Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Sal Tinajero

Councilman Sarmiento to host a fundraiser for Martinez on 2/23, at his home

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Anaheim, Carlos Bustamante, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Entertainment, Jose Solorio, Latino Leaders, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 10 Comments

Get ready for Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez‘ biggest fundraiser yet, on Thursday, February 23, 2012, from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.  Martinez is the leading Democratic candidate for the 69th Assembly District.  She now has the support of Santa Ana’s leading elected officials, including Host Committee Members Assemblymember Jose Solorio, Mayor Miguel Pulido, Councilmember Vincent Sarmiento, Councilmember David Benavides, Councilmember Carlos Bustamante, and Councilmember Sal Tinajero.

The event will be at the Historic Borchard House, which is the home of Council Member Sarmiento and his wife Eva, at 1617 E. 4th Street, in Santa Ana.  There will be Hors d’oeuvres and Refreshments served. Continue reading→

No Gustavo, Michele Martinez and I did not sell out to Miguel Pulido

Posted on by Posted in 2006 Elections, 2008 Elections, 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante, Claudia Alvarez, Dave Ream, Democratic Party, Elections, Julio Perez, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 14 Comments

The OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano is a huge fan of far-left Democrat Julio Perez – one of four Democrats vying for the 69th Assembly District.  That’s fine.  What is not cool is Gustavo’s continued allegation that Santa Ana Council Woman Michele Martinez “sold out” to Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.  That is not just untrue – it is complete B.S.

The reality is that Martinez was elected to Ward 2 on the Santa Ana City Council by running AGAINST Pulido’s handpicked candidate, the useless Tino Rivera (a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party for that race).  That was a tough race – Martinez was unknown and vastly underfunded.  The other candidates included a Com Link Board Member, Evangeline Gawronski, who ran a credible campaign; a candidate, Tish Leon, who took out a loan on her house; and Rivera.  Martinez punked them all, garnering 32.6% of the vote, according to Smart Voter.

Think about it – Martinez began her career in politics by taking out Pulido’s handpicked lame candidate.  This is a sell out?  Really? Continue reading→

Updated: Thomas Gordon cut out of Santa Ana’s Ward 6

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Civic Affairs, Elections, Politics, Republican Party, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Update: The Santa Ana City Council voted unanimously this week to approve the proposed changes to the Santa Ana Ward Maps.  Past mayoral candidate Thomas Gordon is now in Ward 4, which is represented by Councilman David Benavides.  Gordon will not be able to run against Councilman Sal Tinajero in Ward 6 – ever.

The Santa Ana City Council at its regularly scheduled City Council Meeting, held December 19, 2011, approved, by unanimous consent, the first reading of an ordinance that will change the City Council Ward Boundaries.  But while the City Council could, and should, have settled the matter that night, they instead opted to put the changes off until a second reading of the ordinance, which is set for Tuesday, January 17th at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers.

I am hearing that the only person who submitted new ward map proposals was Thomas Gordon, who currently resides in Ward 6.  Under the proposed changes he would be shifted over to Ward 4.  Gordon tried to run against Ward 6 Councilman Sal Tinajero back in 2010, but Gordon’s nomination signatures fell short.  Apparently he wants to run again when Tinajero’s seat comes up again in 2014. Continue reading→

Poll closes tonight: Who was Santa Ana’s Man of the Year in 2011?

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Arts and Culture, David Benavides, Jose Solorio, Miguel Pulido, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 22 Comments

Santa Ana Youth Commissioner Jonathan Espinoza is leading the vote for “Man of the Year”

We started the tradition of asking our readers to vote for the “Santa Ana Man of the Year” last year, when my friend Naui Huitzilopochtli won easily.  I believe he now lives in Costa Mesa, so he won’t be repeating – but we do have some great choices in the poll below.

As 2011 draws to a close, it is time one more to ponder, who was Santa Ana’s Man of the Year?  Vote below – and yes you can vote for up to three choices (if I missed someone you think should be on the list, please let us know by commenting!): Continue reading→

The Amezcua brigade demands seats on the Santa Ana Ethics Panel

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 18 Comments

Al Amezcua and his daughter Valerie Amezcua led a contingent of angry Usual Suspects at last night’s Santa Ana Code of Ethics Committee meeting, which was held at City Hall.  They were accompanied by a wandering blogger from Long Beach.

The Code of Ethics Committee is comprised of Council Members Vince Sarmiento and Sal Tinajero, who chaired the meeting.  Tinajero was forced at one point to intercede when a teetering vintage Usual Suspect tried to talk over Sarmiento.  That brought on an angry tirade from former Councilman Tom Lutz who objected to Tinajero’s attempt to run a professional meeting.  “She’s not one of your students Sal,” proclaimed Lutz, who was right – Tinajero’s students are much better behaved than the Usual Suspects. Continue reading→

UPDATE: Santa Ana Code of Ethics meeting tonight at 6 pm

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 30 Comments

Unethical behavior is abundant in Santa Ana politics…

The Santa Ana City Council is holding a meeting on Dec. 6, at 5:30 pm, to review the “Code of Ethics,” which voters passed when they voted for Measure D, which extended Council term limits.  The Council appointed a committee of three Council Members, including Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez, Vince Sarmiento and Sal Tinajero, to conduct this review.

Alvarez has since backed out – in the wake of the Code being used by Council Members David Benavides and Carlos Bustamante to try to punish her after she made a bad Hitler analogy in referring to controversial Downtown Santa Ana landlord Irv Chase.

None of the other Council Members, including Benavides and Bustamante, want anything to do with the Review Committee.  I can’t blame them.  The Code of Ethics was designed to muzzle bloggers who were put on City Commissions.  Ironically it is now being used by the Usual Suspects to attack Santa Ana’s Council Member.  And that obsessed Long Beach blogger has written not one but two posts about the Santa Ana Code of Ethics Review Committee.  Good grief! Continue reading→

Support Michele Martinez for Assembly this Thursday night

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Jose Solorio, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez has announced a series of fundraisers for her campaign for the 69th Assembly District.  She has been endorsed by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Santa Ana Councilmen Vince Sarmiento, Sal Tinajero and David Benavides.  She has also been endorsed by termed out Assemblyman Jose Solorio.

The campaign events are as follows:

Host Mike Gonzalez, A.D.E.L.S.A
November 17th
6pm- 8:00pm
El Cortez Restaurant
1100 S. Grand Avenue, Santa Ana CA 92705 Continue reading→

PBID to be reconsidered by the Santa Ana City Council in May

Posted on by Posted in Business, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez tried her best to stop the PBID (a property tax in Downtown Santa Ana that is used largely to promote bars and restaurants and to maintain and secure the area) at Monday night’s Santa Ana City Council meeting, but she could not muster any support from her colleagues.

Instead, “The issue will be taken up again in May, according to Councilman Sal Tinajero, who told the Voice of OC “because the city should be allowed to consider dismantling the district without threat of litigation at that time. The law governing the district requires council members vote annually on whether to continue the district.” Continue reading→

Why did Santa Ana Occupy fail to support affordable housing last night?

Posted on by Posted in Affordable Housing, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Development, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 56 Comments

Why should Santa Ana Occupy care about affordable housing?  

Their leader is a wealthy lawyer who lives in Brea!

About 40 members of Santa Ana Occupy showed up at Santa Ana’s City Council last night.  Thanks to them the meeting went on until midnight.  In the end the City Council rejected their demand to camp out at night on city property.

That much you know by now – but did you know that the Occupy members also completely failed last night – when they were given an opportunity to help the “99%?”

That’s right.  The City Council finally voted on an ordinance that would force developers to include affordable housing in their residential developments. Continue reading→

Updated: Santa Ana Council rejects Occupy camping bid

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Orange County, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 22 Comments

This guy says he is almost homeless…

UPDATE: The Santa Ana City Council rejected Santa Ana Occupy’s request to camp out in Downtown Santa Ana, according to O.C. Register reporter Andrew Galvin, who commented on his Facebook page.  The Council meeting lasted until midnight but turned out to be an epic fail for Santa Ana Occupy, as we predicted earlier.

The Santa Ana City Council just got underway a few minutes ago.  The Council Members are still giving away various awards and commendations.  It could be awhile before Occupy Santa Ana gets to argue that the City should allow them to camp out at night…

I will be watching the meeting from home and you are invited to comment as the meeting unfolds.

Click here to watch the meeting online, live. Continue reading→

Team Pulido and Solorio publicly endorse Michele Martinez at her fundraiser

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante, Democratic Party, Elections, Jose Solorio, Michele Martinez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 43 Comments

When OC Labor Political wannabe Julio (Wholio?) Perez held his fundraiser this month it turned into a reunion of the sad sacks who failed to elect Alfredo Amezcua last year, when he got thoroughly trounced by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.  In stunning contrast tonight, Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez was ringed by the entire Pulido political machine – including Assemblyman Jose Solorio, who enthusiastically endorsed Martinez.  So what do you think?  Will the failed Team Amezcua beat Team Pulido?  LOL!  Not in our lifetime…

Martinez and her supporters met at Chapter One: the Modern Local, a newish restaurant over on Broadway and 3rd.  Santa Ana Council Members David Benavides, Vince Sarmiento, and Sal Tinajero showed up to publicly announce their support for Martinez – and so did several Santa Ana Planning Commissioners, including Eric Alderete, Sean Mill and Mario Turner. Continue reading→

Updated: Michele Martinez to kick off her Assembly campaign on 9/22

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Jose Solorio, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 14 Comments

Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez has officially announced her candidacy for the 69th Assembly District, in an email I am reproducing below.  She is also hosting a Candidacy Announcement Kick-Off event on Thursday, September 22nd.  Click here to RSVP on Facebook.

Martinez’ candidacy announcement cited the support of numerous elected and appointed officials, including Assemblyman Jose Solorio; OUSD Trustee Diane Singer; Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido; and Santa Ana Council Members David Benavides, Vince Sarmiento and Sal Tinajero.

Mayor Pulido sent out a personal endorsement of Martinez today: Continue reading→

Live blogging – Alvarez vs. Bustamante and Benavides at the Council meeting

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 12 Comments

I am covering tonight’s Santa Ana City Council meeting – which figures to be an epic confrontation between Republican Council Member Carlos Bustamante and his sidekick, David Benavides vs. Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez.  The “B Boys” have put an 85 A item on the agenda to punish and maybe even ask Alvarez to resign from the Council.

This all came about as a result of an analogy made by Alvarez at the last Council meeting, when she compared developer and property owner Irv Chase to Adolf Hitler.  She has since apologized. Continue reading→

Why not name the O.C. Great Park after Harvey Milk?

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, irvine, Orange County, Parks and Recreation, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Will Irvine Mayor Beth Krom support naming the O.C. Great Park after Harvey Milk?

While everyone has been focusing on the ruckus between Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez and the Chase family, at last night’s special session of the Santa Ana City Council, there was one other controversial item on the agenda.

The Council named a city-owned plaza that is in the East End Promenade, formerly the Fiesta Marketplace.  They chose to name it the Plaza Santa Ana.

An Irvine blogger ripped this decision and he questioned why the City Council did not name the Plaza after Harvey Milk, the gay San Francisco politician who was murdered by another Supervisor.  Milk has since become an icon of the gay movement. Continue reading→