Barry Levinson
It is here where you will get the unvarnished truth, a unique and fresh perspective on the current status of College Town.
Let me just say this for starters. The plan deserved to be voted down, not just put on a temporary hold. The hungry beast (the city government) still wants to feed at the trough of taxpayer monies. It is our job to stop them.
I was very proud of my fellow citizens Wednesday night at the Planning Committee Meeting. All of you who spoke did a fantastic job. You may not realize it, but collectively we have the ability to greatly impact the decision making of our city leaders. It is only when we use that collective voice that we can force our city leaders to listen to us. The people have common sense and know instinctively when their city government is blowing smoke in their faces!
The display of arrogance of those committee members who spoke ill of some of the people at city hall was shameful. These citizens came to speak at this very important committee meeting to address not only the committee members but also the in-house audience and those watching on TV. If a speaker chooses to momentarily turn his or her head to the audience, you as committee members should not chastise the speaker. It is those people of Fullerton who deserve the accolades and great respect for taking the time out of their very busy schedules to speak before you. They do not earn a $75 dollar stipend for attending the meeting like the committee members. The bogus claim by Committee Member Ma’Ayn Johnson that there was public intimidation and harassment from some of the audience was a failed attempt to put the public on the defensive. It was both not true and only made Ms. Johnson look self-important, pompous and small. It is the committee who should be so embarrassed that they reduced the public comments to only 2 minutes. That action demonstrates a lack of respect shown by the committee to the public and they should apologize to us. Over and over again the chairperson interrupted public speaker time and time again.
The majority of the committee heard from the public who except for very few who had a connection to the project were 100% against it.
The committee members said it was important to continue to work on the project because of its importance but then stated that almost all major portions of the project were very flawed. They said the traffic, congestion, pedestrian safety and the partial closure of Nutwood were all problems. Some said that the adjoining colleges have not been good neighbors, especially as it pertains to the parking problems they cause to the surrounding residential neighborhoods that has exited over the last 20 years or more. They said that some intersections that would still be graded an F after the mitigation efforts were done were a problem. But don’t worry folks, they will probably remove the closure of Nutwood from the plan, maybe add a roundabout and then claim success in 3, 6 or 9 months from now and then salivate as the $40 million in fees starts arriving at city hall. What a total farce?
This plan should be scrapped for all of the above. Oh I did not mention the air quality concerns with the addition of thousands of cars was also mentioned as a problem.
SIMPLY STATED…IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. FOR STARTERS AT $11,700 PER RESIDENTIAL UNIT, THE PARK DWELLING FEE WILL GENERATE ALMOST 40 MILLION DOLLARS TO THE CITY ALONE.
It is clear that the city desperately needs to make up for the large budget deficits that already exists ($2.8 million) and which they have recently increased by millions of dollars in the form of large city employee raises especially the 6% next year raises for police and fire and the authorization of 5 new police officers. All these moves are done without a confirmed source of where those millions of dollars are going to come from. The city council and our city manager are guilty of abandoning their fiduciary responsibilities to the citizens of Fullerton. It is really that simple.
So we have exposed a simple truth. The College Town project is a terrible idea that has no community support but is being pushed hard by the city because the CITY COUNCIL WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CITY MANAGER CONTINUE TO SPEND MONEY ON THEMSELVES WE DO NOT HAVE!!
They state the parking, safety, congestion, air quality and the closure of Nutwood for thru traffic are all problems with the plan but at the end of the day the majority said they think the plan in theory is a Great Idea.
I will continue to shine a very bright light on the machinations of our city government. They far too often represent the special interests over the needs and wants of Fullertonians.
I report, you decide.
Barry Levinson
#1 by the people on February 12, 2016 - 11:09 pm
Hhmmm. So, Mr. Fullerton Lover, What I hear you saying is that the collective voice of an impassioned crowd in a council chamber is only a positive force when they are on the same side as you.
But when the collective voice of an impassioned crowd in a council chamber is opposed to your point of view, then they are a mob of bullies and shills who harass and intimidate council members. Is that it?
Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.
Actually, I expect a public official who I vote for to make his decisions based on his knowledge and interpretation of the facts, his own moral compass and what he believes in his heart is the correct decision for the the people.
He should never, ever make a decision based solely the 150 people in front of him for a single meeting.
#2 by Fullerton Lover on February 13, 2016 - 6:44 am
Wake Up Fullerton!
It absolutely does work that way!
Apparently, you forgot to read the police officers union playbook from the law firm that represented the Fullerton Police Officers Association. I’ll include the newspaper article in this link for you to catch up and then report back to us.
http://www.ocregister.com/taxdollars/strong-478876-public-police.html
You also weren’t there at the actual meeting, where the only people wearing blue, were public employee union hacks, and the politicians like Jan Flory, Doug Chaffee, Larry Bennett, Rick Alvarez, and Pam Keller, who depend on the public employee union dues to finance their campaigns to run for City Council.
http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/The-Value-of-Political-Involvement.pdf
Any other questions? I’m here to help!
#3 by Anonymous on February 13, 2016 - 9:55 am
Funny how you throw in years old FFFF posts and OC Weekly articles all the time as if they are some accurate difinitive source.
And to your point about poliiticians depending on union hacks for funding, who did Whitaker and Keiger and Levinson depend on on for finances?
I’ll tell you who … a single individual who operated the very same FFFF blog that you seem to think is an accurate source.
So I’ll say it again. When the game of politics is played to support a candidate or issue you oppose, then they corrupt scum.
But when the game of politics is played to further a cause that you support (and nobody played politics as dirty and vicious than FFFF), then they are rightous, ethical individuals with the will of the people as their top priority.
Please!
#4 by Fullerton Lover on February 13, 2016 - 10:26 am
I suppose the Fullerton Observer is a credible news source?
Trying to demonize or shoot at the messengers of truth makes you appear as if you have something to hide yourself?
Here’s a couple articles about the sexual assaults from the boys in blue from the OC Register, which proves that even a blind squirrel like the Register finds an occasional acorn, and another from the LA Times.
Oh wait!
These are the sexual assault victims from a different Fullerton police officer!
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/03/local/la-me-fullerton-cops-20111004
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rincon-322832-city-court.html
Looks like I’ll have to include another post!
#5 by What Goes Around Comes Around on February 13, 2016 - 12:50 pm
Of course, Fullerton Lover, no criminal charges resulted from this pervert’s disgusting on-duty actions.
Yet the powers that be want the citizens to believe that we have a completely transparent and honest police force in Fullerton. Those powers are lead by Fitzgerald, Flory, Chaffee, Felz and Hughes.
Let me conclude that a city that is pushing for College Town, the Downtown Core and Corridor Special Plan, as well as the serious unanswered allegations about the ongoing handling of the Brea Dam issues, is a city that needs to clean house. Did I mention the alleged sexual assaults by former multiple FPD officers on the job and the Kelly Thomas murder at the hands of members (3 still employed by the city) of the FPD?
And what is the FPD’s priority going forward? A retrial and hoped for conviction of AJ for an alleged non-violent misdemeanor. Vindictive, spiteful, hateful, corrupt and out of control are all definitions of the FPD leadership. And how does our city council with millions in budget deficits respond? They give them a 6% annual raise that our citizens can’t afford.
#6 by Joe Imbriano on February 13, 2016 - 12:52 pm
Very astute comments.
#7 by Time To Take Notice and Act on February 13, 2016 - 1:45 pm
It sounds like our city leadership never puts the well being of its citizens first. Always overspending our money for their selfish benefit and then coming up with the absolute worst plans to help pay for all of it. After all with Mayor Fitzgerald being beholden to her employer Curt Pringle and Associates, (PR and Consultant firm who had their fingerprints all over the totally unnecessary and wasteful Anaheim Regional Transportation Center (per the OC Register) costing taxpayers almost 200 million dollars), Fullertonians cannot wake up fast enough. In case you have not noticed yet, you are being Royally Screwed by your own City leadership.
I cannot wait until Ms. Fitzgerald makes her bogus case why she deserves to represent us as our next county supervisor.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Sorry for the delay but I was laughing so much that I fell right off my chair.
#8 by Anonymous on February 13, 2016 - 3:46 pm
What is amazing to me is how silent each and every one of our council members have been concerning the Brea Dam allegations. All have been silent about another big issue and that was the obvious contradiction between the Gennaco leaked report on the Kelly Thomas brutal death, which detailed the many failures by those officers to follow policies and procedures and the sworn testimony at the murder trial by Training Officer Rubio and Sergeant Craig claiming that no FPD policies were broken that fateful night. We are a patient bunch but failure to respond before the next election on these and other vital issues will have consequences. Maybe the council has not noticed, but more and more people are starting to realize their overall poor job performance.
#9 by Anonymous on February 13, 2016 - 2:48 pm
Ah yes, the infamous case of the Fullerton Police Department going to great lengths to even the score with one of the most passive people in the world, for protesting the fact that six of their co-workers beat his friend to death…
…as an added bonus, Chief Hughes refers to Barry Levinson as a liar!
Talk about lack of civility!!!
“As the three-year anniversary of Kelly Thomas’ beating death by Fullerton police approaches, emotions are still running high. There’s a new Chief in town, but old anger remains. The latest outrage surrounds the Pasadena arrest of inLeague Press livestreamer AJ Redkey last month on a warrant stemming from a failure to disperse charge during a January 18 protest after the Thomas trial verdicts acquitted two ex-cops. In a rare move in local politics, councilman Bruce Whitaker agendized the arrest for frank discussion during Tuesday’s meeting of the city
After three long hours and a 10 minute recess, the council finally came to the item around 10 p.m. Supporters of Redkey stayed until the end, but a detractor, Fullerton Police Chief Dan Hughes, spoke first. The top cop stated that he’d be limited in what he could talk about but reiterated that detectives operating outside the city is normal practice. “The answer is simple, yes it is,” Hughes said.
He mentioned that a detective on Redkey’s case actually wanted to arrest him locally after a judge served a bench warrant on March 20, but “he was unable to locate him.” Hughes reached back five years in offering statistics on arrests made outside of Fullerton: 631 for felonies and 635 for misdemeanors.
How many for non-violent failure to disperse misdemeanors?
Or how commonplace is it to send two supervisors and four detectives to apprehend a harmless hippie in Pasadena? Redkey’s supporters remained unpersuaded by the Police Chief’s presentation. “This is bullshit!” yelled one man from the audience.
Tony Brandenburg, better known as the legendary lead singer of Fullerton-bred punk band the Adolescents, mentioned that he called the picket protest in Pasadena where a small group of five people, including Redkey, showed up as did detectives. There were more Fullerton police than activists! “Were they lost?” Brandenburg asked? “Probably not.”
Two others sang a spirited ‘Ballad of Anaheim James’ to an unamused council, “What do you do with a dreadlocked hippie?” they belted. “All he did was film the police!” Chief Hughes seemed unnerved by it all bursting out of order calling ex-council candidate Barry Levinson a “liar.” Another time, he refused to look at Fullerton gadfly Stephen Baxter as he made his points from the podium.
No action was taken on the hour-and-a-half discussion. Hughes mentioned that his department is currently looking into lapel cameras and reached out to Rialto police for more information. The news gained rare applause for the lawman.
How much the fiasco of sending six Fullerton law enforcement agents out to Pasadena to nab a hippie livestreamer cost the city’s taxpayers wasn’t disclosed and remains an unanswered question. Watch Fullerton howl once that info is made public!
#10 by Fullerton Lover on February 13, 2016 - 8:51 am
Funny, in an ironical sense, like a former Fullerton Police Detective Ron Bair sense,
http://www.ocweekly.com/news/lawsuit-fullerton-detective-forced-woman-into-sex-acts-in-return-for-favorable-court-testimony-6444306
… that you didn’t say anything about the perverted spokesman from the Fullerton Police Department that got up to speak against an elected representative of the residents of Fullerton?
Speaks volumes of your moral compass.