New Santa Ana | Category Archives: David Cavazos

Santa Ana’s City Manager is pulling in almost $800K a year in pay and benefits

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Cavazos, Santa Ana 7 Comments

Santa Ana’s new city manager is under scrutiny for allegedly making nearly $800,000 in pay, perks and pension this year, according to Cristy Fajardo at CBS News.

CBS reports that:

David Cavazos is receiving a $315,000 salary, making him one of the highest-paid employees in the state. It’s the same amount he made before retiring as city manager of Phoenix, which is almost five times larger than Santa Ana.
He’s also collecting another estimated $243,000 in perks and benefits his first year in Santa Ana, including a car, moving expenses and a housing allowance.
Now, add his pension; Cavazos is collecting $234,536.04, according to Toni Macarrone, a City of Phoenix public information officer.
All in all, it totals to approximately $792,000. 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→

So how will our new City Manager, Dave Cavazos, cut our city budget?

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Cavazos 14 Comments

Santa Ana’s new overpaid millionaire City Manager, Dave Cavazos, was hired in part, if you believe what the Council Members are saying, because he cut the budget at his last job, in Phoenix. But how is he going to cut Santa Ana’s budget when it has already been cut to the bone?

Our last City Manager, Paul Walters, saved the city from its last budget crisis, by outsourcing the Santa Ana Fire Department, to the Orange County Fire Authority. Will Cavazos have the cojones to outsource the Santa Ana Police Department to the Orange County Sheriff?

What else can he cut? Well here are a few items he should cut right away: 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→

Why did the City Council agree to make the new City Manager a millionaire?

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Cavazos, Santa Ana 3 Comments

It is very hard to understand why the Santa Ana City Council would offer a contract to our new City Manager, David Cavazos, that will essentially make him a millionaire. What were they thinking?

Consider that in Santa Ana the per capita income, was $15,243 in 2010 and while it is projected to increase to $16,383 by 2015, according to the City of Santa Ana, the per capita income in California, is $29,634 and the per capita income in Orange County is $34,416, according to the U.S. Census. Continue reading→

New Santa Ana City Manager is set to be a multi-millionaire

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Cavazos, Santa Ana 8 Comments

New Santa Ana City Manager Will Get Big Salary and Pension

By ADAM ELMAHREK, Voice of OC

In addition to more than $550,000 in compensation in the coming year from Santa Ana, new City Manager David Cavazos is also set to begin collecting a six-figure annual pension from Phoenix, according to a report in the Arizona Republic newspaper.

The 53-year-old Cavazos worked at Phoenix City Hall for 26 years and was city manager for the last four, which puts him in line for an annual pension of at least $130,000, which means that his income in the coming year will at minimum be close to $700,000 and perhaps significantly higher. Continue reading→

Poll – is city manager candidate, Cavazos, being offered too much?

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Cavazos, Santa Ana 2 Comments

The Santa Ana City Council will vote Monday whether to approve a three-year, renewable contract with David Cavazos to lead city government, according to the O.C. Register.

Under terms of the contract, which includes automatic renewals, Cavazos would receive $315,000 in an annual base salary the first year, plus benefits, including moving expenses and a housing allowance. According to a city report, the estimated first-year cost of the agreement is $558,625, $515,395 in the second year and $515,895 in the third. Continue reading→

Santa Ana to hire new City Manager who previously managed Phoenix, AZ

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Cavazos, Santa Ana 12 Comments

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community Alert: City of Santa Ana Poised to Hire New City Manager

David Cavazos Served as City Manager for Phoenix; Helped Trim Budget, Revitalized Downtown

SANTA ANA, CA (August 1, 2013) – The Santa Ana City Council is unanimously poised to hire a city manager with over 25 years of experience and a proven record of success. The top candidate, David Cavazos, who in his current capacity as the City Manager of Phoenix, trimmed the city’s budget, streamlined its permitting process for businesses and helped revitalize its downtown area, is being considered for the city manager position.

The City Council will review and vote on his employment package on Monday, August 5, 2013, at the next City Council meeting. If approved, Cavazos will take over as Santa Ana’s top executive in mid-October. Continue reading→