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Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Miguel Pulido

Amezcua says Pulido isn’t helping our youth – but is that really true?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Education, Jobs, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana, Youth Activities 4 Comments

Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua finally offered a glimpse at one of his campaign ideas, with this comment that was posted today on Facebook ( I am posting it verbatim):

We are exchanging ideas wit voters concerned that the current mayor isn’t working with the school district to create greater opportunity for our youth.

What the heck is he talking about?  Why is Amezcua attacking Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido on education of all things?

Don’t forget that Amezcua QUIT the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Education.  And, as we exposed here, it is likely that he quit because he broke the law by running for the RSCCD’s Area 1 even though he really lived in Area 3.

Our city is struggling to find ways to close our massive budget hole, and Amezcua now wants Pulido to expand his duties to include education?

And what does Amezcua mean by “greater opportunity for youth?”

The reality is that even though our city is broke, good things have indeed been happening that have had a positive impact on our youth.

Let’s take a walk through our city’s website and annotate some of these accomplishments:

  • The City has invested heavily in our community centers.  Click here to see a list of them.  Our community centers are currently hosting dozens of summer programs that you can read about by clicking here.  The Jerome Center was recently renovated.  You can read about the renovation by clicking here.  Our Parks and Rec Agency Director, Gerardo Mouet, took over control of our soccer fields and now youth have even more access to them.  Click here to read about that.  The Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Department is also offering a pretty amazing array of  “leisure classes.”  Click here to learn more about those.  And Mouet followed my advice and changed the Santa Ana Zoo’s free day to the third Sunday of the month.  Hundreds of Santa Ana’s kids got to see the Zoo for free today!  Click here to read about that.
  • How about our Public Libraries?  Mouet has acted swiftly to expand our library services since he took over management of our libraries.  Click here to see their new website.  Note that American History ebooks are now available for FREE to our residents.  Mouet also added an extensive online selection of books about animals.  And he added a virtual reference library!  Services also now include online book clubs!  And Mouet is offering a slew of summer programs that you can read about by clicking here.  Our libraries are also offering free computer workshops for kids, starting in August.  Click here to read about that.
  • And while the City has cut back on some City Commissions, the Youth Commission is still active.  Click here to read about that.
  • Did you know that the Santa Ana Police Department offers dozens of FREE programs, many of them youth-oriented?  Click here to read about them.  The Santa Ana Police Athletic League also has a vast summer activity program that you can read about by clicking here.
  • Our City also promotes events all over town on their Community Calendar, that you can access by clicking here.
  • And here is the clincher – our City even offers a “Youth Page” on their website – with dozens of links to all sorts of programs going on in our city.  Click here to access the Youth Page.
  • Our City also offers help to those looking for work.  Click here to see the City’s Work Center Page.

So is Pulido guilty of not offering enough “opportunities for youth?”  Not that I can tell.  If anything, Amezcua is guilty of slinging empty political B.S.  That is becoming the hallmark of his campaign.  It is most disturbing.

More evidence emerges that Amezcua didn’t live in Area 1 while on the RSCCD Board

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 1 Comment

I have received evidence that Al Amezcua, an attorney who is a candidate for Mayor of Santa Ana, did not live in Area 1, when he was serving on the Rancho Santiago Community College District.

Amezcua registered to vote, at the time, at his office address on Broadway, which is south of 17th, in Santa Ana.  That address is in Area 1.  However he was living at an address on Memory Lane, in Morrison Park, which is in Area 3, as see in the above graphic.

Nativo Lopez, a former SAUSD Trustee who Amezcua helped to recall, is in jail right now for registering to vote at his office in Los Angeles while he was still living, and voting, in Orange County.

When Amezcua abruptly quit the RSCCD Board we all wondered why.  Now we know.  Someone must have found out what he was doing.

Amezcua is now registered to vote, again, out of his office address, as we disclosed in a previous post this week.  And it looks like his son is a registered Republican!  How odd.

For whatever reason the mainstream media is ignoring this story, even though I emailed it to reporters at the L.A. Times and the O.C. Register.  I also sent it to a friend at the O.C. Weekly.  No response.

I think it was summarily dishonest for Amezcua to play this shell game, and to keep on doing it now.  Should he drop out of the mayoral race?  I think so.  We’ll see where this goes.  City Hall insiders tell me that the FPCC and the Secretary of State will be looking into this.

Amezcua has not yet pulled his papers although several other candidates have, including Mayor Pulido.

Angels join Pulido and Correa in renovating the Santa Ana Boys & Girls Club

Posted on by Posted in Business, Charities, Civic Affairs, Lou Correa, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana, Sports, Working Families, Youth Activities 1 Comment

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and State Senator Lou Correa welcomed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and their owner, Arte Moreno, just before this week’s MLB All-Star Game, to help renovate the Santa Ana Boys & Girls Club.  Here are a few excerpts from a post on the Angel’s website about this wonderful charitable effort:

Hours before the 81st MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at Angel Stadium, Major League Baseball, the Angels and the city of Santa Ana put the finishing touches on the renovations of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana, as part of the festivities of 2010 MLB All-Star Week.

It was a fun day for all involved, and major renovations were made to the club, including a newly constructed baseball and softball field, a baseball-themed mural on the field’s outer edges, the planting of an organic/peace garden, renovations to a multi-purpose room and various other activities on the grounds and facility.

It was all part of MLB’s “Going Beyond” initiative, which is expected to raise $5 million for local and national charities as part of MLB’s All-Star Week in Anaheim and the surrounding areas. And it couldn’t have been done without the help of the Angels and the Angels Baseball Foundation, which was created by Angels owner Arte Moreno in 2004.

The Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana has a big impact in the community, as it has impacted more than 70,000 lives since 1954, and serves approximately 900 youth from Santa Ana daily.

You can read more about this charitable event at this link.  And watch a video about it at this link.  And see a lot more pictures on the Santa Ana Boys & Girls Club Facebook page, at this link.

Amezcua campaign’s assertions about the City of Santa Ana simply aren’t true

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 10 Comments

Over the past fifteen years few people have criticized the City of Santa Ana as much as I have.  However, I have noticed significant improvement over the past year or so.

Apparently some folks in our community do not share that sentiment.  A campaign email message sent out by Alfredo Amezcua, the local attorney who is challenging incumbent Mayor Miguel Pulido, in November, included this laundry list of criticisms aimed at City Hall:

  • Our city government appears to be closed off and inaccessible
  • City Hall does not address everyday problems
  • Issues need long-term solutions not election time speech-making

Are these charges fair?  In my opinion the answer is no.  Allow me to explain.

Earlier this year I noticed that strange men were lurking at Santiago Park.  I launched a campaign to curtail this activity and Santa Ana Chief of Police Paul Walters too note.  He conducted a sting operation at the park and arrested nine perverts in a few hours!

Now I don’t always agree with our police department.  In fact I conducted a massive research project this year and disclosed exactly where the SAPD conducts their DUI checkpoints.  I found that they do these only in the middle of our city, never in the north or south.  But Walters did meet with me and he took the time to explain his position, which is that the department has to enforce the law.

Well, I still don’t like those checkpoints, but Walters met with me.  How can Amezcua call our City Hall inaccessible?  It simply isn’t true.

I also asked Walters to consider conducting an animal license amnesty day, similar to what the County of Orange did, and guess what?  He did exactly that!

I also have worked hard on a proposal to build a dog park here in town.  And our Parks and Recreation Agency Director, Gerardo Mouet, took the time to meet with me to discuss my ideas.  He also conducted a feasibility study into the issue, which is still in process.  Mouet is about as busy a guy as you can imagine, but he took the time to meet with me.

And Mouet also took seriously my proposal to change the free day at our Santa Ana Zoo from a Tuesday to a Sunday, so working people could enjoy the Zoo.  This month that new policy will begin, on Sunday, July 18.

Again, does this sound like a City Hall that does not address everyday problems?  No, that is simply a lie.

Earlier this week a tipster emailed me about the residents at Santa Ana’s Saddleback Inn, who are being evicted.  I called Mark Lawrence, at the City Manager’s office.  He was very cordial and he pointed me to Karen Haluza – in the Planning Department, and he gave me her direct number.  I called her and found out that the City is not to blame for the mess at the Saddleback.  She took the time to talk to me and carefully explained the nuances of the case.

Lastly, earlier this year I contacted Councilwoman Michele Martinez and asked her to see if City Hall could add the Google language translator to our city website.  They finally did so recently and I am very pleased that the site now offers information in over 80 languages, to our residents.  Again, City Hall responded.

Here is my point.  When I have a question or an idea I pick up the phone and call City Hall.  I am never turned away.  They are incredibly responsive.

The folks that work at City Hall have had a very tough time over the past few years.  Many jobs have been cut or outsourced as the different agencies have struggled with tons of red ink.  But they are persevering and I really appreciate their efforts to serve our residents.  Do we always agree?  No, but Amezcua is full of it when he says our City Hall is closed off and inaccessible.

I have to laugh when Amezcua says that “Issues need long-term solutions not election time speech-making.”  The only guy engaging in empty speech-making is Amezcua himself!  Go to his campaign website and see for yourself.  Not one idea or proposal is on that site.  It is full of, you guessed it, empty speech-making.  Go figure.

Here are Amezcua’s own words:

Rebuild!…our city’s image by making our streets safe for every resident, in every neighborhood, repairing our streets and broken infrastructure and celebrating the diversity of our community.

Renew!… our public schools by creating and maintaining an ongoing dialogue between parents, students, teachers, the school board and City Hall.

Revive!…our city’s economy by supporting those businesses which we already have, bringing in new businesses that will benefit our whole city and by making Santa Ana an affordable and friendly place for all businesses, both current and new.

Does Amezcua cite how we are going to do all this?  No.  Of course not.

It is one thing to slam Pulido, but attacking our City Government with loaded, false charges is just politics as usual.  Don’t we deserve more from our candidates?

Santa Ana Council refuses to honor haters much to Benavides’ chagrin

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Civil Rights, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, immigration, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 3 Comments

The Santa Ana City Council wisely pulled the awarding of a Certificate of Recognition at tonight’s meeting to a group of folks that included individuals with ties to the Minuteman Project and other hate groups.  Councilman David Benavides who put forth the honor was said to be quite upset that the other councilmembers refused to support the award. 

Benavides left the meeting before any official business was conducted because the council chose not to recognize those involved in an Independence Day event held at the Santa Ana Library on July 3rd.  At the event, which was organized by Minuteman supporter Lupe Moreno and others, some of those involved with running it were videotaped referring to Latino’s as “wetbacks”.

You can read all about the event and watch the video of that haters in action by clicking here.

Let me be clear not all of those being honored by the proclamation tonight have ties to these hate groups or right-wing extremist organizations however they must all surely be aware of Moreno’s activities and involvement with such racists.  As a result of their complicity the community needs to question and scrutinize these individuals and the organizations they represent.

Moreno used the “Friends of the Library” as the front to get city support for this event.  Given the actions of Moreno’s cohorts at this event perhaps the “Friends” should rethink their ties to Ms. Moreno or the city should rethink their ties to the “Friends”.

I would like to personally thank Mayor Miguel Pulido, Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez, Councilman Vince Sarmiento and especially thank Councilman Sal Tinajero and Councilwoman Michele Martinez for standing up and putting a stop to this outrageous award to known haters.  What on earth was Councilman Benavides thinking?

Will Vietnamese voters determine the next Mayor of Santa Ana?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Democratic Party, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Alfredo Amezcua, the local lawyer who is challenging Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido in November’s General Election, has gathered up essentially the same coalition that backed Councilwoman Michele Martinez when she took on Pulido, in 2008.  We know how that worked out.

So the question is, how will Amezcua grow this coalition such that he will be able to prevail over the better-funded longtime incumbent, Pulido?

Amezcua has succeeded in gaining some support from Santa Ana’s NIMBY community, which closely parallels the folks known as Santa Ana’s “Usual Suspects,” but their influence is waning, as is their number.

The only demographic that is growing in Santa Ana is that of Vietnamese voters, who have been moving into town in droves over the past few years.  The bad news for Amezcua is that Pulido has been reaching out to Viet voters for some time.

Councilman Vince Sarmiento has helped Pulido reach out to this community, as has Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez.  Sarmiento appointed businessman Kenneth Nguyen to the Parks and Recreation Commission.  My sources tell me that Nguyen is very connected with the business community in Little Saigon, where he wields a lot of influence.

Take a look at the picture above this post.  Pulido and his runningmates actually got their signs posted on a Buddhist Center, on the West side, that is very popular in Santa Ana’s Viet community.  I am guessing they won’t be allowing Amezcua’s signs on their property this year.

To make matters worse for Amezcua, it is very likely that Viet voters will be voting en masse in November, some to support Assemblyman Van Tran, as he runs against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, and others to support Sanchez herself.  I expect that State Senator Lou Correa and Assemblyman Jose Solorio will also be actively courting the Viet vote. 

I don’t expect Correa to take sides in the mayoral race.  But Solorio will – he is a staunch ally of Pulido.  As for Sanchez, who knows?  She generally is for herself, for sure, but doesn’t generally do much for other candidates, although she did endorse Martinez in 2008.

Amezcua has concentrated most of his early campaign efforts in the Latino community.  Will he be able to mount much of a campaign in the Viet community too?  We’ll see.  Unless he has folks like Kenneth Nguyen helping him, that may be an impossible task.

Viet voters already put Supervisor Janet Nguyen in office.  Will they now go all in with Pulido as well?  We’ll have to see about that.  Amezcua is known to be friendly with Supervisor Nguyen.  Pulido?  Not so much.

Santa Ana candidates scramble to raise more money as deadline looms today

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 7 Comments

 

This Wednesday, June 30, marks the end of the first campaign finance reporting period, which means that local candidates are scrambling to raise more money in advance of the deadline, so their first campaign finance report will look decent.

Many of the incumbents in town lack opponents.  Councilman David Benavides is unchallenged, as is Councilwoman Michele Martinez. 

Alfredo Amezcua

Mayor Miguel Pulido is opposed by local attorney Alfredo Amezcua.  And Councilman Sal Tinajero is opposed by a man he once appointed to a City Commission, Thomas Gordon, who resides part-time in Denver, Colorado, as well.  Gordon is actively involved in opposing graffiti in both Santa Ana and Denver.

The hottest race figures to be the Mayor’s race.  I doubt that Gordon will be able to raise much money, but Amezuca can and will, and he figures to self-fund as well.

Thomas Gordon

Gordon, incidentally, just won reelection to the OC GOP’s 69th Assembly District Central Committee, but he came in fourth place out of about a dozen candidates.  They ran for a total of six seats, which is to say that Gordon didn’t do that well.  He angered many Republicans by supporting carpetbagger Harry Sidhu for the 4th Supervisorial District in the primary election.  Sidhu got blown out by the winner, Fullerton Councilman Shawn Nelson, who also has a law office in Santa Ana.  Sidhu also lost in his race for the 69th AD Central Committee.  He came in second to last, despite Gordon’s support.

As you can see in the picture above this post, not everyone in town is buying into Amezcua’s campaign.  Latinos will be split between him and Pulido, and who knows about everyone else.  The emergence of other mayoral candidates is almost assured. 

I spoke to one potential candidate this week, business owner Irene Ibarra.  She ran for the SAUSD School Board in 2008, and she says she is definitely running for Mayor in November.  Ibarra plans to self-fund her race.  She spent six figures on her school board race and has the ability to do that again.

Past mayoral candidate Stanley Fiala and Councilman David Benavides

We may yet see a challenger emerge to take on Benavides.  I am hearing chismes that some of the Council Members are working hard to recruit a candidate.  They aren’t happy about Benavides’ alliance with the folks known as the “Usual Suspects.”  They are also afraid that when Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez terms out, Benavides will run his friend Roman Reyna for her seat. 

Councilwoman Michele Martinez

Martinez may also draw a challenger or two.  Last time she barely won over Com-Link Chairwoman Evangeline Gawronski, who was betrayed by her friends in the Usual Suspects.  They backed Tino Rivera, who was a lousy candidate.  Parks and Recreation Commissioner Tish Leon also ran, but I don’t see her doing so again as Martinez put her on the Parks and Recreation Commission.

I spoke to Martinez today.  She has raised a lot of money but could have raise more had she not canceled a fundraiser that ended up scheduled the night the Lakers won their Championship.  She will reschedule that event in July.

Good luck to all the candidates.  It takes a lot of moxy to run for office.  And the campaign finance paperwork is a real pain to fill out!

Who else might run for Mayor of Santa Ana this year?

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

Will Irene Ibarra run for Santa Ana Mayor?

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and his challenger, local attorney Alfredo Amezcua, figure to have a fierce, expensive campaign this fall.  Their rancor just might create an opportunity for an alternative candidate to run – and win.

So who else might run for Mayor of Santa Ana?

Believe it or not, there are a few folks out there that are interested in running.

I spoke the other day to business owner Irene Ibarra, who ran in 2008 for the Santa Ana Unified School District’s Board of Education.  Ibarra spent six figures on that race and put out a lot of mail. 

Ibarra didn’t win but that was primarily because SAUSD Trustee John Palacio ran her on a slate with businessman Mike Gonzalez, who clearly wasn’t ready for prime time.  Gonzalez and Palacio essentially tanked Ibarra’s campaign.

But Ibarra’s massive campaign expenditure got her name out and as such she would be a viable candidate for Mayor.  She once worked for the City of Santa Ana, years ago, and knows the ins and outs of City Hall like few others.

What about George Collins?  He has run for Mayor before (also in 2008) and is a known quantity to a lot of folks.  Yes, he is quirky, but he is also a dedicated community volunteer and he has some good ideas.  He is also married to a lovely Peruvian nurse who speaks fluent Spanish.

How about Stanley Fiala?  He also has run for Mayor before.  Many times.  The Czech immigrant is a Libertarian and like Collins can be quirky, if not downright odd at times.  But he is always a hoot at the Council debates!  Of course Fiala only got about one thousand votes in 2008, but he really didn’t run much of a campaign.  And Fiala is married to a Mexicana, which might get him a few votes if she joined him on the campaign trail.

The real stealth candidate might be Evangeline Gawronski, the Chair of Comm-Link, an organization of Santa Ana Neighborhood Associations.  She ran for the City Council in 2006, and came darn close to winning in Ward 2.  She only lost by about 700 votes.

How about Jim Walker?  He ran for the City Council and lost to Vince Sarmiento, in 2008, but he got a lot of votes.  Walker is a Democrat and a good community guy with a solid record of volunteering for various educational organizations.

Will any of these posible candidates run?  Hard to say.  We still have a lot of time for them to make up their minds…

Alfredo Amezcua’s campaign website offers no new ideas or solutions

Posted on by Posted in Business, Development, Education, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua finally has put up some “Issues” on his campaign website. 

I spoke to Amezcua recently and asked why he had not done more to explain his positions.  He said he was afraid that incumbent Mayor Miguel Pulido would “steal his ideas.”  It is hard to believe that a politician with as much experience as Pulido would resort to such a thing – particularly since Amezcua’s ideas don’t amount to much. 

Here then are Amezcua’s ideas:

Rebuild!…our city’s image by making our streets safe for every resident, in every neighborhood, repairing our streets and broken infrastructure and celebrating the diversity of our community.

Renew!… our public schools by creating and maintaining an ongoing dialogue between parents, students, teachers, the school board and City Hall.

Revive!…our city’s economy by supporting those businesses which we already have, bringing in new businesses that will benefit our whole city and by making Santa Ana an affordable and friendly place for all businesses, both current and new. Continue reading→

Was this Pulido’s last State of the City Speech?

Posted on by Posted in Business, Civic Affairs, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 19 Comments

Picture courtesy of Miniondas

An article in the latest edition of Miniondas, a Spanish language newspaper in Santa Ana, covered Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s recent State of the City Speech to the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.

The article stated that this is Pulido’s last run for Mayor.  It was a bit vague and could be interpreted to mean that he is not running this November, but I think that Pulido’s intention is for this to be his final term as Mayor.

In his speech Pulido mentioned his support for the Dream Act, which offers a path to citizenship for students who are undocumented. 

Pulido also talked about a November ballot measure which will prevent the state from raiding city redevelopment funds.

He also complained about the recent flawed O.C. Grand Jury report, which sought to cast aspersions on the Transit Zone development.  A spurned ex-city commissioner was on that Grand Jury, tainting the results of their investigation.

The article also stated that Pulido has some critics who are angry that he has been in power for over 20 years.  His opponent, Al Amezcua, was noted, as were some of Amezcua’s supporters, including Dr. Art Lomeli and Sam Romero.  Neither of them live in Santa Ana although both operate businesses in downtown Santa Ana.

The article also noted that Pulido led the Santa Ana City Council in opposing Arizona’s racial profiling law, SB 1070.

Pulido closed by saying that Santa Ana is headed in the right direction, with regard to education and our economy.

How will the Santa Ana City Council vote on Mike Harrah’s OBP changes?

Posted on by Posted in Business, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Real Estate, Redevelopment, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 2 Comments

Now that the Santa Ana Planning Commission has voted, by a margine of 3-2, to approve the changes requested in the developer agreement for the One Broadway Plaza development, by developer Mike Harrah, what is the Santa Ana City Council going to do?

Here is how the Planning Commission voted.  Thanks to our blogger Rob Cook for providing this information!

Frank Acosta………………………ward 5……………no
Patrick Yrarrazaval……………..ward 2…………….no

Mario Turner……………………. ward 4…………….yes
Michael Walters……………….. ward 6…………….yes
James Gartner…………………. ward 3…………….yes

Victoria Betancourt……….. Mayor rep…………absent
Eric Alderete………………… …ward 1…………. absent

The vote was quite interesting.  The Commissioners who represent Council Members Michele Martinez and Claudia Alvarez, voted no. 

Martinez actually worked on Measure A, which asked the voters to approve this development.  And Alvarez has received significant campaign contributions, over the years, from Harrah.  Continue reading→

Which one is better for Santa Ana – Amezcua or Pulido?

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Labor, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 13 Comments

Mayor Pulido enjoys the support of the entire Santa Ana City Council

 

(polls)

Several of my friends here in town have been asking me who would be better for Santa Ana – Mayor Miguel Pulido or his challenger, Al Amezcua.  Good question!  I don’t have an easy answer.

Instead, let’s compare the two on the major issues of the day:

Education

Both Pulido and Amezcua have supported local school bond measures.  Amezcua chaired the last one, Measure G, and his daughter Valerie worked on the campaign.

Amezcua was also on the Rancho Santiago Community College District for a few years, before he quit mysteriously.  He took part in wasting bond money on a Deputy Sheriff’s training academy we didn’t need.  He was also on the board when the fire sprinklers were turned off at Santa Ana College, with no notice given to the students.

Pulido helped bring the Orange County High School for the Arts (OCHSA) to downtown Santa Ana.  But that school has not allowed very many Santa Ana kids to enroll.

Both had kids that were in our public school system, although Pulido eventually put his kids in charter schools, and OCHSA.

Pulido has endorsed most of the SAUSD school board members over the years.  So has Amezcua.  Amezcua’s daugher, Valerie, lost a close race for the SAUSD school board in 2008.  Roman Reyna edged her out.

Pulido failed to take advantage of matching state funds to build new libraries.  He actually closed one library and failed to open any more.

Bottom line?  Too close to call.  Neither candidate can brag much about their efforts in education. Continue reading→

Santa Ana City Council approves the Transit Zone project unanimously

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Development, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, public works, Real Estate, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Transportation, Vince Sarmiento, Working Families 1 Comment

The Santa Ana City Council voted unanimously tonight to approve the Transit Zone project.

Council Members Michele Martinez, David Benavides, Carlos Bustamante and Sal Tinajero voted in the affirmative.  Miguel Pulido, Claudia Alvarez and Vince Sarmiento did not vote, due to conflicts of interest.  Sarmiento and Alvarez were there, but left the room for the vote.  Pulido did not come to the meeting.

The SACReD folks and a few Usual Suspects showed up to oppose the project.  They broke into sarcastic clapping as the meeting drew to a close.

Martinez was very passionate in her comments.  She said if the vote cost her reelection, so be it.  She also said, “Have faith that we will stay committed to what we are voting for tonight.” Continue reading→

Attorney General should investigate the O.C. Grand Jury

Posted on by Posted in california, Civic Affairs, Courts, Crime, Miguel Pulido, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment
Glenn Stroud – The man who corrupted the O.C. Grand Jury?

According to their website the Orange County Grand Jury is “mandated to investigate and report on both criminal and civil matters within the county”.  My question is whose responsibility is it to investigate the Grand Jury?  As the result of recent developments surrounding the investigation of the City of  Santa Ana’s handling of a transportation contract awarded to Cordoba Corporation and the subsequent Grand Jury report I believe that it is time for Attorney General Jerry Brown to open an investigation of the Grand Jury.

As was exclusively reported here on the Orange Juice in a May 26th post the investigation into the actions of the city and its elected officials was tainted and perhaps corrupted by the actions of one of the jury members, Glenn Stroud.  Stroud, as most of you know, was removed from his position on the Santa Ana Redevelopment/Housing Commission by the city council late last year.  Stroud was angry about the removal and has been a quite vocal critic of the council majority, especially Councilman Sal Tinajero and Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez.

His involvement in the investigation, questioning and issuing of this report may very likely have been predjudiced by his anger over his removal.  I believe the only way to reassure the public that this process was conducted in a fair and unbiased manner is for the Attorney General’s office to proceed with a full and thorough investigation of the Grand Jury and Mr. Stroud.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Ousted Commissioner Taints Grand Jury Report

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Courts, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana Leave a comment
Glenn Stroud: Grand Jury member and ousted Redevelopment Commissioner

The local blogosphere and some members of the community have been all abuzz in regards to a report released Monday by the Orange County Grand Jury.  The report criticized the Santa Ana City Council over their handling of a transportation contract awarded to Cordoba Corp.   The report, which called the contract “flawed”, has been widely reported in the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Times, the Liberal OC, New Santa Ana and even here on the Orange Juice.

However there is one important point that all of these outlets failed to tell their readers, this report and the impartiality of the Orange County Grand Jury has been tainted by the fact that one of the members of the Grand Jury is a former Santa Ana Redevelopment/Housing Commissioner who was ousted by the same city council criticized in the report.  “Usual Suspect” Glenn Stroud is a member of the Orange County Grand Jury and his disdain for many on this council is well known throughout the community.

Stroud, who was none to happy about his dismissal from the commission by the council, has long been a vocal critic of Councilmembers Claudia Alavarez, Sal Tinajero, Vince Sarmiento and Michele Martinez.  With Mayor Miguel Pulido joining that group in booting Stroud from the commission it clearly could not have endeared him to Stroud.  So is it possible that this report is in some way pay back for Stroud.

Click here to read the rest of this post.