Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
Here’s some Tuesday photo fun.
Apparently, Ahmad Zahra held some sort of meet and greet (I’ll talk to anyone, but I won’t tell them the truth) Sunday morn, behind a donut store.
There to greet him were some protesters who seem to be angry that he voted several times to allow marijuana dispensaries within 100 feet of homes and schools – at the behest of emissaries from the Long Beach weed store cartel.
Now, that’s not very good, is it.
(Revised: I missed the Date Qualified column and so missed the fact that Shelby Perea and Rosalia Guillen did not qualify for the ballot. The text of the post is revised to reflect this)
The most notable feature is the number of Spanish surnamed candidates in the 5th, a fact that makes it much easier for the arrested and charged incumbent, Ahmad Zahra, to continue his sanctimonious hypocrisy from the dais.
We already know that Tony Castro is an unemployed dead-beat who gives off the aroma of a Zahra plant meant to split the Latino vote. Oscar Valadez seems to be a good Catholic boy with a family, a house, a real a job, and standing in the community – all of which set him apart from the empty suit, Zahra. Valadez’s statement says a lot of popular sounding stuff and he’s a Stanford graduate. Geez, it would be nice to have a councilman who wasn’t a preening, self-absorbed weasel? Oscar has the support of Fred Jung, so that’s another positive indication. Zahra wants to save murals and “assets.” He says he’s lived in Fullerton for 21 years which is probably just another Zahra lie he figures nobody can disprove. Among his other supporters of dubious intelligence, he lists the octogenarian bird-brain Molly McClanahan – which is almost cause for pity.
Over in D3 there are 3 candidates. We’ve already been introduced to Shana Charles, whose statement includes “progressive” catch-phrases. Her statement about restoring Fullerton’s “gutted” services means one thing – another swing at a tax increase. Her backers are the Quirk-Silvas, of course. I wonder if she’s ever even bothered to thank the Council for creating a district that she is in and that Jesus Quirk-Silva is not! The second candidate is Arnel Dino. But Dino Arnel sounds way better, so that’s what I’m calling him from now on. Mr. Arnel seems to be a lefty also, which doesn’t bode well. Those who have seen him perform on the Planning Commission are immensely underwhelmed. The final candidate is John Ybarra who seems to have relocated to the 5th District. His campaign statement is concise and rational. It appears to be a somewhat conservative and pragmatic voice. One thing is certain: the other two will never fight for accountability at City Hall.
The final element in this election will be the Independent Expenditure committees. The cops and emergency truck driver unions will back Zahra and most likely Charles – liberals, yes, but public union supporters, uber alles.
Then there’s Fullerton Taxpayers for Reform, an I.E. run by Tony Bushala that evidently has set its sights on Zahra. They have already launched a shot across Zahra’s bow, and are likely to continue the pummeling until Zahra’s attitude improves.
Here is a fun video in which District 5 Councilman Ahmad Zahra stumbles and stutters his way into denying that he was arrested for battery and vandalism. It happened right outside his fundraising party when protesters showed up.
With some coaching from a masked friend he concludes that there was no “case,” and no arrest because he was not handcuffed and was not taken to a jail cell.
It was not an arrest says Zahra because some “citizen” (in air quotation marks) did something.
Uh huh. Get a kick out of how Zahra tries to incriminate Tony Bushala of something dishonest; the woman rightly points out that it is Zahra who was elected to represent Fullerton and who needs to come clean.
The confrontation then disolves into Zahra’s Spanish speaking camp followers adding a little ethic flavor like they constantly do at council meetings.
Well the thing is simple. The District Attorney, Todd Spitzer charged this miscreant with crimes, so the fact that he may or may not have spent some time in the FPD lock up is hilariously irrelevant.
Come clean Ahmad. If there was no case you can prove it by sharing the correspondence from the DA saying so. But one thing will always be undeniable: you were arrested and charged. No getting away from that albatross around your neck.
So I’m driving down Commonwealth yesterday afternoon and notice a protest in front of D’Vine, another one of downtown Fullerton’s scofflaw noise nuisances.
And then I noticed this:
Hmm. Nice sign, black and white. That’s appropriate.
Turns out that Ahmad Zahra was holding a fundraiser for himself at D’Vine, with special guest, career politician Lou Correa. Apparently, Fullerton Taxpayers For Reform financed by Tony Bushala have decided to remind Mr. Zahra that he was arrested and charged by the DA with battery and vandalism, perpetrated against one “Monica F.”
Zahra publicly claimed he was “exonerated” although a conflicting narrative emerged from a source in the DA’s office – that he pled guilty to get his slate wiped clean. He hasn’t bothered sharing any evidence of his alleged exoneration and probably hoped the whole issue would disappear. If he though that he must now know he was wrong.
It might be interesting to find out what Lou Correa thinks about his boy now, especially considering there’s still twelve weeks before election day. Zahra’s devoted followers will cry out his victimhood, yet again, but there’s only so far he can ride that donkey.
Allow me to introduce Tony Castro. Or known to his buddies as Antonio Castro.
Not to be confused with the former Deputy City Manager under hapless Ken Domer, Antonia Castro-Graham.
Tony just pulled papers for District 5, the same District as our criminal Zahra.
The 38-year-old couch surfer with a couple of conflicting known addresses of record describes himself as an “internet and online marketing” expert.
Sounds about as fishy as Zahra explaining his prowess as a “filmmaker”.
2300 E. Commonwealth Avenue, apartment #4 in Fullerton is the registered “business” address of one Maximum Creativity, of which Antonio Saucedo Castro is the listed contact. The address also shows Unlimited Possibilities as being “headquartered” there, also owned by one Antonio Saucedo Castro.
If this all sounds curiously comedic, you would not be in the minority. Castro was also a staffer for one Peter Mathews, a junior college professor who ran for Congress in the June primary.
Who is Peter Mathews? Again, you would not be in the minority because Mathews came in a very, very distant fourth place, mustering only 3% of the vote.
Way to pick a winner Tony!
Court documents also show that Tony was sued for “unlawful detainer” in 2009, which is legal mumbo jumbo for eviction and has a judgement in the amount of $3,022.
The obvious question is what business is someone who can’t rent an apartment per the negative credit history doing running for Fullerton City Council. Perhaps Zahra made the poor patsy do it. Because Tony’s “business” Maximum Creativity has a few reviews on Yelp. And safe to say they are not Michelin quality:
“Our company hired “tony” to do basic merchant services and design on our website. After paying 1000 dollars to start, over a month later…tony is missing in action. He is a fraud. We have received nothing for our money except empty promises and perpetual headaches. Do not, I repeat do not do business with this “company” especially tony. He lied, lied to cover his lies and long in the short did nothing but waste our time, and steal our hard earned money.” says one review.
Another reads, “This guy is a complete scam artist took 1000 dollar deposit to complete our website and never did any work wont answer a phone call or return a call or email from any body at our business. We have tried contacting him for over 2 weeks as we were on a dead line to complete website due to a huge marketing campaign, that he was aware of and promised to meet. Do not use him for any of your business needs! He will promise you the world and all he will do is steel from you ! Businesses beware of Tony and his company he will take your money and disappear ! Had to get our lawyers involved just to show him he cant do business like this 1k dollars isn’t a lot but the principal of just stealing from people needs to be addressed ! one star because that’s the lowest you can give a crook on YELP!”
JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU’VE HIT ROCK BOTTOM IN AWFUL CANDIDATES FULLERTON, SOMEBODY SAYS HOLD MY BEER AND HANDS YOU A SHOVEL.
The postcard at the restaurants reads “SAVE THE WALK ON WILSHIRE AND OUTDOOR DINING!”
“Fullerton City Council voted to remove the Walk on Wilshire in September”.
FALSE!
A few months ago, the City Council haphazardly voted: Whitaker, Jesus, and Ahmad, to explore keeping it permanent, whatever that means nowadays in this city.
What it fails to acknowledge is that their precious Walk on Wilshire is not a community benefit.
It is far from that.
It is a government subsidized revenue mechanism for a handful of “downtown” restaurants/bars.
Closing Wilshire Avenue to vehicle traffic in the name of public health is dumb government when latest COVID numbers are trending down to such a degree, even hypersensitive Los Angeles has opted not to have an indoor mask mandate.
Blocking Wilshire Avenue – Fullerton’s bike boulevard – in a feeble attempt to turn a very small section of downtown Fullerton into dining al fresco is nonsense since the view for diners is barriers and an asphalt street.
What’s that saying about lipstick on a pig?
“Downtown” Fullerton is not London or Rome!
Walk on Wilshire is Whitaker, Jesus, and Ahmad’s way of sponsoring a select group of “downtown” businesses like Mulberry Street Ristorante, Fullerton Brew Co (formerly Stadium Tavern), Green Bliss and Rialto Cafes, and Les Amis Restaurant.
Les Amis Restaurant recently hosted and sponsored the bitchin’ Zahra campaign kick off fundraiser so it is plainly obvious why that criminal would support Walk on Wilshire.
Jesus Quirk-Silva is just a moron who can’t find his way out of his pants wearing wife’s political shadow.
He’s a lame duck anyway with redistricting sidelining him for a few years.
But Bruce?!!?
He has consistently challenged zone changes, government’s heavy handedness, and city thumb on the scale for years.
So why would an anti-government interventionist support this?
Ronald Reagan warned that the top 9 most terrifying words in the English Language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.
Maybe Bruce is not at the wheel anymore.
Fullerton can’t figure out street and road repair with most residents living in street conditions resembling a third world country.
Yet somehow, its City Council and its small group of vocal influencers want to have their cake and eat it too by saving its failed Museum, its Fox Theatre, its outdated library, its overgrown parks system, and “community” events like Founders Day.
Keep spending taxpayer money on closing perfectly good streets like Wilshire Avenue so businesses that financially support Zahra get a financial kickback disguised as public safety benefits.
We need leadership Bruce!
I miss the old Bruce, straight from the ‘Go Bruce!
As a public service to Fullertonions, we here at FFFF like to keep folks apprised of who’s who in the political zoo.
And so, with 5 days left for November 2022 City Council election filing, we present those who have “pulled papers” in order to qualify for the ballot. Here’s the current list:
In D5 we see Shana Charles, whom we have already introduced, here. This individual is part of the academic healthy neighborhoods mafia who mobilize Latinas to babble about things about which they are completely ignorant. She is buddies with the egregious Ahmad Zahra, which tells you all you want to know about her. She will try to mobilize the hard-core lefties over CSUF way, but are there really that many of them?
Doctor Shana has an opponent, a person called Arnel Dino. Mr. Dino is on the Fullerton Planning Commission, a common stepping stone for the City Council. I’m not familiar with this individual but I will be.
Over in D3 we have Zahra himself, a guy who has tried to cash in regurgitating boohoo generalities and photobombing every picture taken in Fullerton. In 4 years he has accomplished nothing except hiding his own arrest and charge for battery and vandalism against a woman. Even his emergency vote to allow weed stores within 100 feet of a school was later rescinded.
A potential opponent for Zahra is a fellow named Oscar Valadez. I haven’t learned much about this man, but I have been told he works for his long-time Fullerton family business. That alone makes him supremely more qualified than Zahra who apparently has been unemployed since being on the City Council. A guy who pays taxes, employs people, and has a family? Hmm.
At the bottom of the list we find somebody named “Tony Castro” who pulled papers the very day after Mr. Valadez. That makes one wonder. Nobody I have spoken to knows anything about this individual which leads me to smell a rat. Or in this case, a rata. It’s an old trick to find a patsy to enter a political campaign to split off an opponents votes, in this case, possibly Latino voters. Who would benefit from this? Why, the ethically-challenged Zahra, of course. So we’ll be keeping an eye on Tony Castro and will let the Friends know what’s going on.
Amateurs and concerned residents who attend Fullerton City Council meetings to address grievances and gripes are off limits from FFFF evaluation.
But professionals like labor unions and social “justice” non-profits are fair game.
FFFF regularly shines our light on them.
Which brings us to enemy of the people, Ahmad Zahra, who recently held a fundraiser to kick off his re-election campaign.
Hardly newsworthy.
His guest list, however, was a who’s who of Fullerton’s past failures.
Remember Paul Dudley, the Fullerton Development Department head who brought us the infamous Florentine Bump Out, now Mario Bump Out!
He was there! As was Jan Flory, his boat drinks friend who vacations with the former city staffer Dudley. She was hangin’ with Ahmad.
The Ahmad endorsed city council candidate Shana Charles walked the Zahra red carpet. She’s a socialist in Dem clothing.
A curious guest of honor was frequent public comment maker and victim to Fullerton’s mean streets and even meaner sidewalks: Bernard.
Berny reads an Ahmad prepared speech at meetings because Zahra is too chicken to debate and risk offending the sensibilities of politically correct liberals.
Berny moans on about how important staff is (a constant suck up of his boss Zahra).
Or you can find him criticizing Bruce, Jung, or Dunlap.
His favorite obsession is Bushala, who just happens to be Ahmad’s infatuation.
Big, bad Bushala who uses his “council majority” a frequently peddled phrase by both Berny and his boss, to pad his own pockets.
No examples are ever provided. Just more pro-Ahmad propaganda.
That is what Fullerton voters can expect from the con artist Zahra.
He is not beyond using the disabled, Latina moms, seniors in mobile home parks, former city councilwomen, all of whom he manipulates with ease for his own personal gains.
Another guest on the Zahra guest list was Fullerton hero firefighter Dan Lancaster, who is the union rep.
Should a current public employee show his face at a campaign fundraiser?
I wonder how much influence he and his heroes have on the decisions Ahmad makes.
According to the Orange County Grand Jury here, Fullerton Firefighters are using million dollar fire trucks to rumble down torn up streets to respond to medical calls instead of nimble paramedic vans.
Medical calls are 80 percent of all fire emergency calls.
The fire hero union and its leader Lancaster are milking Fullerton taxpayers dry in unlimited overtime riding around to car accidents and getting cats out of trees.
There is no accountability and no supervision of their overtime expenses because Ahmad is too busy hosting them at fundraisers.
Zahra, Jung, and Silva were all supported by the fire union with thousands of independent expenditure dollars.
Election season can give Fullerton a new choice away from the status quo support these heroes receive from nearly every politician but Dunlap and Whitaker.
Let’s feel the burn and find more courageous candidates.
The report points out that “sending a 36,000 to 60,000-pound fire engine or aerial ladder truck down residential streets for strictly medical calls is not only dangerous and costly, but it also results in unnecessary wear and tear on our streets.”
Fullerton already has terrible roads.
“To improve the overall response performance of the OCFA delivery system the number of units sent to most emergency medical incidents must be reduced.”
The City Council is expected to consider joining OCFA. If the fire heroes union already owns Zahra, is being in OCFA a forgone conclusion?
“City of Placentia reported that out of 43 fire departments surveyed in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, 27 departments (67 percent) utilize a three-person engine crew. This was the most common standard among the three counties,” concludes the OC Grand Jury.
Fullerton uses a four-person engine crew. That is why the city is forced to pay some of the highest percentages of overtime to its firefighters.
Fullerton taxpayers will keep paying until we have better leaders
The starter gun has gone off!
The 2022 race for the Fullerton City Council has begun.
Per the City Clerk, candidates for District 3 and District 5 may begin to pull nomination paperwork starting Monday, July 18, 2022.
The recent redistricting process threw out the previously gerrymandered election map and established a new District 3.
Side note: a casualty of the new map, Jesus Quirk-Silva, who is now in District 2.
Jesus Quirk-Silva will also be sidelined for two years because the next scheduled District 2 election is 2024.
The largest obstacle in what’s left of Jesus Quirk-Silva’s political career will be running for a Council seat in a heavily Republican favored district.
Jesus Quirk-Silva would also have to run against his current Council mate Nicholas Dunlap, who won his election by a landslide.
Only one candidate has “declared”.
Has anyone heard of Shana Charles?
Quick Google search shows she is currently a professor in the Health Science Department at Cal State Fullerton. Google second page discloses she ran for Fullerton Elementary School Board in 2018 and failed.
More research shows she also ran for Fullerton City Council’s appointed seat vacated by the before mentioned Jesus Quirk-Silva in 2019, which brought us the unbearable return of Jan Flory.
She also ran for the vacant Trustee appointment for the Orange County Board of Education in 2022, which Tim Shaw received. Is there anything she won’t run for?
We don’t need another Doug or Paulette Chaffee.
District 5 is more predictable.
Man who never saw a selfie opportunity he didn’t take and criminally charged, woman beater Ahmad Zahra is already proclaiming endorsements and fundraisers for himself, so Fullerton is damned to his candidacy. Again.
Feel free to play along to the Zahra Facebook Drinking Game. Take a shot for every Zahra post that features a badly aimed selfie. You’ll be hammered inside of 5 minutes.
Will Sharon Quirk-Silva endorse him when he was involved in a year long legal fight with her and Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia? Zahra wasn’t the one suing Sharon and poor Cristina Garcia. Danny Fierro did.
Fierro was integrally involved in Zahra’s campaign. Maybe Sharon – like Jesus – forgives our sins! Will Lou Correa endorse a criminal? Will Josh Newman endorse a liar and fraud? These and many other questions will be answered in the coming weeks and FFFF will be holding Democrats Newman, Quirk-Silva, and Correa responsible if they choose to support a man who was arrested by the FPD and charged by Orange County’s DA, Todd Spitzer, for vandalism, graffiti, and battery against a woman, Monica F.
Back in 2020 our Lords and Masters at City Hall cooked up a plan to impose a sales tax increase upon people buying stuff in Fullerton. It was staff-driven natch, and lazy liberals Zahra, Quirk-Silva, Flory and Fitzgerald were on board. It was called Measure S. See, they figured the path of least resistance was deploying a new tax rather than finally exercising fiscal restraint.
Measure S soon found itself in the crosshairs of Fullerton anti-tax advocates and some well-placed signs describing the true nature of the beast doomed it to failure come election time.
Well guess what? They’re at it again. This time the idea is something called a Pension Obligation Bond, a mechanism for paying off part of Fullerton’s massive unfunded pension actuarial liability at CalPERS, the State’s giant pension administrator.
An introductory briefing was on the Council’s agenda last Tuesday to start the cheerleading process – a process that will entail the employment of an “expert” who will certainly benefit from a positive result; and of course “bond counsel” the legal camp-followers who push bonds on lazy elected officials after a hot meal and a few glasses of wine.
As everybody knows, the interest on the bonds are ultimately backed up by the collateral of new property taxes. This revenue would go to pay down the pension debt and free up money owed to CalPERS for staff salaries and benefits that will ultimately, and ironically, increase pension debt.
Here’s the second kicker: because a pension obligation bond is not deemed new debt, per se, but a sort of pea-under-the-walnut shell maneuver, no vote of the people is required – as it is in the case of general obligation bonds. It just gets “validated” by a judge and goes through on the nod unless challenged. Ouch. Of course the Council, if it wanted to could put the issue on a ballot anyhow, if they chose to move ahead with this scheme.
Of course the strategy for this type of thing is to reprimand opponents by citing the fact that the daily cost is little more than a Big Mac, or some other trifle and in return we get…what do we get again? Our loyal and devoted “public safety” club will almost certainly gobble up the lion’s share of this taxpayer largesse, just like they already do, and we’ll be even worse off than we already are, and no desperately needed cultural changes will have been made.
I looked over the agenda material on line and found nary a clue as to how this was even agendized. Another smoke screen protecting somebody.