Irvine crime wave: illegal balloon jumping

Earlier today, the OC Reg reported an unauthorized parachuting, evidently a crime. (See Man parachutes from Great Park balloon.)

The crime occurred on the Great Park balloon, in Irvine, Sunday morning.

The balloon, carrying 12 passengers, was rising to its top height of 400 feet when, at about the 330 foot mark, the pilot “felt a jolt and noticed that a young man had climbed to the top of the netting that encloses the gondola.” Or so said a city spokesman Craig Reem.

The man threw a parachute out in front of him and then jumped, quickly floating to the ground, Reem said.

"When he reached the ground, he scooped up the parachute and leaped over a nearby fence to a waiting car," Reem said.

Somebody was waiting for him in a white Toyota Supra, and the two left through the park gate at Marine Way, Reem said.

The kid was in his mid-20s, with blond hair. You know the type.

The Reg notes that federal laws were likely broken. Evidently, it’s illegal to fall on people.

Reem explained that the jump was dangerous, owing to the lowness of the balloon. “But it’s not the lowest ever attempted.”

The Reg helpfully notes that Austrian Felix Baumgartner once leapt “from the 98-foot Cristo Redentor statue in Rio de Janeiro.”

I’m sure blondie’s taking notes.

* * * * *

In another eye-opener, the Reg reports today that people are rating OC towns, on a scale of 1 to 5, on a site called “Yelp.” (See O.C. towns rated online, from 1 to 5 stars.)

Irvine isn’t doing very well.

For instance, Sam Y., who no longer lives in Irvine, gave the city one miserable star:

"Irvine is a planned community. a fake city, its owned by a corporation. like raccoon city from resident evil. and every once in a while people will freak out and go do something crazy. it looks nice but the place is real creepy. be careful there. i would write more but i don't want the irvine company to come get me."

Hey, Sam’s one of my students for sure. I recognize his punctuation.

UCI marketing prof Mary Gilly says

"Everything is viewed as brands now; cities are viewed as brands, they have brand associations … Irvine is viewed as being safe and boring ... so it's not surprising that people would review Irvine like they would a restaurant or Coca-Cola."

Nobody cares. Meanwhile, T.O. gave the city five stars, saying: "Who the **** writes a Yelp review on a city? ... I find this section to be completely useless."

Well, OK. Nice consistency.

Annie N. spoke directly to Irvine:

"You have no culture. You have no mom-and-pop stores. ... Nothing here has been untouched by the Irvine Company. The only good thing about Irvine: no electrical poles and wires. That actually amuses me for some reason. One star for you."

Annie's an English major, no doubt. Resident Anita L. was more positive:

"I love living in Irvine. ... I never thought I'd say this but I do. Though I still miss living in the Bay Area, lil guy is getting an excellent education, we live in an area free of crime. ... My only question is why are they constantly repairing the roads when they are still in mint condition?"

Oh, that’s cuz people in trailer parks don’t want to hear train horns. So they get tens of millions of state dollars to build a tunnel under the track, thereby inconveniencing thousands of other residents for years and wasting a buttload of money.

Explaining her review, Gilly said, that she is motivated by “altruism”: “– I don't want anybody else to suffer what I suffered."

“Williams was rarely there”

In today's OC Register:

Paralegal to challenge public administrator

A former employee in the county public administrator’s office plans to challenge her old boss, John Williams, for the elected position, saying Williams is an absentee leader and echoing claims of mismanagement documented in two grand jury probes into his office last year.

Colleen Callahan, 49, was a supervisor in the department’s legal unit before she quit last year after 11 years on the job. She said she had planned to work at the public administrator’s office until she retired but became so unhappy with management choices and low morale at the department that she changed her mind. She is now a superior court clerk at the Orange County Courthouse.

“I know it’s a long shot, but it’s not right for him to be there,” Callahan said. “I’ve seen so many people hurt and great employees he pushed out. We’re there to service the public.”
. . .

Last year, the PA/PG was the subject of two scathing grand jury reports that allege that Williams doubled salary costs, squandered the estates and engaged in questionable personnel practices, such as spiking an employee’s salary within a year of the employee’s retirement. (You can read about the first report here, and the second report here.)

Williams has defended his performance, saying the reports were riddled with inaccuracies and that grand jurors struggled to understand some of the complicated data they reviewed. And county supervisors in December narrowly voted down a proposal to reduce Williams’ authority by splitting the two roles and requiring Williams to report to the county’s CEO.

Callahan said that when she was with the department, Williams was rarely there. She pointed to a recent Register analysis of his travel records in his role as a trustee for the South Orange County Community College District, and wondered how he had time to travel and do his job at the county.

If elected, Callahan says she’ll cut department management in half and fund more front line workers who directly care for people….

Naturally, Reg readers have written comments about the above story. John C wrote:

I too was an employee of this department, and it is the truth that Mr. Williams was never there. His usual hours on the days that he shows up were in by 10:00 a.m. and after an hour and a half lunch, out by 3:00 p.m. (I never saw him but going by when his car was parked right out side the door in the employee of the month parking spot). No doubt on South Orange County Community College District business, but still on the County of Orange tax payers dime! Its time to put an end to his almost 30 year political career and to stop the corruption! He is only running again to keep his cronies (who have covered his @$$ while not in the office and who commit perjury by falsifying his timesheet every pay period. It should be noted that he just moved all the clerical staff out of the management area, no doubt so they can’t note his coming and going.