Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Monthly Archives: July 2012

O.C. Supervisors vote to bring Wild Rivers back to O.C., by the Great Park

Posted on by Posted in irvine, Orange County, Santa Ana, Sports Leave a comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 31, 2012
Contact: James Campbell, 714.227.1011, James.Campbell@ocpw.ocgov.com

Board Makes a Splash! County of Orange Agrees to 25 Year Lease to Bring Wild Rivers Back to Irvine at Orange County Great Park

(Santa Ana, CA) — The Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a lease with Wild Rivers today to construct and operate a new water park in Irvine on County property.

Located at the former MCAS El Toro, the 17 acre park will be constructed across from The Great Park on property the County received after the former Marine Corps Air Station closed. Wild Rivers’ previous lease with the Irvine Company expired last year after operating successfully for 27 years on Irvine Company property adjacent to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Continue reading→

Tinajero running for Mayor, making Benavides an afterthought

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Labor, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 31 Comments

Popular Santa Ana Council Member Sal Tinajero pulled papers today to run for Mayor of Santa Ana.  Tinajero served on the SAUSD School Board before getting elected to the Santa Ana City Council in 2006, when he beat a candidate backed by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.  Tinajero won by just under a thousand votes against Jennifer Villasenor, according to Smart Voter.

Tinajero just missed being the top vote-getter when he won a seat on the SAUSD School Board in 2004.  He was the top vote-getter when he first won a school board seat in 2000. Continue reading→

Edison announces planned power outages in Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Energy, Santa Ana Leave a comment

SCE ANNOUNCES PLANNED POWER OUTAGES IN SANTA ANA

SANTA ANA, CA (July 27, 2012) – SCE notified the City of Santa Ana that it will be performing maintenance on the electrical system in the area. In order to perform this work safely, SCE must temporarily interrupt electric service and turn off power. This outage will allow them to upgrade aging infrastructure, make needed improvements, and complete other repairs. SCE realizes this temporary service interruption may cause some inconvenience, and they appreciate your understanding as they work to increase system reliability for the future. The planned outages are as follows: Continue reading→

National Philanthropy Day O.C. to honor Santa Ana youth philanthropist

Posted on by Posted in Charities, Entertainment, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Women Leave a comment

OC’s Top Philanthropists Announced for 27th Annual National Philanthropy Day OC

Nine outstanding honorees to be recognized for their philanthropic impact to Orange County

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ORANGE COUNTY, CA– Orange County’s top philanthropists, business leaders and individuals of 2012 have been announced and will be honored at this year’s National Philanthropy Day Orange County luncheon celebration on November 15, 2012 for their outstanding philanthropy in the community. Continue reading→

Benavides announces campaign for Mayor of Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 3 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 30, 2012
Contact: Benavides for Santa Ana Mayor,  714.475.1630, david@davidbenavides.com

Santa Ana Councilmember David Benavides announces candidacy for Mayor; thanks incumbent Mayor for over 25 years at City Hall.

Santa Ana, CA (July 30, 2012) – “Santa Ana is ready to once again be the thriving urban center and heart of Orange County. I am ready to be the Mayor with the vision and commitment to help our city realize its potential,” Benavides said. “As Mayor I will engage our residents and businesses and bring our community together around the common goals of safe neighborhoods, strong businesses, and building our city into a cultural destination – a city in which we can all take pride.” Continue reading→

Why I won’t be voting for Benavides in November

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 36 Comments

Is it any surprise to anyone that Santa Ana Council Member David Benavides chose to break the news that he is running against Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido on the Republican OC Political blog?  That is exactly what I have come to expect from Benavides. 

When Benavides was first elected, back in 2006, he had a great story to offer.  He had come to Santa Ana as part of a ministry and he decided to stay here and put down roots.  But he very quickly was compromised by Santa Ana’s racist old guard – the Usual Suspects.  Mostly old and angry Republicans they brought him up through the Neighborhood Association movement – which pretends to represent the people of Santa Ana but realistically represents at most 1% of our community – and is heavily subsidized by our tax dollars.  He declared on his Smart Voter page that he was the winner of the “Neighborhood Hero Award,” the penultimate badge of honor for these metiches.  Continue reading→

Why they can’t beat Miguel Pulido – and he will win again this year

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Brett Franklin, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Elections, Eric Alderete, Julio Perez, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Paul Walters, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Transportation, Valerie Amezcua 10 Comments

UPDATE: Council Member Sal Tinajero has pulled papers to run against Mayor Pulido this November.  Chisme has it that Benavides will be pressured to get out of the race ASAP.

UPDATE: Council Member David Benavides has announced that he is running for Mayor.  Pulido has nothing to worry about.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s detractors are befuddled about how exactly he keeps on winning, every two years.  What they don’t understand is that their views don’t reflect the views of the residents at large in our city.

Santa Ana is a huge city.  The “inside baseball” and chismoso/gadfly set is fairly small, perhaps a hundred people at most.  In 2010, mayoral challenger Alfredo Amezcua lined up a lot of these folks – and combined them with the dwindling “Usual Suspects.”  Amezcua spent a quarter million dollars and he thought he had victory in the bag.  But you see what he was listening to was an echo chamber – and he failed to reach the majority of voters in Santa Ana. Continue reading→

What if Latino cops had shot a white guy in Anaheim Hills?

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Crime, Gangs, Latinos, Politics, Public Safety 4 Comments

Imagine if you will that instead of an unarmed Manuel “Stomper” Diaz getting chased down and shot in the back, the victim had been some random white skateboarder in Anaheim Hills? And what if the shooter had been a Latino cop? Oh my. What a different outcome we would have – or would we?

The O.C. Register today asked for calm in Anaheim, opining “The Register’s Editorial Board urges calm and healing at this time of division in the community. We believe a small minority may feel there is something to be gained by inciting further violent confrontations. Nothing is to be gained by fanning animosity on either side of the issue.” Continue reading→

Updated: Verino and Amezcua to run for the SAUSD School Board

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Democratic Party, Education, Republican Party, Rob Richardson, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Sergio Verino, Valerie Amezcua 20 Comments

Valerie and Al Amezcua

UPDATE: Valerie Amezcua has pulled papers to run for the SAUSD Board of Education.  She last ran for the SAUSD School Board in 2008, when she lost by less than a hundred votes to Roman Reyna.  Reyna is running for the Santa Ana City Council in November and is walking away from the SAUSD School Board.  Amezcua had a chance to run for the SAUSD School Board in 2010, but she declined to do so. 

Amezcua is the daughter of local attorney Al Amezcua, who challenged Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido in 2010, losing badly.  Al and Valerie both served on the Measure G Campaign Committee – helping to pass a bond measure that raised our taxes for dubious purposes (the SAUSD School District remodeled their district offices after Measure G passed).  Both of the Amezcuas also supported liberal union hack candidate Julio Perez in the Open Primary, for the 69th Assembly District.  Perez spent a small fortune on that race, as did his labor allies, but he lost to a Republican, Jose Moreno, who spent almost nothing on his campaign. Continue reading→

Judge rules that Alvarez cannot run again for the Santa Ana City Council

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Courts, Democratic Party, Elections, Karina Onofre, Miguel Pulido, Republican Party, Rob Richardson, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 18 Comments

 

An Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled that Santa Ana City Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez may not run for a fourth council term, according to the Voice of OC.  I have also confirmed this with my own sources – Alvarez’ political career is over – or is it?  She can still run for Mayor of Santa Ana, although that is not likely as Mayor Miguel Pulido supported her attempt to run again.  And she could run for the Santa Ana Unified School District’s Board of Education, or for the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Education. 

The unfortunate side affect of this ruling is that it decreases the chance that an opponent to Pulido will arise.  If someone does challenge him then Alvarez will likely run for Mayor and count on a vote split putting her in office, particularly if one of her male colleagues opts to run against Pulido.  Her defeat in this lawsuit likely means Pulido will sail to an easy victory in November. Continue reading→

SAPD to conduct a DUI checkpoint this Saturday, 7/28, at 1500 E. McFadden

Posted on by Posted in Alcohol, Bars, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Police Department Advisory: Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday, July 28th, 1930-0130. 1500 E Mc Fadden

In a cooperative effort with the California Highway Patrol, the Santa Ana Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday, July 28th, 2012. It will begin at 7:30PM and is scheduled to conclude at 1:30AM. It will be conducted in the area of 1500 E. McFadden Avenue, Santa Ana, CA. Continue reading→

SAUSD Board of Education Candidate Filing Information

Posted on by Posted in Elections, Politics, Santa Ana, SAUSD 1 Comment

If you are interested in becoming a candidate in the upcoming SAUSD Board of Education election, click here to be directed to the Orange County Office of Registrar of Voters’ website for information on how to proceed with the process.

 Important Dates

Steve Rocco becomes fifth candidate to announce for Ward 3

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Charles Hart, Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Eric Alderete, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Shane Barrows, Shane Ramon Barrows, Steve Rocco 10 Comments

It looks like Steve Rocco is back.  According to Santa Ana neighborhood leader Connie Hamilton, Rocco has pulled papers to run for Ward 3 on the Santa Ana City Council.  He previously ran for Ward 3 back in 2008.

Here is a rundown of the many races Rocco has been involved in over the years:

  • Nov 7, 2000 – Ran against Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.  Got 5,733 votes according to Smart Voter.
  • Nov. 5, 2002 – Ran against Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee John Hanna.  Got 19,247 votes according to Smart Voter.
  • Nov. 2, 2004 – Ran against Phil Martinez for the Orange Unified School District’s Board of Education.  Rocco won this race with 33,503 votes according to Smart Voter.  Red County blogger Matt Cunningham admitted afterwards that he voted for Rocco rather than vote for his Latino Democrat opponent. Continue reading→

Berger Kahn opens doors for Santa Ana’s youth through Project SELF

Posted on by Posted in Education, irvine, Jobs, Lawyers, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Berger Kahn’s Project SELF intern Elvis Bolainez, 17, of Century High School, on June 19, 2012, his first day interning at the law firm’s Irvine office. Photo courtesy of Berger Kahn.

NOTE: On Wednesday, August 1, 2012, the annual Project SELF Recognition Dinner will be held at the Hilton Irvine, featuring Judge Francisco Briseno as the keynote speaker.

Berger Kahn Opens Doors for Santa Ana’s Youth through Project SELF Legal Internship Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IRVINE, CA- Berger Kahn is providing a paid summer internship program for a Santa Ana high school student through the Project SELF program. Partner Teresa R. Ponder serves as a professional mentor to intern Elvis Bolainez, 17, of Century High School, who began working at Berger Kahn June 19, 2012. Continue reading→

Residents invited to participate in Bridges to Engineering Program

Posted on by Posted in Education, Jobs, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Community: Santa Ana WORK Center Invites Residents to Participate in Upcoming Bridges to Engineering Program

SANTA ANA, CA (July 25, 2012) – The Santa Ana WORK Center, in partnership with Santa Ana College, is looking for local residents to participate in its Bridges to Engineering program. The program integrates an accelerated math component into a pre-engineering curriculum designed to assist students to transfer into articulated engineering pathways that exist within the California State University and University of California systems. Continue reading→