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Category Archives: Miguel Pulido

Sam Romero says the Santa Ana PBID is destroying the Fiesta Marketplace

Posted on by Posted in Business, Latino Leaders, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 11 Comments

I received a phone call today from Sam Romero, a longtime community leader who used to head up SANO, an organization of 13 Santa Ana Neighborhood Organizations.  He has run a Catholic curio store called St. Teresa’s Gifts, in the historic 4th Street marketplace, in Santa Ana, for 35 years.

Romero wanted to talk about the Santa Ana PBID – an annual assessment that affects all the businesses in the downtown area.  Romero, as it turns out, is one of the businessmen who spearheaded the effort to collect signatures asking the Santa Ana City Council to rescind the PBID.

I wrote a post about the uprising against the PBID a few days ago.  In that post I identified Dr. Art Lomeli, a dentist in the downtown area, as one of the leaders of the PBID rebellion.  Romero however said that Lomeli was late to jump on this issue.   Both Romero and Lomeli supported failed Santa Ana mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua.

I told Romero that his support for Amezcua is going to make it tough for him to get much attention from City Hall.  Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido won easily in November – and he knows full well who opposed him.  Romero said he goes way back with Pulido, having been there when Pulido was first elected.  Romero said he pined for years for an all-Latino City Council.  We have that Council now, but Romero, like Lomeli and Amezcua, has nothing good to say about them.

Romero helped Pulido’s family to save their muffler shop, which is now known as Ace Auto Care, many years ago, when the City Council at that time was trying to destroy it in the name of redevelopment.  Romero admitted that Pulido has never forgotten that favor and that he has always been cordial to Romero and his fellow businessmen in the Fiesta Marketplace.

The problem for Romero is that now he is watching his friends go out of business, and he is not happy about that at all.  He blames the PBID, which drains thousands of dollars from every business in the area.  The problem, says Romero, is that he and his associates get no benefit from the PBID, which is managed by Downtown, Inc., a non-profit marketing association.

Romero points to the recent Downtown Santa Ana Christmas Event, which he said ran from 4 pm to 10 pm.  Most of the shops in the Fiesta Marketplace closed at 5 pm that day.  “This only benefited the restaurants in the Artists Village,” said Romero.

Romero says that the businesses in the Fiesta Marketplace also have their own assessment, which amounts to a nickel per square foot.  They use that money to promote their shopping area.  Romero claims that he and his fellow businessmen started the annual Santa Ana Cinco de Mayo event, “but the city took it away from us.”

The Cinco de Mayo event is still held in the 4th St. area.  Pulido met with the merchants in that area this year, in  advance of the event, as was widely reported in the local Spanish language newspapers.  (See a picture of that meeting above this paragraph).

Romero said the City of Santa Ana also took the annual Noche de Altares (Day of the Dead) event away from them.  It was a huge event this year – over by the Artists Village.

I took a look at the Fiesta Marketplace website, which includes a list of the businesses in that area.  These shops include:

  • Brian’s Fashion
  • Fiestamall
  • Genesis Bridal
  • Guadalajara Jewelry
  • Imperial Market
  • Infinity Plus
  • Kids Avenue
  • KV Sports
  • La Fiesta Shoes
  • La Paloma Fashion
  • La Reyna de Michoacan
  • Mariscos Tampico
  • Mi Fiesta Party Rental
  • Moya Bakery
  • Patty’s Bridal
  • La Pizza Loca
  • R and R Sportswear
  • Roberto’s Shoe Repair
  • St. Teresas

As you can see, the merchants include quite a few clothing stores, as well as a few eateries and jewelry stores. Their biggest challenge is that the locals can buy similar products, for less, at Wal Mart and Target.

The Fiesta Marketplace website states that “Fiesta Marketplace strives to accurately represent Mexico down to the smallest detail. The restaurants serve delicacies made from traditional, Hispanic recipes, and its stores sell a wide array of foods, toys, clothes, and other goods imported directly from Mexico. A playhouse regularly presents plays and readings in Spanish, and a cinema plays the latest films from Mexico and South America.”

The harsh reality is that many of the immigrants who shopped at the Fiesta Marketplace for years have gone back home, to Mexico and Central America, and some have moved to other States in the U.S., in an attempt to find work and to flee from California’s high cost of living.

Downtown, Inc., has in fact produced many events that were targeted to Latinos, but I don’t know if they succeeded.  I do know that they are trying to do the best they can, but it has been a tough year for everyone.

Romero is convinced that the PBID’s ulterior motive is to gentrify 4th St. and to drive the businesses in the Fiesta Marketplace bankrupt.

Romero said he plans to speak at upcoming Santa Ana City Council meetings and that he has asked State Senator Lou Correa to intervene.  Correa previously held a public town hall meetings when many local businessmen were upset about the now-defunct Santa Ana Renaissance redevelopment plan.

I have already suggested, in my previous post, that the City Council bring everyone together and rework the PBID.  And put it to a new vote.  Romero wants it gone, period.  I don’t see that happening, to be honest.

Romero cited several examples of businesses losing their shirts, including a parking lot that is not making any money, but is losing thousands to the PBID, every year.

It is worth noting that Pulido’s own family, which still runs their auto shop, also signed Romero’s petition against the PBID.

I don’t know what will become of the Fiesta Marketplace, but they do have an event coming up on January 6.  From their website: The first event celebrated in Fiesta Marketplace is the Dia de los Reyes on January 6. The highlight of the event is when the “Reyes Magos” arrive in Fiesta Marketplace.  The Reyes Magos give presents to children and in the morning, bread and hot chocolate are given to the public. In the afternoon typical meals from Mexico such as pozole, mole and tamales are given free of charge to the people enjoying the event.

Here is  map of the Fiesta Marketplace:

Council installation ceremony quite upbeat

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 7 Comments

Last evenings city council installation ceremony was great success that had a very upbeat vibe about it.  Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilmembers Michele Martinez, David Benavides and Sal Tinajero all reaffirmed their oath’s of office and the 2010-2012 Santa Ana City Council was seated joining their colleagues Claudia Alvarez, Carlos Bustamante and Vince Sarmiento.

Despite a small gathering of protesters organized by the failed Amezcua campaign the evening went off without a hitch and each of the councilmembers and the mayor offered up encouraging words for our city’s future.  It looks like all seven members of the council are committed to moving forward with an agenda that will help improve the quality of life for all of our residents and not let the naysayers and malcontents hold us back.

The highlights of the evening had to have been Councilmember Benavides daughter holding Benavides late father’s Bible during his swearing in and the moving tribute to Councilmember Martinez late mother.  Benavides father passed away last year and Martinez mother died the day before the election this year.

It was great to see the families of all of our elected officials and many of our city staff.  Sometimes in the brutal battles that take place in the political arena we lose sight of the fact that these folks are human like the rest of us and have families that love them very much.  Last night allowed us all to see that very human side of our leaders.  Mayor Pulido’s son Miguelito even helped entertain the crowd at the Bowers Museum reception by playing classical guitar along with his classmates from the Orange County High School of the Arts.

There was one matter of business before the council last night and that was the selection of Mayor Pro Tem.  The council unanimously selected the current Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez to continue on in that position.  The solid support from her colleagues is a testament to the leadership shown by Alvarez durin her tenure on the council.

Last night’s event left me feeling very good about the future of our city and I am excited to watch what our city leaders do to move our city forward over the next two years.  Lets hope the malcontents and the naysayers will get on board and help make Santa Ana a better place.

Pulido keeps it positive at swearing in ceremony

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 1 Comment

While failed Santa Ana mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua and about 15 of his unhappy followers froze outside, the Santa Ana City Council Members and Mayor Miguel Pulido were sworn in on Tuesday evening.  Later on they convened at the Bowers Museum for more festivities.

For Council Member Michele Martinez the evening was special.  She asked Jeff Bishop, an administrator at the SAUSD, to swear her in.  Some years ago he decided to work with her rather than expel her from Santa Ana High School.  As we all now know, his decision directly led her to where she is today.  Martinez wrote about this on her blog, where she also mentioned her mother, who recently passed away.

Pulido laid out a list of priorities that included more jobs, a mass-transit line through downtown, more street trees and a renewed focus on health. He described Santa Ana as a “magical place.”  “At the end of the day,” he said, “if things are working well, you’re seeing good results, then we’re doing our jobs,” according to the O.C. Register.

Congratulations to all the Council Members and to Mayor Pulido.  Kudos to Pulido for keeping his message positive.  What a contrast between his message and Amezcua’s “discontented vigil.”

I look forward to working with our City Council to find ways to better ways to serve the public.

Amezcua’s vigil of malcontents

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, David Benavides, Extremism, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 4 Comments

On Saturday afternoon I received an email from a group calling itself “Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government” and they were announcing their plans for a protest at City Hall Tuesday.  As Art Pedroza wrote on Saturday this group is just a front operation for failed Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua.  It is evident that Amezcua and his supporters have no plans on be gracious in defeat.

The protest, which they have labeled a “Vigil of Discontent”, is scheduled to take place prior to the inaugaration of three of our finest city leaders, Mayor Miguel Pulido, Councilmember Sal Tinajero and Councilmember Michele Martinez along with Councilmember David Benavides.  Amezcua and his supporters want you to join the “community” in protest, doesn’t he realize that it was the community that overwhelmingly defeated him in November.

This event is nothing more than a side show created to make people think that the residents of Santa Ana are opposed to the great council majority that will lead our city for years to come.  As we all saw from the election results the residents support our Mayor and council majority.  This is sour grapes from the Amezcua camp and a demonstration that they lack any class whatsoever.

I find it laughable that Amezcua is now “discontented” with Mayor Pulido and company.  It appears that Amezcua, a long time ally of Pulido and the “white” power structure here in Santa Ana, only started to express his discontent once Pulido refused to invest in Amezcua’s failed Santa Ana Business Bank and once Pulido turned his back on his old “angry white” voter base and began to allign himself with the more progressive Latino’s on the council.

The time for politics and campaign rally’s is over Al.  It is time to help our elected officials and other city leaders move Santa Ana forward.  Cheap publicity stunts like the one you have organized for Tuesday does nothing to bring the community together or help make Santa Ana a better place.  You lost, move on.  Stop with these silly vigil’s of malcontents.

Alfredo Amezcua’s cultists to engage in rude protest at Council inauguration ceremony

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 7 Comments

When a political candidate loses an election, generally they do so with some modicum of grace.  It is customary to call the winning candidate and congratulate him, and concede the election.

Not so for failed Santa Ana mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua.  He posted this on his Facebook page this week:

Join the community Tues, Dec. 14 at the Vigil of Discontent outside city council chambers at the parking lot at Ross and Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Our mayor is being inaugurated to another term on a very sad week for our city. We learned of another violation of the public trust. Mayor Pulido arranged a $500,000 finder’s fee for himself for helping business partners buy state property.

How rude!  Wasn’t it a “violation of public trust” when Amezcua fraudulently registered to vote at his law office, so he could run for an Area of the Rancho Santiago Community College District that he did NOT live in?

Wasn’t it a “violation of public trust” when Amezcua allegedly changed his name on some 19 traffic tickets in order to preserve his driving record?

Wasn’t it a “violation of public trust” when Amezcua opened the ill-advised Santa Ana Business Bank – ultimately costing his investors 40% of their stake?

This man has no shame!  The election is over Amezcua!  It is time to work with those who won, not stage ridiculous protests and disrupt public ceremonies.

Word has it that Amezcua will be greeted on Tuesday by dozens of counter-protesters.

Have Alfredo Amezcua’s followers become a cult?

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 14 Comments

An old friend of mine got really upset at me this week for something I wrote about failed Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua.  I told him that Amezcua lied to the voters, by registering to vote at his law office, while living in a home that was NOT in the Rancho Santiago Community College District Area that he was elected to represent, but this fell on deaf ears.

I also got into it on Facebook this week with another Amezcua acolyte who said that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido stole the election, in November.  Really?  People really believe that could happen?  Astounding.

This got me to thinking – have the rabid Amezcua followers become a cult?  Check out the definition of the word “cult” from Dictionary.com:

  1. A particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
  2. An instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
  3. The object of such devotion.
  4. A group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
  5. A group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

No question about it.  Charismatic people are able to start cults and cultivate them.  Amezcua is indeed a charming guy, when he wants to be.  But his followers, like the cultists they have become, are blind to the facts:

  • Amezcua was Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s good buddy for some twenty years.  They worked together many years ago to end gang violence.  They worked together to recall Nativo Lopez.  They were two peas in a pod, until 2008, when Amezcua inexplicably turned on Pulido, and talked Council Member Michele Martinez into running an ill-fated campaign for Mayor, against Pulido.
  • While Pulido has moved steadily to the left, influenced by progressive Council Members Martinez, Sal Tinajero and Vincent Sarmiento, Amezcua moved to the right this year.  He ended up allying with some of the most unsavory Latino bashers in Santa Ana.
  • As I noted, Amezcua lied to the voters.  I spoke to a Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee recently who corroborated what happened.  It was none other than former RSCD Chancellor Eddie Hernandez who found out Amezcua had committed fraud and asked him to resign from the Board.  Amezcua did resign, but as he did so he told the public he was doing it to bring new blood to the Board.  That was another lie.
  • Amezcua also appears to have changed his name on traffic tickets, allegedly in order to avoid messing up his driving record.
  • A few years ago, when Amezcua opened his now defunct Santa Ana Business Bank, I wrote that it was a bad idea.  He had his lawyer send me a nastygram.  Well, I was right.  He sold the bank at a loss and his investors lost their shirts.

But none of this matters to the Amezcua cult.  They simply ignore the facts.  It is sad.  Many otherwise good people have been fooled by this man.

I think a lot of this is because these folks uniformly hate Pulido.  So while Amezcua was flawed, they jumped on board his campaign in order to get back at Pulido.

Pulido is what he is.  He pushes the envelope at times but he is very careful. And he has been involved in many good votes this past year.  He voted to support the Dream Act.  He voted to honor Harvey Milk Day.  He voted to condemn Arizona’s racist SB 1070.  But the Amezcua cultists don’t care.  In their book Pulido is bad, no matter what he does to the contrary.

I will say this for Pulido.  He is a good family man.  He goes to church.  He is a longtime supporter of many non-profits and charities, and the arts.  He does some things at times that some folks call unethical, but unlike Amezcua he has never lied to the voters.

As for Amezcua, I would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  But he needs to come clean about what he did and why he really quit the RSCCD Board.

What about the Amezcua cultists?  They need to get a grip.  They bought a bill of goods.  It is time to face reality.  Amezcua lost, and he lost badly.  Time to move on people!

Will Jose Solorio run for the Santa Ana City Council again in 2012?

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Elections, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Assemblyman Jose Solorio won reelection easily in November, as he always has.  But he is going to term out of his seat in the 69th Assembly District in 2012.  It will finally be time for him to move on to something else.

I thought for some time that Solorio would run against Supervisor Janet Nguyen in 2012.  I am beginning to have my doubts about that.  The O.C. Board of Supervisors is going to redistrict before the 2012 elections.  Nguyen will find a way to move Latinos out of her district and replace them with more Vietnamese voters.

Solorio has never had to run against a determined, well-funded opponent.  His Republican challengers have all been cupcakes.  Nguyen won’t be a pushover.  And she will make sure that she changes her district to give her an innate advantage over Solorio.

That is why I have now come to believe that Solorio will punt.  He will instead either resort to lobbying or government relations work, go to a non-profit, or, most likely, find another way to spend his time as he waits for State Senator Lou Correa to term out, in 2014.  Solorio will then run for Correa’s seat.

Solorio does have another option.  He could run for his old seat on the Santa Ana City Council.  It is highly likely that his replacement on the City Council, Vince Sarmiento, will run for Solorio’s Assembly seat.  So what they will do is trade places.  Solorio has been gone from the City Council for years.  He will be able to run for three more consecutive terms, if he wants to.

I suspect that is exactly what Solorio will do.  He will then get a good-paying job at a public agency.  Remember that he used to work at the OCTA.  He will land on his feet.

This may actually work out well for the City Council majority.  Solorio will work well with Council Members Sal Tinajero, Michele Martinez and Mayor Miguel Pulido.  Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez will term out in 2012 and she could easily run for the SAUSD School Board – and win.

As for Nguyen, she will still face challengers, but most likely they will come from the right, not the left.

Mayor Pulido’s involvement in state real estate deal not illegal

Posted on by Posted in Blogs, california, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Critics of our Mayor Miguel Pulido are all abuzz in the blogosphere today after it was revealed that he may have been in line to receive a “success fee” of $500,000 for helping put together the investors for the $2.3 billion real estate deal involving the sale of state owned buildings.  They are calling for investigations by the District Attorney or the Attorney General and making all kinds of wild accusations.  What they have failed to tell their readers is that Mayor Pulido broke no laws.

Rather than focusing on the merits of the sale itself these folks who have an axe to grind with the Mayor have chosen to bash Pulido instead.  The real story is the sale of these buildings and whether it is a wise move for the state to do so.  However these bloggers are so ready to smear Pulido, his allies and his agenda at every turn that they have lost site of the issue of the sale itself.  That is a shame.

By most accounts Pulido in his capacity as a businessman, not Mayor, pulled together a group of investors to purchase 11 parcels currently owned by the state.  There is nothing illegal or unethical about the Mayor doing this and it is “yellow journalism” for anyone to infer that it is. 

Certainly given that he has been an elected official since 1986 and Mayor since 1994 Pulido has made a number of contacts that helped him pull this group together.  Is there a law that prevents him from calling on these contacts outside his capacity as Mayor?  Was there any conflict of interest regarding his capacity as Mayor and this real estate deal?  The answer to both questions is a resounding NO!

Real estate deals like this are done quite regularly and the person or person’s who pull the investors together to make the deal happen are compensated.  The bigger the deal the greater the compensation.  Why should Miguel Pulido be any different because he is the part-time Mayor of Santa Ana?

All of the noise we are hearing about this in the blogosphere is much ado about nothing.  The attacks on Pulido just fit into their agenda and rather than dealing with the fact that nothing illegal transpired they would rather play on the emotions of their readers and the naive public. 

I encourage you to look closely at those making the most noise and you will see that they are left overs from the failed campaigns run against Mayor Pulido this past November.  As far as Bill Lockyer goes he is probably just trying to get a little payback for Mayor Pulido’s opposition to his wife Nadia Davis-Lockyer when she served on the Santa Ana School Board.

Did Pulido earn a fee by helping to seal a $2.3 billion dollar real estate deal?

Posted on by Posted in Business, california, Civic Affairs, Development, Miguel Pulido, Real Estate, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The State of California announced on Oct. 12 that it would be selling 24 government office buildings — including the Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Civic Center — to a group of private investors for $2.3 billion, according to CNBC.

I don’t personally like this deal as the State would still need the buildings and would have to lease them back from the new owners.   However, the state is broke and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been trying to raise money for the last two years.

Today the story moved in a different direction,  after it was revealed in court documents that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido would allegedly receive $500,000 if the transaction went through, according to the L.A. Times.

Here are a few excerpts from the Times:

Mayor Miguel Pulido said he was “proud” of his involvement in the sale and called the proposed payment a “success fee.” Pulido, whose mayoral post is part-time, said he was acting as a “private citizen” in the transaction.

But after revelations about the proposed fee appeared on The Times’ website, Pulido said he had “no written agreement” with the consortium that placed the winning bid for the 11 state properties. Late Monday, he said “I now believe there’s no hope that I will receive any money for this transaction under any circumstances.”

As you might expect, Pulido’s detractors are in a full frenzy over this.  But let’s step back and look at this deal objectively.  If indeed Pulido was supposed to get a $500K fee, is it really that much compared to the total price tag of the deal?  I calculated it and his supposed fee came to only .02% of the deal.

Realtors make, on average, a 6% commission, according to Mortgage Daily News.  If Pulido had been paid along those lines, for this massive deal, he would have earned a $138 million fee.  But he isn’t a realtor, although he says he did earn the fee by bringing the investors to the table and helping to consummate it.

What Pulido did is NOT illegal.  Whether or not it is ethical depends on who you ask.  But the bottom line is that pulling together a deal like this is not easy.  Pulido had the connections and the wherewithal to make this happen.  It sure looks like he earned his fee.

But that isn’t how this will spin out in the local blogosphere, I daresay.  Pulido will get roundly ripped by the usual detractors.

Let me remind you, my readers, that this man is a part-time Mayor.  He is a consultant and he makes a living the best way he can.  He has been accused over the years of all sorts of malfeasance, but has never been charged with any crimes or been arrested.

Other local elected officials in Orange County are also involved in such deals, including Irvine’s Councilman Larry Agran, Anaheim’s outgoing Mayor Curt Pringle; and Tustin’s Mayor Jerry Amante.  And outgoing Fullerton Councilwoman Pam Keller, as well as Anaheim Councilwoman Lorri Galloway, have both pumped public funds into their respective non-profits, which, as I understand it, pay them each a salary.

Some Santa Ana activists believe that our Mayor should be full time and he should be paid appropriately.  Were that to happen, it would lessen the need for Pulido to get involved in such transactions.

As for those who supported his opponent, local attorney Alfredo Amezcua, this year, they should know that he supposedly owns 39 properties, which I believe are mostly rentals.  He is no stranger to real estate deals.  I am told he makes far more money this way than he does defending criminals.  Does anyone think Amezcua would not jump at a chance to make a half million by brokering the sort of deal that Pulido got involved with?  Of course he would go for it!  Remember too that Amezcua fleeced a lot of people with his Santa Ana Business Bank.  The investors lost almost half their investments by the time he found a buyer.

Rip Pulido if you must, but the alternative this year might have been a complete train wreck.

Bloggers and media demonstrate Santa Ana must be the most interesting city in OC

Posted on by Posted in Blogs, Carlos Bustamante, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

Read the local blogs or the pseudo-media and you will see an incredible fascination, some might say obsession, with our great city and our elected officials.  Whether they live in Anaheim, Long Beach or Irvine these folks can’t seem to focus on their own communities they instead choose to write about ours and do so with an outsiders ignorance.  Their wild eyed accusations and assessments are based on second hand knowledge and biased observations.

It looks as though these folks have joined in with the small, but angry, mob of local residents that offer no real solutions or alternatives to help move our city forward.  The recent election results demonstrated that the voters soundly rejected this “coalition of no” and their negative view of our city and our leaders.  Rather than simply opposing projects and attacking our electeds perhaps these folks could offer up some different ideas for moving our city forward along with a plan on how they would do it.

Simply saying you want more cops, more parks and more services is not an answer.  Everyone wants those things.  Tell us how we can do that or how we can accomplish it by tweaking what we are currently doing.  Mayor Miguel Pulido, the city council and city leaders like our Police Chief Paul Walters are doing all they can to provide our community the best services possible given the current budget issues we face.  Things could be much worse but thanks to our leadership they aren’t.

We here at the New Santa Ana blog are all ears when it comes to hearing new ideas and plans on how we can make our city a better place.  We would love to hear constructive criticism of the way things are being done now, perhaps there are ways to do things better.  However all we hear out of these bloggers and so-called media types is pissing and moaning and personal attacks against our city, our leaders and their supporters.

For all of you folks throwing rocks from afar I ask you this, if you are so concerned about our city why don’t you move here and help make it a better place?  You are constantly telling the blogosphere how smart you are, why don’t you move to Santa Ana run for office and let us all reap the awards of your incredible intelligence?

Obviously you have all solved the problems in Anaheim, Irvine, Long Beach and wherever else it is that you hail from.  Since you see our great city as being so interesting that you focus your obsession on it I ask you to come and help us move it forward.  For many years Art Pedroza and I found throwing rocks to be easy, finding solutions is hard.  Join us and or great city leaders in finding the solutions necessary to improve the most interesting city in Orange County.

The time is now and the place is Santa Ana.

Have critics of the Santa Ana City Council gone too far?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 16 Comments

My colleague, Sean Mill, recently extended an invitation to the editor of a local news and entertainment publication to go on a ride-along with Mayor Miguel Pulido, to see some of the great positive things that are happening in Santa Ana.  The editor’s response?  No, he said, because Mayor Pulido has not yet visited the editor’s girlfriend’s local store.  How petty can you get?

Orange Juice blogger Gabriel San Roman topped that yesterday in a truly ridiculous post wherein he slammed the entire Santa Ana City Council because they did not attend a fundraiser for the Breath of Fire theater ensemble.  According to San Roman, the Council was invited, in person, to attend the event, but they did not.

Is this guy serious?  The City of Santa Ana provides a community calendar, where such events receive free publicity.  Events are also featured on the front page of the City’s website.   The City of Santa Ana also sends out a regular email newsletter, called Celebrate Santa Ana, that touts such events.

Councilwoman Michele Martinez also promotes these events in her monthly newsletter and on her blog.  So does Mayor Pulido, on his blog, and Councilman Sal Tinajero, on his blog.

The reality is that our Council Members and our Mayor are busy people.  Most of them have kids.  All of them have jobs to do and many of them already serve on numerous charitable boards and civic commissions.  Must they attend every event that San Roman wants them to attend, or risk getting ripped?

Expecting our local elected officials to spend all of their free time attending meetings and events is unreasonable.  These folks serve our City on a part-time basis.  They should be allowed to spend their free time doing whatever they want to.

Latino activists used to complain because the Santa Ana City Council was full of non-Latinos.  Now we have an all-Latino City Council and their critics are still unhappy.  Nothing will ever please them…

City Council installation set for December 14th

Posted on by Posted in David Benavides, Entertainment, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The 2010 Mayor and City Council Installation ceremony has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 14th at 6:00 PM in the City of Santa Ana Council Chambers located at 22 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana.  All residents are invited to join in the celebration of the swearing in of Mayor Miguel Pulido and Council Members Michele Martinez, David Benavides and Sal Tinajero.

Voters reaffirmed their support for the terrific council majority when Mayor Pulido, Martinez and Tinajero were re-elected along with Benavides in November.  After a spirited campaign season lets hope that all sides can put their differences aside and get behind the movement that will lead our community into the future.  The silly season that is born out of elections that has led to ridiculous lawsuits and obstructionist behavior should now be put to rest for the good of the city.

Immediately following the ceremony at the council chambers there will be a reception at the Bowers Museum which is located at 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana.  Everyone is welcome and we here at the New Santa Ana blog look forward to see you all there.  Let’s celebrate our city council and our city’s future together.

Who will run for the Santa Ana City Council in 2012?

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 7 Comments

This year’s Santa Ana City Council elections were a mixed bag.  On the one hand, mayoral challenger Alfredo Amezcua proved he could run a serious campaign – but he lost badly to Mayor Miguel Pulido, despite spending a quarter million, from what I hear.

The Council incumbents won handily.  Michele Martinez and David Benavides ran unopposed.  Sal Tinajero was challenged by Nam Pham and Helen Martinez.  They were not competitive.

But 2012 will be a different bag altogether.  Vice Mayor Claudia Alvarez is termed out.  Councilman Carlos Bustamante will be running for his third term – but this time he figures to draw heavy competition, after he was caught campaigning for Republican Assemblyman Van Tran, who challenged Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.  And Councilman Vince Sarmiento might leave the Council and run for Assemblyman Jose Solorio’s seat in the 69th A.D., creating an open seat on the Council.

Amezcua could run for Mayor again, but he ought to consider challenging Bustamante, who has been in cruise control for a few years.  If Amezcua does that, he might pick up support from folks who support Pullido but want Bustamante, who is the last Republican on the Santa Ana City Council, off the Council.

Who else might challenge Bustamante?  Well, how about past Assembly candidate Armando de la Libertad, who lives in the new CityPlace center?  He is very popular and he is very well connected in the O.C. business community.

Guess who else lives in Bustamante’s ward?  Popular SAUSD Trustee John Palacio, an ally of Amezcua.  Palacio just won a new term on the SAUSD School Board.  He would have a free shot at Bustamante’s seat.

What about Alvarez’ Ward?  The obvious leading candidate would have to be SAUSD Trustee Roman Reyna, who ran for the City Council before.  He works at the new Santa Ana YMCA and previously worked at the Boys and Girls Club.  He knows a lot of families in town, and he is also popular in the faith community.  He would be a formidable challenger, if he could raise enough money.

But it is unlikely that Tinajero, Martinez and Councilman Vince Sarmiento would back Reyna.  The danger for the progressive Council majority would be that Reyna would team up with Benavides, Pulido and Bustamante (if Bustamante won reelection) and form a new conservative Council majority.

Then again, who knows?  It is still very early in the game.  Alvarez’ ward includes the Artesia-Pilar and Washington Square Neighborhood Associations.  Both are full of activists and community leaders, including past SAUSD candidates Gloria Alvarado, Cecilia Aguinaga, Oscar Garza and Irene Ibarra, and past Rancho Santiago CCD candidate Lynette Verino, as well as former Councilman Tom Lutz and his wife Nancy, who lost to Alvarez many years ago.  And I think that Amezcua’s daughter Valerie might live in this Ward too.  She also ran for the SAUSD Board a couple years ago.

If Sarmiento leaves the Council to run for Solorio’s seat he might well end up running against AUHSD Trustee Jordan Brandman – and Solorio may go with Brandman instead of backing Sarmiento.  Of course Solorio will have to be careful as he may end up running against Supervisor Janet Nguyen in 2012.

So who might run for Sarmiento’s seat?  Community leader Jim Walker did pretty well in 2008, when he challenged Sarmiento.  He might run again.  But most likely we will see a number of Commissioners and Neighborhood leaders run for this Ward.

What about Pulido?  He won handily, again, this year.  I doubt anyone will challenge him this time, except for perhaps Amezcua.  Oh, you might see a few underdog candidates arise, but no one is going to defeat Pulido.  And don’t forget that 2012 will be a presidential election year.  Pulido will be helping Obama – and that means Obama will be helping him.  Game over for anyone who wants to take on Pulido…

Solorio and Correa to speak at tonight’s Santa Ana City Council meeting

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Jose Solorio, Lou Correa, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The Santa Ana City Council meeting is tonight, at 5 pm, at the Civic Center Plaza.  Our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, has posted a few highlights about the meeting at his official blog.

Assemblyman Jose Solorio and State Senator Lou Correa will be speaking tonight about their successful efforts to secure funding from the State of California for two new Santa Ana parks.

The other major item is the announcement that the Santa Ana Zoo will have a new food vendor – Knowlwood Enterprises.  They are replacing Otto Bade’s La Perla restaurant.

Click here to read Pulido’s post, which includes more highlights regarding the meeting.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido to serve once more on the OCTA’s Board of Directors

Posted on by Posted in Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana, Transportation 1 Comment

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has retained his seat on the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors, according to the O.C. Register.

This is good news for the residents of the City of Santa Ana, who often rely on public transportation to get to work and/or school.

The appointments is for a two-year term from January 2011 to December 2012.  Pulido has served on the OCTA Board since 1997.

Board members get paid $100 per meeting, with a maximum $500 per month. Compensation includes mileage.

The OCTA is currently working on a Transit System Study.  The goal of the study is to find new, affordable ways to provide cost-effective bus services to meet the county’s diverse transportation needs by making the best use of OCTA’s limited financial resources. The study will focus on efficiently integrating and sustaining services in the short, intermediate, and long term periods. It is planned to be completed in June 2011.

Click here to participate in the study.