Albert vs. Salma (and everybody else)

I don’t generally write about this sort of sordid family drama, but as you’ll see, I have to.

Albert, the 4th & youngest of Fullerton’s Bushala siblings, is disgruntled. Especially at his big sister Salma, the oldest of the bunch, and the only female. Salma, married with five kids, runs the Santa Fe Express Cafe at the Fullerton Train Station. (I recommend their breakfast burrito!) The Cafe is leased from the city of Fullerton by her other two brothers, George Jr and Tony, as “Bushala Brothers, Inc.” Albert’s biggest gripe is that Salma shouldn’t be in their elderly parents’ estate plan, because she didn’t do any of the work the three boys did in the 80s and 90s building up the Bushala empire.

Wait, has Albert been dispossessed, left out of the will, are he and his wife and kids impoverished? Hell no, he is better off than the rest of the family, and he got paid for all the work he did decades ago, and invested wisely. (I’m told he had a falling out with his two brothers, they tell me they did all the work, but I wasn’t there so I don’t know, he did get paid for everything and is quite wealthy, just not as wealthy as he wants to be. And he doesn’t think Salma deserves anything.)

Tony (whom most of you know as he’s very involved in politics) tells me a couple of years ago Albert ordered him and George Jr. to “PICK A SIDE!” “You’re with me or you’re with Salma!” “If you’re not with me I’ll make your life miserable with lawsuits and legal fees!” They stood with their sister. And Albert made good on his word last October as he sued all three siblings, Salma’s husband, AND HIS ELDERLY PARENTS THEMSELVES (George Sr, 98, and Sylvia, 89) for hundreds of millions of dollars of money he thinks should be his.

Again, apologies. I don’t usually write about stuff like this, but you’ll see how I had to, if you keep reading.

The Comic Aspect of Albert’s Lawsuit

I got a laugh from the first few pages of the lawsuit, before it became SO tedious with its descriptions of SO many business decisions Albert got left out of over the last few decades when he wasn’t around. Because the first few pages is where Albert explains to us how things work in Lebanese culture. He LEBsplains. In Lebanese culture, supposedly, an oral agreement, no matter how many decades ago, is sacrosanct. Even if it is contradicted by numerous WRITTEN agreements. In fact “reducing agreements among family members to writing is considered insulting because it indicates lack of trust and respect.” I was almost expecting him to say “In the Old Country we settle such matters with duel by SCIMITAR!”

Good luck LEBsplaining that to an AMERICAN judge, Albert, in an American courtroom. Whether that is true, about Lebanon and written agreements, or not, I did hear that in Lebanon if you sue your own parents you forfeit any inheritance. But enough about Lebanon.

Back to Fullerton

So this nuisance lawsuit was filed last October (and is dragging on) but SUDDENLY a month ago the Fullerton Observer decided it was very important for the public to know all about it! So they printed a two-part article about it by one Elijah Manassero, on July 8 and July 10. Manassero (while prudently cautioning “these are only allegations”) rehashed all Albert’s allegations, going the extra mile to get extra disturbing details that weren’t even in the suit, and did NOT attempt to contact any of the defendants. (He must have been in touch with Albert though.)

If you’re new to Fullerton, know this: Tony Bushala is very active in local politics, having helped elect three of the five current councilmembers. And the Fullerton Observer, a liberal-ish outlet run by the Kennedy family, seems to oppose all things Bushala. Not that he’s any kind of right-winger. To them he’s some all-powerful antichrist of Fullerton. (By the way they always refer to him as a developer whereas what he and George Jr does is mostly property management and historic restoration.) And Manassero himself is regularly seen at Fullerton Council meetings, opposing Bushala and his ideas.

So it seemed NOT A COINCIDENCE when these articles were released, and promoted prolifically all across social media, less than a week before a July 15 Council vote very important to Tony, and very controversial to others for reasons that are unclear – whether to let him lease an unused loading dock at the train station, adjacent to where he already intends to build a brewery. The “Freight House Brewery.” Let’s take a quick look at what Tony wants to do at the station (close to his sister’s cafe)

What now looks like this:

Will look like this (the loading dock to the left will become restrooms for the brewery.)

SO. The July Observer article about the stupid October lawsuit was written, propagated and used in an attempt to make the Bushala family look unstable and unreliable, so, not the best choice for the City to do business with – this was driven home in a few sentences of the article, in comments put on it by Sharon Kennedy, and in remarks from anti-Bushala Councilman Ahmad Zahra. Better put off this vote till all the court proceedings are finished, they cried out – this property could end up in Albert’s hands or at least in litigation!

Bullshit, Fullerton has been doing business with the dependable Bushalas for 50, 60 years, and the lease passed 3-2. (The two dissenting councilmembers wanted to put the dock up to bid – big waste of time, nobody wants that or has plans for it. Anything to poke the Bushalas in the eye.)

DAMAGE

The reckless accusations hurled in Albert’s lawsuit, against Salma in particular, and amplified by The Observer, are very damaging and unfortunate. It makes her sound like a scheming bitch, and elder-abuser of her parents, keeping them imprisoned in a desert mansion and siphoning off all their money, manipulating her brothers, playing everyone off one another, yada yada yada.

Manassero paraphrases an incident last February related in Albert’s suit, at the parents’ desert home:

A month later, when Albert and his wife attempted to visit, they were blocked at the private community’s security gate and listed as “Code Red.” According to court filings, they had to call the sheriff to conduct a wellness check just to gain entry. The visit ended in a confrontation, during which George Jr. allegedly burst into the house screaming at Albert and threatening violence; an incident that Albert’s wife partially filmed and submitted as evidence in the case.

Here’s how I heard that actually went down. (Again I wasn’t there.) Tony and George Jr were “up in the desert” at their parents‘ home (I know he goes there frequently.) Albert and his wife decided it’d be a good time to make a surprise visit. Albert is forbidden by his mother Sylvia from entering that home, because duh he’s suing them. So seeing his name on a list, the guard at the gate wouldn’t let them in. They claimed to be doing a “wellness check” on their parents and called the Sheriffs to accompany them. This was very stressful to the parents, having those two barge in with sheriffs. The usually placid peacemaker George Jr had a fit and chewed Albert out, and Albert’s wife filmed some of that.

When Albert and his wife got back to Fullerton, they tried to get a restraining order against George Jr, based on their video. The judge denied their request, concluding, “Please relay to Sylvia, your mother, how much I feel for her, to see her children fighting like this over money.”

Funny part? The judge in question was Cheri Pham, wife of the disgraced former Supervisor Do and mother of the famed Rhiannon. I guess I won’t say any more about that, but I’m glad Judge Cheri made the right decision.

On Monday the defendants will be filing a “Defendants’ Motion for Protective Order” which begins thusly, sounding a bit like me filtered through legalese:

“In this familial dispute, Plaintiff Albert Bushala (“Plaintiff”) attempts to ignore numerous sophisticated trusts and longstanding estate plans, and usurp a portion of all the work, investment, and monies of his three siblings, in-law, and elderly parents, based on an illusory, baseless, delusional, and ill-inspired theory that there was some oral agreement dating over 45 years ago between the parties.“

Ill-inspired indeed! Hopefully some judge will throw the whole thing out, with snide commentary, on Sept 15 or Nov 17. Maybe it’ll even be Judge Cheri Pham again, who does that! It has been a nightmare for everyone involved.