A suspected car thief in a burgundy car was chased briefly by the SAPD on the south side of the city, near South Bristol Street and West Segerstrom Ave., at around 9:45 pm on Tuesday night, according to the O.C. Register.
When the chase came to an end the suspect tried to run away on foot but was caught and arrested.
A driver of an apparently stolen vehicle led Santa Ana police on a short chase in the south end of the city Tuesday night before he attempted to flee on foot. Continue reading
It is hard to believe given that the Santa Ana City Council is entirely comprised of Latinos, but there are only two Latinos serving currently on the Santa Ana Planning Commission.
To make matters worse, five of the seven Planning Commissioners all live in Ward 3 – which lies in the wealthier, whiter North Santa Ana, including the new Chairman of the Commission, Jim Gartner.
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides represents the heavily Latino Ward 4. But his Planning Commissioner doesn’t live in Ward 4 – and he is not Latino. Benavides appointed Phil Bacerra – a half-Filipino originally from Garden Grove, to represent Ward 4. It is highly unlikely that, were you to drop Bacerra into the middle of Ward 4, he would be able to figure out how to get home, particularly since Bacerra doesn’t drive. Continue reading
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides has been named Executive Director of KidWorks, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that now serves over 800 children, teens and parents through weekly programs and over 4,000 community members annually from three learning centers, according to OC Metro Magazine.
This is not Benavides’ first go-around at KidWorks. According to his official bio, “During his college years, he was introduced to KidWorks, a Santa Ana based non-profit organization which focuses on mentoring and empowering at-risk youth and families in some of the most under-resourced neighborhoods of Orange County. Initially moving to Santa Ana for an 8-week internship with KidWorks, David later became the Director of the non-profit for over six years. During his tenure, David prepared the organization for growth and later continued providing leadership as Board Chairman for over five years.” Continue reading
David Benavides and Phil Bacerra
Agenda Item 13C is on tomorrow night’s Santa Ana City Council agenda, regarding the recommended reappointment of Phil Bacerra to the Ward 4 seat on the Santa Ana Planning Commission. Bacerra’s reappointment, which is being brought forward by Councilman David Benavides, was voted down by a 4-3 vote of the city council last December. Questions regarding Bacerra’s failing to properly disclose ex-parte communications were at the center of that debate.
However it is comments made by Bacerra on the dais during the May 12, 2014 public hearing on an affordable housing development called the “Depot at Santiago,“ that is being built by award-winning developer C&C Development, that raises questions as to why the council would agree to support Bacerra’s reappointment now. In the audio from the May 12th meeting Bacerra can be heard comparing the proposed development to the notorious Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago. Continue reading
A 78-year-old Santa Ana man, Lamberto Mejia, was hit and killed by two vehicles this early this morning at 5:30 a.m. after he tried to cross outside of a crosswalk at the 1700 block of West McFadden Avenue, which is near Jerome Park and MLK Elementary School, according to the O.C. Register. The incident happened in Santa Ana’s Ward 4, which is represented on the City Council by Councilman David Benavides.
Keep in mind the fact that it is still dark at 5:30 a.m. – and the two drivers who hit Mejia stayed at the scene and spoke to the police, who closed McFadden Ave. between S. Raitt St. and S. Pacific Ave. until 11 am today.
Ironically a few hours later the City of Santa Ana sent out a press release asking residents to fill out an online survey to “help make our streets safer for biking, walking, and driving.” Continue reading
The Santa Ana City Council members appointed themselves to various commissions at their meeting tonight.
There was a struggle behind the scenes in recent weeks as Councilman Roman Reyna, who has struggled to maintain a real job aside from his part-time City Council job, lobbied for commission appointments with fatter paychecks. He seems to have won as he did end up receiving two very plum appointments.
Here are the new commission appointments:
City of Santa Ana
SANTA ANA, CA (February 2, 2015) – The public is invited to attend the Tuesday, February 3, 2015 City Council Meeting as Mayor Pulido will recognize African American community leaders with the Exceptional Service Award for their historical contributions and exceptional service to the City of Santa Ana.
Among those to be recognized include: Jesse Allen, T. Leon Berry, Bob Black, Howard Booker, Kathy Davis Bowman, Alberta Christy, Pastor Charles Cole, DeVera Heard, Leon Jacobs, Connie Jones, Bobby McDonald, Minister Paul McReynolds, Pastor Donnell Miles, Bob Morris, Dottie Mulkey, Al Murray, Pastor Gale Oliver, James D. Owens, Ned Owens, Pastor Ivan Pitts, Tyronne Shipp and James Stapleton. Continue reading
While none of the Santa Ana City Council incumbents lost in the November General Election there is still major change coming to our City Council. You might recall that former Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero withdrew his support for Councilman David Benavides, prior to the General Election. Now Tinajero has joined forces with the new Mayor Pro Tem, Vince Sarmiento. In short, the adults are now running the Santa Ana City Council.
Tinajero and Sarmiento are working to form a new City Council majority with Council Members Angie Amezcua and Michele Martinez. The latter has at times joined with Reyna and Benavides. But if Martinez wants to survive in politics she will now dump them and work instead with Sarmiento and Tinajero.
If Martinez decides to be obstinate then Tinajero and Sarmiento have another option. They can form a Council majority with Amezcua and Mayor Miguel Pulido. Continue reading
Is Councilman Benavides capable of running a Santa Ana City Council meeting?
Apparently our current Mayor Pro Tem, Sal Tinajero, is going to vacate the position and allow one of the other Santa Ana Council Members to become our new Mayor Pro Tem, at the next City Council meeting coming up on Tuesday.
Mayor Pro Tem is largely a ceremonial title but in the event that our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, is absent from a City Council meeting, or he either arrives late or has to leave early, the Pro Tem would step up and run the meeting. Continue reading
Karen Haluza, the Interim Executive Director of the Planning and Building Agency at City of Santa Ana, is leaving Santa Ana on December 15, for a new job in the City of Fullerton, in their Community Development department. Haluza lives in Fullerton and she ran unsuccessfully for their City Council in 2008. While she did not win in that election she did garner over 16,000 votes, according to Smart Voter.
Haluza has done a good job in Santa Ana, where she took over the Planning Department after their longtime director, Jay Trevino, retired at the end of 2013.
City Hall insiders say that Haluza was reportedly pushed out of her current job in Santa Ana by Councilman David Benavides and his Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra, who were both embroiled in a scandal this year when Bacerra steadfastly refused to fill out and turn in communication disclosure forms that are mandated for our Planning Commissioners. Bacerra finally buckled after facing removal from the Planning Commisison. Continue reading
The City of Santa Ana is hosting an Installation and Reception for the City Council Members who were reelected in the November General Election as well as Mayor Miguel Pulido, on Tuesday, December 9, 2014, at 6:00 p.m., at the City Council Chambers, located at 22 Civic Center Plaza, in Santa Ana.
There will be a reception immediately following at the Bowers Museum, located at 2002 North Main Street, in Santa Ana. Continue reading
Black Friday is just around the corner and I’m sure Councilman David Benavides is eagerly awaiting to see what gifts will be coming his way this year. According to Benavides’ Form 700 filed with the FPPC, he raked in close to $900 in gifts in 2013. Benavides haul was $545 greater than the next Councilmember on the list, Vince Sarmiento, who received $340 in gifts.
Here is a breakdown of the dollar amount of the gifts reported on the Form 700’s of all Santa Ana elected officials: Continue reading
Transparency really matters to Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero. It is why he split from Councilman David Benavides’ “Team Santa Ana” in the recent City Council election. Benavides steadfastly refused to compel his Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra to fill out the mandated Communication Disclosure forms until Tinajero threatened to remove Bacerra from his Commission.
Tinajero had the votes to dismiss Bacerra and Benavides knew it. Mayor Miguel Pulido and Council Members Vince Sarmiento and Angie Amezcua would have likely backed Tinajero.
Now that the election is over it is time for our City Council to get back to work trying to improve our city however Council Member Michele Martinez reacted in typical chola fashion after the election, when she told the Voice of OC that “When I was fighting the mayor before, the gloves were on, now the gloves are off — its bare knuckles.” Continue reading
Mayor Pulido’s daughter kept tabs on the election results on Election Night
I met with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido last night at his Election Night Party. He was relieved that he was winning but was worried he wouldn’t garner more than 50% of the vote. His 11-year-old daughter was checking the election results on her IPad last night. She has quite an interest in politics – and perhaps she will be running for office after she finishes college.
Pulido ended up with 50.7% of the vote while his challenger Roman Reyna only mustered 6,778 votes, or 33.6% of the vote. The unknown third mayoral candidate, Mark I. Lopez, netted 15.8% of the vote – likely from those who couldn’t bear voting for the other two candidates.
The bad news for Pulido was that his team of City Council challengers – Alex Padilla, Mike Gonzalez and Mirna Velasquez, all lost. If there is any good news it is that the incumbent who did the worst was David Benavides. While his colleague Michele Martinez got less votes than Benavides she had three opponents while Benavides squared off against one challenger – Padilla. Continue reading
The early returns are in with regard to today’s General Election. So far the incumbents are leading in all of the Santa Ana City Council races. It is early yet but in what should prove to be a low turnout election this first batch of votes can foreshadow the evening’s results. These are the early absentee votes – representing the most frequent voters.
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is thoroughly trouncing Councilman Roman Reyna, with over 52% of the vote versus only 32% of the vote for Reyna. Clearly Reyna’s campaign was undone by his unwise decision to hang out with gang bangers.
In Ward 2 the incumbent, Michele Martinez, is leading with 53.8% of the vote in a crowded field. Shockingly Gilad Salmon is in second place with 21.3 % of the vote. Not surprisingly the sole Republican in the race, salsa dancer Rene Gomez, is in dead last with 9% of the vote. Continue reading