Question: How did Don Bankhead and Dick Jones get to serve on the Fullerton City Council for a combined 40 plus years?
Answer: The election rules greatly favors the incumbents.
Now, of course no matter what the election rules are, the incumbent has a natural built-in advantage. They have name recognition and a record they can boast about, no matter how weak it may be in reality. They also have made alliances with powerful people in the community, which they can easily use to their advantage. However, in Fullerton that is only the beginning of the advantage these incumbents have with the current election system in Fullerton.
You see, in Fullerton, there is no limit on the number of challengers who can run for a council seat. Usually it takes only 18 to 20% of the total votes to win the election. There are no runoffs to get to a majority like there are in many cities. Fullerton’s excuse is that having another runoff election is expensive. However, it is not nearly as expensive as voting for 6% raises for the police, 9% raises over 2 years for the fireman and 90% pensions and free retiree medical for both groups. But the establishment elites always bring up money when they are against something and ignore the huge costs when it comes to voting for outsized public union employee raises and benefits. This is how the politicians who support the special interests cling to power, election after election, after election.
Demand that the city change the rules to make our election process fairer. Demand that they institute a requirement that to win a council seat, the candidate must reach a majority, i.e. 50% plus one.
You may recall, that the last time we had this majority rules system was in the 2012 Recall Election. The question was the following: Do you want to recall Council members Bankhead, Jones and McKinley? When approximately 65% of the voters said they wanted to recall them, new council members were then elected in their place. Remember, I reminded you that in a normal election cycle it takes only 18 to 20% of the vote to get elected to council. In the recall vote, double that amount or approximately 35% voted to keep them, yet with this fairer system they were defeated almost 2 to 1.
This reform will do much more for a fair election process than the currently considered District-wide election format. All the problems with the current system I have outlined will not be dealt with, with a District-wide election format.
Question you might ask: Why wouldn’t the council install this fairer system and why did they not do this years if not decades ago?
Answer: It would mean that the process would become fairer and reduce at least partly their built-in incumbent advantages. And how many politicians do you know who are willing to make it easier for a challenger to beat them and have to relinquish their power?
Now if all the council members want to show that they are fair and care about reform they would jump at this chance to make our election process, fairer and more democratic. The final question is will they do the right thing?
I report, you decide.
Barry Levinson
#1 by Fullerton's Conscience on March 13, 2016 - 11:31 pm
Fullertonians the Fullerton establishment is very worried. They are now working overtime on this website. They keep on repeating the tired old saying, is that all you got, but have you noticed they have absolutely nothing.
This is the same group of people that has run Fullerton into the ground and continues to steal from our kids future for their own greed. Who in the private sector has received a 6% a year raise and gets a 90% pension as early as 50 years of age? No one. Yet our council members still vote for these ridiculous raises for the greedy self-centered, selfish safety unions and their membership. They (the council and the public unions) could care less that our city infrastructure and most of our parks are a disaster. They could care less that we can not afford their extravagances.
#2 by Reality Is..... on March 14, 2016 - 10:35 am
Isn’t that my point? We have nothing because this city is running smoothly and perfectly. You bring up crap from 10 years ago as if it’s happening today. It’s old news. Saying that police and fire get a raise and have a retirement package that they pay into, means nothing as well. That’s through PERS and it’s the same retirement package that every cop has throughout the state of California. You act like Fullerton has this special retirement package that no one has.
Do yourself a favor. I keep asking for it but no one wants to respond. Based on this recent contract with a 6% raise, go ahead and lay out the last 10 years of pay raises and benefit increases for police and fire in Fullerton. You will find that overall they have received a decrease in overall compensation and pay more into their retirement packages now, consistent with the statewide trend through PERS. So go ahead, do it with just pay if you want. I want you to see that they haven’t even received raises that cover the year cost of living adjustments.
Yes streets are in disrepair. That’s a statewide issue as well. Fullerton is doing great and has reserves and leaders that care. The last thing Fullerton needs is someone like you guys with a biased, set agenda, that is full of hate and anger only looking to punish anyone or anything that has been done over the years that goes against your agenda.
Love,
DannyBoy
#3 by Fullerton Lover on March 15, 2016 - 12:23 pm
Which of you people who reside here in Fullerton, DON’T realize that by having an out of control downtown serving cheap booze to attract the college age kids, that it’s YOU the resident who is left footing the bills to pay the dozens of police and fire department personnel required to babysit these fools once they get inebriated and try to drive home to mom and dads?
This driver crashed their car last night right into the back of a big rig on Bastanchury on the way home to their parents.
From the pictures in the article, I can’t figure how the driver didn’t decapitate themselves running into the back of the big rig.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/road-708277-big-bastanchury.html
#4 by Reality Is..... on March 14, 2016 - 10:37 am
And if you actually look into this web page, you will see there are about 2-3 of us that respond and do blog entries against the biased agendas of Barry and Joe. The rest of you all circle jerk each other, maybe 10 people total. So we just like to point out how biased and full of hate you are, and continually remind you that you will never lead this fine City.