Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Dave Ream

It’s going to be up to the Millennials to save the City of Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in 2018 elections, Cecilia Iglesias, Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, David Penaloza, Elections, Juan Villegas, Miguel Pulido, Nelida Mendoza-Yanez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Santa Ana’s baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. I just missed that time period – marking me as a member of Gen X. The baby boomers love to point fingers at the up and coming Millennials but a new book suggests that it is the boomers who are to blame for many of today’s societal problems.

Bruce Gibney argues in his new book “A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America,” that the boomers have committed “generational plunder,” pillaging the nation’s economy, repeatedly cutting their own taxes, financing two wars with deficits, ignoring climate change, presiding over the death of America’s manufacturing core, and leaving future generations to clean up the mess they created. Continue reading→

Updated: Adios Jill Arthur

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Jill Arthur

UPDATED: The Voice of OC is now reporting that Jill Arthur is possibly working in a volunteer capacity for Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.  We have no problem with that.  Who the Mayor opts to work with is up to him and apparently the taxpayers are not on the hook.  That sounds like a good deal for the people of Santa Ana.

Jill Arthur, Santa Ana’s former deputy city manager accused of wrongdoing at the city’s unemployment office, is no longer employed at City Hall after a city investigation into the incident, Voice of OC has confirmed.

We might never know why in the world Arthur offered to use her influence at the city’s work center to help a young man named Marcel Alvarez to find a job after she backed her vehicle into his car but apparently that is what she did. Continue reading→

Will the Council hire former Stockton interim city manager Kevin O’Rourke?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, Gerardo Mouet, Kevin O'Rourke, Michele Martinez, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 15 Comments
Kevin O'Rourke

Picture of Kevin O’Rourke Courtesy of Recordnet

“Santa Ana city leaders apparently reached consensus Monday on appointing an interim city manager to fill the slot left open by the firing of City Manager Paul Walters,” according to the Voice of OC.

Council members emerged from their closed session just after 7 p.m. and announced a decision, but said they couldn’t disclose the candidate’s name yet because they were still negotiating terms.  Then Councilwoman Michelle Martinez said the new interim city manager’s name would be made public in about a week.

So much drama when there is a darn good chance that the interim city manager will be Gerardo Mouet, the Santa Ana Parks and Rec Agency director.  Scratch that.  Apparently former Buena Park/Stanton City Manager Kevin O’Rourke might become Santa Ana’s highest paid temp, I mean interim City Manager.  He currently works as a consultant who specializes in figuring out how to pay for retired public employees’ pensions, according to this link.  He was previously an interim City Manager in now bankrupt Stockton. Continue reading→

The Council praised former City Manager Ream but back-stabbed Walters

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Paul Walters, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Dave Ream

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→

Why is the Council blaming Walters for problems they created?

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Paul Walters, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 7 Comments
Council Member Vincent Sarmiento

Where were Sarmiento’s complaints before the majority took power?

I continue to be amazed by the lame excuses our Santa Ana Council Members are making with regard to their ongoing attempt to fire our successful City Manager, Paul Walters.  Here are the latest nuggets from the Council, from the O.C. Register:

  • “Some staff in particular only do the work of the mayor, and that’s been the culture of the city,” said Tinajero. Pulido has been mayor for 18 years, and worked for years alongside Walters’ predecessor, David Ream, and other top officials. (Our Response: Are you kidding? Tinajero worked with Ream too – in fact he essentially sold out after getting elected in 2006, when Ream arranged for Tinajero to serve on various well-paying municipal commissions!) 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→

City Council to decide the fate of the Downtown PBID tax tonight

Posted on by Posted in Business, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Courts, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Development, Fraud, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 12 Comments

July 4 falls on a Wednesday this year but there will be fireworks early this week, at Monday night’s Santa Ana City Council meeting, on July 2, at 5 pm, as Council Member Sal Tinajero and Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez have placed an 85 A item on the City Council agenda to disestablish the Downtown Santa Ana property tax – the PBID.

Here is the 85 A PBID agenda item: Continue reading→

No Gustavo, Michele Martinez and I did not sell out to Miguel Pulido

Posted on by Posted in 2006 Elections, 2008 Elections, 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante, Claudia Alvarez, Dave Ream, Democratic Party, Elections, Julio Perez, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 14 Comments

The OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano is a huge fan of far-left Democrat Julio Perez – one of four Democrats vying for the 69th Assembly District.  That’s fine.  What is not cool is Gustavo’s continued allegation that Santa Ana Council Woman Michele Martinez “sold out” to Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.  That is not just untrue – it is complete B.S.

The reality is that Martinez was elected to Ward 2 on the Santa Ana City Council by running AGAINST Pulido’s handpicked candidate, the useless Tino Rivera (a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party for that race).  That was a tough race – Martinez was unknown and vastly underfunded.  The other candidates included a Com Link Board Member, Evangeline Gawronski, who ran a credible campaign; a candidate, Tish Leon, who took out a loan on her house; and Rivera.  Martinez punked them all, garnering 32.6% of the vote, according to Smart Voter.

Think about it – Martinez began her career in politics by taking out Pulido’s handpicked lame candidate.  This is a sell out?  Really? Continue reading→

A Year in Review – a look back at Santa Ana in 2011

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Dave Ream, Michele Martinez, Politics, Santa Ana, Tom Daly 4 Comments

Our posts about Santa Ana’s Cafe Lu and Councilman Bustamante topped the charts in 2011

What a year it has been here in Santa Ana – and on this blog, the New Santa Ana.  Since January 1, 2011, we have had 226,798 Visits and 407,051 Pageviews.  Wow!  That’s not bad for a blog that was started not too long ago, in September of 2009.

Now let’s take a look at our top stories this year:

Continue reading→

How and why I ended up helping Pulido to defeat Amezcua last year

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante, Claudia Alvarez, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Elections, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Sean Mill, Vince Sarmiento 10 Comments

Former Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream was not a fan of the Orange Juice blog

I have taken a lot of heat over the past couple of years because I ended up supporting Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido for Mayor last year – and I was retained by his consultant to design his campaign blog. This left a few of my friends scratching their heads.

I fought Pulido and his allies for over fifteen years – and flayed them onthe political blog I created, the Orange Juice. The Orange Juice blog changed Santa Ana politics.  It broke down the barriers built up by now retired Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream.  We went after him and his allies with such a vengeance that they monitored our site all day long.   Continue reading→

Council members Martinez and Benavides to host a city manager forum on 7/28

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Politics, Santa Ana 9 Comments

Santa Ana Council Members Michele Martinez and David Benavides are going to host a community forum on Thursday, July 28, from 6 pm to 8 pm, at the Southwest Senior Citizen Center, located at 2201 W. McFadden Ave., in Santa Ana.

Santa Ana city officials are looking to residents to help identify the most significant issues the city is facing and the type of person who would make the best city manager. Continue reading→

Has the City of Santa Ana suspended its city manager search?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Latinos, Lawyers, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 12 Comments

Several sources in and around Santa Ana’s City Hall are reporting that the City of Santa Ana has suspended their search for a new city manager.  I am told that this was also conveyed to a reporter from the Voice of OC today.  However, another source reported that there is no suspension.  The truth is likely somewhere in between…

My sources said that an argument will be made that conducting a national search for a new city manager is too expensive and that we ought to just roll with interim City Manager Paul Walters, who also serves as our Chief of Police, to save money.

The downside of this however is that the defacto city manager is now none other than longtime assistant to the last city manager, Jill Arthur.  Apparently Walters is leaning on her a lot – and she is now effectively running the 8th floor. Continue reading→

Santa Ana City Attorney Joe Fletcher is gone, for good reason, what about Ream?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, Santa Ana 3 Comments

I have nothing against Santa Ana City Attorney Joseph Fletcher, who is either retiring or getting the boot, depending on who you talk to.  But the fact is, he dropped the ball this year.

Fletcher is supposed to shield both the City of Santa Ana and the City Council from liability.  He failed to do the latter this year when three Council Members accepted donations that represented conflicts of interest – and Fletcher did nothing to prevent that from happening.

As soon as those Council Members got in trouble I knew Fletcher was toast.  And he got quite a parting gift.  According to press reports he will get $140,000 plus vacation time and other benefits.  Cha-ching!

But that money will pale in comparison compared to what City Manager Dave Ream will get if he is nudged out the door, which is why I don’t think he is leaving, yet.

Instead, the Council will likely allow Ream to stay – and I doubt he will leave until Father Time punches his clock one last time.

Is it too early to start talking about Ream’s legacy?

Ream has been our City Manager forever, it seems.  Love him or hate him, he is going to leave behind a changed city.  Amongst his accomplishments:

  • Medians along 17th St. that we did not want and did not need.  These medians will keep costing our city, and our taxpayers, a fortune, in perpetuity, to maintain.  However, they do serve as a moat for the folks who live in Floral Park, so I guess there is an upside for them.
  • A widened Bristol St. that primarily serves Mater Dei High School.  Not done yet.  May not be done in Ream’s lifetime.  A whole lot of money spent here.  Most definitely questionable!
  • The Artists Village.  Ream, along with the City Council and Mayor Miguel Pulido, made this happen.  It has worked to a certain extent, to change our downtown, but now the artists are feeling the squeeze.  This chapter is far from over.
  • A very nice city yard – that cost a bundle.  Some say the costs for this yard were buried in our public works budget.
  • New developments that focused on fairly high-cost townhomes, lofts and towers, such as the CityPlace and the Santiago Lofts.
  • A nice soccer complex at Centennial Park.
  • Repaved streets!
  • A posh police station and jail
  • The highest water prices in Orange County
  • We kept the U.S. Court of Appeals
  • We lost a lot of big retailers to other nearby cities

It should be noted also that Ream has worked very hard to dig our city out of a big budget sinkhole.

When we finally get a dog park I think we ought to name it after Ream…