Protesters outside Fullerton City Hall say they will continue to protest every Tuesday before each city council meeting to advocate for the Union Pacific Trail, oppose the banning of newspapers, censoring of council members, and the proposal to change Fullerton into a charter city.

Fullerton City Council held a Special Meeting on Tuesday, May 13 to discuss the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Proposed Operating Budget Study Session and Charter City. Residents gathered outside (pictured at right) to voice their concerns on the latter.

Outside the front entrance, Helen Higgins identified herself as a resident and voter in Fullerton. She held a sign that read “No Charter, Yes Union Trail” and demonstrated with a group of five women holding signs at the front entrance. Higgins said that she attended this special meeting because the discussion about the proposition to change the city to a charter city was on the agenda, and “I oppose that”.

Inside the chambers, Council Members Mayor Fred Jung, Mayor Pro Tem Shana Charles, Nick Dunlap, Jamie Valencia, and Ahmad Zahra were all in attendance in person.

It was a different picture as compared to the 2024-25 budget session held on April 23, 2024. Observer reporter Karen Lloreda then noted how “low public attendance” had been.

Many community members were attending for the first time. During the public comments on the Charter City issue, Robert Pearson said that he had been a Fullerton resident since 1982 and had never spoken at council before, “but I am speaking today on this topic”. He was opposed.

Approximately twenty-four speakers spoke in opposition to exploring Fullerton becoming a charter city. (Twenty-four represents the number of speakers that stated “I am opposed” or “I am against”.) There were eight speakers in favor of further exploration of the Charter City idea. There were many passionate and insightful comments from the speakers with many diverse viewpoints and thoughtful, informed ideas.

The comments cannot be fully summarized here. They are documented on the City of Fullerton website: https://fullerton.granicus.com/player/clip/2072?view_id=2&redirect=true

Among the speakers who expressed a desire for further engagement on the Charter City topic, Jose Trinidad Castenada said he wanted to focus on facts when analyzing charter cities.

Mayor Pro Tem Charles commented that she saw a lot of new faces, pointing out Pearson and adding, “People show up when they’re upset and when there’s a lack of trust.”

Mayor Jung clarified that no action was being sought at this meeting and that adopting a charter would include community outreach and ultimately a public vote. He said the community could choose to put their values in a charter and encouraged everyone to stay engaged.

Zahra commented that, while he appreciates dialogue, ultimately a charter would be written by the majority members of the council who control the vote, and that using the broad term “local control” is not useful in the discussion.
Charles made a motion to receive and file the proposed discussion of a charter, which was strengthened to a motion to table the discussion indefinitely by Zahra. This motion was not carried.

Council Member Dunlap responded to a comment from the public. He explained that while it was accurate to state that people are not asking for a charter city, they are explaining to him “issues that could be solved” with a charter city and asking for strengthened “local control”. He brought forward a substitute motion to continue the discussion.

Council Member Valencia expressed her desire to focus on facts and her frustration with false statements. She believed that “a charter will give back local control to all of you,” and she wished to move forward with discussing charter cities.
There was a motion to proceed with further discussion about Fullerton becoming a charter city and that motion was passed 3 to 2; Charles and Zahra were opposed. Full video of council deliberations:
https://fullerton.granicus.com/player/clip/2072?view_id=2&redirect=true