Red County CEO in hot water with Securities and Exchange Commission

The SEC has filed suit against Red County CEO and repuglican blogger Chip Hanlon.  Among the many allegations in the suit is that Hanlon committed fraud and misrepresentation for his part in Delta Global Advisors' fraudulent SEC filings and website promotion. 

The Orange County Register's Jonathan Lansner posted the story via the Register's blog, Lansner on Real Estate- an odd place to post such a story.

It isn't much of a surprise for those in "the circle" although there are a lot of OC Republican investors who will be asking for a return on their investment. 

Lansner had this to say (from the OC Register):

In legal paperwork it released Thursday afternoon, the SEC charged Hanlon with, improperly filing as a registered investment advisor. The SEC wrote:

“From March 7, 2007 through July 6, 2008, Delta’s Form ADV filings improperly included the trusts’ assets as Delta’s advisory assets under management, even though Delta did not provide continuous and regular supervision of the trusts’ assets.”

… and …

“In four filings, Delta claimed to manage between $656 million and $1.49 billion, when in reality Delta’s assets under management dropped as low as $9 million during this period. For nearly every period reflected in Delta’s (financial advisor) filings, Delta did not have $25 million or more in advisory assets under management and therefore was not eligible for Commission registration.”

The SEC also charged that Hanlon did not disclose the shaky state of Delta Global, writing …

“Delta’s financial condition was seriously impaired in 2009 and 2010 because the firm had minimal liquid assets, overdue bills, and an unsatisfied court judgment in a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit filed by one of Delta’s clients that ordered Delta and Hanlon to pay $353,706 in damages. Delta and Hanlon did not disclose Delta’s precarious financial condition to clients as required, nor did they disclose the court judgment or the fact that (broker regulator) FINRA had suspended Hanlon from acting in any registered capacity for failing to comply with arbitration award.”

SEC claims Hanlon used Delta’s website to also mislead the public, stating:

“Delta similarly misrepresented its assets under management through its website. Delta’s website included a section containing articles from Bloomberg, Reuters, and other news sources quoting Delta’s employees, including Hanlon. Many of these articles falsely stated that Delta had assets under management of $1 billion or more.”

No word yet if Hanlon plans to share a room with either convicted felons Bernie Madoff or Mike Carona. 

OC Register Reporter Trying Hard

Anyone with their ear to the ground in Fullerton has noticed that the OC Register has been making an effort to report on more than fluff.

In recent days, the OCR's Jessica Terrell has made some attempt to bring the not-so-pretty-side of Fullerton to public light.

Her most recent article is really nothing more than the crime blotter. However, it isn't just a simple one page glorification of emergency services as the Fullerton Observer would like to think but rather it is the raw information of calls received and responded to by the Fullerton Police Department.

Did you notice anything missing? How about just the simple fact the FPD responded to far more calls than the 3 listed for December 15, 2010. The missing information is not the fault of the reporter but rather the omission of the Police Department's Public Information Officer, Sgt. Goodrich.

The Fullerton Sentinel strongly urges the Orange County Register to obtain a complete list of reported crimes and their respective dispositions.

Fullerton snowboarder dies after hitting tree

(from the OC Register)
WRIGHTWOOD – A 24-year-old Fullerton man was killed Monday afternoon after reportedly hitting a tree while snowboarding in Mountain High, authorities said.

According to the San Bernardino County coroner's office, the crash was reported at 6:06 p.m.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital after he crashed. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

The man's name is being withheld until his family can be notified.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361

2 Hurt After Man Crashes Into Powerpole On State College

OC Register's Top 10 Political Stories

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez
Tan Nguyen faces prison time
Delecia Holt spends another Christmas in jail
Nativo Lopez jailed
Orly Taitz continues 'birther' battle
Tony Rackauckas vs. Todd Spitzer
Candidate loses son, wins Assembly seat
GOP secretary of state race
The Scott Baugh manifesto*
Anti-union saber rattling**

* The "Baugh Manifesto" is an interesting story in its own right. OC Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh announced in January 2010 that the Party would not support or endorse any candidate who took public employee union money or support. It seemed to be gaining traction but after the November 2nd election it was discovered that several OC candidates received support from both the OCGOP as well as public employee unions. Among them is Fullerton's newly sworn council member, Pat McKinley. McKinley was one of 3 officially endorsed GOP candidates who is also the retired chief of police from Fullerton. He benefited from playing both sides of the aisle.

Fullerton's own congressman, Ed Royce, plaid a significant role in the Fullerton city council election. He opened what was dubbed as the "North OC Republican Party HQ" with help from the California Republican Assembly and Republican Womens Federated. He opened the retail office space to ALL candidates who were registered Republicans, thereby nullifying any possible advantage that the endorsed candidates may have had over the non-endorsed candidates.

Marty Burbank, Barry Levinson, Roland Chi, Aaron Gregg, and Don Bankhead were all given ample room for their signs and literature at the North OC HQ. Part of the trouble may have come from Royce's decision to endorse his old pal Don Bankhead, a non-GOP endorsed incumbent. How could Royce open his little shop of horrors to Bankhead without inviting ALL of the republican candidates? Royce's decision helped one Democrat, Doug Chaffee, nearly win a seat on the council.

In the future, the OCGOP should pull their endorsement for candidates who receive public employee union support if the candidates do not make a public rejection of the union support. Congressman Ed Royce should either get on board with the OCGOP and support ONLY their endorsed candidates or he should stop calling himself an OC Republican.

** The anti-union saber rattling was a real problem for good and bad candidates alike. In the 2010 Primary Election we saw retired OC Sheriff's lieutenant and chief of San Clemente police services go toe-to-toe with a deputy chief of police from Anaheim and the appointed sheriff, Sandra Hutchens. Hunt solicited and received public employee union support while as did deputy chief Craig Hunter- both Republicans. Sandra Hutchens, a former Democrat, received considerable support from Los Angeles County area Democrats as well as L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, also a Democrat.

2010 also brought the public employee unions home to roost. The California Republican Party's Spring 2010 Convention was paid for in large part by public employee unions. Needless to say, the OCGOP was well represented at the convention.

Fullerton Republicans must come together with their money and actions to bring quality leadership to the community. We don't need more retired public employees and we do not need crisis managers. We need conservative leaders who will keep Fullerton out of the troubled waters that lie ahead.

The Fullerton Sentinel

OC Register: Rackauckas gets $1.38 million for “Spit and Acquit”

by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer for the Orange County Register
(re-posted here without permission)

The Orange County Board of Supervisors gave District Attorney Tony Rackauckas another $1.38 million to pay for his DNA collection program Tuesday, despite the fact that many of the samples are useless to state and federal authorities.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department runs its own DNA laboratory, which coordinates with state and federal labs.

It is the third request this year for more money for the program, which asks low-level suspects to cough up DNA samples in exchange for dismissing drug and misdemeanor charges.  Once their DNA is in the “bank,” so to speak, it’s easier to catch them if they commit more serious crimes.

The program has nearly 40,000 DNA samples. Rackaukas promised supervisors the money will help clear up a current backlog of samples waiting to be processed, and could potentially solve unsolved crimes and prevent future ones.

Rackauckas’ effort to build his much-heralded DNA database saves prosecution costs for low-level criminals, he said. Critics have cried foul over letting suspected criminals go free without prosecution, and returning drug users to the streets.

The program, formally known as the “DNA Collection and Crime Deterrence Program,” has matched 18 suspects to DNA samples collected since its inception, including two brothers arrested on suspicion of  murdering a woman whose body was doused in gasoline and set on fire in Irvine in September 2009.
Fingernail scrapings matched a DNA sample taken by the District Attorney’s Office a few months prior in connection with a domestic violence misdemeanor, Rackauckas said. The pair is awaiting trial.

The county paid $425,000 for the program in 2009. A total of 15,285 DNA samples were collected that year. A total of 19,889 samples were collected in 2010.

The board approved increases in March and October for a total of $984,500 to deal with backlog issues, according to a county staff report.

Janet Nguyen, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, and fellow Supervisor Pat Bates, hounded Rackauckas with questions about why the costs continue to grow in leaps in bounds while the number of samples being taken and analyzed is growing in modestly.

An estimated 2,000 DNA samples a month are expected to be collected next year, Rackauckas told the board Tuesday. That increase coupled with the program’s current backlog of 4,000 samples means the program needs more money to get ahead and stay ahead.

The current backlog will be eliminated in about a month, Rackauckas said.

The program saves money for the District Attorney’s Office, Rackauckas said, but it also saves money for the Public Defender and local law enforcement agencies since fewer cases make it to trial.

Most of DNA samples taken by the District Attorney’s Office are worthless to federal and state law enforcement agencies because the samples don’t meet their standards or they are barred from using DNA samples taken from suspects whose cases were dismissed.

Still, Rackauckas argued the program has reduced recidivism.

“People know we have their DNA,” Rackauckas said. “We are more likely to catch them because we have their DNA. It think the citizens are not less safe, but safer.”

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Commentary by the Fullerton Sentinel

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The Fullerton Sentinel



Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will certainly go down in county history as one of the worst DA's ever.  He has consistently ignored political corruption at all levels of government, especially within his own office. 

The Fullerton Sentinel looks forward to the 2014 election when OC voters will be able to replace the inept DA. 

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.

OC Register: O.C. on ‘Judicial Hellhole’ list

by Mary Ann Milbourn for the Orange County Register
(re-posted here without permission)

Orange County received special mention on the American Tort Reform Association’s ninth annual “Judicial Hellholes” list released today.

The association cited a class action lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court last August that claimed more than a dozen olive oil companies and distributors are selling products labeled extra virgin that aren’t extra virgin enough. The suit, filed by Santa Ana attorney Daniel J. Callahan of Callahan & Blaine, contends the companies committed fraud and misrepresentation by labeling and promoting their olive oil as more-expensive extra virgin, even though it did not meet international and USDA standards.

That case was one of several lawsuits and that helped make California No. 2 on the Judicial Hellhole list. The association called out Los Angeles and Humboldt counties in particular for this high verdict.

“California has a history of wacky consumer class actions that further encourage plaintiffs’ lawyers to seize on minor missteps as a means to lots of cash,” said the report. “And though state voters passed an initiative attempting to rein in this kind of litigation in 2004, it remains big business for certain California plaintiffs’ lawyers.”

As an example, the association noted a lawsuit that challenged Apple’s claim that reading on the iPad is like reading a book because the iPad automatically turns off when it’s in the sunlight and gets overheated. Books, the suit said, don’t turn off.

The Judicial Hellhole list highlights areas that have a reputation for uneven justice.
Philadelphia topped this year’s group for encouraging lawsuits and as well as its penchant for excessive verdicts.

“The judicial leadership is engaged in a campaign to draw in massive personal injury lawsuits from around the country, viewing the increase in lawsuits and out-of-town lawyers as a boost for the court’s revenues and the local restaurants and hotels,” said the report.

Top U.S. judicial hellholes
Rank  Area
1        Philadelphia
2        California, particularly L.A. & Humboldt counties
3        West Virginia
4        South Florida
5        Cook County, Ill.
6        Clark County, Nev.

Victor Schwartz, the association’s general counsel, said the list is designed to draw attention to courts where it is difficult to get a fair trial.

“It’s not just because defendants lose — defendants lose all the time,” Schwartz said. “It’s about equal justice.”

The association noted that several areas that had been on the list before had made changes the improved the administration of justice.

Of particular note was legislation addressing several issues in Florida, changes by a West Virginia judge in handling asbestos litigation and a ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeal upholding the state’s statutory limit on subjective pain and suffering awards in person injury cases.

The American Association for Justice Communications, formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association, dismissed the report as simply a front for big business trying to prevent injured persons from having their day in court.

“Despite all the chemical companies and polluters behind this front group, it appears ATRA is going green – recycling the same junk report that has been debunked and ridiculed year after year,” said Ray De Lorenzi, director of the association. “It’s an early holiday token of thanks to its drug, tobacco and insurance industry funders and a ploy for these corporations to continue their negligent behavior and avoid accountability.”
Read the full Judicial Hellholes report HERE.

OC Register Editorial: Climate confab just hot air

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Representatives of 193 nations meeting in Cancun, Mexico, apparently still couldn't agree on how to redistribute richer nations' wealth to poorer nations under the pretense of combating global warming. As delegates leave Cancun today, we're pleased to note that, like last year's failed U.N.-sponsored climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this global warming summit amounted to little more than two weeks of hot air.

Meanwhile, reality continues cooling global warming fever. Top NASA experts reported existing climate computer models exaggerate CO2's warming effects, and fail to properly account for important cooling that will kick in as CO2 levels rise, according to a recently published study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. If correct, CO2 could double in the atmosphere, and "we can go a couple of centuries without any dangerous warming," one UK environmental columnist noted.

One researcher said in a NASA statement accompanying the paper, "Each year we get better and better. It's important to get these things right." We repeatedly point out that it's a good idea to "get these things right" before redistributing wealth to remedy what may not be a problem.

Coinciding with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting, a list was released by ClimateDepot.com, a leading global warming debunking site, identifying more than 1,000 dissenting scientists around the world who challenge the theory of a manmade global warming catastrophe. Dissenters include current and former IPCC scientists. It's become more difficult for global warming zealots to quiet critics, many of whom once held similar views.

"Despite what you may have heard in the media, there is nothing like a consensus of scientific opinion that this is a problem," said Tom Tripp, a member of the IPCC since 2004 and one of its lead authors.

Meanwhile, the outlook for alarmists may yet get bleaker. The House Science and Technology Committee is expected next year to probe the Obama administration's climate policies, including what Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, described as a "dishonest undercurrent" revealed with the leak of thousands of documents in 2009 from British and U.S. climate researchers.

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.

Chris Norby: Local officials susceptible to 'Bell syndrome'

(From the OC Register)  by Chris Norby

"Stockholm syndrome" refers to the counterintuitive behavior of hostages who come to identify with their captors, based on the study of a Swedish kidnapping. Its counterpart in local government is the common acquiescence of elected officials to professional staff. In place of their own judgment they were elected to use, city councils often simply take orders from the city manager.

Call it "Bell syndrome."

Bell is an extreme example of a phenomenon common in local government: a tendency of elected municipal officials to rubber stamp staff proposals over which they have little understanding. It is part of a civic culture that marginalizes elected officials as "political" and elevates appointed managers as "experts."

The position of city manager was a product of the Progressive Era of the early 1900s. Pristine professionals were to govern cities above the political fray. The downside is that these managers are not answerable to voters and can divide and rule over compliant councils who have no independent staff to advise them. These professionals can be just as tempted with the perks of power as the politicians – without the accountability.

Having served on city and county governing boards for 25 years, I've observed and marveled at this tendency. I am fascinated how, after vigorous campaigns to attain office, elected officials often become all too eager to relinquish power and judgment to staff.

Among California's nearly 1,500 city councils and school boards, nearly all serve part time without independent staff. Recommendations, communications, information and staff are controlled through the city manager or superintendent. Newly elected members who raise questions often face a collective culture of groupthink. Important information is obscured. Those who do dig deeper are accused of "micromanaging."
In local government, "micromanaging" is an epithet hurled at those seeking proof that council and board directives are actually being carried out.

City managers and school superintendents need active board members providing strong direction – and looking over their shoulders.

Bell syndrome thrives where elected boards vote in lockstep, where groupthink is elevated, and skeptics are ostracized, and where top staff are seen as irreplaceable experts – with rubber-stamped salaries to prove it. Bell syndrome thrives when self-congratulation trumps self-examination.

A variant of the Bell syndrome led to the 1994 Orange County bankruptcy, as county supervisors routinely rubber-stamped a treasurer's financial ploys they'd neither read nor understood.

Bell syndrome thrives when city managers, superintendents, consultants and bond brokers can lull elected officials into going along with convoluted schemes they simply do not understand. It thrives when predigested proposals are routinely approved and community skeptics are derided as gadflies.

There were 67 new members of city councils and school boards just elected in Orange County. Their job is not simply to continue past practices, but to apply their independent judgment. They must demand information and know what to do with it. They must not only set policy but make sure it's being carried out. They must remember that the only dumb question is the one you're afraid to ask.

Bell syndrome will end only with a vigilant citizenry and press. It will end when elected officials see their jobs not for the prestige and perks, but for the serious policy choices for which they are responsible.

Editorial: Municipal Corporations

By the Fullerton Sentinel Editorial Board

In a recent Orange County Register article, staff columnist Teri Sforza questions the necessity of having 34 individually incorporated cities in Orange County.  "In OC, seven cities serve half the county’s population  — 1.5 million people." writes Sforza, "So…does it really require another 27 cities to serve the other 1.5 million people?"

Simply stated, no, OC does not require another 27 cities to serve the other 1.5 million residents.  In fact, you could have Los Angeles County annex all of Orange County and then we wouldn't have to worry about any of it, right?  Of course not!  Unfortunately, Teri Sforza and Fred Smoller, director of Brandman University’s public administration graduate program, believe that bigger is better and translates to more efficient.  Smoller even concludes that we need a "LAFCO on steroids" to fix the problem.  What Smoller fails to point out is that each and every municipality, special district, and joint powers authority went through a lengthy vetting process and were all approved by LAFCO as well as the State.  Smoller's idea that bigger is better, isn't.

The fact that there are so many special districts and JPAs indicates a broken or insufficient system, however.  The City of Fullerton relies heavily on other agencies and districts for water, sanitation, public transit, electricity, gas, telephone, cable TV, planning, hazmat, specialized investigation units, police helicopter services, etc.  Yet to be mentioned are the various private organizations with which Fullerton has partnered or contracted with for services rather than hiring fulltime employees to perform, such as ambulance and tow services. 

It could also be argued that this system of outsourcing, albeit for public services, may be a smarter way in which to serve taxpayers.  The only real concern should be from taxpayers who see funding these special districts and agencies as taxation without representation.  When the services provided are by a private entity under a contract, the taxpayers are somewhat shielded from the long-term overhead usually associated with public employees. 

Of the utmost importance is that municipal corporations have nearly the greatest local control, second only to the infamous home owners associations.  HOAs are just miniature municipalities that are approved of by the city and/or county and operated by the property owners.  Local agencies have the greatest day-to-day influence on our lives and it stands to reason that local control is better than out-of-touch and far-off governance by disinterested parties. 

OC Register: 20-year-old arrested on DUI in crash that hurt 2 passengers

By SEAN EMERY

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

 

FULLERTON – A 20-year-old woman was arrested after police say she drove into light pole Sunday morning, seriously injuring her two passengers, after a night drinking in downtown Fullerton.

Police responding to reports of a traffic accident near Harbor Boulevard and Brea Boulevard about 2 a.m. found that a single vehicle had run into with a light pole, Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said.

A 21-year-old passenger from Anaheim was airlifted to Long Beach Memorial Hospital in critical condition, Goodrich said, while a 20-year-old passenger was taken to the hospital in an ambulance in serious condition.

The driver, Andrea Palacios of Fullerton, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Goodrich said. Once she was discharged from the hospital, Palacios was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.

Authorities say the three women had been drinking in the downtown Fullerton area but declined to specify what establishments they are believed to have visited.

Police say that six people died during three DUI related accidents in 2009, including a high-speed crash that claimed the life of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart. Andrew Gallo was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder for crashing into a vehicle containing the rookie pitcher and two of his friends after leaving a Fullerton bar.

Police say there were also 28 injury collisions and 117 non-injury collisions in which alcohol or drugs were believed to play a factor. Overall, there were 984 DUI arrests in Fullerton last year.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the accident to call investigator Brandon Clyde at 714-738-6812.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7939 or semery@ocregister.com

The Orange County Register Goes Back to Feel-Good Stories

Fullerton - Since the exodus of Orange County Register staff reporter Adam Townsend over a week ago, stories covering Fullerton have become weak and without substance.  One might even say that the OC Register has taken a page out of the Fullerton Observer's playbook.

Townsend was the staff reporter assigned to cover events in Fullerton after staff reporter Barbara Giasone retired in 2009.  Townsend's first stories typified the lethargy in local media, covering lemonade stands and cats in trees.  It wasn't long before he was taken to task by several Fullerton residents and business owners to dig deep.  Townsend answered the call with stories on employee salaries and pensions. 

Fullerton is now covered by no one in particular.  The latest headlines for Fullerton read like a civic events bulletin:

Mon 08 Nov 10 - Red light, yellow light, and ... blue? — By MICHAEL MELLO

Mon 08 Nov 10 - Troy sweeps at league finals — SUBMITTED BY DONNA JUDD

Mon 08 Nov 10 - Fullerton library screens '1981' tonight — BY HEATHER McREA

Mon 08 Nov 10 - Group holds fundraiser for Fullerton kids — By ADAM TOWNSEND

Mon 08 Nov 10 - Represent Fullerton in your travels — BY HEATHER McREA

Sun 07 Nov 10 - Giveaway: Star Wars Clone Wars, Goosebumps & more — By AMY STEVENS

Sun 07 Nov 10 - The surprise and elation of childhood firsts — By MARK UYEMURA

Sat 06 Nov 10 - Cypress beats Fullerton in Pop Warner title game — BY RORY BARNETT

Even one of Townsend’s remnant stories still lingers.  There may be one or two others to appear in the next several days but no one is holding their breath.  The vacuum created by Townsend's departure leaves City Hall under a veil of political fog.  For the councilmembers-elect, that means no one will be looking over their shoulders but a few bloggers, including the Sentinel.  Time will tell if it's enough.

Best wishes to Adam Townsend on his new endeavor to South OC. 

McKinley now leads over Chaffee for council seat

BY HEATHER McREA

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

FULLERTON – Pat McKinley inched ahead of Doug Chaffee on Friday in the race for one of two open seats on the City Council.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters has been updating election results on its website at the end of each day as it counts remaining mail-in, hand-delivered, paper and provisional ballots.

Chaffee was leading McKinley by 30 votes, but Friday's update showed McKinley had regained the lead 8,808 to Chaffee's 8,772.

Incumbent Don Bankhead has held a clear lead since polls closed. At the end of Friday, he had 10,223.
McKinley had taken an early lead as results were posted several times Tuesday night, but by Wednesday morning Chaffee had pulled ahead.

Also holding a clear lead has been Bruce Whitaker, who garnered 37.8 percent of the vote for the two-year seat left open by Shawn Nelson's departure to the county Board of Supervisors.