Friends For Fullerton's Future

August 11, 2009January 9, 2010OC's Fourth District

Is Tom Daly Even Running For Supervisor?

We keep hearing that Tom Daly is running for OC 4th District Supervisor. For a political campaign it sure is quiet. Of course the primary election is still a long way off, but it seems that for a putative favorite he sure has been awful quiet about the whole thing. No filing of papers and no fundraising, either. The latter is no doubt being done behind the screen of his County Clerk job and will be transferred when and if. And he’s gotten some endorsements, too, but no place to post them.

The guy doesn’t even have a website for chrissakes, and you’d think he could do that for next to nothing. We’ve been looking and can’t find anything on the Internet. Hello, Tom! Tom? Tom, where are you?

tom-daly-for-supervisor

For Daly The Big Decision has been complicated by Chris Norby’s unwillingness to endorse him plus the entry into the fray of two solid potential Anaheim candidates, Harry Sidhu and Lorri Galloway, who would almost certainly take a huge whack out of whatever Anaheim support he would otherwise get.

And let’s not forget that Tom currently brings down a sweet guvment salary well in excess of $100k for doing virtually nothing. The County Clerk’s department is run by the staff, not him. Tom’s biggest decision was to open a north county branch just about the same time he declared his intention to run for Supe.

August 11, 2009December 30, 2009Arts & Architecture

The North Platform Fiasco – Trio & Menuetto

by The Fullerton Harpoon5 Comments

Ah, Friends! Would that we could end this sorrowful tale of the Fullerton train station north platform without taxing your delicate sensibilities further. Yet, alas, we cannot. We have already detailed the story of the useless block wall that was built right in front of an existing wall, as well as the comically useless canopies built therein. But the “designer” was far from finished with the addition of masonry!

When you're late for your train there's just nothing quite as exhilarating as leaping over a block planter!

A huge block planter was placed in the middle of the platform – blocking direct access to the trains; a smaller one was inconceivably built on the footprint of the future elevator tower without anyone noticing. The idea of placing this practical barrier right between passengers and their destination seems odd to us non-professionals, but not, apparently to landscape architect Steve Rose who drew it there on his plans, nor to Redevelopment’s in-house Master of Disaster “manager” Terry Galvin, whose job it was to review the plans; nor even to the Design Review Committee which at that time included two interior decorators.

A pallisade of block on a train platform! What were they thinking?

Good Lord! it looks even stupider from up here! — Good Lord! It looks even stupider from up here!

Well, Loyal Friends, in case you thought that things couldn’t get much worse, you would be wrong. Stay tuned as we continue the lachrymal tale of The Great North Platform Disaster!

August 10, 2009About Us

Norby Job Prospects Uncertain

by The Fullerton Shadow9 Comments

Termed-out OC 4th District Supervisor Republican Chris Norby has announced his intention to run for the possibly soon-to-be vacant County Clerk job currently held by Democrat Tom Daly. But the road could be rocky as Norby now has two credible candidates challenging him: Hugh Nguyen of the Board Clerk’s office, and Buena Park’s own grandfather figure, Art Brown. Rumors on the street suggest that Daly and fellow Democrat Brown have decided to swap endorsements since Daly has previously announced that he is running for Norby’s job.

Tom Daly is mining for Buena Park votes while Art Brown has staked his claim to the County Clerk job...

It is also rumored that Norby is becoming anxious about his future employment prospects. So much so, in fact, that he was recently seen handing out his business cards to prospective employers in his office. While we can’t verify this, we have discovered this photo on his own website:

Distracted-Chris-Norby[1] — Let me know if anything opens up!

August 10, 2009August 13, 2009Fullerton's Design Standards

The North Platform Fiasco – Andante Cantabile

by The Fullerton Harpoon4 Comments

When we left off our sad story of The Great North Platform Disaster, the “improvement” project of 1993 was underway. The original brick paving, simple and functional for decades, had been ripped out and new elements “designed” by local landscape architect Steve Rose were being constructed. But astute Fullertonians who were watching soon came to see that something was amiss with the new “design.” Really and truly amiss.

A new, massive block wall was was built directly in front of the existing fence, creating a weird, inacessable strip of land ultimately to be landscaped! The columns of triangular truss shade canopies were actually placed inside the wall, so that the back half projected over the empty space, accomplishing nothing.

A wall in front of a fence. Now there's a novel idea! — A wall in front of a fence. Now there's a novel idea: let's waste 4 feet of space and thousands of dollars in masonry! No one will miss it. This is Fullerton!

The waste of material in this completely unnecessary wall was obvious, but it was the foolish misdesign of the canopies that really resonated with the public. What on earth was the point of a shade canopy that extended over an area that nobody could even get to?

Hmm. Well "no-man's land" will stay dry if it rains. — Hmm. Well "no-man's land" may stay dry if it rains.

But the ludicrous and superfluous wall was just the beginning. The true scope of the calamity on the platform was unfolding for all to see.

August 10, 2009August 11, 2009Former Fullerton Councilmembers

Is Jan Flory’s Dog Really Still Dead?

by The Fullerton Shadow10 Comments

Gone, but not forgotten, apparently. — A broomstick across the eye socket does wonders to curb errant leg-lifting

Despite our repeated efforts to assure our loyal Friends that former Fullerton City Councilwoman Jan Flory’s dog is still dead-as-a-doornail, and still out of its misery, persistent rumors to the contrary, and alleged sightings keep occurring. The most recent of the latter happened last week as our own dedicated Friend Ed Peabody claims to have witnessed the hapless mutt peeing in the bushes along Brea Boulevard, directly beneath the new Elks Lodge compound.

While this reaction to the monstrosities on Elk Hill (that we have previously documented here, here, and here) seems appropriate, we cannot, however, lend credence to these wild stories, even from a normally reliable source like Peabody. Although we were willing to cut him some slack when he claimed to have seen Elvis passed out in the West Harbor Alley, now he has just gone too far.

Until we are provided with concrete evidence, we will continue to maintain that Jan Flory’s dog is still dead.

August 9, 2009December 30, 2009Arts & Architecture

Fullerton Redevelopment History, The Gift That Keeps on Giving; The North Platform Fiasco – Introduction & Allegro

by The Fullerton Harpoon6 Comments

Before Redevelopment got a hold of it...

A few months ago when we were running our award eligible series on the manifold history of Fullerton Redevelopment boondogglery, we promised our Friends that we would relate the biggest mess of the whole kit and caboodle. We have been a bit dilatory about this and so we apologize for being remiss. But now the time has come to tell the tale of The Great North Platform Disaster.

Way back in late 1992 and early 1993 the Fullerton Redevelopment Agency, under the management of Terry Galvin and the direction of brand spanking new Director Gary Chalupsky, began construction on the north platform at the Santa Fe train depot. The work was “designed” by one Steve Rose, a well-connected local landscape architect, and was intended to “improve” the platform area for the increasing number of train commuters. The design passed through the process of staff review by Galvin as well as the scrutiny of the Fullerton Redevelopment Design Review Committee. The budget for construction was in the neighborhood of a million bucks.

The project was bid, the contract was awarded. But as construction proceeded it became very apparent that something had gone wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

August 8, 2009December 30, 2009Dick Jones

Dick Jones; A Genius on Redevelopment Law?

by admin3 Comments

Watch Dick bobble head his way through convincing himself and Redevelopment agency director Rob Zur Schmeide that he knows all about redevelopment law as it relates to financing, bank loans, collateral, debt, you name it and Dick’s an expert, enjoy!

August 7, 2009August 8, 2009About Us

More Fun and Games At The Fullerton Observer

by The Fullerton Harpoon8 Comments

The hey, and the hey, and the hey, hey, hey! — Professor Frink speaks: with the insinuating and the smearing, and the hey, hey, hey!

Our dear pals at the Fullerton Observer are at it again. In their latest (August) edition someone named Kevin Frink used the “Council Shorts” feature to take a shot at one of Fullerton’s Friends – Jack Dean check out page 4. The topic was the hearing on the Redevelopment expansion scam, and here’s what Mr. Frink had to say:

Several residents spoke in opposition

of the proposed action before the council/

redevelopment agency including Mr.

Kiker, Mr. DeWitt and Mr. Dean, the

later representing the Fullerton

Association of Concerned Taxpayers

(FACT), (a group responsible for

extremely dirty and misleading campaign

tactics in past city council and school board campaigns).

We suspect that Frink had coaching from his editor to insinuate a completely gratuitous and unsubstantiated claim about FACT’s political activities. The fact that this parenthetical attack had absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand and is based on on the Observer’s notion that to oppose any statist, pro-government union candidate is tantamount to a crime, just backs up our previous criticisms of the Observer as a hack-run shill for City Hall. Those who have defended the Observer as some sort of journalistic paragon take heed. This is the type of stoogery you are defending.

Meanwhile the Yellowing Sub sinks deeper.

P.S. Could Mr. “Kiker” have been our very own Travis Kiger? If so we have a celebrity in our midst. Travis was that you?

August 7, 2009April 5, 2011Fullerton School Board

Fullerton School District Fires Teachers, Buys 350 Laptops

by Travis36 Comments

Fullerton School District just approved the purchase of 350 new laptops for the floundering 1:1 Laptop program. Meanwhile, the school district has laid off 122 teachers and staff this year.

A few months back we discussed how parents are coerced into buying these overpriced Apple computers for $1,500 each, or else their child will be forced to attend another school. We have also confirmed that many of the laptop loans made to parents by the district have gone bad, sending families into bankruptcy and requiring an additional $120,000 in funding from generous but naive donors. The loans that these parents are forced into will continue to sour in this economy, which means even more indebtedness for the school district.

Furthermore, parents taking the so-called laptop survey are increasingly turning against the program, despite the threatening manner in which the survey is administered. The survey ominously indicates that answering incorrectly will result in one’s child being deported to another school against the child’s will.

Lest you think we’re making this up, here is a clip from an actual Fullerton School District presentation:

This entire catastrohpe was nothing more than a resume-padding excercize for former District Superintendent Cameron McCune. The 1:1 Laptop program needs to be scrapped immediately. Unfortunately for parents and children, Bevery Berryman is the only school board member wise enough to see past the chirade.

August 6, 2009December 30, 2009Big Brother

Is Prohibition Sneaking Back Into Fullerton?

by Travis26 Comments

Police Captain Greg Mayes is calling for the Planning Commission to prohibit the serving of bottled liquor at local speakeasies. Unfortunately for responsible bars like the Continental Room, this new rule against “bottle service” will eliminate high-end customers from local bars, making plenty of room for the get-drunk-for-cheap crowd that Fullerton cops love to hate.

Continental owner Sean Francis made a strong case to the Planning Commission for allowing him to continue serving $200 bottles of alcohol to the look-at-me crowd. Although he probably could have drawn enough favor from the commission to pull off a coveted exemption from the rules, Mr. Francis took the high road and continues to push for a policy that would allow other bars to restore bottle service too.

It’s been a long time since Prohibition was repealed, and it still seems silly to attempt to force it upon careful bar owners and responsible patrons. This new policy is a misguided attempt to curb obnoxious activity that is actually perpetrated by the low budget crowd who would never pay for bottle service, but will now fill our bars even more.

Fighting, public urination and drunk driving are already illegal. Why can’t the police crack down on activity that directly harms others, rather than creating more laws that only inhibit law-abiding customers?

Fullerton’s drunks will always find a way to get wasted with or without bottle service. The Planning Commission should not penalize responsible citizens and business owners for crimes they did not commit.