At the City Council Meeting on August 18, the Council will decide who will represent Fullerton residents at the League of California Cities (Cal Cities) Conference in Anaheim, scheduled for September 23-25, 2026. Seriously? This feels like a rallying cry for action in a city that often seems to be stuck in neutral or reverse.
Word has it that Mayor Fred Jung will likely appoint himself as the main delegate while casually nominating Councilmember Jamie Valencia as his backup. Of course, that means that there will be no report for the people. Who else deserves this “honor” except two people that Fullerton residents in every district want to recall? It’s frustrating to see them making decisions while disregarding the majority of the civically engaged Fullertonians.
Let’s not forget the council has actually budgeted funds for this event. Great, they’ll get to network while the rest of us deal with the consequences of whatever policies they decide to come up with. All these so-called local leaders will engage in “pressing discussions,” but don’t we wish they’d pay as much attention to the issues we face here? Apparently, the deepest cuts to Fullerton’s budget do not mean withdrawing from Cal Cities.
Dues scale with population. A city the size of Orange pays roughly $34,000 annually — the figure cited in its own council debate was about $40,000. So when you wonder why we don’t have a First Night Celebration or Fourth of July, you can thank the City Council majority bloc.
As cities consider their membership in municipal associations, the debate centers on the trade-offs between benefits and ideological alignment. Cities like Newport Beach and Huntington Beach have voted to leave associations over perceived political biases, particularly regarding tax reform and housing measures, claiming they don’t reflect their interests.
Cal Cities, the primary association, argues that no single city will agree with every group decision, highlighting the challenges of collective governance. Critics point out that taxpayer-funded lobbying can skew towards increased spending, which conflicts with conservative financial values.
Departures from the association are mostly from conservative regions, raising political concerns and risking the loss of vital resources, such as training and legal support.
Cal Cities is significant in California politics, representing almost all cities and advocating for local control. Its major achievements include measures that protect local funding during budget crises. While it provides essential training and advocacy for smaller cities, critics argue that its lobbying against state housing mandates undercuts local control, leading some cities to leave over disagreements on these issues.
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