I REPORT, YOU DECIDE.
On Memorial Day, a solemn day that our nation honors those that fought and sacrificed so much in order to preserve the precious freedoms we have here in America.
Well this report should question how our city can make arbitrary decisions that seem to fly in the face of those very freedoms that our soldiers have fought to protect for the last 238 years!
This true story starts with the passage of the amended sex offender residency restriction ordinance as follows: Rather than first incorporate the many modifications to the draft amended ordinance that were suggested mainly by me at the May 20 council meeting into a draft ordinance ready to be approved without any further changes at our very next council meeting, the council did this instead. They voted 4-1 to approve the unfinished amended ordinance with the proviso that the city attorney would make all the necessary changes before the 2nd reading of the ordinance in two weeks. Although hopeful that the many changes would be incorporated, I believe that the proper way to get this done correctly, was to first make all the changes to the amended ordinance and then bring it back to the next council for the 1st vote and reading. Rarely, in my experience does the council allow for any changes once an ordinance is passed the first time.
The concern that the city needed to move quickly because of a threatened lawsuit was a very poor excuse to rush this amended ordinance through at the May 20th council meeting.
You see ladies and gentlemen, the city leaders, i.e. Joe Felz, Dick Jones and Dan Hughes were notified that the vagrancy part of Ordinance No. 3149 which deals with keeping child sex offenders out of parks and schools was preempted by state law and that specific part of Fullerton’s law was ruled unconstitutional, according to the case Dermody vs. the people of California filed 4/11/2013. Since the city through our city attorney made no attempt to appeal this decision, the only other thing to do was to go back to council and ask to make the necessary changes to the law to place the entire law back into full compliance with the state. This was totally ignored by our city leaders until May 6th of this year; 13 months after the city knew the law was in violation, due to the Dermody case decision.
They not only squandered 13 months to act, but they unofficially decided at that time to not enforce the entire Ordinance, even though the residency restriction was and still is perfectly good law in full compliance with state statutes. For 13 months they let the council and the good people of Fullerton believe that Sex Offender Ordinance No. 3149 was still being enforced by the city’s police department.
Joe Felz did not have the decency to let my wife and me know the ordinance that we worked day and night on for over 7 months to get written and then passed in 2010 was not being enforced at all for over 13 months and counting. If you think we recently received any kind of apology from Mr. Felz, you would be greatly mistaken.
Why did they knowingly not enforce a hard fought and won ordinance to help protect our children from the worst kind of sexual predators, is a question all of you should ask our city manager, city attorney and our city police chief at the next council meeting?
It is scandalous that they would put our children at risk for their own self-serving reasons.
Finally, I thought Fullerton city laws that were passed had to be enforced unless or until the same council that passed it in the first place officially repealed them. I guess our city has “their own “special” way” to enforce or ignore laws at their own whim. The city IMHO, completely stepped over their legal bounds by arbitrarily and unilaterally deciding not to enforce the major part of Ord. 3149, i.e. the residency restriction as well as the vagrancy part.
Shame on you Joe Felz, Dick Jones, and Dan Hughes.
You do know better and should have done the right thing from the very start. Fullerton, the last time I checked was still a city in the great state of California and California was still part of these United States of America. When did the city decide we became a third rate banana dictatorship where the leaders can pick and choose at their discretion the laws they choose to enforce or not enforce.
If anyone does not believe that the city was not enforcing our Sex Offender Ordinance No. 3149 since last April 2013 through today, all you have to do is go to the May 20th City of Fullerton Regular Meeting Agenda statement. There you would click on the Assessment of City’s Sex Offender Ordinance, Agenda Item No. 7 to get the city attorney’s own write up on this issue, Subject: Assessment of City’s Sex Offender Ordinance, page 10 Item C.1. “The Dermody Decision”. There you will find this quote from Jim Touchstone, our Deputy City Attorney as follows:
“In April 2013, the Superior Court Appellate Division heard the matter and determined that the city’s park exclusion provision contained in the Ordinance (Section 7.150.050) was preempted by state laws and was unenforceable on that basis. Accordingly, the City currently is prohibited from further enforcement of that section of the Ordinance.* The city Attorney’s Office informed the City of this ruling shortly after it was issued. As such, the City ceased enforcement of the Ordinance at that time.” *
Based on the above quoted language, it is clear that we cannot even count on our city leaders to enforce current laws whose sole objective is to help keep our children safe. Remember the city chose not to enforce the entire ordinance when the court only stated that the vagrancy part of the ordinance not be enforced. This is a huge difference and one that the city has never explained to me or to our council either.
Please note that I, Barry Levinson added the bold face and italics for emphasis.
In conclusion, any concerned Fullerton citizen, student, business owner or employee should be outraged at the conduct I described relating to our City Manager, Joe Felz, our City Attorney, Dick Jones and our Police Chief, Dan Hughes.
All of us should attend the next Fullerton City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014 starting at 6:30 PM and demand answers.
Thank you.
Barry Levinson
BARRY LEVINSON
#1 by Facebook on May 27, 2014 - 3:09 pm
THE FULLERTON POLICE DEPT FOCUS ON BAD ASS CRIMINALS CONTINUES AS A 65 YEAR OLD HOMELESS FRIEND OF MINE, WHO IS IN POOR HEALTH, AND WHOM I HAVE INTRODUCED TO MANY OF YOU, NAMED KAREN, WAS ARRESTED ON NO CAMPING WARRANTS THE OTHER NIGHT AND NOW SHE SITS IN COUNTY JAIL. My friends AJ and Chad were there and capture the arrest on film. Attached is a photo of Karen and Aj. both have now been arrested by FPF in the last few weeks. video of the arrest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-aL0ahzr38&feature=youtu.be
Last September i was talking about these cynical camping tickets and what they would lead to. I said that they would lead to the most pathetic low hanging fruit going to jail while the homeless that cause problems not being effected at great cost to the taxpayer. Not one fucking member on this pathetic city council would even put the discussion of the effect of these no-camping tickets on the city council agenda so the cost of them, both human and to the taxpayer, could be publically discussed. (why? they are cowards who either don’t really care for the homeless or they do not want to piss off the chamber of commerce who pushed for these tickets)
Not one of the local homeless advocacy group, most especially “The Fullerton Collaborative on Homelessness” or even Pathways of Hope, would step up and publicly object to the criminalizing of homelessness (why? they are cowards and either afraid to piss off the police or donors who don’t mind writing checks, but ultimately want the homeless flushed out of Fullerton)
Not one of the small government tax groups would publicly say that this practice would result in costly incarcerations (estimated at $133 per day) (why? they hate the homeless more than they love their money) ,
Only one of the local churches, out of all the local churches who say they help the homeless would step up and weigh in with objections to the practice of ticketing the homeless, not for their actions if illegal, but simply for being too fucking poor to rent a room. (why? Only God knows) The only church which publicly objected was The Brea Congregation UCC … thank you friends.
I staged a Camp-In where a group of us spent the night illegal camping out at the transportation center hoping to get arrested and hoping to bring attention.. It was one of the few nights the homeless were spared harassment as the police knew better thand to show up and let the public know that they are terrorizing of the meekest members of the community. The fact is we got people to snow up and the press picked up on the story but we did not draw enough attention to change anything because the council still would not budge.
NEWS FLSH: Being Homeless Is A Crime In Fullerton
Last night, Thursday May 23, 2014, Karen, a petite, 65 year old homeless woman, who is in poor health, and like Kelly Thomas, calls the Fullerton Transportation center home, was arrested for being homeless. Activist Chad Merritt and In-League Press’s own Anaheim James, were at this location filming that evening as Mike McCaskill, a Fullerton Police Homeless Liaison Officer, arrests Karen for warrants which exist only in relation to some or all of the (5) No-Camping Tickets she has received in the last few months by liaison officers.
In Fullerton California, like in many cities around the country, for the “homeless” there is a presumption of guilt and they can be cited simply for their status as “homeless”. After local activist staged a “camp-in” in protest of this policy last September, most ticketing was quietly suspended for approximately five months, but under pressure from local businesses, especially those bordering the Transportation Center, FPD began writing these tickets in full force again in early 2014.
Keeping in mind that the current City Council voted down a year round homeless shelter (3-2) back in June 2013, and there is nowhere for most homeless to go, these tickets are cynical in their application, terrorizing Fullerton’s homeless residents . As the Fullerton Observer reported on page (8) of their September 1, 2013 issue, a majority of the no camping tickets turn into warrants as the homeless have difficulty making their way to homeless court in Santa Ana. In doing so Fullerton has achieved the most costly way imaginable to house a homeless person, The County Jail.
It is also worth noting that Officer McHassel, who is generally regarded as one of the better and respectful officers (Its a Bell Curve) when it comes to the homeless, puts this 65 year old woman under arrest and into his squad car, without a hint of awkwardness or acknowledgment that these citation are being issued only feet away from where Kelly Thomas fell into a coma only to die (5) days later by men who were wearing the same uniform as he is.
Here is the footage of the arrest taken by Chad Merritt . *******STRONG LANGUAGE***** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-aL0ahzr38&feature=youtu.be — with Aj Redkey and Chad DirtyRat Merritt.