New Santa Ana | Monthly Archives: September 2010

Things to do on Labor Day weekend in and around Santa Ana

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Entertainment, Jose Solorio, Loretta Sanchez, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Meet your local Legislators at the O.C. Labor Day Celebration, on Sep. 4, at the Santa Ana Zoo

Are you looking for something to do on Labor Day weekend, in Orange County? There is a lot to do on Labor Day here in Orange County. Here are a few ideas:

Meet California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, at the Orange County Labor Day Celebration, at the Santa Ana Zoo, on Sep. 4. Free admission! Click here to read more about this annual fun event in support of our working families.
Check out the 9th Annual Santa Ana Labor Day Festival, at Madison Park, on Sep. 6, at 11 am. Click here for more information.
Visitors to the Bowers Musuem can enjoy free access to the museum, Kidseum, and all activities on the first Sunday of every month, thanks to the Target Corporation. Right now you can enjoy the California Legacies: Missions and Ranchos (1768-1848) exhibit, which features displays of California and Orange County history that are must-sees for California students and residents alike. Click here to visit their website.
Enjoy a free screening of Disney’s “Brother Bear,” at the Old Orange County Courthouse, on Saturday, Sep. 4. Click here for more information.
Santa Ana residents can visit the Discovery Science Center for FREE on the first Monday of the month, which just happens to fall on Labor Day, September 6. Click here to check out their website. Their current exhibits include Grossology, based on the popular book.
Santa Ana residents can also visit the Orange County Heritage Museum for free on the first Sunday of the month, which falls on September 5, which is part of Labor Day weekend. They have a lovely picnic area where you can enjoy one of our Family Packs! Click here to visit their website.
Cal State Fullerton Grand Central Art Center (125 N. Broadway 714.567.7233 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 714.567.7233 end_of_the_skype_highlighting) in the Santa Ana Artist Village is always free to the general public. Click here to visit their website.

Why not pick up one of El Pollo Norteno’s Family Packs and have a picnic, or go to the beach? Click here to see their Labor Day specials!

OC Labor Day Celebration at the Santa Ana Zoo will feature Jerry Brown and Loretta Sanchez

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Democratic Party, Entertainment, Labor, Loretta Sanchez, Santa Ana, Working Families Leave a comment

Pictures taken at last year’s OC Labor Day event at the Santa Ana Zoo

The Orange County Labor Federation has announced that their next Governor of CA, Attorney General Jerry Brown will be their special guest at this year’s Labor Day celebration, which will be held at the Santa Ana Zoo.

CA Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez will also be joining them on September 4.

You are invited to join the Orange County Labor Federation honoring working families. There will be food, fun and games for the family and free Admission to the Zoo too!

The event venue is the Santa Ana Zoo (Amphitheatre Park Area), located at 1801 E. Chestnut Ave., in Santa Ana.

Click here to RSVP on Facebook. Click here to see the event flyer.

Santa Ana teaches businesses importance of a plan, access to capital

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Business, Education, Santa Ana Leave a comment

August 23, 2010, City of Santa Ana – More than a dozen businesses participating in a 13-week seminar sponsored by the City of Santa Ana discovered that having a plan and knowing where to look for capital greatly enhances their chances of survival even in a tough economy.

“The class was the accountability tool I needed to sit down and complete my business plan,” said Carter Dewberry with the YOST Theater in Santa Ana. “With this document in hand, I feel confident in the strength and direction of my business.”

Dewberry, who is helping to refurbish and transform the theater, was one of 15 businesses that took advantage of a 13-week, business improvement course is hosted by the city and OPIS Network that focused on borrowing money, adding income channels and the value of a “fundable” business plan in down economy.

The course, which was free to participant, was the second in a series of Helping 100 Businesses for 100 days offered by the city and OPIS.

“More than 85 percent of our students had no business plan or one that was over a year old,” said Norm Bour, community development manager with OPIS Network. “The numbers prove that the likelihood of having your business last longer than 5 years is 80 percent or better for those with a business plan.”

Helping 100 Businesses for 100 Days was developed by the city and OPIS Network to provide Santa Ana businesses with the strategies and resources needed to remain competitive and succeed.

Graduates of the most recent program are eligible to receive an unsecured loan for up to $2,500 and be the first granted the accreditation of the Business Builder Certification (BBC), the first of its kind in Orange County. Offered by the local Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), this loan can be used to help establish new businesses or rebuild the credit of those businesses whose finances have suffered over the past couple of years.

The training consisted of four live classes and six teleseminars.

“We were pleased with the turnout and participation,” said Santa Ana City Councilmember Michele Martinez. “Judging by the response to our seminar, access to capital and managing money continue to be among the biggest concerns for businesses.”

Underwriting for the program comes from the City of Santa Ana, along with a consortium of banks, including City National, Farmers & Merchants, Partners Bank, Pacific Premier, So. Cal Reinvestment and First Bank.

OPIS Network is a business consulting firm used by cities, chambers of commerce, non-profits and many affinity groups to enhance operational efficiencies and marketing skills. For more information go to: www.opisnetwork.com

Mayor Miguel Pulido endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Democratic Party, Elections, Labor, Orange, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua brought his whole gang to tonight’s Democratic Party of Orange County meeting, at the Teamsters Hall at Marks and Chapman in Orange, but it was all for naught. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido got the endorsement of the DPOC!

Amezcua’s mob lost their minds, according to a pajarito, and DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro had to threaten to escort them out of the room, after they started screaming that not all the votes had been counted. Amezcua’s supporters at the meeting included a Republican, Art Lomeli, as well as Albert Castillo, and Zeke Hernandez.

As one might expect, the increasingly unhinged Gallegos is now alleging that the DPOC created fake votes and took votes away from Amezcua, over at his fading Liberal OC blog. Gallegos even went as far as to compare DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro to Iran’s President, Mahmood Ahmadinejad.

This endorsements means that Pulido will be appearing on all DPOC walk pieces, door hangers and slate mailers. Obviously this is a huge blow to the underfunded Amezcua campaign, which has been touted heavily of late on the Liberal OC blog, which has also been attacking Pulido mercilessly.

Here are the DPOC members who allegedly voted for Amezcua, courtesy of the Lib OC:

Mohammed Amin
Mani Kang
David Sonnenborn
Marti Shrank
Giovanii Jorquera
Ken Burke
Zeke Hernandez
Ken Arnold

It should be noted that Ken Arnold is running for Congress against Dana Rohrabacher. Why he would side with Amezcua is a real mystery. Also not a good move on his part.

You cannot win the DPOC endorsement without significant support from organized labor, and Amezcua has utterly failed in that regard. Pulido recently got the COPE endorsement from the Orange County Central Labor Council, and he has the support of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association and the Santa Ana Firemens Benevolent Associations as well.

Pulido really scored with the trade unions a few weeks ago when he strongly supported the One Broadway Plaza project. Amezcua showed up to the City Council meeting, when the top item of discussion was a request by the OBP developer for changes in the development agreement. Amezcua slinked out of the room without supporting the project. The union members who were there took note of that.

Pulido will be at the Labor Day event at the Santa Ana Zoo. I wonder if Amezcua will bother showing up now that he has lost the support of labor and his own party?

Santa Ana Film Fiesta celebrates Latino heritage, from Sep. 4-19

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Arts and Culture, Entertainment, Latinos, mexico, Movies, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The Santa Ana Film Fiesta is a film festival component of The City of Santa Ana’s 2010 “Fiestas Patrias – Fiestas de Independencia” Mexican Bicentennial events. It’s a celebration of the Santa Ana’s Latino heritage through cinema and an educational tour of Santa Ana’s historic roots.

Opening night is on Sep. 4, at 5 pm. The festival will continue through Sep. 19. Watch Busby Berkeley’s classic 42nd Street, starring Bebe Daniels, plus a vintage car show, at the Old OC Courthouse, located at 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd., in downtown Santa Ana. Click here for the full Film Fiesta schedule.

This unity-building event will provide downtown audiences, both new arrivals and traditional families, with entertaining events throughout the City of Santa Ana that deepen relationships with local cultural groups, businesses, colleges and the film industry.

Every year, over 200,000 visitors attend Santa Ana’s “Fiestas de Independencia” Mexican Independence Day festivities centered along historic 4th Street, “La Calle Cuatro.” This year will feature musical artists Aleks Syntek, Maria Jose, Paty Cantu and Elefante. The Santa Ana Film Fiesta will add a vital new dimension to these traditional festivities by celebrating Santa Ana’s cultural diversity through a selection of feature films, documentaries and shorts.

Join us for this year’s new and dynamic Film Fiesta, a cinema celebration in the historic heart of downtown OC!

The Santa Ana Film Fiesta will be produced by Sandra Peña Sarmiento (aka “Pocha Peña”), an award-winning filmmaker, artist and writer who has directed film festivals in California and Texas. Sandra is the founder of POCHARTE Gallery, an influential arts space which operated for several years in Santa Ana’s Santora Building.

For more info visit http://www.ocfilmfiesta.org/ for more information

Click here to RSVP on Facebook.

Pulido asked to opt out of Santa Ana healthcare benefits in 2007

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Health and Medical, Miguel Pulido, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The not very objective reporters at the Voice of OC have been confronted with evidence that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido did ask the OCTA to continue his health benefits, way back in 2007, and at the same time he told them that he was opting out of Santa Ana’s health insurance program, and yet the Voice of OC continues to attack Pulido.

The Voice of OC questioned why Pulido, and Councilman Vince Sarmiento, have higher benefits than their counterparts on the Council. Could it be that they have more kids than their peers on the Council? Council Members Martinez and Alvarez have no kids. The other Council Members have, at most, two kids each, as far as I know.

Why doesn’t the Voice of OC reveal that Irvine Council Member Beth Krom makes more than any of her fellow Council Members and she makes more than Pulido and the other Santa Ana Council Members?

An OCTA agency spokesperson confirmed that Pulido’s form is on file with the agency, according to the Voice of OC.

Ream wrote a letter to OCTA Chief Executive Will Kempton, in which Ream admitted that the city “continued [Pulido’s] insurance coverage on an annual basis without his knowledge, participation and/or consent.”

Pulido wrote a letter to Ream this week, confirming his past stated desire to opt out of Santa Ana’s healthcare program. In the letter, Pulido stated:

As you are aware, the last time I authorized the City of Santa Ana to enroll me in a medical insurance plan was in 2001. Accordingly, please accept this letter as an official request to have my City of Santa Ana health and dental insurance coverage cancelled effective immediately.

Furthermore, I waive my right to receive any cash benefit from the City of Santa Ana, to which I am entitled in lieu of eliminating my city health and dental benefits.

What does this all mean? In short, it means that this entire made-up scandal was, at the end of the day, much ado about nothing.

It is true that both Ream and Pulido were unsure about the status of these benefits, but given that Pulido addressed this several years ago, in 2007, it makes sense that he might be unsure about the benefits now. However, the issue has been cleared up now, to the satisfaction of the OCTA CEO, Will Kempton.

The only reason the Voice of OC news blog is still ripping Mayor Pulido is because their job-killing chairman of the board, former state senator and trail lawyer Joe Dunn, is a backer of Pulido’s opponent, criminal defense lawyer Alfredo Amezcua. And Dunn is peeved because Pulido fought to keep the 4th Court of Appeals in town when Dunn tried to move it to Irvine.

And Voice of OC funder, union boss Nick Berardino, is still mad at Pulido because the Mayor refused to back his carpetbagger Supervisorial candidate, Tom Umberg, a few years ago. You might recall that race. Umberg crashed and burned when it was revealed that he was cheating on his long-suffering wife. Janet Nguyen won that race and has since become Berardino’s lap dog, which makes one wonder why he is still upset with Pulido.

Why I am voting for Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Elections, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 14 Comments

Mayor Miguel Pulido, with Angels owner Arte Moreno, and Council Members Vince Sarmiento and Michele Martinez

I have spent years fighting the folks at Santa Ana’s City Hall, and have been, quite frankly, brutal in writing about our Mayor, Miguel Pulido and our City Council.

The high point of the “revolution” was beating Pulido’s hand-picked candidates, Tino Rivera and Jennifer Villasenor, in 2006. Michele Martinez beat Rivera, in Ward 2, and Sal Tinajero beat Villasenor, in Ward 6. Both benefited from vote-splits that occurred when other challengers took votes away from Pulido’s picks.

The low point, for me, was when Tinajero allied with the Pulido majority. I was not pleased, to say the least.

In 2008, Martinez inexplicably challenged Pulido. I found out later that Alfredo Amezcua put her up to it. He later denied it, but the source of that tidbit was Supervisor Janet Nguyen, with whom Amezcua is still allied.

The Janet Nguyen alliance with Alfredo Amezcua is most disturbing

I have a real issue with Amezcua’s alliance with Nguyen. She already took over the Garden Grove City Council. She got her carpetbagging former Chief of Staff, Andrew Do, elected in 2008. She got her husband, Tom Bonikowski, appointed to the Planning Commission – even though he owns a restaurant that has been cited by the O.C. Health Department too many times to count. She is planning, I hear, to run Bonikowski for the Garden Grove City Council, in 2012. Hell will freeze over before I will let her take over the Santa Ana City Council as well!

After Martinez lost, she, like Tinajero, joined the Pulido majority. I had long since buried the hatchet with Tinajero. I came to see that he had no choice. Nor did Martinez. If they wanted to be effective Council Members they had to count to four – four votes on the Council. Sans those votes they could not accomplish anything.

Since Martinez’ defeat however something unusual has happened. She has pulled the Pulido majority to the left. Tinajero has been a huge part of that as well, as has Councilman Vince Sarmiento. And Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez has concurred.

One more down, one to go…

The result has been the unprecedented expulsion of the Usual Suspects from City Hall. One by one the Usual Suspect City Commissioners have been booted off their Commissions, or asked to leave. After Monday’s meeting, only one will remain, their Queen Bee, Julie Stroud.

The Pulido majority passed a resolution honoring Harvey Milk Day. They passed a resolution condemning Arizona’s racist SB 1070 law. And they refused to join Councilman David Benavides in honoring Lupe Moreno and her Minutemen.

Amezcua was lockstep with Pulido all those years I was fighting City Hall. Even in 2008, he drove to Pulido’s election night party, in a limo, abandoning Martinez. Only now, as the Pulido faction finally has come into good form, is Amezcua launching his ridiculous attempt at change. Why change the Council now that they are doing good things?

As our recent post about Amezcua and his alliance with Janet Nguyen indicates, he has built a strange coalition of Latino activists, xenophobes, Usual Suspects and Republicans. That is no change I want anything to do with!

Charles Hart? No bueno…

Nor am I inclined to vote for the Usual Suspect Charles Hart. I have supported George Collins in the past, but I think he is running just to get a few of his issues out, during the debates. And I am not comfortable with his views on immigrants.

Ultimately our next Mayor has to be able to count to four – four votes on the Council. None of the challengers will be able to do that. The only one who can is Pulido.

The City of Santa Ana is at a crossroads. Our city has a massive structural deficit. Businesses are closing in droves. Now more than ever we need a Council that can take action, not one that will be hamstrung by clueless hacks.

So after all these years I am voting for the only candidate that is at all reasonable and effective. Miguel Pulido. Be disappointed if you want, but I have always fought for the betterment of our working people. We cannot take a chance now on a gasbag like Amezcua.

The Pulido majority helped me move the Santa Ana Zoo free day to the third Sunday of the month

Will I agree with everything Pulido does? No. But I have found him and the Council to be very accessible. Many of the my proposals have been implemented this year. They changed the free day at the Santa Ana Zoo to a Sunday, at my request. They swept the brush at Santiago Park and conducted a decoy sweep that resulted in the arrest of numerous perverts. They are considering my dog park proposal. They have started to use the Google language translator widget on their city website. All of these were my ideas – and they were open to them.

Pulido and his team know that if I don’t like their position on an issue they will be hearing from me. And I know they will take my comments seriously. What more can I ask for?

This Council majority is advancing affordable housing; supporting new developments that will bring jobs to our city; and doing what they can to serve our residents even in these tough times. For those reasons and more Pulido has my vote, as do Council Members Martinez and Tinajero. I will not be wasting my vote on Benavides, although he does not face an opponent. He, like Amezcua, is allied with the Usual Suspects. Some people never learn…

Tinajero shines as vote splitters crash & burn at candidates forum

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Elections, Neighborhood Associations, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 2 Comments

A big thank you to Connie Hamilton and the folks with the South Coast Neighborhood Association for putting on the Ward 6 candidates forum at MacArthur Middle School this evening. Unfortunately for Hamilton, the neighborhood association and all those in attendance this may have been the worst such event in the history of Santa Ana politics. Those were two painful hours that none of us will ever recover.

Only the incumbent, Councilman Sal Tinajero, showed up with a coherant message and a definitive plan for what he will do once he is reelected. His opponents, Helen Martinez and Nam Pham, were simply horrible. I am sorry if that seems a bit harsh but in reality that is actually a kind analysis of their performance. These two clearly are in way over their heads and really have no business on the ballot.

Martinez appeared to be taking her cues from Thomas Gordon via text message as he sat in the audience. Unfortunately for her, just as Gordon can’t count to twenty, Martinez was unable to articulate what Gordon was feeding her. She kept babbling on about “being business friendly” and yet never once explained what she actually meant by the phrase.

Martinez also talked about developing programs to get parents more involved in their childrens schooling, wanting to get more police officers on the street, increase code enforcement efforts and step up graffiti abatement. She didn’t however explain how she would pay for such things other than to say she would “get more grants.” I guess she doesn’t realize our current council is exhausitive in their quest to get any grants that are available.

Hart prayed for release, but the horrible forum kept going for two hours

As a result of Martinez’ rhetoric without a plan Councilman Tinajero opined that she must think that there must be a “leprechaun with a pot of gold” out there to pay for all these things. Tinajero said that he and everyone else in the room want the things Martinez wants but how can we pay for them. He admitted that if the economy doesn’t turn around that we may have to look into a small assessment to pay for new police officers and other services.

I would like to offer a critique of Pham’s performance unfortunately I am still trying to decipher his answers. He just seemed to ramble on endlessly without ever giving a solid answer or offer any type of significant idea’s or plans for what he might do should he be elected to the seat. The only thing I am certain of is that Pham believes that we should never send our police officers on a call without “back up”.

Thomas Gordon ponders what could have been had he been able to count to 20…

The sad part about all this is that Martinez and Pham were thrown to the wolves by folks alligned with Gordon’s failed campaign and perhaps another well known official (more to follow on this in the coming weeks). Evidence is piling up that clearly points to Martinez and Pham being nothing more than vote splitters in an attempt to get Gordon elected. The plan blew up when Gordon failed to count to twenty and get the required signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The Amezcua and Hart Show

Besides Tinajero the big winner of the night had to be Alfredo Amezcua who showed up with his fellow mayoral candidate Charles Hart. Amezcua won a tequilla basket in the raffle drawing. Perhaps he can use it to help console he and his followers on election night.

Gordon announces that Alfredo Amezcua won the Tequila basket

Thomas Gordon supporters did not go away disappointed. “Tommy Boy” did get a chance to take the mic, too bad for him it wasn’t as part of the candidate forum but instead he got to read the winning raffle numbers. Thankfully they didn’t give him a job that required any basic math skills given his issues with counting to twenty.

The Strouds lose their cool

The night was not without fireworks. Bitter and banished ex-commissioner Glen Stroud, the man behind the fraudulent grand jury report, became unhinged and hurled an “f” bomb right in front of Councilman Tinajero’s young son. Way to keep it classy Glen.

Art Pedroza will be posting video of this event later, but I must warn you it will be painful to watch.

Reconnect Nature writing workshops in Santa Ana on Sep. 3 and 4

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Education, Entertainment, Literature, Nature, Santa Ana, Youth Activities Leave a comment

Reconnect Nature, the nature writing workshops, will take place in three specific areas of Santa Ana:

4-6pm Friday, Sept. 3
– downtown in Sasser Park (Santa Blvd. & Ross St.)
– with an uban nature walk through the courthouse lawn
5-8pm Saturday, Sept. 4
– in the Santiago Park Nature Ampetheater (Memory Ln. & Main St.)
– with an indegious Nature ceremony & sunset viewing
3-5pm Sunday, Sept. 5
– near Portola Park (Grand & Santa Clara)
– exploring the past present and future of our natural surroundings.

All ages are welcome, everyone is encouraged to attend all workshops or just one! Snacks and writing supplies will be provided.

If you need assistance with transportation please contact the project Reconnect Nature via email: reconnectnatureblog@gmail.com or call 714-881-2684.

Santa Ana Police Foundation’s next Business Emergency Response class will be on Sep. 9

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Business, Education, Entertainment, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Police Foundation Events: SA-BERT (Business Emergency Response Team) Monthly Training

DATE: Thursday Sep 9, 2010
TIME: 7:15am-sharp (ends 8:45)

LOCATION: Waste Management
1800 South Grand Avenue
Santa Ana, CA 92705-4800
(888) 964-9784

MORE: http://www.sapdf.org/calendar-of-events/class-topics/

NOTE: BERT-CERTIFICATION, CLASS-2- schedule to be discussed.

-PLEASE RSVP by Return eMail to BERT@sapdf.org ** TODAY **

Santa Ana Police Foundation
1801 E ParkCourt Place
Santa Ana, California 92701

Help fund the extreme kitchen makeover at High School Inc., on Sep. 10

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Anaheim, Business, Charities, Civic Affairs, Education, Entertainment, Restaurants, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Youth Activities Leave a comment

PRESS RELEASE

Contact Person: Sharon Gomez, Program Director
Office: (714) 541-5353 x118 / Cell: (714) 981-1796 Sgomez@SantaAnaChamber.com

Extreme Kitchen Makeover, High School Inc.

Culinary delicacies of Spain, a Tapas Party is being held on Friday, September 10, 2010, at 6:00 p.m., Hilton Anaheim, for the High School Inc., Culinary Arts & Hospitality Program.

This is a first-time fund-raiser for the outdated kitchen at Santa Ana Valley High School. 10th – 12th grade students are being trained to enter into the workforce to start a career in the food and customer service jobs for Southern California.

The Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce workforce development program, High School Inc., works with Santa Ana Valley High School students. The school was adopted to become the education to work & college training program.

Three years ago several industries were identified as future high employment needs to sustain the economy and the 2,400 students are a vast group to tap.

The High School Inc. Program has interested students, but the school has a great need to upgrade the kitchen that was originally designed for homemakers of the 1950’s. “Back in the day” when the school was built, during the era of U.S. President Harry S. Truman, the kitchen was for the Home Economics class, however, modern times, the 21st century demands for training with industrial culinary equipment and facilities.

Restaurateurs, executive chefs, and business owners have seen the kitchen and students, they lent their support for the Extreme Kitchen Makeover. The fund-raiser seeks support and below are some event sponsors:

Executive Chef Fred Mensinga, Hilton Anaheim
Natalie Vishny, Swellegant Consultant
Terranea – L.A.’s Oceanfront Resort
Janet Murray CommAlliance Telecommunication Systems, Owner
Sharon’s & Sons, Sharon Barlow, Owner
ALLSTATE, Andres Batta, Financial Services
Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, Dale Ward

The public is welcome to attend the Tapas party at $40 per person or to provide contributions. For more information click here.

###

Amezcua wants jobs but is allied with a job-killing lawyer and lobbyist

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Business, Elections, Jobs, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Former State Senator Joe Dunn, is the Chair of the Voice of OC news blog – which has really been going after Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido of late. Dunn, apparently, is still mad that Pulido blocked him from moving the 4th Court of Appeals building to Irvine.

Dunn also has taken to referring to Pulido’s opponent, lawyer Alfredo Amezcua, as “the mayor.” Well, not quite Dunn. However, it figures that Dunn and Amezcua would be two peas in a pod.

Amezcua’s latest campaign email newsletter states that “we deserve jobs and economic progress.” He goes on to say that we need to combat the highest unemployment in Orange County, with programs to attract and retain businesses that hire our residents. That sounds great, but Amezcua’s alliance with Dunn runs totally counter to those expressed goals. Dunn is, and always has been, a cancer on our state economy.

Dunn became wealthy because of lawsuits against businesses. But that’s not all. When he was a State Senator he relentlessy lobbied for more bills that would create more lawsuits and money for his trial lawyer brethren, according to an article in the Jewish World Review.

Here are just a few examples of the job-killing bills that Amezcua’s pal Dunn championed while in Sacramento:

SB 796 (Dunn) Employment: Private Attorneys General Act of 2004. Allows private rights of action by employees to recover penalties for violations of the Labor Code that have not been collected by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Known as “Sue Your Boss” this is a bill that allows an employee to sue their boss for technical labor violations where no harm ever occurred. A mistakenly out of date elevator permit could cost an employer $16 million dollars in damages!
SB 211 (Dunn) Residential care facilities for the elderly: This bill attempted to prohibit an agreement to arbitrate future disputes from being included in any agreement for admission to a residential care facility for the elderly. Dunn wanted to prohibit arbitration – or non-judicial resolution – for problems related to senior housing – forcing issues into expensive court proceedings where only trial lawyers would profit.
SB 1569 (Dunn) Provider remedies: Senator Dunn also authored legislation allowing doctors to sue HMO’s for unpaid medical claims. While we are all for physicians and everyone else being paid fairly for their work – this would create an avalanche of unintended consequences.

But that’s not all. According to investigative reporter Brian Joseph, Dunn also did a very bad thing when he was head of the California Medical Association. Joseph wrote that Dunn defended a program called Diversion, which allows doctors and surgeons who are drunks or are on drugs to keep practicing medicine while undergoing treatment. But patients are kept in the dark! Several patients have in fact undergone botched operations because of this program.

Dunn now heads up a law firm in Sacramento, called the Senators Firm, that “combines a comprehensive understanding of and access to key legislative and regulatory channels with a top flight complex litigation and civil trial practice,” which is a fancy way of saying that he is both lawyering and lobbying.

There is more to the Pulido hybrid car story than what was reported

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 5 Comments

There has been a lot of chatter in town of late about the hybrud electric plug-in test car that the South Coast Air Quality Management District provides to their Board Member, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. As usual, the media hasn’t covered this story well at all. In fact they are acting like they broke a story, but I reported about this on the Orange Juice blog way back in July of 2008. It is old news.

The Voice of OC slammed Pulido, but even they had to acknowledge the facts, “Officials from the AQMD say the vehicle is test-grade and not up to production standards. They added that Pulido was issued the vehicle to test drive it and report any problems that need to be fixed, and also to demonstrate it to members of the media and other government officials.”

Pulido does in fact demonstrate the car to members of the media and to other government officials. He was driving the electric car recently when he attended a meeting that featured U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer. He told her about the car and she expressed a desire to see it, as she had not seen a car like it before. Pulido was happy to comply. And so they walked to the parking garage and Pulido showed her the car, opening up the trunk to show her the battery.

Moreover, Pulido has been on the hook this entire time for flat tires and mechanical problems, and he pays to recharge the car’s battery. He has also had to pay to have the car towed a number of times. But that is part of the testing process, and Pulido is a true believer in green energy consumption.

Why? Well, consider this report, which was issued yesterday, “Approximately 9,000 people in California are estimated to die prematurely each year as a result of exposure to fine particle pollution,” according to a report issued today by the California Air Resources Board.

Pulido is aware of this and he says that he believes in the mission of the AQMD and wants to do what he can to clean up the environment. He is also a green engineering consultant.

Pulido also explained that his family does have two cars, one which is his. And he does not always use the plug-in car. The Council Members are given a car allowance irresspective of what they drive. Theoretically a skateboarding Council Member would also get the full allowance. This is something that would have to be changed via a new city ordinance.

Remember that Pulido makes about $36K a year as a part-time Mayor. We are getting a lot for that money when you consider he generally puts in over 40 hours a week on city business.

The Voice of OC has yet to fess up to what most O.C. political insiders already know – their Chairman, Joe Dunn, hates Pulido because when Dunn tried to move the 4th Court of Appeals to Irvine, Pulido blocked him. And the union boss who funded the Voice of OC, Nick Berardino, has it in for Pulido because when Tom Umberg ran for Supervisor in the First District, as a carpetbagger, Pulido refused to support him. Berardino was an Umberg supporter.