In case you are wondering what went on at the Tax Day Tea Party in Santa Ana, I have posted video above that was shot by past Mayoral candidate George Collins.
Rancho Santiago Community College District Phil Yarborough opened the event. He was followed by a guy who sounded like he was a birther.
Then some guy dressed up as a patriot got up and complained about how the British taxed the heck out of the colonial Americans. Continue reading
Raul Godinez is getting ready to raise your water rates again!
Have you enjoyed watching your water bills in Santa Ana get higher and higher? Well prepare yourself. Public Works Director Raul Godinez wants to raise your water rates again.
I spent some time the other day with a City Hall insider and got an earful about what is really going on at the Santa Ana Public Works Department, since Godinez came to town.
Like most city agencies, the Public Works Department has had to let go a lot of people. Senior operators and techs are retiring and not being replaced.
Godinez is trying to use computers to regulate water pressure at night, instead of hiring nighttime operators. The result? All those damaged water mains. What is damaging them isn’t corrosion, but rather water pressure spikes. The computers cannot adjust the pressure the way humans do. So sometimes the water pressure zooms up and some of the pipes cannot take it. Continue reading
Smooth Driving for Santa Ana’s Road Repair Program
Santa Ana, CA – While most budget-strapped cities are cutting back on badly needed road repairs, the City of Santa Ana is putting the pedal to the metal.
The City, which is halfway through a multi-year, $72-million residential road rehabilitation program, is under budget and ahead of schedule on a model project that is much kinder to the environment than traditional road repair programs.
“We are pleased to report that our citywide street repair program will be completed in three years instead of five, will cost 30 percent less than first envisioned, use state-of-the-art green technologies, and will be less disruptive to our residents,” said Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.
The Mayor and City officials will recognize and demonstrate this innovative road repair program at a press conference to be held April 19, 2010, 12:30 p.m. Continue reading
Dia del Niño/Children’s Day, is a tradition celebrated in Mexico and in many parts of the world-a day when communities honor their children.
Dia del Niño/Children’s Day will be held in Santa Ana on April 18, from 11 am to 5 p,. at 3rd and Bush, in downtown Santa Ana. Call 714-277-7183 if you have any questions, or send an email toa elcentro.events@gmail.com.
We, at El Centro Cultural de Mexico, would like to extend this special day to all children, families, cultural groups, community resources and businesses in and around Santa Ana, in an effort to bring together communities of diverse cultures, promoting global understanding and celebrating our multicultural nation through play, the arts, and literacy. Continue reading
A new Facebook group is calling itself “Alfredo Amezcua 30,000 Strong,” and asking members of the community to join their campaign to elect Amezcua as our next Santa Ana Mayor. They currently have three members.
Here is what they have to say on their Facebook page:
Our main objective is to motivate Santa Ana’s young (18-35) to come out and vote for change on November 02, 2010. By joining you are committed to motivate 5 fellow residents of Santa Ana to vote for CHANGE! As a fellow Santa Ana resident I urge you to join and lets show the establishment that we have the PODER, not them. YA BASTA QUE NOS VEAN LA CARA DE CANGREJOS! Continue reading
Forgiveness is Good Business in Santa Ana
April 5, 2010
Forgiveness, it seems, makes good business sense.
Since enacting a business license tax amnesty program at the beginning of February, the City of Santa Ana has collected more that $500,000 from 1,300 unlicensed businesses that did not report or underreported business tax.
“We sent out letters to about 15,000 businesses that may not have known that they need a license to do business in the city,” said Christine Duarte, Treasury Manager for Santa Ana. “This is all about coming clean with the city.”
She estimated there are about 25,000 businesses operating in Santa Ana.
Anyone transacting and conducting business in Santa Ana is required to obtain a business license. Collected fees go into the city’s general fund and are used to support public safety services such as police and fire. Continue reading
There was a big hulabulloo recently in regards to the Mexican Independence Day celebration in downtown Santa Ana that was scheduled to take place on September 11th of this year. The Orange County Register used its platform to stir the pot and throw red meat to the scores of bigots and racists that make up a good chunk of their readership by questioning whether or not the event should take place on the 9th annivesary of the terrorist attacks.
My question is: Where were the folks at the Register and the others so steadfastly opposed to this event being held on that day back in 2004, when it was held on September 11th of that year?
I think that it is quite clear that the Register and company are just jumping on to the bandwagon of hate and anger that we are seeing in our country. They are simply trying to seize upon this climate that we have seen created by right-wing extremists and their friends in the media like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh.
With this constant nasty vitriol being aimed at healthcare reform, immigration reform and anything President Obama supports it doesn’t take much to stir these folks up. Just knowing that a Black man is in the White House is usually enough to many of these folks blood boiling. Continue reading
Picture Courtesy of the Miniondas Newspaper
Santa Ana dentist Dr. Art Lomeli was one of several downtown Santa Ana merchants who met with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream to plan this year’s Cinco de Mayo festivities, according to the Miniondas newspaper.
This had to be an awkward experience for Lomeli, who is actively campaigning to oust Pulido and replace him with local attorney Alfredo Amezcua. Another merchant who was at the meeting, Sam Romero, is also part of Amezcua’s “SACrED” organization.
This year’s Santa Ana Cinco de Mayo festivities will start on Saturday, May 1, and continue on May 2.
So why is Cinco de Mayo important both to Mexicans and to Americans? Here is a great summation of the history of Cinco de Mayo: Continue reading
Tax time is fast approaching
Warning, the Post Office on North Grand will NOT be open late to collect returns on April 15th.
So if you are going to wait until the last moment, try the Post Office on Sunflower in South Santa Ana.
North Grand will close at 6pm on the 15th.
I was pretty upset when I found out that the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) assigned 125 cops to go after the Easter Cruisers this past weekend.
I found a video on YouTube that chronicled what went on this Sunday. I translated the text on that site below:
In the middle of Easter Sunday, the Police Department Santa Ana, was conducting traffic control in different areas of the city. Continue reading
One of the rallying cries we have been hearing from the supporters of mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua is that the city of Santa Ana issued Alex Vega a permit prior to his protest in front of Amezcua’s office on Monday evening. I just spoke with a high ranking source within city hall and they told me that no permit was issued because no permit was required. They stated Vega had a “First Amendment right” to protest.
The issue of a permit was first raised by Amezcua confidente Dr. Art Lomeli in comments posted on this blog. “I understand Alex Vega sought and recieved from the city of Santa Ana a permit to protest in front of Mr. Amezcua’s legal practice,” said Lomeli. “The city gave a permit to a political soldier of the Mayor who’s purpose is to attack a resident and political challenger to the Mayor for the purpose to defame and damge the protest target’s ability to earn a living.”
Lomeli went on to infer that Chief Paul Walters, the Santa Ana Police Department and city staff were complicit in Vega’s attack on a political rival of Mayor Pulido. This is simply not true and I believe that Dr. Lomeli and the Amezcua campaign owe the Chief and others an apology for implying this
Continue reading No Permit Issued By City For Amezcua Office Protest
Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez is hosting a Station District Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, April 21, at 6:30 pm, at Garfield Elementary School, located at 850 Brown St., in Santa Ana.
City Staff and representatives from the Orange County Transportation Authority & Southern California Association of Governments will be available to discuss issues and concerns related to the Station District, which is in Ward 2, which Council Member Martinez represents.
Click here for more information about the Pacific Electric Right of Way, provided by SCAG. Continue reading
Thousands of people lined the streets and filled St. Martin De Porres Catholic Church in Yorba Linda to pay there respects to Lance Cpl. Rick Centanni. Centanni was killed on March 24th along with another Marine from Yorba Linda Sgt. Major Robert Cottle when an improvised explosive device exploded in Afghanistan.
Centanni is the son of Santa Ana Police Sgt. Jon Centanni. Hundreds of officers from Santa Ana and other agencies across the county were there to offer their support to Centanni and to honor his son. Ironically Cottle was a police officer as well, he was a member of the LAPD.
Lance Cpl. Centanni hoped to follow in his fathers footsteps one day and become a Santa Ana police officer. Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters made the younger Centanni a police officer today, presenting his father with an honorary badge, a nameplate and identification card. The badge inscribed with number 3228 will never be worn again by a Santa Ana officer.
Click here to read the rest of this post.
Washington Square resident Tim Rush was a Neighborhood Hero in 1999
The Com-Link Board is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Neighborhood Hero Award. The award was established in 1997 by the Com-Link Board in order to honor those residents of Santa Ana who have shown commitment and enthusiasm toward improving the quality of life in their neighborhoods.
All residents and other members of neighborhood associations are encouraged to nominate outstanding leaders. Nominations are due April 20th, selection of award recipients will take place on May 4th and the awards ceremony will be on June 24th.
Click here to download the nomination form. Click here to see the 2009 Neighborhood Heroes. Click here to see all the past winners. For more information, go to the Com-Link website at http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/cda/com-link.asp or call Neighborhood Improvement at 714-667-2260.
If you sign up you will receive a free pass for thirty days to 24 hour fitness. Continue reading
Miguel Pulido’s pal Alex Vega struck again late this afternoon, assembling about 20 of his family and friends in front of Santa Ana mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua’s law office, at 1319 N. Broadway, in Santa Ana.
The protesters carried signs alluding to Vega’s charges that Amezcua is a bad lawyer. That despite the fact that the California Stat Bar Association does not note any complaints in Amezcua’s file.
Why is Pulido allowing Vega to embarrass him like this? It would be one thing to argue the issues with Amezcua, but going after his business is a real low blow. Continue reading
