We recently took a look at the official City Calendars of each of our Santa Ana City Council Members. Now it is time to vote! Which one of our Council Members is the very worst of the bunch?
Category Archives: Vince Sarmiento
Councilman Sarmiento’s calendar shows that he keeps a very full schedule
We have been looking this week at the publicly posted official calendars of our City Council Members, for the month of June, 2013. So far we have determined that Council Members David Benavides and Angie Amezcua are barely present in their own Wards, while Council Member Michele Martinez is staying pretty active in her own Ward. And we were disappointed by Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero, who was only active on ten days in June, and by Roman Reyna, who was totally absent from his Ward in June. Now we turn to the calendar of Council Member Vincent Sarmiento, who represents Ward 1.
- On June 1, Sarmiento was at the SA Health & Fitness Fair, at Rosita Park, which lies on the boarder of Wards 3 and 5.
- On June 3, he was at the Triada Court at The Station District Grand Opening, in Ward 2. Continue reading
Santa Ana Political Chismes – Sarmiento for Supervisor?
I had a long talk this afernoon with a Santa Ana insider who had some amazing chismes for me. I was expecting that perhaps Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido would run for the Orange County Supervisorial seat that is currently held by Janet Nguyen, but apparently Councilman Vincent Sarmiento has decided to run, and Pulido is not going to oppose him.
But the biggest shocker was that Measure D may be in trouble – and that it could be reversed if it is challenged in court. That was the measure that extended the term limits of the Santa Ana Council Members by four years, from 8 years to 12. That measure was on the ballot in a special election but apparently it should have been put in front of the voters in a general election. What this means, if it does get wiped out, is that several Santa Ana Council Members will be termed out – including Michele Martinez and Sal Tinajero. Continue reading
Santa Ana Political Chismes – is a new City Manager on the way?
So many chismes! The big one I am hearing is that the Santa Ana City Council is preparing to hire a new City Manager at a special meeting next week, perhaps on Tuesday, and that they are continuing to accept job applications through this Friday. But who would want to work for this bunch?
Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez is up for re-election in 2014. But this time she won’t be getting a free pass. I hear a very well-connected Latina is preparing to challenge her! Considering how poorly Martinez fared in last June’s Open Primary, when she came in almost last in her campaign for the 69th Assembly District, she better be worried about this. She blew some $200K on that race. Who will donate money to her now? Continue reading
Big turnout for Santa Ana’s May Day March
Santa Ana’s May Day march was a huge success. The theme of the May Day March was immigration reform. There are only two immigrants left on our City Council today – Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilman Vince Sarmiento. David Benavides, Michele Martinez and Roman Reyna are however fluent in Pocho.
Kudos to Naui for shooting these videos. Here is another video shot at the march: Continue reading
Deputy City Manager Jill Arthur being investigated for misconduct
Santa Ana Deputy City Manager Jill Arthur was placed on administrative leave this week pending a city-commissioned investigation into allegations that she engaged in misconduct following a traffic accident, according to the Voice of OC.
The Voice of OC reported that “According to sources familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity, Arthur was involved in a car accident with Marcel Alvarez, a 22-year-old Buena Park resident. Rather than exchange insurance information, Arthur offered to get Alvarez a job by leveraging her influence at the Santa Ana Work Center, a city office that assists residents in finding employment, sources said.” Continue reading
Another damn Streetcar
From the OC Politics Blog
Lurking in the back of the OCTA‘s Measure M Wasteful Boondoggles Projects File is another streetcar project in Santa Ana. It’s not as expensive (for now) as the $319 million debacle that’s been cooked up in Anaheim by the City Council and the Toontown Troika of SOAR, the OC Business Council and Master of the Universe Curt Pringle’s team of lackeys, but it’s just as big a turkey. The Register reports today (don’t worry about the paywall) that so far it’s coming in at a minor $209 million even though it’s longer and has five times more stops than the Murray/Eastman Express.
From Lou Gonzales’ story, there are some absolutely priceless quotes from a clueless, in-the-dark City Councilman and his colleague, Michele Martinez, a failed Mayoral candidate:
Santa Ana Political Chismes: Will Michele Martinez take a job in Sacramento?
Adios Martinez?
Inside sources tell me that Santa Ana Council Woman Michele Martinez, who lost badly last June in her bid for the 69th Assembly District, is considering a job in Sacramento, so she might end up there after all. I am told that she will resign from the City Council if she gets this unknown job.
Martinez is actively involved in SCAG, the Southern California Association of Governments, and NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. It is as such feasible that she might be leaving our city for a job in the state capitol. Continue reading
Isn’t it time to diversify our City Council via ward-specific elections?
Diverse? No!
The last time someone tried to change our City Council elections from at large to ward specific the effort failed, primarily because white voters were told that the infamous Nativo Lopez was behind the scheme. And he was. At the time the only way anyone ever figured that we would have more Latinos on the City Council would be via ward-specific elections.
Well now we have an all-Latino City Council and they’re an embarrassment. As the city reels in yet another budget crisis they wasted weeks firing our City Manager, Paul Walters, so they could hire a temp, Kevin O’Rourke, who is costing us over $22K a month. In Santa Ana that passes for progress.
If we had a ward-specific election system it is likely that former Council Member Brett Franklin would have won in Ward 3 last year. Instead a total unknown, Angelica Amezcua, who did not even campaign, won. She of course joined the other Council Members in firing Walters, proving she too is worthless. Continue reading
Who will the Santa Ana City Council blame now?
Well, the Santa Ana City Council got their way – and not even their own supporters can figure out why they fired City Manager Paul Walters. But here’s the kicker – from now on whatever happens in this city is going to be blamed on the Council.
Remember that at the last Council meeting the entire cabal begged for respect, in their closing comments. But what they are now going to get is the blame – if crime goes up, if tax revenue goes down, if businesses close it will all get placed at the Council Members’ doorsteps.
And you can forget about blaming Mayor Miguel Pulido. He no longer appoints Council Members to Council commissions and the Council rejected his request to serve on just one committee – transportation and development. Pulido has the support of the people but this Council has cornered him. Continue reading
The Council praised former City Manager Ream but back-stabbed Walters
The same Santa Ana City Council Members who just fired our City Manager, Paul Walters, heaped praise on his predecessor, Dave Ream, when he finally retired, as noted in the minutes of the May 16, 2011 City Council meeting.
Council Member Michele Martinez, who went ballistic, according to insider reports, when Walters was offered the chance to stay on as our Chief of Police, had this to say about Ream, who wrecked our city budget: Continue reading
Is the Council preparing more attacks on Walters, Pulido – and Alvarez?
Should Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and local community leaders demand an appeal of the Santa Ana City Council’s decision to fire City Manager Paul Walters – seven months after they voted unanimously to hire him?
My sources report that the Council is allegedly working overtime to discredit Pulido and Walters – in case there is a public hearing to review the Council’s decision to fire Walters.
While the Council Members said nice things about Walters at the close of Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the attack they are supposedly preparing is beyond belief. My insiders tell me that the Council is trying to find proof that former Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez had an affair some years ago, with Walters. Continue reading
Online petition launched to save City Manager Paul Walters
An online petition has been created, to save Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters. You may click here to sign it – the petition will be delivered to each of the Santa Ana City Council Members via email.
Here is the letter you will be sending to the Council Members: Continue reading
Property values reflect that Walters delivered on crime reduction
To the members of the Santa Ana City Council and the citizens who voted for them.
It is shocking and disappointing that our elected officials are attempting to remove Mr. Paul Walters as City Manager when he successfully salvaged the city budget preventing bankruptcy. Mr. Walters is an extremely valuable asset to Santa Ana on many fronts including his years as Santa Ana’s Chief of Police. As Chief he made Santa Ana safer which makes the city a more desirable place to buy homes, build homes, and open business. The Statistics are facts that speak for themselves. (See below statistics) Continue reading
Is the Council secretly coordinating their attack on Walters?
Have Benavides and Sarmiento been secretly coordinating their attack on Walters?
Apparently Council Member David Benavides called the Santa Ana City Clerk, Maria Huizar, this Friday, in the morning at about 10 am, to instruct her to add an item to the agenda for the Council meeting set for this coming Tuesday, regarding the review of Santa Ana’s City Manager Paul Walters. Click here to contact Huizar if you would like to confirm this. You may also call her at 714.647.6520.
About a half hour later his colleague, according to my sources, Council Member Vince Sarmiento, made the same call, using the same language, to Huizar. Continue reading