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Category Archives: Elections

Mayor Miguel Pulido endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Democratic Party, Elections, Labor, Orange, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua brought his whole gang to tonight’s Democratic Party of Orange County meeting, at the Teamsters Hall at Marks and Chapman in Orange, but it was all for naught.  Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido got the endorsement of the DPOC!

Amezcua’s mob lost their minds, according to a pajarito, and DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro had to threaten to escort them out of the room, after they started screaming that not all the votes had been counted.  Amezcua’s supporters at the meeting included a Republican, Art Lomeli, as well as Albert Castillo, and Zeke Hernandez. 

 

As one might expect, the increasingly unhinged Gallegos is now alleging that the DPOC created fake votes and took votes away from Amezcua, over at his fading Liberal OC blog.  Gallegos even went as far as to compare DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro to Iran’s President, Mahmood Ahmadinejad.   

This endorsements means that Pulido will be appearing on all DPOC walk pieces, door hangers and slate mailers.  Obviously this is a huge blow to the underfunded Amezcua campaign, which has been touted heavily of late on the Liberal OC blog, which has also been attacking Pulido mercilessly.

Here are the DPOC members who allegedly voted for Amezcua, courtesy of the Lib OC:

  • Mohammed Amin
  • Mani Kang
  • David Sonnenborn
  • Marti Shrank
  • Giovanii Jorquera
  • Ken Burke
  • Zeke Hernandez
  • Ken Arnold

It should be noted that Ken Arnold is running for Congress against Dana Rohrabacher.  Why he would side with Amezcua is a real mystery.  Also not a good move on his part. 

You cannot win the DPOC endorsement without significant support from organized labor, and Amezcua has utterly failed in that regard.  Pulido recently got the COPE endorsement from the Orange County Central Labor Council, and he has the support of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association and the Santa Ana Firemens Benevolent Associations as well.

Pulido really scored with the trade unions a few weeks ago when he strongly supported the One Broadway Plaza project.  Amezcua showed up to the City Council meeting, when the top item of discussion was a request by the OBP developer for changes in the development agreement.  Amezcua slinked out of the room without supporting the project.  The union members who were there took note of that. 

Pulido will be at the Labor Day event at the Santa Ana Zoo.  I wonder if Amezcua will bother showing up now that he has lost the support of labor and his own party?

Pulido asked to opt out of Santa Ana healthcare benefits in 2007

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Health and Medical, Miguel Pulido, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The not very objective reporters at the Voice of OC have been confronted with evidence that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido did ask the OCTA to continue his health benefits, way back in 2007, and at the same time he told them that he was opting out of Santa Ana’s health insurance program, and yet the Voice of OC continues to attack Pulido. 

The Voice of OC questioned why Pulido, and Councilman Vince Sarmiento, have higher benefits than their counterparts on the Council.  Could it be that they have more kids than their peers on the Council?  Council Members Martinez and Alvarez have no kids.  The other Council Members have, at most, two kids each, as far as I know.

Why doesn’t the Voice of OC reveal that Irvine Council Member Beth Krom makes more than any of her fellow Council Members and she makes more than Pulido and the other Santa Ana Council Members?

An OCTA agency spokesperson confirmed that Pulido’s form is on file with the agency, according to the Voice of OC.

Ream wrote a letter to OCTA Chief Executive Will Kempton, in which Ream admitted that the city “continued [Pulido’s] insurance coverage on an annual basis without his knowledge, participation and/or consent.”

Pulido wrote a letter to Ream this week, confirming his past stated desire to opt out of Santa Ana’s healthcare program.  In the letter, Pulido stated:

As you are aware, the last time I authorized the City of Santa Ana to enroll me in a medical insurance plan was in 2001. Accordingly, please accept this letter as an official request to have my City of Santa Ana health and dental insurance coverage cancelled effective immediately.

Furthermore, I waive my right to receive any cash benefit from the City of Santa Ana, to which I am entitled in lieu of eliminating my city health and dental benefits.

What does this all mean?  In short, it means that this entire made-up scandal was, at the end of the day, much ado about nothing. 

It is true that both Ream and Pulido were unsure about the status of these benefits, but given that Pulido addressed this several years ago, in 2007, it makes sense that he might be unsure about the benefits now.  However, the issue has been cleared up now, to the satisfaction of the OCTA CEO, Will Kempton.

The only reason the Voice of OC news blog is still ripping Mayor Pulido is because their job-killing chairman of the board, former state senator and trail lawyer Joe Dunn, is a backer of Pulido’s opponent, criminal defense lawyer Alfredo Amezcua.  And Dunn is peeved because Pulido fought to keep the 4th Court of Appeals in town when Dunn tried to move it to Irvine.

And Voice of OC funder, union boss Nick Berardino, is still mad at Pulido because the Mayor refused to back his carpetbagger Supervisorial candidate, Tom Umberg, a few years ago.  You might recall that race.  Umberg crashed and burned when it was revealed that he was cheating on his long-suffering wife.  Janet Nguyen won that race and has since become Berardino’s lap dog, which makes one wonder why he is still upset with Pulido.

Why I am voting for Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Elections, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 14 Comments

Mayor Miguel Pulido, with Angels owner Arte Moreno, and Council Members Vince Sarmiento and Michele Martinez

I have spent years fighting the folks at Santa Ana’s City Hall, and have been, quite frankly, brutal in writing about our Mayor, Miguel Pulido and our City Council.

The high point of the “revolution” was beating Pulido’s hand-picked candidates, Tino Rivera and Jennifer Villasenor, in 2006.  Michele Martinez beat Rivera, in Ward 2, and Sal Tinajero beat Villasenor, in Ward 6.  Both benefited from vote-splits that occurred when other challengers took votes away from Pulido’s picks.

The low point, for me, was when Tinajero allied with the Pulido majority.  I was not pleased, to say the least.

In 2008, Martinez inexplicably challenged Pulido.  I found out later that Alfredo Amezcua put her up to it.  He later denied it, but the source of that tidbit was Supervisor Janet Nguyen, with whom Amezcua is still allied.

The Janet Nguyen alliance with Alfredo Amezcua is most disturbing

I have a real issue with Amezcua’s alliance with Nguyen.  She already took over the Garden Grove City Council.  She got her carpetbagging former Chief of Staff, Andrew Do, elected in 2008.  She got her husband, Tom Bonikowski, appointed to the Planning Commission – even though he owns a restaurant that has been cited by the O.C. Health Department too many times to count.  She is planning, I hear, to run Bonikowski for the Garden Grove City Council, in 2012.  Hell will freeze over before I will let her take over the Santa Ana City Council as well!

After Martinez lost, she, like Tinajero, joined the Pulido majority.  I had long since buried the hatchet with Tinajero.  I came to see that he had no choice.  Nor did Martinez.  If they wanted to be effective Council Members they had to count to four – four votes on the Council.  Sans those votes they could not accomplish anything.

Since Martinez’ defeat however something unusual has happened.  She has pulled the Pulido majority to the left.  Tinajero has been a huge part of that as well, as has Councilman Vince Sarmiento.  And Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez has concurred.

One more down, one to go…

The result has been the unprecedented expulsion of the Usual Suspects from City Hall.  One by one the Usual Suspect City Commissioners have been booted off their Commissions, or asked to leave.  After Monday’s meeting, only one will remain, their Queen Bee, Julie Stroud.

The Pulido majority passed a resolution honoring Harvey Milk Day.  They passed a resolution condemning Arizona’s racist SB 1070 law.  And they refused to join Councilman David Benavides in honoring Lupe Moreno and her Minutemen.

Amezcua was lockstep with Pulido all those years I was fighting City Hall.  Even in 2008, he drove to Pulido’s election night party, in a limo, abandoning Martinez.  Only now, as the Pulido faction finally has come into good form, is Amezcua launching his ridiculous attempt at change.  Why change the Council now that they are doing good things?

As our recent post about Amezcua and his alliance with Janet Nguyen indicates, he has built a strange coalition of Latino activists, xenophobes, Usual Suspects and Republicans.  That is no change I want anything to do with!

Charles Hart?  No bueno…

Nor am I inclined to vote for the Usual Suspect Charles Hart.  I have supported George Collins in the past, but I think he is running just to get a few of his issues out, during the debates.  And I am not comfortable with his views on immigrants.

Ultimately our next Mayor has to be able to count to four – four votes on the Council.  None of the challengers will be able to do that.  The only one who can is Pulido.

The City of Santa Ana is at a crossroads.  Our city has a massive structural deficit.  Businesses are closing in droves.  Now more than ever we need a Council that can take action, not one that will be hamstrung by clueless hacks.

So after all these years I am voting for the only candidate that is at all reasonable and effective.  Miguel Pulido.  Be disappointed if you want, but I have always fought for the betterment of our working people.  We cannot take a chance now on a gasbag like Amezcua.

The Pulido majority helped me move the Santa Ana Zoo free day to the third Sunday of the month

Will I agree with everything Pulido does?  No.  But I have found him and the Council to be very accessible.  Many of the my proposals have been implemented this year.  They changed the free day at the Santa Ana Zoo to a Sunday, at my request.  They swept the brush at Santiago Park and conducted a decoy sweep that resulted in the arrest of numerous perverts.  They are considering my dog park proposal.  They have started to use the Google language translator widget on their city website.  All of these were my ideas – and they were open to them.

Pulido and his team know that if I don’t like their position on an issue they will be hearing from me.  And I know they will take my comments seriously.  What more can I ask for?

This Council majority is advancing affordable housing; supporting new developments that will bring jobs to our city; and doing what they can to serve our residents even in these tough times.  For those reasons and more Pulido has my vote, as do Council Members Martinez and Tinajero.  I will not be wasting my vote on Benavides, although he does not face an opponent.  He, like Amezcua, is allied with the Usual Suspects.  Some people never learn…

Tinajero shines as vote splitters crash & burn at candidates forum

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Elections, Neighborhood Associations, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 2 Comments

A big thank you to Connie Hamilton and the folks with the South Coast Neighborhood Association for putting on the Ward 6 candidates forum at MacArthur Middle School this evening. Unfortunately for Hamilton, the neighborhood association and all those in attendance this may have been the worst such event in the history of Santa Ana politics. Those were two painful hours that none of us will ever recover.

Only the incumbent, Councilman Sal Tinajero, showed up with a coherant message and a definitive plan for what he will do once he is reelected. His opponents, Helen Martinez and Nam Pham, were simply horrible. I am sorry if that seems a bit harsh but in reality that is actually a kind analysis of their performance. These two clearly are in way over their heads and really have no business on the ballot.

Martinez appeared to be taking her cues from Thomas Gordon via text message as he sat in the audience. Unfortunately for her, just as Gordon can’t count to twenty, Martinez was unable to articulate what Gordon was feeding her. She kept babbling on about “being business friendly” and yet never once explained what she actually meant by the phrase.

Martinez also talked about developing programs to get parents more involved in their childrens schooling, wanting to get more police officers on the street, increase code enforcement efforts and step up graffiti abatement. She didn’t however explain how she would pay for such things other than to say she would “get more grants.” I guess she doesn’t realize our current council is exhausitive in their quest to get any grants that are available.

Hart prayed for release, but the horrible forum kept going for two hours

As a result of Martinez’ rhetoric without a plan Councilman Tinajero opined that she must think that there must be a “leprechaun with a pot of gold” out there to pay for all these things. Tinajero said that he and everyone else in the room want the things Martinez wants but how can we pay for them. He admitted that if the economy doesn’t turn around that we may have to look into a small assessment to pay for new police officers and other services.

I would like to offer a critique of Pham’s performance unfortunately I am still trying to decipher his answers. He just seemed to ramble on endlessly without ever giving a solid answer or offer any type of significant idea’s or plans for what he might do should he be elected to the seat. The only thing I am certain of is that Pham believes that we should never send our police officers on a call without “back up”.

Thomas Gordon ponders what could have been had he been able to count to 20…

The sad part about all this is that Martinez and Pham were thrown to the wolves by folks alligned with Gordon’s failed campaign and perhaps another well known official (more to follow on this in the coming weeks). Evidence is piling up that clearly points to Martinez and Pham being nothing more than vote splitters in an attempt to get Gordon elected. The plan blew up when Gordon failed to count to twenty and get the required signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The Amezcua and Hart Show

Besides Tinajero the big winner of the night had to be Alfredo Amezcua who showed up with his fellow mayoral candidate Charles Hart. Amezcua won a tequilla basket in the raffle drawing. Perhaps he can use it to help console he and his followers on election night.

Gordon announces that Alfredo Amezcua won the Tequila basket

Thomas Gordon supporters did not go away disappointed. “Tommy Boy” did get a chance to take the mic, too bad for him it wasn’t as part of the candidate forum but instead he got to read the winning raffle numbers. Thankfully they didn’t give him a job that required any basic math skills given his issues with counting to twenty.

The Strouds lose their cool

The night was not without fireworks. Bitter and banished ex-commissioner Glen Stroud, the man behind the fraudulent grand jury report, became unhinged and hurled an “f” bomb right in front of Councilman Tinajero’s young son. Way to keep it classy Glen.

Art Pedroza will be posting video of this event later, but I must warn you it will be painful to watch.

Amezcua wants jobs but is allied with a job-killing lawyer and lobbyist

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Business, Elections, Jobs, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Former State Senator Joe Dunn, is the Chair of the Voice of OC news blog – which has really been going after Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido of late.  Dunn, apparently, is still mad that Pulido blocked him from moving the 4th Court of Appeals building to Irvine.

Dunn also has taken to referring to Pulido’s opponent, lawyer Alfredo Amezcua, as “the mayor.”  Well, not quite Dunn.  However, it figures that Dunn and Amezcua would be two peas in a pod.

Amezcua’s latest campaign email newsletter states that “we deserve jobs and economic progress.”  He goes on to say that we need to combat the highest unemployment in Orange County, with programs to attract and retain businesses that hire our residents.  That sounds great, but Amezcua’s alliance with Dunn runs totally counter to those expressed goals.  Dunn is, and always has been, a cancer on our state economy. 

Dunn became wealthy because of lawsuits against businesses.  But that’s not all.  When he was a State Senator he relentlessy lobbied for more bills that would create more lawsuits and money for his trial lawyer brethren, according to an article in the Jewish World Review.

Here are just a few examples of the job-killing bills that Amezcua’s pal Dunn championed while in Sacramento:

  • SB 796 (Dunn) Employment: Private Attorneys General Act of 2004. Allows private rights of action by employees to recover penalties for violations of the Labor Code that have not been collected by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Known as “Sue Your Boss” this is a bill that allows an employee to sue their boss for technical labor violations where no harm ever occurred. A mistakenly out of date elevator permit could cost an employer $16 million dollars in damages!
  • SB 211 (Dunn) Residential care facilities for the elderly: This bill attempted to prohibit an agreement to arbitrate future disputes from being included in any agreement for admission to a residential care facility for the elderly. Dunn wanted to prohibit arbitration – or non-judicial resolution – for problems related to senior housing – forcing issues into expensive court proceedings where only trial lawyers would profit.  
  • SB 1569 (Dunn) Provider remedies: Senator Dunn also authored legislation allowing doctors to sue HMO’s for unpaid medical claims. While we are all for physicians and everyone else being paid fairly for their work – this would create an avalanche of unintended consequences.

But that’s not all.  According to investigative reporter Brian Joseph, Dunn also did a very bad thing when he was head of the California Medical Association.  Joseph wrote that Dunn defended a program called Diversion, which allows doctors and surgeons who are drunks or are on drugs to keep practicing medicine while undergoing treatment.  But patients are kept in the dark!  Several patients have in fact undergone botched operations because of this program.

Dunn now heads up a law firm in Sacramento, called the Senators Firm, that “combines a comprehensive understanding of and access to key legislative and regulatory channels with a top flight complex litigation and civil trial practice,” which is a fancy way of saying that he is both lawyering and lobbying.

Santa Ana Ward 6 City Council forum set for this Wed., Sep. 1

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Neighborhood Associations, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Councilman Sal Tinajero, with members of the S.A. Planning Commission

The South Coast Neighborhood Association meeting is taking place on Sept 1st and will feature a Ward 6 Council Candidate Forum.

What: South Coast Neighborhood Association meeting
When: Weds, September 1, 2010, 7 p.m.
Where: MacArthur Fundamental School (in library) at 600 W Alton Ave.
Topic: Ward 6 Council Candidate Forum (Candidates: Sal Tinajero, Nam Pham, Helen Martinez)

This race was supposed to also feature Thomas Gordon, but he failed to collect enough nomination signatures, even though he apparently was able to get signatures from the daughters of his would-be opponent, Helen Martinez. 

Pham is a former Santa Ana Library Board Commissioner.  He allegedly tried to get a free candidate’s statement from the Santa Ana City Clerk by claiming to be indigent.  He was denied that request.

There are allegations swirling around City Hall that Martinez and Pham were put on the ballot by Gordon, to split the vote in his favor.  Martinez also told the City Clerk that former, and current, mayoral candidate George Collins helped her to collect her nomination signatures.  I asked him about that and he said it was true.

Tinajero is a teacher and a renowned debate team coach.  He is also a former member of the SAUSD School Board.

Amezcua has long associated with the same gangs he is now complaining about

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Courts, Crime, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Public Safety, Santa Ana 11 Comments

I had to laugh when I saw Alfredo Amezcua’s latest frantic email newsletter, which arrived in my in-box today.  In it he stated that “We deserve a safer city.”  I guess Amezcua forgot what he does for a living.

According to the California State Bar, Amezcua is a criminal defense lawyer.  He also appears to handle family law.  There is no mention of other specialties on his State Bar page.

Amezcua has made a living for over twenty years getting gang bangers, drug dealers, and sexual deviants out of jail.  Now don’t get me wrong, they are entitled to a defense.  However, how can he cry about public safety when he has been undermining public safety throughout his long career?

A friend of mine has heard Amezcua describe himself as a former gang member.  He is said to have been the top lawyer for the head of the Mexican Mafia, Peter “Sana” Ojeda.  In fact the L.A. Times identified Amezcua as an adviser for the United Gangs Council, in a 1993 article that also mentioned that Ojeda was a leader of this organization. 

Ojeda was later arrested for allegedly taxing drug dealers.  And then he was “sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to violating federal racketeering and narcotics laws,” according to an online news report.

Amezcua was also mentioned in another L.A. Times article in 1992, when another Urgan Gangs Council leader, Art Romo, was arrested, for alleged money laundering.  In that article Amezcua was referred to as their “unofficial legal and political adviser.”

Ironically, Amezcua later served on the now-defunct Santa Ana EPIC Commission, which was essentially a gang commission.  According to insiders he wanted to spend six figures to find out what gang members think of the SAPD.  Any SAPD officer could tell you the answer to that query…

Amezcua’s silly campaign newsletter says we need to “eradicate violent crime, rampant graffiti, and gang violence.”  That’s great, but if we do that how will Amezcua make a living?

I have a feeling Amezcua won’t be getting the Santa Ana Police Officers Association endorsment.

Did Alfredo Amezcua have permission to use Loretta Sanchez’ name?

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Elections, Loretta Sanchez, Miguel Pulido, Orange, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

When I heard that Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez was going to appear at a fundraiser in Orange Park Acres, for Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua, I thought she had lost her mind.  It turns out she never gave Amezcua permission to use her name, according to an insider who contacted us today.

Why would Amezcua do this?  My guess is that he is desperate.  He has only raised $8,000 and time is running out.  The big donors are staying away from his campaign.

I was pretty peeved when I first heard about this.  I am glad to hear that Sanchez is staying neutral with regard to the Santa Ana Mayor’s race.  That is the best thing for her to do.

Sanchez’ opponent, the vile Republican Assemblyman Van Tran, is working hard to defeat her – and he is working together with Anaheim Councilwoman Lucille Kring, who is running against State Senator Lou Correa.  To make matters worse, popular independent Cecilia Iglesias qualified for the November ballot after collecting eleven thousand signatures.  She figures to take a lot of votes away from Sanchez in November. 

Sanchez does not need any distractions right now!  She needs to focus on getting reelected.  Shame on Amezcua for apparently using her name without permission.  Clearly he only cares about his campaign and could care less if Sanchez loses.  Remember that Amezcua is allied now with Republican Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who would love to run for Sanchez’ seat herself.  Nguyen is not supporting Tran and she surely won’t be supporting Sanchez.

Will the taxpayers have to pay SAUSD Trustee Audrey Yamagata-Noji over $200K per year in retirement?

Posted on by Posted in Education, Elections, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

I have helped, over the past few years, to get rid of two “double-dippers” on the Coast Community College District’s Board of Education, Armando Ruiz and Walt Howald.  These guys were running, again and again, for office so they could pad their retirement – well into the mid-six figures per year!

But did you know that the Santa Ana Unified School District also has a “double-dipper?”

You may not be aware that Ms. Audrey Yamagata-Noji, who is the President of the SAUSD School Board, is also a “double-dipper”. She is in line to receive two very hefty pensions thanks to the taxpayers of California.

Despite the small stipend she earns as a SAUD board member, her years of service as an educator will be used to provide a second retirement with the Public Employees Retirement Sytem (PERS) for her board service.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Another fundraiser for Al Amezcua, this time in swanky Orange Park Acres

Posted on by Posted in Elections, Orange, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Al Amezcua speaking at Art Lomeli’s home in Orange Park Acres, in 2008

Santa Ana voters can check out how the other side lives on Sunday, August 29, when Art Lomeli, a dentist and Santa Ana landlord, hosts yet another fundraiser for mayoral candidate Al Amezcua, at his home, located at 20208 East Rogers Drive, in swanky Orange Park Acres, from 5 pm to 8 pm.

Lomeli is a Republican, as are many of Amezcua’s supporters.  Lomeli ran for the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Education in 2008.  Amezcua served as Master of Ceremonies at a fundraiser for Lomeli, at Lomeli’s home, so it would appear that Lomeli is now returning the favor.

In 2008, Amezcua supporter Ruben Alvarez opposed Lomeli, instead supporting his opponent, another Republican from Orange named Lisa Woolery.  Alvarez also opposed the mayoral campaign of Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, in 2008.  He supported the incumbent, Mayor Miguel Pulido.  Alvarez is now working closely with Lomeli on the Amezcua campaign, so I would imagine all is forgiven.

At any rate, if you want to attend this event call 714-973-8797.  Amezcua’s campaign email notice about the event does not note the cost to attend.

Santa Ana resident accosted for speaking in Spanish at Council meeting

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Latinos, Politics, Santa Ana 9 Comments

What language did Ben use when he approached these very young ladies, at a No Doubt concert?

The Amezcua campaign was out in full force at last night’s Santa Ana City Council meeting.  We have already chronicled how they resorted to lame miming and then refused to take the podium, as they had nothing to say.

I wonder if Amezcua will now step up to the defense of Alex Vega, a Santa Ana resident who commented last night, in Spanish.  When Vega was leaving he was accosted by Ben Grabiel, a member of the Apartment Owners Association of Orange County.  Grabiel cursed at Vega and demanded to know why he did not speak in English.

Alex Vega with Assemblyman Jose Solorio and Ruben Martinez

For the record, our residents have the express right to speak in whatever language they want to!

I wonder if Grabiel forces his renters to speak in English only as well?

Amezcua, by the way, is still harping about last night’s meeting, on Facebook – even though his acolyte, Albert Castillo, was silent, and his supporter, Rueben Alvarez, was miming.  No one abridged their rights to speak, except for themselves!

So will Amezcua and Castillo speak up for Vega’s rights?  We truly doubt it…

Amezcua wants free speech, but not when it comes to student commissioners

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Politics, Santa Ana, Youth Activities 3 Comments

Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua is screeching about free speech on his Facebook account.  He is upset that his uncouth supporter, Albert Castillo, was silenced at the last Santa Ana City Council meeting after the Council voted unanimously to turn off his microphone.  Castillo had been blathering incoherently about something that happened ten years ago, back when he used to run around town in a beret.

Castillo, as it turns out, had a right to make a fool of himself at that meeting.  The Brown Act is clear about this.  Residents can make asses of themselves during public comments.  That is not illegal.

That said, Amezcua has been as silent as a lamb about his supporter, rogue bully Commissioner Tish Leon, who joined with her fellow Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Julie Stroud, in terrorizing a sixteen year old honor student who was a student commissioner on their board.

What did the young man do to deserve this?  He stood up for my right to make a presentation to the Parks and Recreation Board about building a dog park in Santa Ana.

Leon and Stroud showed up to that meeting, during which Parks and Rec Agency Director Gerardo Mouet was going to introduce his feasibility study into my dog park proposal, with their minds already made up.  They had with them a letter from Thomas Gordon, a Republican who recently failed in an attempt to get onto the November ballot, as a  candidate against Councilman Sal Tinajero.

Thomas Gordon won’t be on the ballot after all, in November

In the letter, Gordon slammed the dog park proposal, even though he once told me that he loved visiting the eight or nine dog parks in the Denver area, where he maintains a second home.  Gordon pays to fly his dog with him to Denver.  It is ironic that Gordon thinks it is okay to deprive the people of Santa Ana of the joy of visiting a dog park when he does this all the time!

The student commissioner later told Stroud and Leon that he thought the dog park idea was a good one.  And he questioned why Gordon was involved.  And that was it.  The bully commissioners lost their minds and went into attack mode.  The rest is history.

Amezcua has had NOTHING to say about the behavior of his longtime supporter, Leon.  He has been working very closely with her since he started his campaign.  She hosts the meetings of his organization, Sacred, at her offices.  I attended those meetings early on, only to find that Leon had brought in a host of Usual Suspects, including Gordon and Stroud.

So Amezcua wants free speech for his ill-mannered supporters, but not for a sixteen year old honor student, or for members of the community who approach city commissions with new ideas – only to be attacked by Amezcua’s friends on the commissions.  (For the record, Stroud referred to me as an ass on the Santa Ana Citizens Yahoogroup after I spoke to her board, a clear violation of the City of Santa Ana’s Code of Ethics).

By the way, Amezcua supporter Ruben Alvarez is insinuating on his Facebook account that he has been censored.  Really Ruben?  I cannot recall him ever asking to speak at a Council meeting and being refused the opportunity.  That is simply a lie.

In fact, for the record, Amezcua himself showed up at the Council meeting when they approved the amendments to the One Broadway Plaza development.  He walked up to the City Clerk, had his parking stub validated, and left.  He wasn’t censored.  He just had nothing of substance to add to the conversation.  As far as I am concerned, he still has nothing to say – and he certainly has been mum about the bullying actions of Leon, his main supporter.

Rogue bully commissioner set to be removed for terrorizing 16 year old student rep

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Politics, Santa Ana, Youth Activities 1 Comment

The Santa Ana City Council looks to be ready to take swift and decisive action Monday night against one of the two Park’s and Recreation Commission members responsible for bullying the student representative to that board causing him to resign.  Item 13C on Monday night’s city council agenda calls for the removal of Tish Leon from the Board of Recreation and Parks.

As you may recall Leon,  fellow Commissioner Julie Stroud and disqualified city council candidate Thomas Gordon hounded the 16 year old student representative to that board so badly that the youngster chose to resign rather than subject himself to their harassment.  The young man stated to my fellow blogger Art Pedroza that the bullying began because  they were angry that he would not support their candidate, Thomas Gordon, for Ward 6 on the Santa Ana City Council.  And both Leon and Stroud demanded that the high school student stop reading the Orange Juice and New Santa Ana blogs and de-friend Pedroza on Facebook.

Why on earth would these folks be so concerned about who a 16 year old was going to support in an election that he could not even vote in?  Perhaps Gordon should have spent more time focusing on those that were registered voters within his ward and perhaps he would have been able to collect the 20 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot.

Pedroza and I have both met with the young man and a number of councilmembers have spoken to him about the repeated bullying by Leon, Stroud and Gordon.  He told Pedroza and myself that he has phone records to document the repeated calls made to him by these folks as well as other documented evidence.

There are others in the local blogosphere that are attempting to spin this and mislead the public as to why Leon is being removed.  The truth of the matter is that the council and others find the treatment of the 16 year old reprehensible and unbecoming behavior by a city commissioner.  If they allow Leon to remain on the board it would reflect poorly upon the community.

Personally I believe that Stroud, who was appointed by David Benavides, should be removed as well.  Councilmember Michele Martinez who appointed Leon likely agreed to the action Monday night and that is why the council is willing to move forward with it.  Benavides probably balked at the removal of Stroud and that is likely why she remains.  Folks should know that Stroud’s husband has given money to Benavides campaign and both Leon and Julie Stroud are listed as supporters of the councilman.

I certainly hope that the young man bullied by Leon, Stroud and Gordon stays involved in our community and that this unfortunate incident didn’t sour him on community involvement.  He is a terrific young man and give me hope that our city’s future is in good hands if he and others like him are involved.  I am going to ask the council to rescind his resignation and put him back on the Parks and Recreation Commission.  His voice needs to be heard.

The meeting, scheduled to begin at 6PM, will be held at the Yost Theatre, 307 N. Spurgeon, in downtown Santa Ana.

How appropriate that the meeting is being held in a theatre, rumor has it that Leon’s supporters and the rest of the “usual suspects” will display their theatrics in her defense at the meeting.

O.C. Register quizzes SAUSD School Board candidates

Posted on by Posted in Education, Elections, Politics, Santa Ana, Youth Activities 1 Comment

I received a candidate questionnaire today from the Orange County Register.  Here is a sneak preview at what they asked and how I answered:

THREE QUESTIONS Responses may be up to 75 WORDS – not a character more.

1) Over the last several years, schools have slashed millions from their budgets, trimmed back instruction days, increased class sizes and dropped programs. What steps will you take to minimize the impacts of those cuts?

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Cecilia Iglesias makes it onto the ballot against Loretta Sanchez

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Santa Ana 5 Comments

What a surprise!  Independent Cecilia Iglesias turned in over 11,000 signatures to the O.C. Voter Registrar – and she will be on the ballot in November as a candidate for the 47th Congressional District, against incumbent Loretta Sanchez and republican challenger Van Tran.

Here is Iglesias’ candidate statement:

UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE, 47TH DISTRICT

NAME: CECILIA “CECI” IGLESIAS
OCCUPATION: Human Services Professional

I am a candidate for the 47th District, U.S. Congress because I wish to serve my community by restoring a voice for the residents and ensuring that we have the highest standards of ethics, transparency and accountability to my constituents. My commitment is to work vigorously to strengthen our economy; save and create jobs by supporting our business sector; more effective youth programs and being a champion for our children’s education. Also, I will work with both parties to strengthen our nation’s security and resolve the immigration issue to make America greater.

I have lived in the 47th District for three decades and still reside in the community. My education was in the public school system, Santa Ana College and Cal State Fullerton.

Also, I bring nearly two decades experience in public service working for the County of Orange, helping to create and manage social services programs.  In this capacity, I worked daily with men, women and children, youth and seniors and saw firsthand the need for change to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are spent in ways that truly accomplish their intended purpose.

Additionally, I have served my community in a wide range of volunteer positions including as Founder and President of Santa Ana Family Empowerment (SAFE), an organization that enables families with deaf children to learn sign language and assist their son or daughter in their education.

People, not political parties, make positive change happen and I respectfully ask for your vote.

(714) 486-1055
http://www.ceciforcongress2010.com/HOME.html

________________________________________________________

Sanchez really has been awful on migrant and Latino issues.  She finally signed on as a co-sponsor of the Dream Act but only after months of declining to do so.  She panders a ton to Viet voters but has seemingly forgotten those who got her elected in the first place.

Is Iglesias a long shot?  You bet.  But good for her.  We need good challengers in EVERY race!