The Wall That Heals - Fullerton Observer

Page 10 FULLERTON OBSERVER EARLY APRIL 2012
Council Report continued from page 4
OTHER COUNCIL BUSINESS
•2.5% MWD Pass Through Water Rate
Increase: A scheduled public hearing on the
issue of the passthrough water rate increase
was authorized for renotification to May
15th because only 3 councilmembers were
present. Approved 3-0 to reschedule for
when the entire council is present.
•Extra Legal Services: The council passed
an agreement to hire the law firm of Liebert
Cassidy Whitmore to provide legal services
at $300 per hour on labor issues related to
the anticipated discipline of police officers.
approved 3-0
•Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Phyllis
Garrova made a presentation on city
finances for Jan. 2012. Details are online in
the agenda packet for the March 20th meeting.
Overall the city seems to be in good
shape with a beginning of month cash balance
of $112,286,758. and an ending balance
of $116,624,229. The city bank
account has $8,952,372 in it with
$3,758,193 in outstanding items. Total
intrest received in Jan. was $147,294. The
city holds $68,212,564 in bonds.
•Redevelopment: Audience comments to
Item #6 on the agenda included Jane Rands’
question about whether Redevelopment
salaries and staff payments of $1.7 million
for 6 months was appropriate when
Redevelopment has been disbanded. City
Manager Joe Felz explained that the oversight
committee will overrule some of the
items, but that the city wanted to get everything
on the list.
Another item regarding a $240,000 fine to
the city for not spending down bond funds
was brought up by Greg Sebourn. City
Manager Felz said that the city had been
found not to be at fault because the delays
were related to the Redevelopment dissolve,
design issues, and high speed rail audit.
Treasurer Garrova said spending had been
delayed, but “we have $30 million left and
anticipate spending it within the next few
years.”
PUBLIC COMMENTS
•Jewelry Store Robbery
Arrest: Fullerton Police were
thanked by several speakers for
great work in arresting five suspects
in the March 16th
attempted robbery of All Phases
Jewelry on Commonwealth. The
suspects ran into the surrounding
area after their get-away car
crashed into a vehicle parked in
front of Max Bllomfield’s Café on
Malden. Police rounded up and
arrested the suspects; Randolph
Long, 21 of Texas; Devon Ridge,
22 of Compton; Obiesie
Enwezor, 18 of LA; Jayson
Coleman, 20 of LA; and Nelvin
Cook, 23 of LA. Cook was taken
to UCI Medical by ambulance
for a gunshot wound received
when the store employee shot him.
•Benches: Benches at the transportation
center which have been removed by
OCTA will be replaced said City Manager
Joe Felz in answer to a public comment.
•Lawsuits: Several speakers commented
on the large number of lawsuits against
the city. There was no reporting out on
the closed session which discussed the
existing or anticipated litigation against
the city.
•Booking Photo: Kelly Thomas’ stepmom
Dana Pape does not believe that the
booking photo from Kelly’s 2009 arrest
for trespassing is really him and wants to
see who else was arrested the same day as
Kelly. She said errors happen all the time.
•Jail Suicide: Kelly’s Army members
stood with Dean Gochenour’s family over
the weekend. “We want to find out the
Councilmember Bankhead said that
tremendous bond debt had been created to
build the library, community center, affordable
housing and more before
Redevelopment was done away with. This
does not increase taxes to the city. The bonds
are paid off by property taxes returning to
the city. Approved 2-1 (Whitaker, no)
•Crosswalk Removal: There were so
many good questions from the audience on
safety related to the issue of removing crosswalks
in certain areas of the city that the
issue was moved forward to a future meeting
in order to hear what the Transportation &
Circulation Commission had to say about it.
In particular Jane Rands, Chair of the
Bicycle Users Sub Committee, wanted to
know why comments opposing the removal
of the crosswalks had not made it into the
agenda back up materials so that council
could make a balanced decision. She also
requested that the BUSC be designated full
committee status instead of being a subcommittee
under the Transportation &
Circulation Commission.
•Contractor Replaced: Due to problems
with the current State College Separation
contractor, staff recommended a local company.
Bike advocates including Vince Buck,
Matt Leslie, and Jane Rands suggested a new
design would be welcome - one which
included a bike path. The new consultant
said “Everything is possible.” approved 3-0
•Bike Blvd: Approved 3-0 to submit an
application for a $600,000 transportation
grant. City’s share would be $60,000 to
build a bike blvd. from the transportation
center to Acacia Ave. It would be a good
match with the Bike Share Project. (See page
4, Good News for Bicyclists for more on
these projects)
•Downtown Report: Mayor Quirk-Silva
asked that several things be put on an
upcoming agenda: an update of conditions
downtown; how field usage for sports teams
is allocated; details of boards each councilmember
sits on.
Next Meeting 6:30pm, Tues. April 3.
truth about what happened
to him,” said one
member. See frontpage
for story on the in-custody
suicide and officer
charged with destroying
evidence.
•Police Complaint
Procedures: Ron
Thomas said he received
a message from a person
having trouble filing a
complaint. According to
the message, the Watch
Commander told the
person “I’m tired of
playing with you, get
out of here.”
Thomas also asked for
the city attorney to
explain how officer Jay
Cicinelli got hired by
the city without fitting set requirements.
And he asked how much the city contributes
to the homeless issue.
•Coyote Hills: Several speakers from
Sunny Hills High School club “Hills 4
Hills” spoke about the importance of
keeping the West Coyote Hills as open
space. Concerns about developing the
property included current lack of park
space in north Orange County; loss of
water quality and quantity; loss of habitat
for endangered animals and plant species;
dangers of locating homes on
methane/benzene former oil fields; additional
traffic congestion; crowded classrooms.
They asked Council to reconsider
its approval of the 760-home project for
the 510 acre property and reconsider saving
the area as a regional open space park
for the five surrounding cities.
“Chevron’s plan
will create
too much traffic
for all our cities;
Classes are
already too full;
It will ruin
the watershed,
endanger habitat
for animals
and plants,
and more.”
- Hills4Hills Club
at Sunny Hills High
formed to help save
Coyote Hills
as a regional park.
LOCAL NEWS
The Who’s on First Base Recall
Continued from frontpage
Doug Chaffee got 10,256, losing out
to McKinley by 100 votes after the
public safety unions developers spent
big bucks to support McKinley (and
would the current unfortunate aftermath
to the Kelly Thompson killing
been different if that election had
turned out differently?). Greg Sebourn
got 6,375 votes and and Barry
Levinson 6,092.
Levinson and Sebourn are frequent
contributors to the Friends for
Fullerton’s Future (FFFF) blog and
strongly support the recall. Travis Kiger
is a major force behind the FFFF blog
and is supported by Shawn Nelson and
Chris Norby.
Jane Rands ran for the 72nd
Assembly seat as a Green Party candidate
in the last election, (gaining 6.1%
of the vote in the district) and was an
early supporter of the recall. She has
been a writer for the Observer (as has
Georgieff). The other candidates are
newcomers to electoral politics and little
is known about most of them,
although Georgieff and Alverez (as well
as Levinson, Sebourn, Kiger and
Rands) serve or have served on city
boards, committees or commissions.
But, once it is over it is not over. We
get to go at it again in November
when, once again, there will be three
seats in play. Bruce Whittaker is serving
a two year term and is up for reelection;
and Dr. Jones’ term is up even
if he survives the recall (and if he does
not the person who gains that seat
must run again).
Sharon Quirk-Silva, whose term is
up, has decided to run in the new 65th
assembly district against Chris Norby
who currently represents the 72nd
Assembly district. The new district is
32% Republican and 31% Democrat
and much of it is new to Norby, giving
Quirk-Silva an outside chance of winning.
It is a two person race, but with
the new open primary system it must
be run twice even though one candidate
will get more than 50% of the
vote in the primary.
At this point speculation on the election
outcome is premature. The only
sure thing is that someone will win and
the seats will be filled (or remain
filled). And no doubt some of the candidates
that did not get elected in June
will be back again in November.
It is possible that we could have an
entirely new Council come December.
Candidates in the
June 5th Recall Election
The June ballot will list the
question: “Shall candidate’s name
be recalled from the office of City
Council Member?” Below that
will appear a list of the candidates
running for that particular seat.
•Running to replace Don
Bankhead: Jane Rands, Paula
Williams, Greg Sebourn, and
Rick Alvarez.
•Running to replace Dick
Jones: Glenn Georgieff, Roberta
Reid, Travis Kiger, Dorothy Birsic
and Matthew Hakim.
•Running to replace Pat
McKinley: Doug Chaffee,
Mathew Rowe, Sean Paden, and
Barry Levinson.
Go to the Clerk’s page under
“Departments” at cityoffullerton.com
and then hit on
“Elections” for a great overview of
the process.