larry bennett 
Joe Imbriano’s comments- This one will be sure to get Bruce Whitaker talked to by his bosses. We will see who Bruce Whitaker is really working for in a matter of days.
Barry Levinson
So the night of May 25th, the Planning Commission was to vote on part of the revised DCCSP…the Overlay Zoning Change. As you may recall the revised DCCSP consisted primarily of three new “zoning tools” of which the overlay zone was the key one in my opinion. If something stinks, i.e the original DCCSP, you do not eradicate the smell just because you made your awful plan smaller. Could this be the diabolical mind of Joe Felz with the assistance of Mayor Jennifer Fitzgerald at work?
“Uncle” Joe Felz
Curt Pringle lobbyist running around masquerading as our mayor-
Fast forward to the May 25, 2016 Planning Commission meeting, Commissioner Bennett was allowed to go off topic for well over 5 minutes until the assistant city attorney finally told him he was off track. Mr. Bennett sarcastically indicated that there was absolutely nothing to the internet stories that Polly’s Pies was in danger of being replaced by apartment buildings. He went on to say that the DCCSP was dropped by council almost 2 years ago never to rear its head again.
The RINO, anti recall, establishment hack, former running mate of Doug Chaffee, FPOA property, Larry Bennett
I had to get up and tell Mr. Bennett during public comments that in fact the city, (i.e. Joe Felz) brought before the Planning Commission by Karen Haluza, the Director of Community Development just a few short weeks ago with Mr. Bennett in attendance to pass the “Revised DCCSP” agenda item.
This included 6 specific parcels of land (including where Polly’s Pies is located) to be a part of this overlay zone change, which would overlay the right for those 6 retail/commercial parcels to build mixed-use properties including hundreds of apartments without needing any further zoning changes. Obviously, this was a brazen attempt by our city leaders to bring high-rise mixed-use development that much closer to happening at those 6 parcels they spelled out in the newly revised DCCSP. But according to the likes of Mayor Fitzgerald, Council member Doug Chaffee and other city leaders, they are trying so hard to get retail tenants at Raymond south of Chapman. What a bunch of baloney they are feeding us Fullertonians. If that Revised DCCSP would have passed it would have reduced the percentage of commercial retail space in the city from the paltry 6% to an even lower percentage. Where are those people living east of Harbor Blvd. and west of the 57 freeway supposed to shop or buy groceries if the city got its way? Answer the city of Fullerton apparently could care less about that lack of shopping in that neighborhood. They desperately need the money they would collect in Park Dwelling Fees in the amount of $11,700 per unit. They have already contractually agreed to spend millions upon millions of additional dollars in the form of large raises to the Fullerton Police and Fire knowing they were already in the red $2.8 million. Remember several months ago the city’s plan for the College Town proposal would have replaced Smart and Final and other shopping at Chapman and St. College replaced with more of the same mixed-use high rise apartments.
How disingenuous can a Planning Committee member be Mr. Bennett? By the way not one member of the dais attempted to correct Mr. Bennett’s very deceptive comments.
This man wants to be your next council member. We need Mr. Bennett like we need a hole in our collective heads.
Remember he represented the NO on Recall campaign.
He has benefited from 10’s of thousands of dollars from the city unions in his last campaign. We need courage, independence and honesty but we certainly do not need a candidate like Larry Bennett.
P.S. Thanks to the city’s new rules for our public meetings, we the citizens only have 3 minutes rather than 5 in study session public comments and still I was interrupted several times by Chair Shanfield and once by none other than Larry Bennett. Are you not tired Fullertonians that our leaders think it is okay for them to ignore the same rules they demand and require us to follow! It was at that same council meeting that the Mayor, Ms. Fitzgerald admitted being front and center in proposing new restrictions on the rights of the public during public meetings including the right to “clap”. The arrogance of that attempted move by Mayor Fitzgerald and the other author, City Manager Joe Felz is beyond the pale!
https://youtu.be/uqB14AW7su0
Seriously Fullertonians do any of you have any confidence that Mayor Fitzgerald and City Manager Joe Felz will do the right things for the people in the future just based on that one outrageous attempt to stifle the rights and freedoms of the people at our official city public meetings?
Don’t you wish, Fullertonians, when someone in an official city capacity such as Commissioner Larry Bennett misleads the public about official city business, that it should automatically disqualify him for any pubic office?
I believe if our city government had integrity that is exactly what should happen next. But then again, this is the City of Fullerton Government where pretty much anything goes, even trying to have an innocent person thrown in jail and another innocent person beaten to death at the hands of members of the FPD. And now that the truth is getting out and more and more people are getting educated, and the establishment is getting extremely worried. Look for them, including those you would least expect, to go after the messenger and not the politicians with their forked tongues any day now.
I report, you decide.
Barry Levinson
#1 by Barry Levinson on May 29, 2016 - 12:21 am
George Carlin a great satirist and philosopher had a wonderful way to humorously boil politics down to the nitty gritty.
In one routine, he said that the idea that Americans have choices when they go into the voting booth is just an illusion perpetrated on the people. In Fullerton that sentiment has some very real validity.
Time and time again our so called leaders on the city council and/or their appointees on the various committees almost always choose to side with one another rather than the public. When a citizen legitimately points out a misrepresentation by someone on the dais, the rest of the members on the dais circle the wagons to protect “their own”. Their sense of fairness or right or wrong seems to fly out the window in favor of primal protection of their colleagues.
If there were real differences between our leaders you would think that this would not be the case.
Unfortunately in Fullerton it really isn’t liberal vs. conservative, or Democrat vs. Republican. It is really the insiders vs. the outsiders. It is special interests vs. the common folk.
As of today I am one of the few outsiders on a city committee. I do my job to the best of my ability with the sole goal of representing the people of Fullerton well. It strangely puts me constantly at odds with my fellow committee members, council members and other city leaders.
The city council opens each meeting with an invocation asking God that they may make the right choices and represent the people well. However, a few moments after the end of the prayer, it seems that other political and selfish priorities seem to take center stage and it turns out that doing right by the people was only a quaint antiquated idea that few if any of our council members really believe in.
Well until the vast majority of council members we elect take the invocation seriously, our city government will continue to be a great disappointment to us.