Summary

Need a quick summary of what’s going on here?

  • Fullerton issued bonds in 2011 to pay for sprinkler replacement at the Fullerton Golf Course.  We were under no obligation to pay for anything as American Golf was responsible for all repairs and improvements at the time.  The actual sprinkler replacement cost was $1.7 million but the cost to taxpayers will be $5.1 million when the bonds fully mature in 2031.
  • The Tennis Center has a part-time tennis coach who made $128,898.81 in Fiscal Year 2014-2015.  His compensation is more than double that of the Tennis Center manager.
  • The City of Fullerton has breached several parts of the Brea Dam Lease, including misappropriation (theft) of revenues that otherwise should be returned to the Federal government.  Unless immediate action is taken, we are on the verge of having the US Army Corps of Engineers revoke the lease and evict the YMCA, Tennis Center, Fullerton Golf Course, Fullerton Sports Complex, Fullerton Community Nursery School, Child Guidance Center, and Golfer’s Paradise.
  • American Golf is given blank checks to spend money however they like, to be reimbursed by the City.  Except for the top two managers, all of the employees’ wages, pensions, and health benefits are paid by the City.
  • Using the City’s money, American Golf employees regularly purchase gift cards, snacks, and drinks for themselves at local grocery stores.  Gasoline listed as being for “trips to the bank” is purchased in Corona and Huntington Beach.
  • City of Fullerton employees have frequently lied about the costs and purported benefits of these projects.  Parks and Recreation Administrative Manager Alice Loya gave false compensation and debt service figures to the City Council in November 2010 to secure their approval of the new Management Agreement with American Golf.
  • City Manager Joe Felz renegotiated rent payments for two 501(c)(3) non-profits:  The Fullerton Community Nursery School and the Child Guidance Center. The contract has explicit promises to set money aside for Maintenance and Capital Improvements.  In FY 2014-2015, Mr. Felz misappropriated at least $46,306 from their rent payments to fund other projects; the same rent payments which were secured with donations and payments from working class families.
  • Fullerton may be in deep trouble with the Internal Revenue Service over the 2011 RZED bonds because the City receives a 45% subsidy on the annual interest payments, worth in excess of $1 million over the term of the bonds — which are prohibited from becoming “private activity bonds”.  In 2010, the lease with American Golf had to be voided in favor of a Management Agreement to exercise an IRS loophole.  Since then, American Golf / City of Fullerton have subleased use of the golf course to a private golf academy, likely in violation of IRS Rules.

Please read the links at the top of this page for a detailed explanation on each item. We also need to communicate to our elected leaders that this sort of behavior by City Manager Joe Felz is completely unacceptable.

A message to Fullerton Residents

A handful of other Fullerton residents and I have taken it upon ourselves to examine the legal documents and accounting records for the leased Brea Dam property.  The findings (sadly) confirmed what I had suspected for many years — a long trail of incompetence, corruption, greed, cronyism, and illegal conduct by City of Fullerton administrators, up to and including our current City Manager.

This website contains the documentation for everyone to see for themselves.

While the Brea Dam issues pose significant problems for Fullerton, after reading this site I think you’ll agree this is not the actual problem — rather a symptom of much bigger troubles past, present, and future.  In many ways, this is the manner in which City Hall functions on a day-to-day basis.  That is not to say the City of Fullerton doesn’t have good employees.  We have a lot of them, but their efforts are frequently undermined by their superiors who don’t value integrity and accountability in others.

The only way anything will change is if you make your frustrations known to the City Council.  Don’t expect someone else to do it for you because they won’t. Seriously.

Please take some time to read the pages linked at the top.  Thank you!

David Curlee
Fullerton, CA