Councilmember Bruce Whitaker was elected to a two-year term on the Fullerton City Council in November 2010.
Councilmember Whitaker represents the City Council on the Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency and the Water Advisory Committee of Orange County/Municipal Water District of Orange County.
Prior to joining the Council, Councilmember Whitaker had been appointed to the Fullerton Planning Commission, where he served three years from November 2007 to November 2010.
For more than two decades, he has been active in the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce legislative and local government committees as a private citizen, business executive and more recently representing elected offices. For several years, he has been active locally as a volunteer and support of Habitat for Humanity.
Councilmember Whitaker was appointed to the position of District Director to California State Assemblyman Chris Norby in March 2010. He had been Senior Policy Advisor to then Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby during Norby’s seven years in that office. His assignments at the County of Orange included the Sheriff-Coroner Department;the District Attorney’s Office; Public Defender Office;Probation Department;the Superior Court System; Orange County Fire Authority; Homeland Security; Emergency Services; the Southern California Association of Governments; and all legislative matters while serving as the primary Field Representative for the office.
In 2004, Councilmember Whitaker was honored to receive the "Donald Award" as Orange County’s Legislative Staffer of the Year.
Prior to employment in public service, Councilmember Whitaker had worked as a retail manager, financial controller/chief financial manager and medical center administrator. For several years he was active as a member of TEC (The Executive Committee), a nationwide association of business executives.
He is currently the Statewide Coordinator for MORR (Municipal Officials for Redevelopment Reform).
Councilmember Whitaker was born Sept. 16, 1955, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He grew up in Michigan and Indiana, and moved to Southern California in 1979. He and his wife Linda, a Fullerton native who attended Pacific Drive Elementary, Nicholas Jr. High and Sunny Hills High School, were married in 1986, and have resided in Fullerton since 1988.
The Orange County Bankruptcy erupted in December of 1994, as Chief Spokesman for the Committees of Correspondence of Orange County, Mr. Whitaker debated Sheriff Brad Gates, County CEO William Popejoy, Chapman University President James Doti and others numerous times and authored many guest editorials which helped to defeat Measure R, the bankruptcy sales tax. The defeat of the tax has resulted in more than $2.2 billion in taxpayer savings since 1995.
In efforts to help the County of Orange emerge from bankruptcy, Councilmember Whitaker was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve on three official committees: Orange County Management Audit Oversight Committee; Salary and Benefits Review Committee; and the Ad Hoc Steering Committee on Privatization.
Mr. Whitaker founded the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers in 1996. He was president for eight years, following which F.A.C.T. successfully brought suit against the Gray Davis administration for an unconstitutional $12.7 billion bond offering. When Governor Davis was recalled from office, the Schwarzenegger administration and the Legislature attempted to pass a $2 billion pension obligation bond which also lacked voter approval. The F.A.C.T. and the Pacific Legal Foundation brought suit and won in both Sacramento Superior Court and the State Court of Appeals. These actions have prevented any further actions by the state to borrow without voter approval.
Councilmember Whitaker may be reached via email at bwwhitaker@live.com.
