Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Miguel Pulido

O.C. Grand Jury questions light rail contract awarded to Cordoba Corp.

Posted on by Posted in Business, Civic Affairs, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Cordoba Corp. knows how to game the system when it comes to public contracts…

The Orange County Grand Jury has found that the huge contract that the Santa Ana City Council gave to the Cordoba Corp. was rather fishy, given that his firm was the lowest rated of three bidders, according to the O.C. Register.

“Mayor Miguel Pulido intervened directly after city staff, acting on the advice of the expert panel, recommended that a different company get the contract, according to the grand jury report. He called together a special committee of council members to do its own evaluation – but nobody kept a record of those discussions, the grand jury found.” Continue reading→

City leaders play hard in Nutrition Fair basketball game at Godinez High School

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Sports, Vince Sarmiento, Youth Activities Leave a comment

The Santa Ana 714 Nutrition and Fitness Fair was held today at Godinez High School, located adjacent to Centennial Park.  The highlight of the event was the basketball game between Santa Ana City Council Members, Santa Ana School Board Members, community organization activists, high school students and other city leaders.

Council Member Michele Martinez captained the red team, which included Councilman Vince Sarmiento and SAUSD School Board Member Roman Reyna.  Councilman Sal Tinajero captained the blue team, which featured businessman George Pla, and two members of the Santa Ana Planning Commission.  Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido was also supposed to be on the blue team, but he was late, having attended a function involving his daughter, and so he did not play, although he did stay and cheer for the blue team.

Watch the second video, below, to see which team won!

Click here  to see a list of the full rosters of the two basketball teams. Continue reading→

Santa Ana Fitness Fair will feature Mayor Pulido playing basketball

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Health and Medical, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento, Youth Activities 3 Comments

The Santa Ana 714 Nutrition and Fitness Fair, which is set for this Saturday, May 8, will feature a basketball game between Santa Ana City Council Members, Santa Ana School Board Members, community organization activists, high school students and other city leaders. 

The event will be held at Hector Godinez Fundamental High School, located at 3002 West Centennial Road, in Santa Ana.

Here are the basketball teams: Continue reading→

Is it time to make Santa Ana a Sanctuary City?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, immigration, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 3 Comments

A new Facebook group has formed in support of making Santa Ana a Sanctuary City. The group’s page states that “In Santa Ana we have the numbers to make Santa Ana a Sanctuary city but we act like a minority . We must fight back!”

An effort to do this died in 2008, after Council Member Michele Martinez’ motion was defeated by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and the rest of the Santa Ana City Council.  Ironically, she is now part of Pulido’s team and is in a good position to reintroduce this idea to the rest of the Council.

Recently Pulido and his Council passed a motion voicing their displeasure with the racial profiling bill in Arizona, SB 1070.  Will they now revisit the idea of making Santa Ana a Sanctuary City?

We have an all-Latino City Council in Santa Ana, but the police keep cracking down on our people.  They did so brutally this week on Cinco de Mayo and are conducting another DUI checkpoint tonight.  The purpose?  To take cars away from immigrants and raise money for our bankrupt city by charging ridiculous impound fees. Continue reading→

Brutal SAPD crackdown ruins Cinco de Mayo

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Civil Rights, Crime, Cruisers, Lowriders, mexico, Miguel Pulido, Public Safety, Santa Ana, Youth Activities 16 Comments

I just heard from a friend that the Santa Ana Police Department went completely nuts tonight, shutting down several streets in an unprecedented Cinco de Mayo crackdown.  My friend reported seeing dozens of vehicles being towed away. 

He also said folks were being stopped for having tinted windows and for driving while brown. The cops seemed to be looking for cruisers in particular.

I could not find any report of this over at the O.C. Register, but their reporter, Therese Cisneros, did have this to say on her Facebook page:  Police to crack down on cruising tonight…..Police will be on the look out for criminal activity and vehicle code violations. Traffic will be reduced to two lanes in each direction on Bristol between McFadden and Warner….Edinger between Main and Bristol will be closed. Traffic on
Main between Mc Fadden and Warner will be reduced to one lane….Surrounding streets may be closed as well. Continue reading→

Pulido says he didn’t know Arpaio came to Original Mike’s

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Civil Rights, immigration, Latinos, mexico, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

How did Pulido not know this guy was in town on April 23?

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido deserves kudos for leading the Santa Ana City Council tonight in passing a motion calling for immigration reform, and slamming the racial profiling bill passed in Arizona recently.

That said, during the meeting Pulido allegedly said he did not know that his pal Mike Harrah hosted Bill Hunt and racist, corrupt Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, at Harrah’s restaurant, Original Mike’s, on April 23.

The Santa Ana Police Department conducted a DUI checkpoint right down the street from Original Mike’s the same evening. Continue reading→

No Permit Issued By City For Amezcua Office Protest

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

One of the rallying cries we have been hearing from the supporters of mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua is that the city of Santa Ana issued Alex Vega a permit prior to his protest in front of Amezcua’s office on Monday evening.  I just spoke with a high ranking source within city hall and they told me that no permit was issued because no permit was required.  They stated Vega had a “First Amendment right” to protest.

The issue of a permit was first raised by Amezcua confidente Dr. Art Lomeli in comments posted on this blog.  “I understand Alex Vega sought and recieved from the city of Santa Ana a permit to protest in front of Mr. Amezcua’s legal practice,” said Lomeli.  “The city gave a permit to a political soldier of the Mayor who’s purpose is to attack a resident and political challenger to the Mayor for the purpose to defame and damge the protest target’s ability to earn a living.”

Lomeli went on to infer that Chief Paul Walters, the Santa Ana Police Department and city staff were complicit in Vega’s attack on a political rival of Mayor Pulido.  This is simply not true and I believe that Dr. Lomeli and the Amezcua campaign owe the Chief and others an apology for implying this

Continue reading No Permit Issued By City For Amezcua Office Protest

Pulido ally Alex Vega organizes protest at Alfredo Amezcua’s law office

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Miguel Pulido’s pal Alex Vega struck again late this afternoon, assembling about 20 of his family and friends in front of Santa Ana mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua’s law office, at 1319 N. Broadway, in Santa Ana.

The protesters carried signs alluding to Vega’s charges that Amezcua is a bad lawyer. That despite the fact that the California Stat Bar Association does not note any complaints in Amezcua’s file.

Why is Pulido allowing Vega to embarrass him like this?  It would be one thing to argue the issues with Amezcua, but going after his business is a real low blow.  Continue reading→

Yanez family hosting a fundraiser for mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 8 Comments

When Nelida Yanez ran for the Santa Ana City Council in 2006, she enjoyed the support of Santa Ana Council Members Sal Tinajero and Claudia Alvarez.  Yanez lost, with 34% of the vote, according to Smart Voter.

Now Nelida, and her husband Joe, have turned on their former allies and are supporting the mayoral campaign of Alfredo Amezcua, who is challenging incumbent Mayor Miguel Pulido.

The Yanez family is hosting a fundraiser for Amezcua on March 27, from 3-5 pm, at 1125 South Sullivan, in Santa Ana.  See the graphic above for RSVP info.

To further convolute things, the supporters of the guy who beat Yanez in 2006, David Benavides, are now supporting Amezcua as well.  These supporters include Thomas Gordon, who is also running for the Santa Ana City Council this year. Continue reading→

City of Santa Ana to host “Be Californian, Be Counted Day,” on March 20

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Federal Government, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana, Working Families, Youth Activities 1 Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2010

CONTACT: Mark Lawrence, City of Santa Ana, (714) 647-5200

Bring Money Back To Your Community!

Celebrate “Be Californian, Be Counted Day!”– March 20th

Santa Ana — Come and celebrate “Be Californian, Be Counted Day!” in Downtown Santa Ana on Saturday, March 20. The City of Santa Ana in partnership with the County of Orange, State of California, and the U.S. Census Bureau will host a 2010 Census Festival to call attention to the importance of completing and returning U.S. Census forms that will be delivered to every household in Orange County beginning on March 15. The Festival will be held at the Fiesta Marketplace parking lot (corner of Third and Bush Streets) from 12 Noon to 5 p.m. Elected officials from Santa Ana and throughout Orange County will be on hand to show their support for the 2010 Census. Activities planned for the festival include musical entertainment, face painting and balloons for children, a free photo booth, Census related give-away items, snacks and information from community organizations supporting the 2010 Census. Continue reading→

Grrl Fair cancelled after City of Santa Ana threatens promoter

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Civic Affairs, Entertainment, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Well, Santa Ana was supposed to be the site of the Ninth Annual Grrl Fair today, but according to the OC Weekly, the event was canceled when the event promoter got word from the City of Santa Ana that they would be shut down for lack of a permit.

This event was supposed to feature live music, art, a skate jam and more.

Why did it take so long for the City of Santa Ana to reach out to the promoter?  I know that this blog is read regularly at City Hall.  We wrote about this event back on February 24.  What gives? Continue reading→

If Mayor Pulido goes down, get ready for Mayor Claudia Alvarez!

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Courts, Democratic Party, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 12 Comments

“Los Amigos, a community organization that serves Latinos, asked the Orange County grand jury to look into Mayor Miguel Pulido’s connections to a business that twice received key approvals from the city,” according to the O.C. Register.

Pulido’s worst nightmare has come true.  He has confided to friends that he is in fear of a grand jury investigation – and here it is.

Pulido’s mayoral opponent, Alfredo Amezcua, is a longtime member of Los Amigos.  But I truly doubt that Amezcua will be allowed to become our next Mayor – even if Pulido goes down.

I expect that Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez will run for Mayor if Pulido opts to retire from the City Council.  And if Pulido is forced out of office, Alvarez will be appointed to fill out his term, by the other Council Members. Continue reading→

Will Alfredo Amezcua turn out to be another Miguel Pulido?

Posted on by Posted in Banking, Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana, Taxes 13 Comments

I met with Alfredo Amezcua before he announced his campaign for Mayor of Santa Ana. I was really hoping he would be the answer to defeating the incumbent Mayor, Miguel Pulido.

In the next few months, Mayor Miguel Pulido’s allies will tear into Amezcua and leave him destroyed.  That is what they did to Pulido’s last mayoral opponent, Michele Martinez, in 2008.

However, Amezcua isn’t really a bad guy.  Is he the solution to our city’s vast problems?  After further review, I don’t think so.  My fear is that he is going to turn out to be a lot like Pulido.

Pulido isn’t a bad guy either.  Like Amezcua, he grew up wanting more.  Amezcua became wealthy as a lawyer, while Pulido took a different road.  He capitalized on his dad’s muffler shop, then began to work the system, first as a Councilman and now as our Mayor. Continue reading→

SAPD DUI checkpoint at Rosita Park was a waste of taxpayer money

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, immigration, Jose Solorio, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Public Safety, Santa Ana 10 Comments

The Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) proceeded with their DUI checkpoint tonight, at Rosita Park, over by Newhope and Hazard. I visited the checkpoint at about 9:30 pm. There were about ten cops there and a lot of vehicles and equipment.

I brought my camera and took pictures and shot some video. As I approached the mobile blood testing unit, one of the cops actually started taking pictures of me! I could not believe it. I showed my press pass to the guy in charge, who introduced himself. I told him that I am meeting with SAPD Chief Paul Walters next Tuesday, which is true, and that I had advised him that I might be visting the checkpoint tonight.

One of the cops, who sported a greasy pompadour, kept mad-dogging me the entire time. He did not even try to hide his anger that I was there. They all appeared to be white guys.

The fellow I spoke to said that they had only impounded one car, after starting the checkpoint at 7:30 pm. Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream isn’t going to like that! Cities make a lot of money impounding cars driven by immigrants, but our efforts likely blew it for Ream tonight. Continue reading→