Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Michele Martinez

A clip on tie Roman? Really?

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, David Benavides, Elections, Karina Onofre, Michele Martinez, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 18 Comments

It is a rite of passage in just about every Western culture.  You watch your dad put on ties, perhaps on Sunday while getting dressed for Church.  One day, perhaps when you go to you first prom, your dad teaches you how to put on a tie yourself.

Santa Ana City Council candidate Roman Reyna apparently has not yet learned how to put on his own tie.  He sent out a mailer that a friend of mine received today, wherein Reyna appears to be rocking a clip on that is far too short (see the picture above).   Continue reading→

Is the Benavides Council majority’s Santa Ana discount drug program a wreck?

Posted on by Posted in David Benavides, Health and Medical, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana, Seniors 1 Comment

I posted a press release a few weeks ago from the City of Santa Ana touting a discount drug program that the Benavides City Council majority had crafted with a company called Paramount Rx.  This was supposed to be a discount card that Santa Ana residents could use at local pharmacies to save money.  But hold on, a new article by the California Health Report implies that this program has been a total bust.  While Paramount Rx claims that our residents have saved 31%, the anecdotal evidence says otherwise.  Here are a few excerpts from that article, by investigative health reporter Helen Afrasiabi:

A discount drug card offered by the city of Santa Ana to help shoulder the exorbitant costs of prescription drugs has left some users asking “where is the discount?”

Cary, North Carolina-based Paramount Rx was chosen by the city among a few dozen proposals reviewed to contract with local pharmacies and facilitate this discount. Continue reading→

Why aren’t there more women elected in Santa Ana?

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, Claudia Alvarez, Elections, Estela Amezcua, Karina Onofre, Loretta Sanchez, Lupe Moreno, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana 16 Comments

It is hard to believe that the Santa Ana Unified School District’s Board of Education, which consists of five Trustees,  includes only one woman – longtime Trustee Audrey Noji.  Or that the Santa Ana City Council only has two women – Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez and Council Member Michele Martinez.  After November that number will be down to one, as Alvarez is termed out.  There are five men on the Santa Ana City Council.

What is up with that?  Figure that over half of our electorate must be made up of women.  Are they voting?  Are they voting for men?  Are there not enough women running for office in Santa Ana? Continue reading→

Who will defeat Tom Daly in 2014?

Posted on by Posted in 2014 Elections, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Julio Perez, Michele Martinez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Tom Daly, Vince Sarmiento 6 Comments

It looks like we are going to be stuck with Tom Daly as our Assemblyman in the 69th Assembly District, with the news we broke today that his opponent, Jose Moreno, has withdrawn from the contest after being threatened with the loss of his job, via the federal Hatch Act.

But Daly is going to be toast in two years – and there will be no shortage of viable candidates available to take him out.

So who will defeat Daly in two years?  Here are the top contenders: Continue reading→

Benavides finally holding a fundraiser for his mayoral campaign

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, David Benavides, Elections, Entertainment, Michele Martinez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 12 Comments

Santa Ana Council Member David Benavides is finally holding a fundraiser for his fading Mayoral campaign, on Thursday, September 20, 2012, from 5:30pm – 7:30pm, at Chapter One Restaurant, located at 227 N. Broadway, in Downtown Santa Ana.

The event’s host committee includes Council Members Sal Tinajero, Michele Martinez and Vince Sarmiento.  No other politicians or community leaders were referenced on the email blast sent out by the Benavides campaign. Continue reading→

Sarmiento and Benavides squirm as Pulido shines at a memorable El Grito

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Elections, Latinos, mexico, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, music, Politics, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 28 Comments

Until last night I had never attended the “El Grito” event at Santa Ana’s annual Fiestas Patrias.  Who knew I was missing out on an unbelievable spectacle?

Thousands of Mexican Americans filled Santa Ana’s Fourth Street, facing a huge stage at the end of the street, near the Northgate Market.  A moderator introduced our city’s leaders at 8 pm, as Mayor Miguel Pulido and his family took the stage, along with Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez and traitorous Council Members Vince Sarmiento and David Benavides.  The latter is running against Pulido in November and Sarmiento is supporting him. Continue reading→

The new Santa Ana Council majority will crumble after the election

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Charles Hart, David Benavides, Elections, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 16 Comments

If there is one thing I can guarantee going into the November elections, it is that the current Santa Ana City Council is destined to crumble.  Already the coalition that is backing Council Member David Benavides is showing signs of cracking.

We exposed this week one of Benavides’ supporters after she reached out to the Charles Hart Ward 3 campaign – a slap to the face of Eric Alderete, the Ward 3 candidate who has sided with the crumbling majority.  Alderete has already distanced himself from Team Benavides. Continue reading→

The Republicans who are trying to take back Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Brett Franklin, Carlos Bustamante, Cecilia Iglesias, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, George Collins, Janet Nguyen, Jerry Hayden, Karina Onofre, Loretta Sanchez, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Nelida Mendoza-Yanez, Politics, Republican Party, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Thomas Gordon, Tom Daly, Tony Tapia, Valerie Amezcua Leave a comment

Robert Hammond, promoting the GOP

Orange County’s Democrats are generally clueless, but this past June they were particularly out of sorts.  They inexplicably gave Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen a free pass, allowing her to focus on electing her fellow Republican, and gay-basher, Robert Hammond as he won a seat on the O.C. Department of Education’s Board of Trustees.

And the Democrats managed to fumble away Orange County’s most Latino seat, allowing it to go to Orange County Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly, who has since been charged with sexual harassment in the workplace.  If they had gotten behind Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez she might have prevailed in June.  Instead organized labor put up their guy, Julio Perez, splitting the Latino vote and allowing Daly to prevail. Continue reading→

Santa Ana announces addition of 22 new park acres!

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Parks and Recreation, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community: Santa Ana City Council Announces Improvement in Acres of Recreational Space

SANTA ANA, CA (August 20, 2012) – For the last twenty years, Santa Ana has had .9-acres of recreational open space for every 1,000 residents. In the last five years, the City has made great strides in planning and building new recreational open space opportunities, which are projected to add 22 new acres to the City’s park system. At the August 20th Council meeting, the City Council announced that the new open space ratio will be 1.48-acres per 1,000 residents. Continue reading→

Alderete’s fundraiser attracted many of Santa Ana’s political players

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Eric Alderete, Latino Leaders, Lou Correa, Mark McLoughlin, Michele Martinez, Nelida Mendoza-Yanez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Sean Mill, Vince Sarmiento 15 Comments

Santa Ana Ward 3 candidate Eric Alderete’s campaign held a fundraiser tonight at Chapter One: the Modern Local, in Downtown Santa Ana.  There were at least 80 attendees including quite a few elected and appointed officials.  These included:

  • State Senator Lou Correa
  • Santa Ana Council Members Sal Tinajero, Vince Sarmiento, Michele Martinez and David Benavides (who came to the event by himself)
  • Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustees Mark McLoughlin, Larry Labrado and John Hanna
  • Santa Ana Planning Commissioners Sean Mill, Sandy Nalle, Patrick Yrarrazaval and Mario Turner Continue reading→

UPDATE: City Council places Mayoral term limit measure on the Nov. ballot

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 30 Comments

UPDATE: A four member city council voted tonight to unanimously put to the voters a four term limit of 2 years each for the office of Mayor.

I can understand why the Santa Ana City C0uncil Members are upset at Mayor Miguel Pulido.  Let’s face it – he has been running circles around them for almost 20 years.  But he is now dealing with a Council that, for the most part, he did not elect.  He opposed Sal Tinajero and Michele Martinez when they first ran for the City Council.  He did create David Benavides, but when Vince Sarmiento was appointed to the Council, to replace Jose Solorio, he was already his own man.  Unlike Benavides, he was a polished product and a guy most people respected.  Who would have forseen two Pulido allies going down in flames – Carlos Bustamante’s own alleged misbehavior did him in, and Claudia Alvarez could not undo the term limits she helped create.  Now Pulido, like Julius Caesar, is surrounded by short swords and although we are headed into August, it might as well be the Ides of March.

Back in Pulido’s heyday, he and former City Manager Dave Ream knew how to work this bunch.  Once they got elected, they would be warmly welcomed, even if they had initially been opposed.  Commission appointments would be handed out like Halloween candies and just like that Council members would be subverted.  But Ream is gone and so is his magic bag of redevelopment – and now even the developers that lived high on the hog in our town for so long are slinking to the Council’s side.  Continue reading→

Why they can’t beat Miguel Pulido – and he will win again this year

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Brett Franklin, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Elections, Eric Alderete, Julio Perez, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Paul Walters, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Transportation, Valerie Amezcua 10 Comments

UPDATE: Council Member Sal Tinajero has pulled papers to run against Mayor Pulido this November.  Chisme has it that Benavides will be pressured to get out of the race ASAP.

UPDATE: Council Member David Benavides has announced that he is running for Mayor.  Pulido has nothing to worry about.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s detractors are befuddled about how exactly he keeps on winning, every two years.  What they don’t understand is that their views don’t reflect the views of the residents at large in our city.

Santa Ana is a huge city.  The “inside baseball” and chismoso/gadfly set is fairly small, perhaps a hundred people at most.  In 2010, mayoral challenger Alfredo Amezcua lined up a lot of these folks – and combined them with the dwindling “Usual Suspects.”  Amezcua spent a quarter million dollars and he thought he had victory in the bag.  But you see what he was listening to was an echo chamber – and he failed to reach the majority of voters in Santa Ana. Continue reading→

Pulido scrambling to stop a mayoral term limit ballot measure

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Charles Hart, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Eric Alderete, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana, Shane Barrows, Term Limits, Vince Sarmiento 8 Comments

Sources at City Hall are telling me that Mayor Miguel Pulido is working overtime to stop an attempt by the Santa Ana City Council to draft a term limit measure that will eventually end his career as Mayor of Santa Ana.

The City Council appointed an Ad Hoc committee to consider term limits.  The term limit committee includes Council Members Michele Martinez, David Benavides and Vince Sarmiento. That committee will present their findings to their colleagues at the next Santa Ana City Council meeting.  It is thought that the committee will show up with a prepared ballot measure that the voters will be able to consider in the November general election. Continue reading→

Santa Ana City Council establishes a term limits committee

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Karina Onofre, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 2 Comments

Tonight’s Santa Ana City Council meeting, which was held at the SAPD’s Community Room, was, as predicted, a real zoo.  Media vans and news crews were everywhere and residents and out of town bloggers packed the proceedings.

As we stated in an earlier post, Council Member Carlos Bustamante, who is facing serious felony sex crime and public theft charges, was not likely to show up, and he didn’t.  This is his second unexcused absence.  After sixty days of not showing up to work, at City Hall, the City Council can dump him and appoint someone to fill out his term. Continue reading→

Martinez pushes the Santa Ana City Council to review term limits on Monday

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Charles Hart, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Dave Ream, Democratic Party, Eric Alderete, Karina Onofre, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Paul Walters, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Play time is over – the Santa Ana City Council appears to be rebelling against Mayor Pulido

“The Santa Ana City Council is scheduled July 16 to consider a ballot measure that for the first time could place a term limit on longtime Mayor Miguel Pulido and change term limits for other council members,” according to the Voice of OC.

Council Member Michele Martinez placed an 85 A item on the agenda that reads as follows, “DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL BALLOT MEASURE REGARDING MAYORAL AND COUNCIL TERM LIMITS.”

Both Martinez and her colleague, Council Member David Benavides, ripped Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez this week, on Facebook, when Alvarez’ ally, Santa Ana Parks and Rec Commissioner Max Madrid, filed a lawsuit to compel the Santa Ana City Clerk to issue nomination papers to Alvarez.  She is seeking to run again in November, for reelection, although she appears to be termed out. Continue reading→