The Santa Ana Police Department’s phone was ringing off the hook today at around 1 pm, as residents called in about a shooting, around the 800 block of Cypress Ave., in Santa Ana, according to the O.C. Register.
Apparently a man in a white truck shot at multiple people. SAPD police officers tried to pull him over in the 300 block of Cypress Ave. They ended up shooting the man after he shot at them. Continue reading
It is hard to believe given that the Santa Ana City Council is entirely comprised of Latinos, but there are only two Latinos serving currently on the Santa Ana Planning Commission.
To make matters worse, five of the seven Planning Commissioners all live in Ward 3 – which lies in the wealthier, whiter North Santa Ana, including the new Chairman of the Commission, Jim Gartner.
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides represents the heavily Latino Ward 4. But his Planning Commissioner doesn’t live in Ward 4 – and he is not Latino. Benavides appointed Phil Bacerra – a half-Filipino originally from Garden Grove, to represent Ward 4. It is highly unlikely that, were you to drop Bacerra into the middle of Ward 4, he would be able to figure out how to get home, particularly since Bacerra doesn’t drive. Continue reading
A homeless man was arrested on suspicion of grand theft Friday morning after the SAPD, with the help of a sheriff’s department helicopter, found him hiding near Taqueria El Perico, 716 E. First St., where a man reported that his cellphone had been stolen, according to the O.C. Register.
Apparently the homeless man grabbed the cellphone from a fellow who was standing outside the restaurant, as he was talking to someone on the phone. The homeless man then fled south on Hickory St., in Santa Ana’s Ward 2, which is represented on the City Council by Councilwoman Michele Martinez. Ironically Martinez herself has had both a purse and a bicycle stolen during her time as a City Council Member. Continue reading
An SAPD police officer tried to stop a fellow who was driving recklessly this evening at around 5:15 pm near North Main Street and West Washington Ave, which is just over one mile from the SAPD headquarters. The incident happened in Santa Ana’s Ward 2, which is represented by Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez.
The driver took off, going south on North Main Street – hitting several cars that were stopped near the 5th Street intersection, according to the O.C. Register.
The reckless driver, who was not identified by the SAPD, continued fleeing down North Main St., crashing into yet another car, near 4th St., which totaled the car and set off a fire. Continue reading
The Santa Ana City Council members appointed themselves to various commissions at their meeting tonight.
There was a struggle behind the scenes in recent weeks as Councilman Roman Reyna, who has struggled to maintain a real job aside from his part-time City Council job, lobbied for commission appointments with fatter paychecks. He seems to have won as he did end up receiving two very plum appointments.
Here are the new commission appointments:
City of Santa Ana
Community Alert: STATEMENT BY CITY COUNCILWOMAN MICHELE MARTINEZ
SANTA ANA (January 20, 2015) – “The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday has long been a symbol of peace for the civil rights movement and equality. As a Council Member of one of Orange County’s largest and most diverse cities, I was deeply disturbed to learn that early yesterday morning, on the day this holiday is observed, small bags filled with racist paraphernalia were distributed to around 40 homes in the City of Santa Ana.” Continue reading
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: SAPD ROBBERY DETECTIVES ARREST TWO FOR HOME INVASION ROBBERY
DETECTIVES BELIEVE ARRESTEES MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHER REPORTED AND UNREPORTED ROBBERIES
Arrested:
1. Alfonso Cisneros (35) Santa Ana
2. Javier Cabezas (46) Santa Ana
On Tuesday 12/16/14, at 9:20 a.m., three victims were sleeping in the rear garage of an apartment unit in the 600 block of South Sycamore Street. They woke up to find two suspects with handguns in the room. All three victims were restrained with zip ties; one of the victims was also pistol whipped across the head and face resulting in a three-inch laceration to his head and facial swelling. The victims were robbed of cell phones, a small amount of money and a gold chain. Robbery detectives responded to assist with the investigation. Continue reading
Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos on Tuesday night said he will not be receiving a bonus after the City Council met in closed session to discuss his performance evaluation, according to the O.C. Register.
Cavazos was poised to receive the bonus, which calculated on his $315,000 salary would have been an extra $15,750. But several residents – including a group of teenage students — showed up for public comments before the council’s closed session discussion on the issue and complained that Cavazos already receives an extraordinary amount of money from taxpayers, according to the Voice of OC. Continue reading
APPLICATION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 29, 2014
The City of Santa Ana encourages residents to become involved in your community. One way to do so is to serve in an advisory capacity on one of the City’s various boards and commissions. The City is now accepting applications to fill several seats that would represent Ward 2. Below is a summary of the various commissions including duties, compensation and requirements. Interested individuals may apply for appointment by following the instructions in this notice.
Requirements: The following apply to most Citizen Advisory Boards with the exception of the Youth Commission: Must be a registered voter and not serve as a treasurer of a political action committee. Continue reading
While none of the Santa Ana City Council incumbents lost in the November General Election there is still major change coming to our City Council. You might recall that former Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero withdrew his support for Councilman David Benavides, prior to the General Election. Now Tinajero has joined forces with the new Mayor Pro Tem, Vince Sarmiento. In short, the adults are now running the Santa Ana City Council.
Tinajero and Sarmiento are working to form a new City Council majority with Council Members Angie Amezcua and Michele Martinez. The latter has at times joined with Reyna and Benavides. But if Martinez wants to survive in politics she will now dump them and work instead with Sarmiento and Tinajero.
If Martinez decides to be obstinate then Tinajero and Sarmiento have another option. They can form a Council majority with Amezcua and Mayor Miguel Pulido. Continue reading
Is Councilman Benavides capable of running a Santa Ana City Council meeting?
Apparently our current Mayor Pro Tem, Sal Tinajero, is going to vacate the position and allow one of the other Santa Ana Council Members to become our new Mayor Pro Tem, at the next City Council meeting coming up on Tuesday.
Mayor Pro Tem is largely a ceremonial title but in the event that our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, is absent from a City Council meeting, or he either arrives late or has to leave early, the Pro Tem would step up and run the meeting. Continue reading
The City of Santa Ana is hosting an Installation and Reception for the City Council Members who were reelected in the November General Election as well as Mayor Miguel Pulido, on Tuesday, December 9, 2014, at 6:00 p.m., at the City Council Chambers, located at 22 Civic Center Plaza, in Santa Ana.
There will be a reception immediately following at the Bowers Museum, located at 2002 North Main Street, in Santa Ana. Continue reading
Two men, both 18, were shot in the upper torso, on Friday in Santa Ana, at around 12:45 p.m. in the 700 block of East Chestnut Avenue, according to the O.C. Register. The men were transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and they are expected to survive, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
The shooting happened on the north side of the campus of Roosevelt Elementary School. It is highly disturbing that the incident occurred at mid-day. The area in question is in Councilwoman Michele Martinez’ Ward 2. She has previously admitted to selling drugs when she was a teenager and the local law enforcement associations opposed her reelection campaign this year. Continue reading
Veterans Day will be even more special this year in Orange County as a group of real estate professionals has stepped up to help a pair of Veterans who happen to be married – and who suffered an unbelievable calamity.
Chris Winterton has served our Country is the United States Army for 11 years as a Staff Sargent with the 1/211 Out of Utah and with the 116th Secor while deployed in Iraq. His wife Sarah, who also served, is currently with the National Guard.
Chris and Sarah met while serving and they were married in 2011. During his 11 years of service, Chris helped build schools in Nicaragua, helped here at home with Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts and deployed to Iraq in 2007. It was during this time tragedy stuck. Chris was injured suffering a traumatic brain injury (tbi) and was hospitalized. But he did not give up! In 2012 he deployed to Afghanistan, just 6 days after his son was born, to serve another tour. Unfortunately, his injuries sustained in Iraq caught up to him and he had to take a medical discharge from his career serving our country. He now deals on a daily basis with supporting his family, PTSD and TBI. Continue reading
Transparency really matters to Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero. It is why he split from Councilman David Benavides’ “Team Santa Ana” in the recent City Council election. Benavides steadfastly refused to compel his Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra to fill out the mandated Communication Disclosure forms until Tinajero threatened to remove Bacerra from his Commission.
Tinajero had the votes to dismiss Bacerra and Benavides knew it. Mayor Miguel Pulido and Council Members Vince Sarmiento and Angie Amezcua would have likely backed Tinajero.
Now that the election is over it is time for our City Council to get back to work trying to improve our city however Council Member Michele Martinez reacted in typical chola fashion after the election, when she told the Voice of OC that “When I was fighting the mayor before, the gloves were on, now the gloves are off — its bare knuckles.” Continue reading