campaigns. Hmm.

Finally, Baugh ignores the wider problem of Repuglicanism – the malady of being a Republican for fun and especially profit. Calling for ideological purity seems to ring hollow when it’s pretty evident that the game is being played for one’s own pecuniary interest. Will we ever hear Baugh denounce Curt Pringle’s 50 billion dollar high speed idiocy? Probably not. Baugh uses his own political connections to lobby here and there, including a highly lucrative contract awarded by fellow ‘Pugs on the Board of Supervisors to lobby in Sacramento.

So in the end, to quote the Bard, here’s what I see in Baugh’s address: a tale told by an idiot; full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.

January 21, 2010January 21, 2010Dead heads

Giasone Strikes Again: The Pickle Lady Goes to Hawaii!

by Jan Florys Dog10 Comments

Demonstrating an irresistable consistancy publishing the commonplace and the inane, Fullerton News Tribune ace reporter Barbara Giasone may have even topped herself this ante meridiem. Check out this compelling news story about the Pickle Lady.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/mcgirr-230241-hawaii-fullerton.html

It seems a local woman won a trip to Hawaii via the kindly offices of the dim-witted “Wheel of Fortune” show and the FNT presses were stopped. Barbara pulled off of the other hard-hitting news exclusives she is working on (i.e. the giant lobster in the tank at the Japanese sea food restaurant and the giant snapping turtle that used to live in Laguna Lake) and scoops the rest of the media world.

Bravisima!

January 17, 2010January 17, 2010Boohooism

Say What’s An Executive Director Do, Anyway?

by Mr. Peabody27 Comments

Update: Ten days ago I posted this piece about the Fullerton Collaborative’s empty on-line calendar. I opined that maybe it was the executive director’s job to keep it updated, and archly suggested that maybe there wouldn’t be that much on it anyway. We received the usual irrelevant and hardly coherent comment-blather from Collaborative member Minard Duncan informing us all about the wonderful work Keller does.

Well, the calendar is still empty for all of 2010! Apparently Minard didn’t bother to let Keller know that the on-line public has no immediate information about what the Collaborative is up to; or, if he did, Keller decided that she was too busy to catch us up on what she’s planning for 2010. C’mon, Pam. You can’t be that busy!

The Fullerton Collaborative’s website calendar page declares ever so earnestly:

There are so many ways to get involved in our community. During the next few months there will be many fundraisers and community events to benefit local non-profit organizations and educational institutions.

And yet a perusal of the monthly calendars shows nothing. Blank. A completely clean slate, clean for all of 2010, in fact. Check it out if don’t believe me.

Now maybe I’m sort of funny this way, but I figure if you’ve got an executive director whom you are paying over $50K (for a part-time job) that individual ought to be able to at least take a few moments out of her busy day to fill in some of the blanks on the calendar. I mean, that’s Pam Keller’s job isn’t it?

pamkeller — I just got tired of doing it. Nobody ever reads that calendar, anyway...

Of course if Keller actually does get around to filling out the calendar, then fellow collaborators and even the public may find out how little fifty-thou buys you nowadays, executive director-wise.

As this blog noticed last year, Keller is not a Collaborative employee, but a Fullerton School District employee contracted to work for the Collaborative – where her job entails raising money from members and donors to pay the FSD for her dubious services. Sweet gig. No boss, no oversight, not even much paperwork.

Maybe in 2010 she can get around to filling in the Collaborative calendar.

January 16, 2010January 17, 2010Dead heads

As the Colony Turns; Is Lorri Galloway’s New “Home” Even Legal?

by Joe Sipowicz9 Comments

UPDATE: THIS ISSUE IS GETTING EVEN MORE FUN. ONE OF OUR FRIENDS HAS INFORMED US THAT ON BOTH THE RED AND BLUE BLOGS A FELLOW NAMED BILL TAORMINA POPPED UP TO DEFEND GALLOWAY. APPARENTLY HE OWNS THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION AND CLAIMS THAT IT IS “MIXED USE” THUS ALLOWING SOMEBODY TO LIVE THERE. HE GALLANTLY OFFERS TO TAKE ALL THE BLAME IF THERE IS A SCREW UP. THE CITY HAS IT LISTED AS OFFICE PROFESSIONAL ZONE.

WILL BILL AND LORRI RECEIVE VISIT FROM CODE ENFORCEMENT? WILL LORRI HAVE TO UNDERGO AN EMBARRASSING RELOCATION ELSEWHERE IN THE COLONY? WILL LORRI JUST PACK UP AND MOVE IN WITH LONELY HARRY AT THE BEAUTIFUL CALABRIA APARTMENTS? STAY TUNED FOR…

AS THE COLONY TURNS…

In what can only be described under the heading “hilarity ensued,” the Red and Blue blog clowns have picked up on our post about carpetbaggin’ Lorri Galloway’s new abode in Anaheim’s historic “Colony District.”

In our post we noticed the address – 1155 E. Lincoln – was in a odd enclave of relocated old houses. One of our Friends observed that the egregious Paul Kott had a commercial real estate sign on the property. At the eerie Red County blog the Colony’s self-appointed grande dame, Cynthia Ward, observed that the zoning was “light commercial/retail” (whatever that is) and thus Galloway’s “residency” constituted a code violation. Looks like she sicc’d code enforcement on Galloway.

You will soon receive a visit from Code Enforcement...

We’re not experts on Anaheim zoning so whether a “caretaker” type individual is allowed to live on these premises is not known, to us.

Meanwhile, at the Blue County blog, Dan C-somethingorother – an ardent Galloway swain – typed up an “exclusive” response to the question, purportedly from Galloway herself. It came complete with a picture of Loretta Sanchez – a not too subtle trick by Danny Boy. But this post only made things worse, since according to it Galloway claims to have checked into the legitimacy of her new home with 1) the County Registrar of votes Neal Kelley; and 2) with the Anaheim Public Utililties Department.

Now why on earth would anybody check into this with the ROV and think that would mean anything? That’s just strange. And second, why would Galloway believe the Utilities Department would have any authority in the matter? Did it not occur to this simpleton to simply call up her own Planning Department and inquire? How long has this featherhead been on the Anaheim City Council – five years?

Right on cue, Ward dropped into the Blue miasma, now sharing city info that the Galloway parcel is zoned “low-intensity office,” still a seemingly incompatitble use for a residence.

I had my siblings over for Christmas, so it must be legal! — I had the family over for Christmas, so it must be legal!

At the end of the thread Dan C-somethingorother tried to deflect the issue, change the subject, and naturally tried to make it look like the big, bad Republicans were picking on his poor little sweetheart. Newsflash, Dan C.: we’ll beat her at the polls even if she doesn’t belong on the ballot, just like we dealt with Linda Ackerwoman!

Anyway, to us the legality of Lorri’s new home is really just an issue fun for its entertainment value. The real issue for us, of course, is that she, like her council colleague Harry Sidhu, is a carpetbagger from the 3rd Supervisorial District.

January 14, 2010January 14, 2010Behind Closed Doors

Right On Cue The Spokeshole Speaks

by Joe Sipowicz4 Comments

fartboy — We are widely misunderstood...

Yep. The day after former State Senator Joe Dunn addressed the County Board of Supervisors about establishing a mechanism for keeping track of the professional lobbyists who haunt the 5th floor of the Hall of Admin, Matthew Cunningham popped up serially on the “Red County” blog to explain to his readers why the system ain’t broke and why his lobbyist friends have a constitutional right to “petition their government for redress.”

Aha! We called it here. Of course the idea that lobbyists are petitioning their government for anything except a chance to make big bucks for their clients is patently absurd.

We don’t agree with some of the purported details of Dunn’s original idea, but overall the concept of knowing which well-connected middlemen are knocking on your representative’s door in order to swing some deal or other, is basically a good one. Dunn’s timing and presentation to the Board were counterproductive and will be viewed as partisan, in some way. But so what?

Cunningham suggests that the whole thing is just a plan to dissuade privatization, but of course he really can’t say how, except that the OCEA union boss Nick Berardino is involved. But why should a lobbyist who is doing nothing improper or illegal fear a little bit of light illuminating his interaction with public officials?

Actually, an effort to squelch the idea will make people even more suspicious than ever about what is going on behind closed doors.

Cunningham is just doing his job, of course: trying to run interference for his Repuglican lobbyist pals like John Lewis who apparently would really rather not have the public aware of his influence with electeds. But the strategy is poor. In a second post he suggests that Dunn is simply trying to force the supervisors to adopt their own plan to avoid his referendum. Good idea.

Rather than let Dunn produce a likely popular plebiscite, the Supervisors ought to develop a sensible sytem for keeping track of lobbyists themselves, and include the union bosses like Berardino and Wayne Quint who are really nothing but lobbyists themselves – paid with ample union dues.

This issue is about recognizing the influence peddlers in OC – people who use their political and financial contacts to make inroads into public policy and pubic expenditure. Nothing wrong with that.

January 13, 2010January 13, 2010Boohooism

Minard Duncan and the Doctrine of Unaccountability

by Mr. Peabody9 Comments

A few days ago on this post about Pam Keller’s blank Collaborative calendar, we received a visit from FSD trustee Minard Duncan. As is usual, Minard’s visit was vacuous and inane. Just about what you’d expect from an educrat. Minard admitted his comments were just made to “rile” us up.

But what was really interesting was when Minard dropped this spud on the Friends, unwittingly revealing a mindset that reveals all the things wrong with Fullerton’s elected representatives:

School board members do not have any power as individuals. It takes three board members out of a five member board agreeing on an issue to have authority. We are the boss of the district superintendent and no one else but not as individuals only as a collective board.

See, Minard indicates that authority (power) is only to be exercised by a majority, and, moreover, through the conduit of a Superintendent – thus effectively removing the “elected” from actually having to do much of anything except hire a single underling and ratify his decisions. And of course the consequence of Minard-think is that the responsibility and accountability attendant upon elected office is conveniently dissipated through delegation to a host of protected bureaucrats who are never held accountable either.

But whoever thought that the absence of a majority meant that a boardmember was somehow robbed of any of the authority vested in him by the electorate? While it takes a board majority to act affirmatively on a specific issue, the authority of an elected is indivisible. Minard is not just a third of a potential majority, nor does he represent only a theoretical one fifth of the property tax payers and parents – although he doesn’t seem to grasp this idea.

It is each boardmember’s responsibility to concern himself with everything that goes on in his district and to take responsibility for it.

Minard-think leads to the complete dereliction of responsibility that seems to obtain not only at the FSD, but also at Fullerton City Hall, too, where electeds delegate responsibility right along with the authority they invest in their City Manager. And of course as any honest council watcher knows, the Council, through laziness and/or inclination, is completely in thrall to the Chief Bureaucrat who is supposed to be working for them. It’s rather like the Stockholm Syndrome.

And you know what? A lot of electeds and their bureaucratic masters sure seem to like it that way.

January 8, 2010January 26, 2010Dead heads

Sordid Cop Tales: Former Police Chief McKinley Loves Sheriff; Climbs Into Bed

by The Desert Rat41 Comments

10:50 Update: TDR forgot to add this little gem from the Register’s Jennifer Muir about Hutchens sending a helicopter to an LA cop chili “cook-out.” Wonder what Pat thinks about that use of public resources! – Admin

A recent Fullerton Observer article reported on some sort of “Women in Leadership” event and started out describing how Fullerton’s former Chief of Police introduced “surprise guest, ” appointed OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens in glowing terms and indicated his unreserved support for her election campaign.

We’re not at all surprised by this enthusiasm since McKinley has been reported as having post-retirement political ambitions, and has already demonstrated his connection to the local Reguglican establishment by his endorsement of the fraudulent Ackerwoman campaign.

Apart from political ambition, though, something more sinister flits through the shadows of the McKinley endorsement of Hutchens, and that is McKinley’s apparent ingrained approval of high-handed and unaccountable police behavior. Despite McKinley’s contention that Hutchens has “turned things around” after the departure of the deplorable Mike Carona, there is precious little evidence that any institutional attitudes have changed at all. In fact, quite the contrary. From examples of in-house secrecy and stonewalling, mistreatment of citizens, to even spying on elected County Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Department has shown itself to be the same old operation as ever. The only difference is that now Hutchens is running cover instead of Carona.

sheriff-sandra-hutchens-carona — Ba da bing! (wacky graphic swiped from Orange Juice Blog)

The latest example is provided by the OC Weekly’s Scott Moxley, here. It seems a couple of deputies were caught fabricating testimony about threatening a suspect during a Disneyland area drug bust at a preliminary hearing. The DA later dropped most of the charges against the guy who had been arrested; correspondence from the DAs office to the Sheriff about the problem were simply ignored. The deputies involved not only seem to have escaped disciplinary action, but have been awarded medals for valor for a Costa Mesa drug bust that supposedly occurred on the same day as the other arrest!

Here’s Moxley’s curt summaton:

The sheriff, who has promised to restore deputy accountability in the wake of the Mike Carona corruption scandals, refused to be interviewed for this story. Her command staff and media-affairs team repeatedly blocked my attempts to reach Catalano for comment.

Anyhow, in case we needed any other evidence, we now know exactly what kind of police management our former Chief admires, and we ought to remember that when and if he decides to run for office.

January 6, 2010January 6, 2010Big Brother

Caronies Seek Supervisor Endorsement for the Next Mike Carona

by Travis26 Comments

OCCCWS just issued an “Action Alert” asking its members to pester OC Supervisors Chris Norby, Patricia Bates and Bill Campbell to endorse their candidate for OC Sheriff, Craig Hunter. Standard PAC activity, for sure. But this is no ordinary PAC.

If you remember a few posts back, we talked about how OCCCWS is lead by a group of gun guys who wrote letters in support of Mike Carona after he was convicted on felonious corruption charges. Additionally, OCCCWS leader Greg Block was granted special access inside Carona’s department, which Block used to enrich his firearms training company and torment weapons permit applicants.

RizzoloAndSheriffCarona — Yeah, Mike still has a lot of fans. What's the big deal?

So will the Supes lend an ear to these masters of Caronyism? Or will they be careful to distance themselves from the empire of corruption that left a still-lingering stanky stench on the OCSD and the rest of Orange County government?

And what about the guy who is actually running, Anaheim cop Craig Hunter? Is he worthy of endorsement or will investigations into a dark past expose a potential Carona 2.0? Stick around, this isn’t over yet.

January 5, 2010January 5, 2010Boohooism

The OCCCO Scam

by The Desert Rat7 Comments

Earlier today a Friend tipped us off to this self-serving video produced by OCCCO (Orange County Congregation Community Organization) touting its alleged accomplishments. The whole thing is really embarrassing. Trying to take credit for Anaheim’s “$100,000,000” housing policy is just laughable.

But when this group of group of lefty do-gooders bragged about their successful petition to the Fullerton City Council for west Fullerton to be included in the fraudulent Redevelopment expansion, some of us in the editorial room got pissed off. Cut to the 7:30 mark of the youtube clip to avoid a lot of uber-mind-numbing drivel.

Pam Keller4 — Oh yeah, I got a posse and man are they dumb...

First, we have already demonstrated the not too coincidental elevation of some woman called Lee Chalker to the Board of Directors of the Fullerton Collaborative with her sudden interest in Redevelopment issues, here; could any reasonable human being believe that Chalker and her OCCCO pals weren’t persuaded by Collaborative Executive Director and City Council woman Keller to go to public meetings and pimp something they knew absolutely nothing about? They got $26,000 bucks a couple of years ago for “community organizing” from Keller so maybe they figured they owed her, quid pro quo.

But to take credit for their stoogery in a fraudulent political act as an accomplishment not only suggests a complete lack of real accomplishment, but it also suggests a moral bankruptcy, too. Either that or a really low level of intelligence.

Well, really, what did you expect?

January 5, 2010January 5, 2010Behind Closed Doors

A Good Article, By George!

by Mr. Peabody4 Comments

I've never even been to Fullerton — Fullerton? Where's that?

Although George Will can be stuffy and, well, fat-headed on occasion, there is nothing off the mark about his opinion piece in the Washington Post the other day about the Atlantic Yards eminent domain scandal occurring in Brooklyn, New York. Read it here.

Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? Trumped up findings of blight that justify the creation of a government-as-developer zone. In Fullerton we have the proposed Redevelopment expansion – leveraged off a completely fraudulent finding of blight. There are no massive projects in the expansion area – yet, but the idea of securing property tax increment and using the expansion to extend the life of the existing Redevelopment project area foreshadows all sorts of problems with government overreach and the misdirection of public revenue.