Mayor Miguel Pulido and Gerardo Mouet
The Santa Ana City Council has voted to send Gerardo Mouet back to the Parks Department. He is no longer the acting Santa Ana City Manager.
Mouet has been replaced by Deputy City Manager Robert Cortez, who will be the acting city manager while the City Council looks for a permanent replacement for fired former City Manager David Cavazos. Continue reading
City Manager David Cavazos will be relieved of his duties but will receive a severance payout, council members decided Tuesday just a few weeks after he was placed on paid administrative leave by a new council majority, according to the O.C. Register.
The good news is that even though the City will have to pay Cavazos over $315K to take a hike they are replacing him with Gerardo Mouet, who has been running our City’s Parks and Recreation Agency for years. Mouet is already on the payroll so this won’t cost Santa Ana an extra dime. Continue reading
Gerardo Mouet, the executive director of the Santa Ana Parks, Recreation and Community Services Agency, has been named Santa Ana’s acting City Manager, according to the O.C. Register.
Mouet was appointed after the new City Council majority voted on Wednesday to place our overpaid and oversexed city manager, David Cavazos, on administrative leave. Continue reading
Miss Guerrero at the Fiestas Patrias Parade
I already posted the pictures I took of our local elected officials at this Sunday’s Fiestas Patrias Parade (celebrating Mexican independence). But I also took a lot of other pictures – of the floats and other participants. I am posting them here.
If you don’t usually attend this parade I encourage you to do so. It is a lot of fun and a great look at the history and culture of Mexico. Continue reading
Sprinklers have been running for over 48 hours at the Santa Ana Lawn Bowling Center, which is located at Santiago Park, off of Memory Lane, despite the rainy weather. Members of the Park Santiago Neighborhood Association have tried calling any number that made sense, to no avail. They also called the Lawn Bowlers – who mostly don’t live in Santa Ana.
The entire Lawn Bowling Center was also left unlocked on Friday night as well. Continue reading
Gerardo Mouet, executive director of the City of Santa Ana’s parks, recreation and community services agency, told the OC Register this week that “Santa Ana is the county seat and the most urban section in the county. Biking and walking in an urban setting is of growing interest, and Santa Ana is a great place to illustrate this trend to the entire county.”
Mouet is very proud of the fact that Santa Ana will be hosting Orange County’s first ever Ciclovia – an open streets event where the streets will be closed to cars and opened to bikers, walkers and runners. SOMOS or “Sunday On Main Open Streets” is scheduled for Sunday, October 5, 2014 from 9 am to 4 pm.
But here is the problem – the City of Santa Ana has a mandatory bike registration program in place that is run by the Santa Ana Police Department. If your bike is not registered with the police they can stop you and actually give you a pricey ticket! Hardly any of our residents know about this program. How many people are they going to ticket at the Ciclovia? Continue reading
The City of Santa Ana says U.S. Rep. Sanchez “isn’t political”
Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Agency Director Gerardo Mouet called me today to assure me that all is on the up and up over at the Fiestas Patrias event that is taking place this weekend in Downtown Santa Ana.
Mouet explained that it is okay to let local elected officials participate in the Fiestas Patrias because, well, they’re elected. But it is not okay for other candidates and campaigns to have booths at the Fiestas Patrias or participate in the parade on Sunday because, well, they’re not elected.
Huh? Did I miss something? Does becoming an elected official automatically bestow extra Constitutional powers to our incumbent politicians? Because that is what Mouet is saying. Free speech is apparently available in Santa Ana but only if you were fortunate enough to win an election. Free speech is not extended to anyone else! Is this what we expected from our all-Democrat Santa Ana City Council? Does this mean the “Santa Ana Spring” is dead? Continue reading
The Santa Ana Lawn Bowling Club no longer lists their members or officers on their website. Perhaps they took that information down after we revealed that hardly anyone from Santa Ana actually participates in this organization.
So who are these people who are using our public park for their own entertainment, even though most of them don’t live here? In 1935 & 1936 the 1st lawn bowling green in Santiago Park was constructed with public funding from the Work Projects Administration (WPA) program. In the summer of 1938 the first lawn bowl was rolled. Popularity of the sport created a need for the second “green” which was constructed in 1952. Continue reading
Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Agency Director Gerardo Mouet is hosting a “Conversation with Jeff Miller,” the head of the Alliance for Biking & Walking, a North American coalition of more than 200 state and local advocacy organizations, on Monday, April 7, 2014, at 6 pm, at the Garfield Community Center located at 850 Brown St., in Santa Ana.
The conversation will center on making Santa Ana a more bike friendly city. They will also talk about the prospects of Santa Ana having a community biking event on a major street on a Sunday – “A Santa Ana Ciclovia.” Continue reading
Santa Ana Public Works Director Raul Godinez will depart Santa Ana to become the new City Manager of El Monte on July 15 at a salary of $195,000, according to OC Political blogger Thomas Gordon. (Gordon is a member of the OC GOP Central Committee and a past Santa Ana Mayoral Candidate).
Godinez was thought to be the leading candidate to become Santa Ana’s next City Manager, but guess what? El Monte retained the services of executive search firm Bob Murray & Associates, the same company tasked with hiring a new City Manager for Santa Ana. So they found Godinez a job, but not here in Santa Ana. Continue reading
City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County Community Advisory: SANTA ANA PUBLIC LIBRARY SELECTED AS FINALIST FOR NATIONAL SERVICE MEDAL
SANTA ANA, CA (February 15, 2013) – The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced yesterday that the Santa Ana Public Library is a finalist for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for service to the community and celebrates institutions that make a difference for individuals, families, and communities. Medal finalists are selected from nationwide nominations of institutions that demonstrate innovative approaches to public service, exceeding the expected levels of community outreach. Continue reading
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
Did you notice how out of control Santa Ana Council Woman Michele Martinez appeared at the last Council meeting? I have been hearing for some time that she has become unhinged and has taken to making ridiculous demands at City Hall. Diva? You bet.
And now she has done it again. According to my sources, she blew a gasket this week when her pals at the SEIU whined about the Santa Ana Park Rangers getting axed. Continue reading
Maybe Michele Martinez needs a time machine so she can vote again for a new City Manager?
So this is what it has come down to. The two or three defenders of the Santa Ana City Council majority are now pleading on the blogs, anonymously of course, for a new national search for a new City Manager even though we already have one and he was selected unanimously by the Council. And they gave him a contract that pretty much backfires on them if they can him.
The reality folks is that the Council Majority is desperate to take complete power at City Hall and that is not going to happen as long as Paul Walters is at the helm. Note that former Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez is gone now. She was the one who kept these guys from breaking the law. The good news is that now she can come after them as an Orange County Deputy District Attorney – and that is just what it might come down to. Continue reading
As has been our tradition, it is time to vote for the Santa Ana Man and Woman of the Year, for 2012. And we have quite a few great choices to choose from, in our poll below. You can vote for up to three nominees. Voting will close on January 8, 2013.
This year’s mayoral race produced three of our nominees – Mayor Miguel Pulido, and candidates David Benavides and George Collins. But we also delved into our city’s non-profit sector to find stellar nominees Dwight Smith, of the OC Catholic Worker; Armando De La Libertad, the Director of the Delhi Center; Scott Overpeck, of the awesome community project Laundry Love; Scott Glaab, the head of the Santa Ana Athletic Foundation and a local high school wrestling coach; and Benjamín Vázquez, of El Centro Cultural de Mexico.
Please let us know if we missed anyone and we can add them to our poll right away. Here is the poll – note that you may vote for up to three candidates at once: Continue reading