New Santa Ana | Category Archives: Vince Sarmiento

Jessica B. Cha is our choice for the Santa Ana City Council’s Ward 1

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Jessica Byulnim Cha, Lawyers, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

It is very difficult to beat incumbents in Santa Ana however local family law attorney Jessica B. Cha is giving it a go. She has filed to run against Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Vince Sarmiento in the upcoming November General Election, in Santa Ana’s Ward 1.

Cha’s parents came to the U.S. from South Korea in 1975. They have very little to their name and, like many Santa Ana residents, had to learn English. Cha’s mother eventually worked full-time as a registered nurse. Cha remembers fondly that her mom always picked her up from school and never missed any of her school functions. Her mom also took care not only of Cha and her sister but also their grandfather, who lived with them. Continue reading→

U.S. Rep. Sanchez endorses Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento for reelection

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Loretta Sanchez, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

U.S. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez Endorses Re-election Of Santa Ana Councilmember Vicente Sarmiento

SANTA ANA – Santa Ana Councilmember Vicente Sarmiento announced today that U.S. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez has formally endorsed his re-election to the Santa Ana City Council.

“I am proud to have Congresswoman Sanchez’s support and confidence,” said Sarmiento, who presently serves as the City’s Mayor Pro Tem. “An asset to Orange County and our community, I have enjoyed working with Loretta over the last decade to secure important federal funding for a variety of law enforcement, transportation, affordable housing, and community development programs for the City of Santa Ana.” Continue reading→

Council Members Martinez and Sarmiento to host a joint Campaign Office Kick-Off on 9/11

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Democratic Party, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

Santa Ana Council Members Michele Martinez and Vince Sarmiento are hosting a joint Campaign Office Kick-Off on Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 414 W. 4th St., in Santa Ana, on Sunday, Sep. 11, 2016, at 10 a.m.

Martinez is running for the First Supervisorial District and Sarmiento is running for re-election in Ward 1. Continue reading→

Will the Santa Ana City Council waste millions by renewing their trash contract with Waste Management tomorrow?

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Trash, Vince Sarmiento, Waste Leave a comment

Did you know that Santa Ana’s longtime trash contract with Waste Management is coming to an end soon? This is a big deal as we have had a contract in place with Waste Management since 1993. The last time this contract came up for renewal it was put to bid via a Request for Proposal (RFP) and the taxpayers saved millions of dollars when Waste Management had to win the bid by lowering their massive price.

The City of Santa Ana got the latest renewal process started when they sent out a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a trash consultant to develop a new contract, in September of last year. Continue reading→

The Santa Ana City Council explains why they think the homeless problem is the County’s fault

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, homeless, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 2 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 1, 2016

CONTACT: Alma Flores, Communications Manager, City of Santa Ana (714) 647-5200, aflores@santa-ana.org

Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento along with Councilmembers Martinez and Reyna Seek to Declare Public Health and Safety Crisis Related to Homelessness

Urging County of Orange to Open Former Transit Terminal for Homeless Services

Santa Ana, CA – Facing mounting public health and safety impacts in the Civic Center and throughout Santa Ana, Mayor Pro Tem Vicente Sarmiento, Councilwoman Michele Martinez and Councilmember Roman Reyna will bring forward a resolution before the Santa Ana City Council declaring a public health and safety crisis related to the large concentration of homeless and urging the County of Orange to take immediate action to provide services to the homeless at the Santa Ana Transit Terminal which the County owns and controls. The item will appear on the September 6th Council Agenda for consideration of the full City Council. The resolution also calls for a number of improvements to enhance public health and safety within the Civic Center and for the support of all Orange County cities to adopt a resolution encouraging action by the County of Orange. Continue reading→

The Santa Ana City Council has declared Aug. 26 to be Women’s Equality Day

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento, Women Leave a comment

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community: Tomorrow, August 26th is “Women’s Equality Day”

The Santa Ana City Council has proclaimed August 26, 2016 as “Women’s Equality Day”. This day commemorates the U.S. Congress’ designation at the behest of Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971.

The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York. Continue reading→

A Santa Ana City Council Member called 911 today to report an assault and robbery in front of his office

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

At about 11 o’clock this morning a Santa Ana City Council Member called 911 to report witnessing a strong arm robbery in front of their office, near 1600 E. 4th Street, according to the SAPD. (Note that Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Vince Sarmiento’s office is located at 1617 E. 4th St., according to the California State Bar).

The City Council Member witnessed the victim being tackled to the ground and the suspect then took his bicycle. Continue reading→

Bullets flew past a little girl tonight while the City Council said crime is going down

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Gangs, Jessica Byulnim Cha, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 6 Comments

The entire Santa Ana City Council took turns lying tonight about how crime in our city is going down, during their televised City Council meeting. But the bad guys apparently weren’t watching the City Council meeting as yet another shooting happened even as the Council Members were blowing hot wind at their meeting.

This latest shooting happened at 1810 S. Evergreen, tonight at 6:45 p.m., which is to say when the sun was still up! When the SAPD police officers arrived they found a male adult shooting victim and his 2-year-old little girl. Continue reading→

Divorce attorney Jessica Cha is challenging Vince Sarmiento in Ward 1 this November

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Jessica Byulnim Cha, Politics, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

It looks like Santa Ana City Councilman Vince Sarmiento won’t be getting a free pass in November after all, as he has drawn an General Election challenger – Jessica Byulnim Cha, a divorce attorney who lives in Santa Ana and also has a law practice on 1851 East First Street.

Cha has an undergraduate degree from U.C. San Diego and a law degree from Syracuse University, according to the California State Bar Association. Unlike Sarmiento she actually practices law and is pretty good – she has a “Superb” rating from AVVO. Sarmiento has a much lower AVVO rating. Continue reading→

Is the under-reporting of crime in Santa Ana an election year tactic?

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, Carlos Rojas, Crime, Mike Harrah, Public Safety, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

Over the last few days two major crimes occurred in Santa Ana that were not reported by the media. In one case a man stole a car in Anaheim and led police on a pursuit that ended when he crashed into Santa Ana’s Walmart. And in another a security guard at Original Mike’s was shot.

While it is true that the O.C. Register is hurting and probably not well-staffed one has to wonder if the under-reporting of crime in Santa Ana is an election year tactic. Continue reading→

Sarmiento elected to serve on NALEO’s Board at a meeting in D.C.

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community: Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento Elected to NALEO Board of Directors

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) has elected Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Vicente Sarmiento to serve a three-year term on the NALEO Board of Directors to begin June 2016 and end in June 2019.

The Board elections took place yesterday at the NALEO Board meeting in Washington, D.C., immediately following the NALEO 33rd Annual Conference. NALEO is the non-partisan leadership organization of the nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials. Continue reading→

Another shooting reported today at Broadway and Pine, in Santa Ana

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Gangs, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

One of our readers has reported a shooting today, just after 1 p.m., at Broadway and Pine in Santa Ana. That area is just east of Santa Ana High School. There are several SAPD units there apparently looking for suspects as seen in the picture below.

Another shooting was reported late last night at McFadden and Standard, just west of Kennedy Elementary School. A truck was reportedly hit by the bullets. The media did not report that shooting or the one today at Broadway and Pine.

The New Year is off to a very bloody start in Santa Ana. So far we have posted five articles in 2016 about gang incidents (two of the articles were about the same incident, where a 19-year-old from Garden Grove died after being shot in the head near Centennial Park). Continue reading→

Why was a 16-year-old allowed to party at the dreadful El Festival Hall Nightclub?

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alcohol, Crime, Public Safety, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 12 Comments

When Lizbeth Mateo, a 16-year-old from Seattle, WA who was visiting family in Santa Ana, disappeared from El Festival Hall Nightclub, in Downtown Santa Ana, after celebrating New Year’s Day there, many of our readers wondered why a teenager was allowed to party at a nightclub that is supposed to be for those 21 years and older.

Mateo has since been found but the questions about El Festival Hall Night Club persist. Continue reading→

Two men in Santa Ana shot while the rest of us rang in the New Year

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

It’s a New Year today but last year’s violence in Santa Ana has continued as two men were shot on New Year’s Eve and early on New Year’s Day, according to the O.C. Register.

SAPD police officers responded on Thursday night, at about 9:50 p.m., to a shooting call at the 1000 block of South Sullivan Street, just west of Jerome Park, where they found that a male homeless person had been shot from behind by an unknown attacker.

The homeless victim was shot in the lower calf and ended up at a local hospital with a wound that did not appear to be life-threatening. Continue reading→

The empty bus terminal in Downtown Santa Ana may be used to help the homeless

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Andrew Do, homeless, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Many community activists in Santa Ana have openly wondered why the vacated OCTA bus terminal, at 405 W. 5th St., has not been used to provide temporary shelter for the many homeless who gather at the Civic Center every day. Now the County of Orange is finally in a position to make this happen as they are finalizing the purchase of the bus terminal, according to the O.C. Register.

The terminal will be purchased for $3.3 million dollars, which will include the terminal and a 473-space parking structure and a seven-story office building that will remain the headquarters of the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The OCTA opened the bus terminal in 1984 but stopped using it in 2008 instead of renovating it to fit the newly designed, natural-gas fueled buses that have become much of the OCTA’s fleet today. Continue reading→