Closed Session: Fire Union Rejects Labor Proposal
Before every Public City Council meeting, there is a separate Closed Session meeting, in which the City Council and City manager meet with developers, public employee union representatives, and other parties to make decisions outside view of the public. In this week’s closed session (as stated on the agenda), the City Council and Manager met with the following developers: Pacific Coast Homes (the wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron who will be developing Coyote Hills), NAPICO Entities, Jamboree Housing Corporation, and Habitat for Humanity to discuss price and terms of building projects. In his closed session report, the Fullerton City Attorney, in accordance with a Transparency in Labor Negotiations Resolution, reported: “The City of Fullerton’s last, best, and final proposal to the Fullerton Fire Management Association [the local firefighters’ public employee union]...has been rejected by the Fullerton Fire Management Association.”
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| This is the first of five pictures of Fullerton Fire trucks that will appear in this post. |
Presentations: Softball, Pinktober
After a prayer and the
Pledge of Allegiance, The Fullerton Hills Softball All Stars received
recognition for their excellent play this past season. Members of the The
Fullerton Fire Department, wearing pink t-shirts, gave a presentation about
their “Pinktober” fundraiser, whose goal is to raise awareness and money for
cancer research. During these presentations, City Council chambers were
filled, nearly to capacity. After these presentations, the chambers
emptied out to around 10 members of the public remaining to witness the regular
business of the city.
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| Fire truck picture #2. |
A representative of the
Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) gave a presentation on two large
long-standing projects which are certainly familiar to those who drive along
Raymond Avenue and State College Blvd. These projects are to lower parts of
State College and Raymond to build railroad crossing bridges, to alleviate
traffic. The State College Blvd Underpass project, which began in 2014,
is projected to be completed in late 2017, at a cost of $41,974,278 by the
contractor USS Cal Builders. The Raymond Avenue Underpass project, which
also began in 2014, is projected to be completed in early 2018, at a cost of
$51,058,599 by the contractor Flatiron West. For more information on
these projects, visit www.ocbridges.com.
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| There are no fire trucks in this picture. Or are there?! |
A representative from
the SoCal Gas Company (a subsidiary of gas giant Sempra Energy) gave an update
on the infamous Aliso Canyon (aka Porter Ranch) Gas Leak, which was discovered
in October of 2015, and declared a “State of Emergency” by governor Jerry Brown
in January of this year. The carbon footprint of this methane leak has
been said to be larger than the Deepwater Horizon Leak (aka BP Oil Spill)
in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to the leak, the Aliso Canyon Storage
Facility (the second largest natural gas reservoir in the United States)
supplied natural gas to the LA Basin (including Fullerton). According to
SoCal Gas, the leak was sealed in February of this year, and the Aliso Canyon
gas field is running at 20 percent capacity, pending more well inspections.
SoCal Gas hopes that this gasfield will go “back online” this month.
The only question asked by the Council was by council member Flory, who
asked about an issue with her neighbor’s gas service.
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| No fire trucks here. Just a giant cloud of methane. |
Roberta Reid, candidate
for City Council, apologized that, due to an illness, she missed the
opportunity to participate in recent political events, and requested an update
on Coyote Hills (See Coyote Hills Update below). A representative of
Anaheim University, a local for-profit university, gave what amounted to an
infomercial for their online business degree programs. Barry Levinson,
former Parks and Rec Commissioner, gave a lengthy tirade regarding an
unspecified agenda item involving a grant application from the September 20th
meeting, concluding, among other things, that “all five city council members
are basically frauds.” Tony Package, a local resident, expressed
disapproval that the recent City Council Candidate Forum was scheduled at the
same time as a public review of a new development on Commonwealth, stating,
“Scheduling a development public review meeting at the same time as an important
candidate forum is a serious breach of public confidence.” City Manager
Joe Felz responded by stating that the neighbors selected the date of the
public review meeting. Debra Pember gave her thoughts on the recent
Candidate Forum, regretting the “mudslinging” she heard there.
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| Firefighters, keeping us all safe from death by fire. |
Council Member Flory gave an update on local cases of West Nile Virus (27 have been documented this year in Orange County, down from 33 last year). Flory also requested a report on dead and dying trees and grass at Hillcrest Park. City staff reported increased watering, but acknowledged certain areas where the grass has died and will require re-seeding, though sports fields are currently taking priority for this. Staff also reported that Phase 1 of the Hillcrest Park Renovation is underway.
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| Looking for a fire truck picture? Keep scrolling, buddy. |
Fullerton/Brea Joint Powers Agreement
A member of city staff
gave an update on a proposed Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between the cities of
Fullerton and Brea to coordinate municipal services, primarily our fire
departments. Though this JPA was originally proposed as a multi-city
entity with sharing of numerous municipal services, it seems to have evolved
into mainly a proposed fire department merger between Brea and Fullerton, though
these two cities already share a fire command staff. Four members of the
public spoke against the proposed JPA, pointing out that it is a potential way
for public employees (particularly the fire department) to protect their
financial interests outside the scope of an elected City Council. This
point is particularly salient in light of the City Attorney’s Closed Session
report that “The City of Fullerton’s last, best, and final proposal to the
Fullerton Fire Management Association [the local firefighters’ public employee
union]...has been rejected by the Fullerton Fire Management Association.”
Council Member Whitaker also expressed concern, stating that this proposal is
not really about savings and that “we need to be honest about the real purpose
of these efforts.” Council will likely be voting on this JPA soon.
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| Notice the blurry fire truck in the background? Booyah. |
City Manager Joe Felz gave an update on Coyote Hills, stating that
the city has recently received a $2 million grant from the Rivers and Mountains
Conservancy “for the approved land acquisition plan” for West Coyote Hills.
Council Member Chaffee noted that other grant applications are in the
works. This grant will not prevent development of Coyote Hills—it merely
gives the city more funds to purchase selected parcels to be spared from the
bulldozers, as per the development agreement which the Council unanimously
approved last Fall.
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| The latest Coyote Hills Development Plan, sans fire trucks. |
Habitat For Humanity and
Courtyard Apartments
Mayor Fitzgerald “recused” herself from voting on a proposed
building agreement between Fullerton and Habitat for Humanity, citing a
conflict of interest between her position on City Council, and her job as a
lobbyist for Curt Pringle and Associates, of which Jamboree Housing (a partner
of Habitat for Humanity) is a client. The City Council passed the resolution
3-1 (Whitaker being the “no” vote). When Mayor Fitzgerald returned, the
council voted 4-1 (Whitaker being the “no” vote) to approve another agreement
between Fullerton and the Courtyard Apartments on Valencia Ave. Both of these
agreements referenced further documentation which was not included with the
agenda—making the substance of these agreements difficult for the public to
understand. |
| Jennifer Fitzgerald works for a PR and lobbying firm. She is not a firefighter. |
City Wireless Agreement Renewal
City Council voted 3-2 to wait to extend their lease agreement
with Cingular Wireless (aka AT&T Wireless) regarding their current cell
phone towers on the “Euclid Tank Farm” which is city-owned property. In
public comment, city council candidate Joe Imbriano warned of the dangers of
wireless radiation, which he claims causes cancer, and has other adverse health
effects. Council member Flory made a motion to
reject the proposal to modify the lease agreement, and it was this motion that
passed 3-2 (Fitzgerald and Chaffee voting no).
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| Fire truck not included. |
Remodel at Fullerton Fire Station #4 and Arroyo Street Improvement
A $234,000 remodel to
Fullerton Fire Station #4 was unanimously approved by the Council, which will
involve adding legally mandated Separate Gender Accomodations for female
firefighters, as well as a kitchen remodel. Members of the public who
spoke were divided on the issue. Mayor Fitzgerald stated, “These remodels
are sorely needed,” and Fullerton Fire Chief Wolfgang Knabe added: “We have one
firestation that’s in the modern era.” The city contract went to Corral
Construction and Development. Council also unanimously approved a nearly
$1 million “sewer and street improvement” project in the Arroyo Area of
Fullerton.
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| There's our fire truck! Great job, FFD! |
