New Santa Ana | Category Archives: Michele Martinez

Why did our City Council allow noisy early A.M. workouts in DTSA for so long?

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Parks and Recreation, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Sports 12 Comments

Marc Payan wakes up just about every day well before the sun comes up, and drives to Downtown Santa Ana from his home in Irvine. He heads to a parking structure where he leads Santa Ana residents in free workouts that start at 5 am.

It is a nice story, that the L.A. Times touted in a recent article, where they opined that “in one of the nation’s densest cities, there are no beaches and hardly any parks. And, for many, paying $100 or more per month for a fitness group just isn’t an option”

That is of course complete B.S. Santa Ana has 35 parks, four joint use sites shared with the SAUSD, and 19 recreation facilities, according to the Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Agency – and we are not that far from the beach. And there is in fact a downside to the workouts, dubbed Payan X. They have been waking up residents of Downtown Santa Ana for quite a long time. Continue reading→

Effort underway to bring Ward-Specific Council elections to Santa Ana

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 6 Comments

I have been advocating for Ward-Specific City Council elections, here in Santa Ana, for many years. Our current system, which features six Wards, forces candidates to campaign in the entire city. That is a very expensive proposition. It leads to corruption as the candidates inevitably have to sell out to Special Interests in order to raise the humongous amounts of money needed to run for our City Council.

Just how corrupt our system is came to light today in a Voice of OC article that fingered three of our Council Members for allegedly accepting money under less than legal circumstances, from an apartment developer of course.

Hope is not lost however as I have discovered that there is in fact an effort underway to place a measure on the ballot to allow the voters of this city to opt for a Ward-Specific Council election system. In that scenario the Council candidates would only have to campaign in one Ward. They could conceivably walk that ward all on their own. They could meet all the voters and garner their support. The Special Interests? They would be out of luck. Continue reading→

Martinez says that NALEO is paying for her trip to a Disney resort in Orlando

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 6 Comments

We're paying for Martinez to have fun at this Florida resort

The Florida resort that Martinez will be visting

We posted an article yesterday about a trip that Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez is taking to the Disney Yacht Resort in Orlando, Florida, to attend a conference of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO). In that post we stated that the taxyapers are paying for her expenses – we later corrected that to reflect that special interests are paying for them.

Martinez sent us a letter today accusing us of libel. Click here to read it. She stated that “As Board Member for National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) all travel is paid for by the association. As a Board Member it is my responsibility to participate in all conferences and events that help to enhance the effectiveness of Latino elected officials and their ability to advance successful policies, investments and effect change in their communities. Please be advised that the City of Santa Ana will not expend any funds for anything related to my participation at the NALEO conference referenced in your article. Continue reading→

Exclusive – Mayor Pulido responds to latest unfair VOC slam on him

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 5 Comments

OCEA boss Nick Berardino has a grudge with Mayor Pulido

The Voice of OC is reporting that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido voted for a $1.35-million no-bid city contract with a local auto parts firm just over a year after he and members of his family purchased a home from the store owner for $230,000 less than its fair market value.

As usual when the VOC attacks Pulido you have to dig a little deeper to figure out how contrived these attacks are. I spoke to Mayor Pulido and he was happy to explain what happened. Continue reading→

Why is the Santa Ana City Council messing around with the Mayoral elections?

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

Is it desperation? Santa Ana Council Members Sal Tinajero and Vince Sarmiento placed an odd 85 A item on tonight’s City Council agenda:

DIRECT CITY ATTORNEY TO PREPARE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO PROPOSE A CHARTER AMENDMENT ESTABLISHING A PRIMARY ELECTION FOR MAYOR SEAT TO BE CONSIDERED BY VOTERS AT THE 2014 GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION – (Mayor Pro Tem Tinajero and Councilmember Sarmiento

If I am reading this correctly it looks like a proposal to make the Mayoral election in November, 2016 a Primary Election, with a General Election to be set at some later date. This is completely crazy! The only good news is that the voters would have to approve this in the November, 2014 election, as it is a change to the city’s charter. Continue reading→

Santa Ana gangs raided as authorities go after the Mexican Mafia again

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Crime, FBI, Gangs, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Public Safety, Santa Ana 6 Comments

UPDATE: We have received the official press release regarding this multi-agency gang sweep. It is posted at the end of this article.

Pre-dawn raids at about 75 locations throughout the county Tuesday were the culmination of a multi-agency investigation called “Operation Smokin’ Aces” taking aim at the Mexican Mafia, a notorious prison gang known for its grip on local street gangs, particularly in Santa Ana, authorities said, according to the O.C. Register.

Authorities said it involved dozens of arrests and search warrants that were served throughout Santa Ana neighborhoods. More than 800 officers, deputies and agents of the Santa Ana police; Orange County Sheriff’s Department; FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and U.S. Marshals took part in the investigation and the arrest warrants that were served before sunrise. The arrests were coordinated simultaneously. Continue reading→

Councilwoman Martinez is launching her re-election campaign on Oct. 3

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Michele Martinez, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Several Santa Ana Council Members spent $10K of our money being wined and dined at the NALEO Conference in Chicago this year

Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez is hosting a “Re-Election Announcement Kick-Off” on Thursday, October 3, 2013
5:30p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at Chapter One-the modern local, located at 227 N. Broadway, in Santa Ana.

The Martinez campaign is asking Bronze Sponsors to donate $249.00, and individuals to donate $ 100.00. They want Gold Sponsors to pay $1000 and Silver Sponsors to pay $500.00. Continue reading→

Will anyone challenge Council Members Benavides, Martinez and Tinajero in 2014?

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Several Santa Ana Council Members are going to have to run for re-election in 2014, including David Benavides, Michele Martinez and Sal Tinajero.

It may well be that by then a court will have already invalidated Measure D, which would mean these Council Members would be termed out, but that is by no means guaranteed.

So will anyone challenge these Council Members? Continue reading→

Councilwoman Martinez to present a State of the City address on 8/28

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Entertainment, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez is hosting her own State of the City address on Wednesday, August 28, 2013, at 6 pm, at the Santa Ana Senior Center, located at 424 West 3rd St., in Santa Ana.

Please RSVP to Martinez’ assistant, Gail Woods, at gwoods5@santa-ana.org or at 714-647-5200. Continue reading→

Council Members MIA from yesterday’s Santa Ana Peace March

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Churches and Religion, Crime, David Benavides, Gangs, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 10 Comments

More than 100 people from about 25 churches and community organizations marched on Saturday morning in a quest for peace in Santa Ana’s neighborhoods, according to the O.C. Register.

What was missing from this Santa Ana Peace March? Apparently none of the Santa Ana Council Members showed up. Click here and see for yourself – the Register did not capture any Council Members in their photo coverage of this event. And Pastor Ariel Meza, who coordinated this event, also did not mention the Council Members on his Facebook page, nor do they appear in the pictures that he took. Continue reading→

Poll – Who is the worst Santa Ana City Council Member?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Angelica Amezcua, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

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?

Continue reading→

New City Manager’s huge contract blows up in the local media

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 8 Comments

The Santa Ana City Council’s incredibly ridiculous decision to make their new City Manager, David Cavazos, a multi-millionaire (when you add in his six figure pension from the City of Phoenix) has backfired in a big way – exploding on the airwaves of our local radio and TV stations. Arizona City Council candidate Keogh Parks piled on too, at a City Council candidates’ forum, according to KJZZ News.

Continue reading→

Councilwoman Martinez has not forgotten to represent her own Ward

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Angelica Amezcua, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

We have been scrutinizing the public calendars of the Santa Ana City Council Members this week. We already looked at Councilman David Benavides’ calendar, and that of Councilwoman Angie Amezcua. Now we will have a look at Ward 2 Councilwoman Michele Martinez’ calendar:

Martinez organized a City Health & Fitness Fair on June 1, at Rosita park, located on the border of Wards 3 and 5. On the same day Martinez appeared at the Grand Opening of the Latino Health Access Park/Community Center, which is located near 4th and Main St. That center is indeed located in Ward 2. Continue reading→

New alcohol ordinance passes but Benavides fails to keep bars open until 4 am

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alcohol, Bars, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 2 Comments

The City Council has approved a new ordinance aimed at simplifying the permit process for restaurants and other night-time businesses that want to offer entertainment, according to the O.C. Register.

According to the Voice of OC, the new rules include: Continue reading→

Public Works Director goes to El Monte and won’t be our next City Manager

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Gerardo Mouet, Michele Martinez, Paul Walters, Politics, Raul Godinez, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Santa Ana Public Works Director Raul Godinez will depart Santa Ana to become the new City Manager of El Monte on July 15 at a salary of $195,000, according to OC Political blogger Thomas Gordon. (Gordon is a member of the OC GOP Central Committee and a past Santa Ana Mayoral Candidate).

Godinez was thought to be the leading candidate to become Santa Ana’s next City Manager, but guess what? El Monte retained the services of executive search firm Bob Murray & Associates, the same company tasked with hiring a new City Manager for Santa Ana. So they found Godinez a job, but not here in Santa Ana. Continue reading→