Taking Office

"So when do you take office?"  That seems to be the big question on many people's minds.

It's needlessly convoluted so stay with me.

Thursday morning, June 28, at or about 9:00AM, a City Council meeting was to be held in the Council Chambers to accept the results of the recall election.  However, the City Manager reports that recalled council member Dick Jones backed out.  Mayor Quirk-Silva and Member Bruce Whitaker were willing to be there.

As of this morning, Mayor Quirk-Silva was planning on calling for a special meeting on Monday morning, July 2nd, at 9:00AM.  I have been told by City Manager Felz and City Attorney Jones that recalled council member Pat McKinley has promised to participate.  According to City Manager Felz, Mr. McKinley has planned to be out of town this week for perhaps several months.

Regardless of whether the July 2nd meeting occurs, I have been told that Mayor Quirk-Silva will have a meeting Tuesday night.  This would be a normal meeting but it had been canceled due to the July 4th celebration on the following day.  So, if Monday's meeting is canceled, perhaps Tuesday's meeting will result in the new council being able to act.

If Monday's and Tuesday's meetings fail to have a quorum and seat the new council, I have asked City Attorney Jones to take the matter before a judge on July 5th.  If that does not happen, I am preparing to take the matter before a judge on July 6th myself.

July 17 is tentatively scheduled to be the first regular City Council meeting though will be largely ceremonial including public ceremonial swearing in of the new members.  There may be an item or two that will be addressed but I don't know what those will be.

As we approach this tumultuous transition in Fullerton's governance, I reflect upon President George Washington's Farewell Address and the elegance with which he stepped down.  With quiet dignity and gentle words of wisdom, he stepped aside to allow someone else, John Adams, to preside over the United States.  It is too bad that some of the recalled council members appear to have neither dignity nor wisdom to do what is right.

How much overhead gets billed to the Water Fund?

Looking further into "costs" of service for our water, how many different ways is administrative overhead charged to the Water Fund?  This pie chart shows several.

1. "Administrative Services" (8% direct allocation from water bill)
2. "Other Expenses" (2% direct allocation from water bill to pay Community Development Department, Human Resources Department, Parks & Rec Department, the City Council, and the City Manager)
3. "Franchise Fee" (11% direct allocation from water bill to pay for the Finance department, City Administrator, City Attorney, and the City Clerk for their respective DIRECT SERVICES to the Municipal Utilities Department- see Resolution 5184 below) 

Resolution 5184, 1970

Good grief!  That's 21% of the Water Fund or $4,746,000.  If that number sounds familiar, it should.  That's the same amount being allocated to the Maintenance Services Department which are probably direct costs and not bloated overhead.

No wonder City Hall doesn't want the Water Fund audited!

The bottom line here is that everyone it seems has their hand in the Water Fund.  Adding additional taxes to current or future water rates is unacceptable and will not solve City Hall's spending problem.  

The Trench Tax

One of the attempted, and thus far rejected, justifications for a percentage-based franchise fee that was concocted by City staff was the Trench Tax.

The Trench Tax was created as a means to pay for the damage created by having wet utilities (water lines, sewers, etc.) buried in the street.

Keep in mind that the Trench Tax is part of the New & Improved Franchise Fee and does not include the cost of the Maintenance Services Department repairing the street each time their is a water leak or water line repair.

According to three licensed civil engineers that I have shown the transfer study to, trench settling occurs when the soil is not compacted appropriately.  Using the correct backfill material and compaction standards will create a base capable of supporting the road.  In lay terms, when done correctly, trench work does NOT accelerate deterioration of the street.  Also, when contractors want to dig in the street, a city inspector comes out to make sure that the street is constructed and restored correctly.  This is a double standard with no inspector verifying the City work.

Aside from the Trench Tax, Maintenance Services Department bills their time spent working on broken water lines to the City's General Fund, at least that is what Dave Schickling reported at the April 9, 2012 meeting.  I have found no evidence to support this claim but since there is no audit of the Water Fund, we cannot possibly know if money was paid to the General Fund to reimburse for the Maintenance Services Department's water-related work.  More importantly, this cannot be part of the Franchise Fee because that is suppose to cover certain administrative costs (which we were taxed twice for as well and is indicated in the pie chart - Franchise Fee vs. Other Expenses vs. Administrative Services).

And then there is this pesky but colorful pie chart which shows that the Maintenance Services Department accounted for 21% of the budgeted cost to maintain the Water System, or $4,746,000 in 2011.  

We are left contemplating just how many ways City staff will attempt to tax our water to fix the same piece of asphalt.  Here are at least two:

1. Trench Tax (a.k.a New & Improved Franchise Fee, less rent-back)
2. Allocation of Water Fund from water bill for Maintenance Services

But it gets worse.  How much bureaucratic overhead is paid for through your water bill and what does it actually cover?  Find out tomorrow.

Does New Study Give Fullerton Taxpayers Reason to Worry?

Asphalt patch after water line breaks in the

1800 block of Rolling Hills Dr.



If you have followed me over the last few years or even months, you know I have been banging on the doors of City Hall to get our infrastructure in order.  You don't have to be a land surveyor to see that our roads and water lines are failing.  You don't need to be an economist or accountant to realize that "holding the line", the current budgetary philosophy of Fullerton's leadership, is never going to repair the decades of neglect inflicted. 

A study released by the American Society of Civil Engineers confirmed similar fears for Bay Area residents to the tune of $2.8-billion! (special thanks to Fullerton's own Adan Ortega for the link)

How would Fullerton rank in a similar study?  Where as the Bay Area was graded a C, my guess would be Fullerton has earned an F.  The few road projects we tackle are not keeping up with the wear and tare.  Similarly, the water lines are springing dozens and dozens of leaks with no major repairs in sight. 

Some say this is due to inadequate tax collection and the solution is simply to raise taxes.  That's not true.

The Fullerton City Council has made it clear over the years that they are more interested in social engineering and feel-good projects than meaningful maintenance of our existing community.

Their arguments rely on impulse and emotion rather than necessity - wants over needs.  To prove this, just look at the official prioritization of our capital funding:

1) Fire & Police Projects (not salaries or benefits)

2) Redevelopment Projects (includes transportation center, parking structures, downtown-related projects, and other pet projects)

3) Parks & Rec Projects

4) Facility Capital Repairs

5) Sewer, Water, Storm Drain Projects

6) Arterial Street Repair

7) Residential Street Repair

8) Airport Projects

At this rate, we will never be able to adequately repair or replace key elements of our infrastructure and continue to FAIL as a municipal government.  Something needs to change but with the Redevelopment agency rearing its bloated head once again, I don't think anything resembling responsibility or leadership will happen soon.

Placentia-Linda Hospital Failed to Report Anesthesiologist to Police

In what appears to be a complete disregard for patient safety, Placentia-Linda Hospital administrators failed to immediately report a sexual assault of an anesthetized female patient at the hands of the hospital's anesthesiologist that was reported by a nurse who witnessed the assault and alerted a director, according to the Orange County Register.

"Yashwant B. Giri, 58, of Cypress is facing one felony count of sexual battery on an institutionalized victim and one felony count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of an unconscious victim, according to a statement from the District Attorney's Office." - OC Register

Making matters worse is that the first incident that was witnessed by hospital staff occurred in 2009.

"Hospital employees reportedly witnessed Giri sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl in February 2009 and a 36-year-old woman March 18, 2011, police said." - OC Register

Another question which needs to be asked is why the employee who witnessed the sexual assault did not go directly to police immediately.  It seems reasonable that someone witnessing a sexual assault would immediately call 911.  That didn't happen in 2009 and now there are at least two victims.

Shame on Placentia-Linda CEO Kent Clayton and the nurse who failed to report the assault to law enforcement.   

Fullerton Residents Face Epic Struggle

The Orange County Register is reporting that 37% of all Fullerton homes listed are distressed. 

(From the OC Register)
Every two weeks, Orange County broker Steve Thomas publishes a report on the supply of local homes for sale. Here's what the latest report -- as of May 12 -- has to say about Fullerton …

• 409 residences listed in brokers' MLS system with 133 new deals opening in the past 30 days.
• By Thomas's math, this community has a "market time" (months it would take to sell all inventory at current pace of new escrows) of 3.08 months vs. 3.54 months found two weeks earlier vs. 2.39 months seen a year earlier. Countywide, latest market time was 3.68 months vs. 2.53 months a year ago.
• Of the homes listed for sale in this community, 152 were either foreclosures being resold or short sales, where sellers owe more than the home's value. So distressed properties were 37.2% of supply of homes for sale vs. 33.9% countywide.
• Homes for sale in Fullerton represent 3.7% of Orange County inventory -- and 4.0% of distressed homes for sale. New escrows here are 4.4% of all Orange County's new pending sales.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics is reporting that California's Unemployment for April is at 11.7% which does not take into consideration those whose benefits have expired or who have to have multiple minimum wage part-time jobs just to put food on the table and a roof over their head.

Gas prices are high, though they are not quite at their peak.

And of course there is the new water rate which will likely double water bills in less than 10 years.  Even with the rate increase the City will not have enough money to cover repairing and replacing the old water system.  The City plans to borrow million$ through bonds, a.k.a. the Taxpayers' Credit Card, to cover the shortfall. 

When will our leadership realize the need to replace our currently unsustainable governing philosophy with one that balances the critical needs of our community with the reality of our existing resources?