91% Increase in Water Rates

(from Fullertontaxfighters.com)

This Tuesday night, March 1st 2011, the Fullerton City Council will direct staff on the implementation of a water rate study.

Based on the proposal from the City's consultant, the new rates will be increased by 10% for 5 years then 3.5% for another 5 years amounting to a 191% increase by 2021.

The reason for the tax hike is clear. The report says, "It should be noted that the planned spending on mainline replacement over the projection period is significantly more than the City has undertaken in the past. At a cost of approximately $190 per linear foot of line the City plans to replace approximately 6 miles of mainline per year at a cost of over 6 million per year.  At this pace it would take the City 400 years to replace the entire system (which consists of approximately 420 miles of pipe)."

SHOW UP AND BE HEARD
at the Fullerton City Council Chambers
6:30 pm on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011.
303 W. Commonwealth
Fullerton, CA 92832

MFSG's proposal spells out how exactly we got into this mess in the first place. Unfortunately, this proposal and the implementation should have been undertaken decades ago. Oddly, the proposal notes that the City could just ignore the problem (like they have been doing for so many years).

"While the capital investments have a pronounced impact on rates the projects are vitally important to ensure the continued operation of the water system.  The City could keep rates low initially by not maintaining the system but would pay a significant price later as system failures spike due to a lack of system maintenance, which would then result in increased costs and ultimately the need for even higher rate increases. Proactively managing of the water system through maintenance and capital investments allows the City to keep rates stable over time."

~Managing through maintenance and capital investment.~

That is a sentence that has been long missing from Fullerton. The City council has pushed tax bonds to provide low-income housing and park facilities while ignoring the streets, sewers, and water lines. And now Fullerton taxpayers must pay the high price of municipal mismanagement. Compounding our financial civic woes is that if the proposed rate hikes were approved, the City would have to borrow heavily through bonds to cover the actual costs of replacing the aging system. 

Join me at City Hall this Tuesday at 6:30PM to tell the Fullerton City Council that higher taxes won't fix decades of mismanagement and waste.  
Thank you,
Greg Sebourn
Husband, Father, Educator, Professional Land Surveyor, and Local Activist for Limited Government.
GregSebourn@yahoo.com 

_____________________________________

Sources:
http://fullertontaxfighters.com/

http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/2011/91-water-rate-increase-wtf-is-next/
http://gregsebourn.blogspot.com/2011/02/fullerton-water-rates-to-double.html

A Message from OCGOP Chairman Scott Baugh (to Central Commitee Members)

Dear Members and Alternates;

In January of this year, I gave a speech to the Central Committee that outlined many issues facing our country, our state and our county. Public employee pension abuses were a focus of the speech. The OCGOP subsequently adopted a policy of not supporting local elected officials who were taking contributions from public employee unions. The purpose of this policy was to change the dialogue in this county over how we deal with the ongoing pension crisis. In order to change the dialogue we needed to do something to bring attention to the matter and bring our political system out of its collective denial of the problem.

Our policy worked and we have changed the dialogue in this county. While it seems that we are finally getting over the collective denial of the problem, we still have Republican elected officials who lack the necessary tools and knowledge to address the problem. This is not necessarily a slight on those officials – most of whom are community volunteers with full time jobs in other areas. Pension issues are complex with a myriad of legal, political and practical issues. I believe, however, if we provide the knowledge and the roadmap for a solution, our elected officials will have more courage to tackle the problem.

Thus, in order to equip our elected officials with the right tools and knowledge to address the crisis, I have been working with Marcia Fritz who is the President of the California Foundation For Fiscal Responsibility. Together, we are putting on a Boot Camp to help local elected officials address this crisis. Attached to this email is information about the Boot Camp.

You will note that the Boot Camp is not an OCGOP sponsored event. In fact, former Senator Steve Peace, former Assemblyman Joe Nation, and Marcia Fritz are Democrats. All local elected officials are welcome to this event – whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents. The purpose of the event is to educate all elected officials about an issue that is not partisan. While I understand that public employee unions are identified mostly with Democratic officeholders, we cannot blame this crisis solely on Democrats. Many Republicans have contributed to this crisis as well, and elected officials from both parties need to be educated on the issue.

I encourage you to read through these materials. More importantly, I encourage you to make sure that the elected officials in your communities attend this Boot Camp. There is simply no excuse to vote on a contract for public employees that does not contain reforms sufficient to put our fiscal houses back in order.

You don’t have to be an elected official to attend this important Boot Camp so feel free to sign up as well. In the meantime, let us continue diligently in the fight to save our communities and protect the taxpayers.


Scott

OC Register: How global warming economics REALLY works

by Mark Landsbaum

James M. Taylor at the Heartland Institute put his finger on the duplicity and absurdity of the proposal by global warming alarmists to “fix” the planet (which by the way isn’t broken). Emphasis ours:

“Developing nations,” he said, “which are required to make no sacrifices while receiving many benefits under the Kyoto Protocol, are united in support of the Kyoto Protocol. That’s like panhandlers arguing that working folks should have to give at least $100 to every drifter they encounter. This is not news, except perhaps in the audacity department. It is extortion, plain and simple.”

“…If the global climate talks were really about reducing greenhouse gas emissions instead of merely transferring wealth from Western democracies to the rest of the world, the advocates of new global warming treaties would have sought global emissions reductions rather than allowing gaping loopholes that render Western emissions cuts meaningless. Global wealth transfer, however, continues to rule the day.”

Japan, of course, will have none of this. That’s why the Japanese at Cancun’s warmist summit announced their nation would not support extension of the Kyoto Protocol or anything like it.

As Taylor put it: “Japan is a regional economic competitor with China, India, and many other developing nations. China emits more than five times as much carbon dioxide as Japan, has a more rapidly growing economy than Japan, and is likely to overtake Japan in gross domestic product this year. Yet the Kyoto Protocol imposes costly carbon dioxide emissions restrictions on Japan while putting no such constraints on China, India, and other rapidly developing nations. Japan says it will not support an extension of the Kyoto Protocol until all nations are treated equally.”

Environmental activists, of course, are extremely critical of the Japanese, as a result.

But Japan simply is taking the same position as the U.S.: everyone must play by the same rules, or else, no game.

We like the “no game” consequences. Global wealth redistribution in the name of global warming is a concept that deserves to die.

City of Fullerton To End Furlough Fridays

Press

Release

City of Fullerton Public Information Office
303 W. Commonwealth, Fullerton, CA 92832
Phone: (714) 738-6317

********************

12/9/2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     PRESS RELEASE #28710

Subject :          City to end Friday furloughs
Contact :         Gretchen Beatty, Director, Fullerton Human Resources Department (714) 738-6360
                        Sylvia Palmer Mudrick, Public Information Coordinator, Fullerton City Manager’s Office (714) 738-6317

*******************

Beginning Friday, Jan. 14, Fullerton city government facilities will return to their schedule of being open on alternate Fridays.

The every Friday closures were implemented in May by the Fullerton City Council in response to contracts with the miscellaneous employee bargaining units that included 5 percent pay cuts retroactive to the beginning of the 2009 payroll year.

The city’s executive managers’ salaries have been cut by 5 percent as of July 2009, and the confidential employees’ have had their salaries cut by 5 percent since November 2009.  The pay cuts will remain in place for all units.

With the end of the Friday closures, City facilities will return to being closed every other Friday as part of the city’s efforts to meet AQMD trip reduction requirements. 

The new operational hours actually go into effect Saturday, Dec. 25;  however, because of the holidays, the first open Friday will be Jan. 14.

           

The Fullerton Main and Hunt Branch libraries will remain on their current hours until the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year. 

           

The Fullerton Main Library's operating hours are 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

           

Hunt Branch hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays and noon-8 p.m. Thursdays only.

           

Further information may be obtained by calling the Fullerton Public Information Office at (714) 738-6317.

###

The Boomerang Generation



The Fullerton Sentinel

 25- to 34-year old "kids" are moving back in with Mom and Dad at a record rate.  

By The Fullerton Sentinel

The Huffington Post reported on a study in the Transitions to Adulthood titled "What's Going on with Young People Today? The Long and Twisting Path to Adulthood".  Just reading the title will make you feel old! 

ScienceDaily wrote a great synopsis: "Despite living in an age of iPads and hybrid cars, young Americans are more like the young adults of the early 1900s than the baby boom generation: They are living at home longer, are financially insecure and are making lower wages."

So much for retiring, selling the house, and downsizing into a condo while you tour the country in your RV.  The bottom line for Mom and Dad, don't get too comfy; the kids are coming back!

Rep. Sanchez's 2010 holiday kitty card unveiled

By MARTIN WISCKOL

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

(reposted without permission)

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, sends out holiday cards to her constituents that typically attract fair measures of laughter, affection and ridicule. The cards featured her cat, Gretzky, and her husband, Steven Brixey – at least until 2004, when the couple was divorced, and the congresswoman and the cat carried on by themselves.

This year, Gretzky moved on to the great litter box in the sky, and so Sanchez has issued this tribute holiday card to her cat, 1991-2010. It includes images of previous holiday cards, mostly from 2004 and later.

The card is sent to constituents, paid for with campaign funds. No tax dollars are used.

Click here to see a slide show of Sanchez's cards from this and previous holidays.

###



The Fullerton Sentinel

 Rep. Sanchez, a liberal Democrat, unfortunately represents a small portion of Central and West Fullerton. Click here for details on the district boundaries.

Judge: Health Care Mandate Unconstitutional

(from CBSNews.com & Associated Press)

A federal judge declared the foundation of President Barack Obama's health care law unconstitutional Monday, ruling that the government cannot require Americans to purchase insurance. The case is expected to end up at the Supreme Court.

In his order, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson said he will allow the law to remain in effect while appeals are heard, meaning there is unlikely to be any immediate impact on other provisions that have already taken effect. The insurance coverage mandate is not scheduled to begin until 2014.

Even so, Republicans in Congress celebrated the ruling as validation of the arguments they had made for months while the law was pending. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., issued a statement urging the White House to agree to expedite a final ruling by appealing directly to the Supreme Court without first stopping at an appeals court.

Hudson is the first federal judge to strike down a key part of the law, which had been upheld by fellow federal judges in Virginia and Michigan. Several other lawsuits have been dismissed and still others are pending, including one filed in Florida by 20 states.

White House health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle said the administration is encouraged by the two other judges who have upheld the law. She said the Justice Department is reviewing Hudson's ruling.

The government had argued the Commerce Clause of the Constitution gives it the power to require people to buy health insurance or face a penalty.

Hudson sided with Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, who argued the mandate overstepped the bounds of the Constitution. But he acknowledged his court will not be the last stop.

"This case, however, turns on atypical and uncharted applications of constitutional law interwoven with subtle political undercurrents," Hudson wrote. "The outcome of this case has significant public policy implications. And the final word will undoubtedly reside with a higher court."

The Department of Justice stood by its argument that Congress was within its rights to enact the law.

"We are disappointed in today's ruling but continue to believe -- as other federal courts in Virginia and Michigan have found -- that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional," said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler.

The lawsuit was filed by Cuccinelli, a Republican, in defense of a new state law passed in reaction to the federal overhaul that prohibits the government from forcing state residents to buy health insurance.

Cuccinelli argued that while the government can regulate economic activity that substantially affects interstate commerce, the decision not to buy insurance amounts to economic inactivity that is beyond the government's reach.

"This won't be the final round, as this will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, but today is a critical milestone in the protection of the Constitution," Cuccinelli said in a statement after the ruling.

Hudson, a Republican appointed by President George W. Bush, sounded sympathetic to the state's case when he heard oral arguments in October, and the White House expected to lose this round.

Administration officials told reporters last week that a negative ruling would have virtually no impact on the law's implementation, noting that its two major provisions -- the coverage mandate and the creation of new insurance markets -- don't take effect until 2014.

Third-place finisher demands Fullerton recount

By MICHAEL MELLO
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
(re-posted here without permission)

FULLERTON – The City Council race isn't over. At least, not in Doug Chaffee's mind.

Chaffee, a lawyer and the vice chairman on Fullerton's Planning Commission, has filed for a recount of the Nov. 2 election.

According to the registrar's tally, incumbent Don Bankhead and Pat McKinley won the two full-term seats that were up for grabs.

McKinley, who came in second, tallied 10,346 votes, or 18.1 percent, and Chaffee got 10,256 votes — 17.9 percent.

McKinley, a former Fullerton police chief, started out ahead on election night, but the lead for that second seat seesawed between them as elections officials counted remaining ballots.
Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said Chaffee filed for the recount last week. He had until Saturday to do so.

Chaffee declined to give specifics about why he asked for the recount, but said he wanted more closely to examine data from the registrar's office.

"I want to test a few things," he said. "Depending on how that testing comes out, and if it looks like things won't change, I may not complete the recount."

"It's so close, that you want to be sure," Chaffee added.

In the meantime, Fullerton City Clerk Beverly White said the plan is to swear in Bankhead and McKinley at Tuesday’s City Council meeting because Kelley has signed off on the election results.
“We’re going to go along as if there’s no recount at this point,” White said.

And if a recount should change the results?

“My understanding is, if that should happen, then we would have to unseat McKinley, then give Doug the oath and seat him,” White said.

In 10 years as the city clerk, she’s never seen that happen, she added.

Based on past experience, the recount could cost Chaffee $1,200 to $3,000 a day, Kelley said.
Kelley's office and Chaffee are working out the details of the recount.

Chaffee said he's willing to have the recount start on or around Dec. 13 — even if that means McKinley is already seated. The registrar said that it could be more than a week before the recount starts.

Orange County has one other recount in a city race, in Los Alamitos.

There, Councilman Dean Zarkos' has requested a recount of the Nov. 2 election results. Zarkos came in fourth-place in the race for three open seats, with 24 votes separating him from third-place winner, Councilwoman Gerri Graham-Mejia.

Register correspondent Roxana Kopetman contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3796 or mmello@ocregister.com

Orange Juice Blog Must Pay $17,000 to TheLiberalOC.com

by Martin Wisckol, Total Buzz - OC Register
(re-posted on The Fullerton Sentinel without permission)

Art Pedroza’s Orange Juice blog must pay $17,000 to a rival political blog as the result of Pedroza illegally using domain names similar to the rival, TheLiberalOC.com, and its principals, according to an order by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter.

The dispute was generated by “childish conduct by both parties,” according to Carter’s ruling Friday. It started when a principal of the TheLiberalOC bought a domain name with “artpedroza” in it. Pedroza retaliated by buying domain names containing “theliberaloc,” the names of several principals, and that of one of the principal’s company.

The last, madison-alexanderpublicrelations.com, was then linked to the website of the North American Man Boy Love Association, which promotes sexual relations with minors, and then to a site about hemorrhoids. The “artpedroza” site, purchased by TheLiberalOC and Madison Alexander principal Dan Chmielewski, was never used by Chmielewski. In the civil case, Carter found that Pedroza had committed trademark infringement because of his use of the domain sites he’d bought, and unfair business practices because he linked some of those sites back to his Orange Juice blog.

Carter dismissed four other claims for TheLiberalOC, including cybersquatting. Carter also dismissed TheLiberalOC’s request for another $600,000 and attorney fees.

“I guess that is good news,” Pedroza wrote me in one of two lengthy emails today responding to my inquires about the court order. “I thought the Judge was going to make it worse. … I only lost this case for lack of a lawyer.”

Pedroza said he may declare bankruptcy. “I may have to pursue that avenue to discharge this judgment,” he wrote.

Chmielewski wrote me in an email, “This was the first of two lawsuits filed by us. This judgment was against the Blog as a business entity. The second one, which has a scheduling hearing set for December 20, is against Art personally. It is our contention we’ll get statutory damages and legal fees awarded then.”

Pedroza offered a long explanation of his side of the story, which I told him I’d post so everyone could see his view of things. But I’ve decided not to since he said he would prefer I didn’t.
“(My) explanation wasn’t meant to be posted verbatim,” he wrote. “I was just trying to help you understand the case, as all you have heard is whatever your pals at the Lib OC have related to you.”

Pedroza has included me in his attacks in recent years, and continued them in his emails today. He believes that the logos on this blog page linking to TheLiberalOC and Red County – the county’s top Democratic and Republican blogs – mean I provide preferential coverage to those two entities. Total Buzz has an agreement with those two blogs – because of their stature and credibility in the political blogosphere – that we’ll prominently link to each others blogs.

Pedroza wrote me today, “Given your close relationship with them, and the fact that you still advertise their Liberal OC blog on your Total Buzz blog, I would prefer that someone else on your team handle this article. I believe you have an inherent conflict of interest. Who is your editor? I would like to discuss this conflict of interest with him or her before this gets posted on your blog. I am copying the OC Register editors I was able to identify on your website.”

TheLiberalOC and Red County do not pay for that space – it’s an exchange. But even if they did, it would not constitute a conflict of interest. If it did, neither myself nor any other mainstream online journalist would have been able to write about Meg Whitman. I gave him the name and contact information of my editor.

Here’s Pedroza’s parting shot in his last email:
“I am sure that the Liberal OC bloggers will crow about this alleged victory. And I am sure you will be happy to carry their water on your blog. I would expect no less. In fact I was just talking this morning to my colleague Sean Mill, and we both agreed that you would be the first – and only – reporter to jump on this non-story. Thanks for proving us right. How long before you end up working at the Voice of the OCEA blog? Will Chris Prevatt help you land over there? I am sure he can put in a nice word with his union boss, Nick Berardino, the guy who pays their bills.”
I spoke to Chmielewski and his lawyer about the court order, and they were fairly subdued – nothing that I could quote that would further enlighten readers of this story.

After our email exchange today, Pedroza took a poke at Total Buzz and me on his blog. Read it here. He says that I pal around with folks at TheLiberalOC and Red County.

I do occasionally socialize with sources, competitors and others in politics and journalism. I don’t so much with those from those two blogs – I may have had lunch with Chmielewski once and Red County’s Matt Cunningham once – but that’s not because journalistic integrity says that I can’t. And it’s also not because they aren’t generally decent and smart folks. I keep in touch, usually by phone, to periodically get their take on things that are going on. That’s how I do my job.

When I came to the Register in 1998, Pedroza was doing Latino outreach for the county GOP and he became an early source. We got to know each other reasonably well as far as reporter-source relationships go. His political activities have shifted over the years – both in terms of his political philosophies and how he engages in the political world. Along the way, I have found less cause to stay in touch. You make new sources, and old ones fade away.

Read the story I wrote when the lawsuit was first filed, which lays out all of the allegations.