The City of Fullerton is staring down a $13.7 million budget deficit. Residents wouldn’t necessarily know that from the optics, with Fullerton set to host a State of the City reception next month at the Summit House, one of Fullerton’s priciest dinner spots. The glitzy event might impress the allies bankrolling it, but I’m not sure the public is going to be satisfied with what the Mayor is serving up.

Fred Jung has held the Mayor’s seat for four of the last five years. In a rotational system designed to spread responsibility across the dais and districts, that kind of concentration matters. The one year he wasn’t Mayor, his current Mayor Pro-Tempore, Nick Dunlap, was. Both are central figures in the city council majority, a slate heavily backed by a Political Action Committee bankrolled by Tony Bushala. In a system meant to distribute accountability, Jung and Dunlap have instead consolidated power, set the agenda for half a decade, and consistently drowned out the minority voice on the council and the public. The budget crisis we are in now is their legacy.

The Mayor likes to say we can’t dwell on the past. That’s not surprising, given what the past looks like for him. So fine, let’s talk about how we get out of this mess.

The Budget Picture

The Fiscal Sustainability Ad Hoc Committee has met several times over the last month to wrestle with Fullerton’s finances. Notably, Tony Bushala, the city’s largest political donor and the man whose PAC (Fullerton Taxpayers for Reform) put the council majority in power, sits on this committee.

City Manager Eddie Manfro presented a clear case: Fullerton has a long-standing revenue problem. Cities around us have either passed higher sales taxes or benefit from major economic engines. Brea leans on sales tax revenue from the Brea Mall. Buena Park draws from large retail corridors and amusement parks. Fullerton has neither of those cushions.

Fullerton is a full-service city, meaning we fund our own Police and Fire departments. Together, they account for around 71 percent of the city’s budget. One might assume that’s where most of the cuts need to be made. But Fullerton’s police department already spends less per resident than most departments in the region and still manages to deliver good response times. We don’t have a cadet academy right now because of existing budget constraints. The fire department is in a similar position: an aging fleet, fewer firefighters per resident than comparable cities, and thin administrative support. Our public safety departments are punching well above their weight. There is not much fat to cut without the public feeling it almost immediately. 

The same is true for public works. City Engineer David Grantham presented a sobering picture of Fullerton’s roads. According to county data, Fullerton ranks dead last with the worst roads in Orange County. Public works is set to receive around $10 million this year for road repairs and rehabilitation. When asked what it would take to bring road quality scores from our current condition to just ‘good’, staff said Fullerton would need to spend roughly $20 to $25 million a year for about a decade to make a meaningful difference.

The Cuts Nobody Wants to Talk About

The revenue problem is real and long-standing. We have a large, full-service city with departments that are already stretched thin. But with the City needing to balance the budget soon, the city manager has outlined that across-the-board cuts of 10% would just about close the nearly 14 million budget shortfall. Think about what that actually means.

A 10% cut to public works, on top of a road budget already $15 million short of what we need just to have ‘good’ roads. For the fire or police, that would likely mean closing our jail, reducing staffing, and longer response times for residents. Park services will slow or stop, community events will be minimal, and senior services will most likely be stopped. These cuts will have major impacts across the city. 

The Committee’s Big Ideas

So, with this sobering context in mind, what has the Fiscal Sustainability Ad Hoc Committee proposed to avoid these cuts?

Anthony “Tony” Bushala, Mayor Jung’s appointee to the committee, recommended that the City ask its new trash hauling contractor for a $10 million loan as part of the Request For Proposal process. Beyond being against California’s complex pay-to-play law, California Government Code § 84308, sometimes known as the “Levine Act,” that kind of arrangement invites scrutiny for potential fraud and conflicts of interest. 

Then came the recommendation that left jaws on the floor. Nick Dunlap’s appointee to the committee, Eric Wehn, proposed that the City sell its water system to a private company, handing control of a basic public utility over to a corporation with shareholders to satisfy and profits to chase. He framed this as a creative way to avoid budget cuts, but it’s a potentially dangerous recommendation that shifts the problem to the backs of rate payers who would see costs increase and safety protocols decrease. It’s also a short-term proposition that doesn’t address our long-term revenue deficiencies.  

These are the ideas coming from a committee stacked with the council majority’s handpicked appointments. It’s disappointing. 

Who Owns This Mess

Mayor Jung wants everyone focused on the path forward. But the path forward was shaped by five years of his and Nick Dunlap’s leadership. Their agenda-setting, their appointments, and their priorities brought us here.

To be fair, the whole council and staff bear some responsibility. Budgets don’t pass on a single vote, and everyone on the dais has had a role to play. But the brunt of accountability belongs with the people who controlled the agenda, drove the conversation, and had the most influence over how Fullerton’s resources were prioritized.

Big cuts to city departments are likely coming in the months ahead. And the wild rhetoric from the ad hoc committee will keep coming, aimed at shifting blame and muddying the water. But the ledger is clear. Only two people have been the mayor for the last five years, and it’s time they’re held accountable.