New Santa Ana | Category Archives: Miguel Pulido

All the Santa Ana City Council incumbents will be opposed this November

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, Elections, Gilad Salmon, Mark I. Lopez, Miguel Pulido, Mike Gonzalez, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 15 Comments

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido tells the Nicholas Academic Centers’ 4th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration that the NACs are profoundly changing education

Well the dust has finally cleared and we now know who is running for the Santa Ana City Council in this November’s General election.

The Mayor’s race lost many of the candidates who had pulled papers, including State Senator Lou Correa and Santa Ana Councilman Vince Sarmiento. The incumbent, Mayor Miguel Pulido, is running again and he will be facing off against first term Council Member Roman Reyna and a fellow named Mark I. Lopez, who is an entrepreneur/soldier, according to the Voice of OC. Continue reading→

Why did Lou Correa pull out of the Santa Ana Mayor’s race?

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, George Collins, Lupe Moreno, Michele Martinez, Miguel Angel Briseno, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 9 Comments

State Senator Lou Correa has opted not to run for Mayor of Santa Ana. Why did he get cold feet?

“After a review of various factors, I have decided not to run for Mayor at this time,” Correa (D-Santa Ana) stated in an email to a Voice of OC reporter. “I was deeply touched by all of the calls of encouragement that I received from folks from all walks of life, and all across party lines. I thank you all,” according to the Voice of OC.

Well that statement tells us nothing at all. What I heard from several inside sources was that Correa didn’t think he could beat the longtime incumbent, Mayor Miguel Pulido. Correa has enough money in his vast campaign war chest that I would be willing to wager that he conducted a poll and the results were no bueno. Pulido, apparently, is still the man in Santa Ana. Continue reading→

Santa Ana Councilman Vince Sarmiento pulls papers to run for Mayor too

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Lou Correa, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 16 Comments

Santa Ana Councilman Vince Sarmiento has reportedly pulled papers to run for Mayor of Santa Ana, hours after State Senator Lou Correa also pulled papers.

There is still no word as to whether or not longtime incumbent Mayor Miguel Pulido will in fact run again this November. Continue reading→

Correa pulls papers to run for Mayor of Santa Ana

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Lou Correa, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana Leave a comment

An inside source has tipped us off that State Senator Lou Correa has pulled papers today to run for Mayor of Santa Ana. Correa is terming out of his State Senate seat this year.

This likely means that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido will not be seeking re-election himself.

Other candidates for Mayor include first term Santa Ana Councilman Roman Reyna and Mark I. Lopez. Other candidates may jump in but will have a very hard time contending with Correa who has served the area in both the State Assembly and in the State Senate for many years. Continue reading→

Mayor Pulido pulls papers to run for office again this November

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Civic Affairs, Lou Correa, Mark I. Lopez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 7 Comments

Miguel Pulido, mayor of Santa Ana for the past 20 years, this week moved a step closer to ending speculation about his political future when he picked up the paperwork to run for another term, according to city records, according to the Voice of OC.

I verified this by requesting a list of candidates who have pulled papers, from City Clerk Maria Huizar.

State Senator Lou Correa has been hotly rumored to be running but he has not yet filed any papers with Huizar. Continue reading→

Mayor and City Council to honor Mike Harrah at Tuesday’s Council meeting

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Miguel Pulido, Mike Harrah, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Mike Harrah

City of Santa Ana

Community: The Mayor and City Council will honor Mike Harrah, an exemplary citizen, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting

SANTA ANA, CA (June 16, 2014) – The Mayor and City Council will recognize Mike Harrah for being an exemplary citizen and pioneer in the City of Santa Ana.

Mike Harrah is a developer, restaurateur, entertainer, historical preservationist and visionary who strives to “look beyond the ordinary and transform the impossible into reality”.

Since 1989, Mike has been the president of Caribou Industries, a company that has restored and operated more than 4 million square feet of commercial office space and historical homes in Santa Ana. Continue reading→

How much does the Santa Ana City Council really earn?

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Miguel Pulido, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 7 Comments

The Santa Ana City Clerk has re-posted the Council Members’ total compensation and benefits today however a key piece of the puzzle is missing. The Santa Ana Open Government website does not include how much the City Council Members are paid to serve on various County Commissions.

I emailed the City Clerk, Maria Huizar, about this discrepancy and she pointed me to a different page – the Mayor and City Council page, where this information is found when you click on “Form 806.” Who in the public would know what the heck that is? The good news is that Huizar said she will look into my recommendation to put this information with the Council’s pay, on the Open Government page. We need to make it easier, not harder, for the voters to find out how much the City Council members really are earning.

As we posted this weekend, the Santa Ana Council Members are going to try to place a measure on the November General Election ballot that will result in a huge increase in their pay. But shouldn’t the City of Santa Ana be more transparent about how much the Council Members really earn when you factor in the pay and benefits that stem from their service on various County Boards?

Here is what the Council Members make by serving on various Boards: Continue reading→

Three Council Members seek to ban medical marijuana collectives

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Crime, David Benavides, Drugs, Marijuana, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 25 Comments

Three Santa Ana City Council Members, including Michele Martinez, David Benavides and Angie Amezcua have placed an 85A item on the agenda for this Tuesday’s City Council meeting, regarding medical marijuana.

These Council Members would like to place a measure on the November General Election ballot that would allow voters to vote against the sale of medical marijuana by collectives/dispensaries. Continue reading→

Mayor Correa?

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Lou Correa, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 20 Comments

Could State Senator Lou Correa, who is terming out this year, be thinking of running for Mayor of Santa Ana? That is what I heard today from Vern Nelson, the editor of the Orange Juice Blog. Nelson cited an anonymous source in Sacramento when I spoke with him this afternoon.

It makes a lot of sense. Correa has huge name I.D. and he lives here in Santa Ana, in the Floral Park Neighborhood. Why not run for Mayor?

I suppose it depends on what our current Mayor, Miguel Pulido, will do in November but it sure looks like me might retire from local politics. And even if he didn’t, a Correa campaign would squash him and anyone else. Continue reading→

Why isn’t Sarmiento running for Mayor instead of Reyna?

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 6 Comments

With the promise of a grass-roots campaign, Councilman Roman A. Reyna has announced he is running for mayor to unseat Miguel Pulido, who he said has grown out of touch with the city’s needs, according to the O.C. Register.

It is true that Pulido is a bit out of sorts nowadays. He has no allies on the Santa Ana City Council. The Council took away all of his appointments. And the Governor, his friend Jerry Brown, got rid of redevelopment, a tool Pulido used many times over the years to reshape the City.

But is Reyna really an improvement over Pulido? I don’t think so. He is running because he has two years left on his Council term, so he can lose the mayoral race and remain on the City Council. But so can Councilman Vince Sarmiento. So why isn’t Sarmiento running for Mayor instead? Continue reading→

Who will run for Santa Ana Mayor if Pulido opts to retire in November?

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 2 Comments

I am hearing from several sources that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is quite serious about defending himself as he is investigated for various issues stemming from campaign finances and real estate shenanigans. He is telling friends that his priority is his legal defense – so what if he ends up retiring from politics and not running again in November? Who will run?

First term Santa Ana Councilman Roman Reyna is in but no one is taking him very seriously. If Pulido pulls out you can expect much bigger names to jump in.

I am told that former Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez, an Assistant Orange County District Attorney who currently serves on the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Trustees, is already planning to run. Continue reading→

Pulido lawyers up – should the Council Members do so as well?

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Crime, David Benavides, Jose Solorio, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 9 Comments

Mayor Miguel Pulido

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has received at least $25,000 in contributions toward a legal defense fund that he established in January as he is being investigated by the state’s political watchdog agency, according to the OC Register.

The “Miguel Pulido Legal Defense Fund” was set up in January, shortly after City Attorney Sonia Carvalho began investigating a real estate swap involving Pulido that ethics experts say looks like a bribe and could have violated state conflict of interest laws, according to the Voice of OC.

My sources tell he that a few of the Santa Ana Council Members may want to set up legal defense funds of their own. One pajarito in particular told me last week that the FBI is looking at conflict of interest by the Council Members with regard to real estate development on Bristol and Seventeenth and at the property formerly known as the Honer Plaza which is now called the Bristol Marketplace. Continue reading→

Did a SAUSD Trustee tip off a developer who sold property to the district?

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Miguel Pulido, Rob Richardson, Santa Ana, SAUSD 2 Comments

Two investment groups and a developer connected to Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido were involved in a real estate flip in 2003 that resulted in the Santa Ana Unified School District paying nearly twice as much for a piece of land slated for an elementary school than it had previously offered. And in the process, the developer realized a more than $600,000 profit, according to the Voice of OC.

I wrote about that deal years ago on another blog. I am pretty sure that if someone tipped off the developer who flipped that land, Kris Kakkar, it was SAUSD Board Member Rob Richardson, who joined the SAUSD School Board in 2003, according to his bio. Richardson may have leaked details about the land transaction to a friend, such as Mayor Pulido, who in turn may very well have shared that info with Kakkar. Continue reading→

The L.A. Times piles on Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 7 Comments

Santa Ana’s longtime mayor is under investigation for his relationship with the owner of the Santa Ana location of NAPA Auto Parts, to whom the mayor sold a piece of downtown property and then voted in favor of giving an exclusive city contract, according to the L.A. Times.

We have heard all this before from the Voice of OC. Here is what it boils down to – an auto parts business owner in Santa Ana swapped a home in Westminster for a parking lot owned by Mayor Miguel Pulido’s father. Pulido later sold the home for a $197,000 profit. Continue reading→

Exclusive – Mayor Pulido responds to latest unfair VOC slam on him

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 5 Comments

OCEA boss Nick Berardino has a grudge with Mayor Pulido

The Voice of OC is reporting that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido voted for a $1.35-million no-bid city contract with a local auto parts firm just over a year after he and members of his family purchased a home from the store owner for $230,000 less than its fair market value.

As usual when the VOC attacks Pulido you have to dig a little deeper to figure out how contrived these attacks are. I spoke to Mayor Pulido and he was happy to explain what happened. Continue reading→