New Santa Ana | Category Archives: Politics

Valerie Amezcua finally gets elected to the SAUSD School Board on third try

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Education, Politics, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Valerie Amezcua 2 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 2014

Contact: Derek Humphrey

Cell: (951) 805-4167

VALERIE AMEZCUA WINS RACE FOR SANTA ANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD

Santa Ana, California – Valerie Amezcua has won a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board. Final election results posted by the Orange County Registrar of Voters show Amezcua placed second in a field of eight candidates. The results are expected to be certified tomorrow.

“I’m humbled by the support our campaign received from families throughout the Santa Ana Unified School District,” said Amezcua. “I would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all of the candidates that volunteered their time and talents to advocate for improving our schools. I look forward to working with Boardmember John Palacio and the rest of my new colleagues in helping to move our district forward.” Continue reading→

Poll – who should run for Santa Ana Mayor in 2016?

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 8 Comments

While Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido enjoyed a resounding victory in this year’s General Election it is increasingly likely that he will not run for reelection in 2016. If that happens who should run for his Mayoral seat?

I would imagine that many of our Council Members would run – although it is more likely that those with safe Council terms would do so, such as David Benavides, Sal Tinajero and Michele Martinez, who were all reelected this year. Their colleagues Roman Reyna and Vince Sarmiento will have their hands full running for reelection for their Council seats in 2016.

An open Mayoral seat would also invite interest from past Council Members and those who have run for Mayor before unsuccessfully, such as Al Amezcua and Thomas Gordon. Top City Commissioners would also be in the mix.

Vote for your favorites in our 2016 Santa Ana Mayoral Candidates poll below. You may vote for up to three candidates: Continue reading→

15-year-old boy shot in Reyna’s Ward 5 is now on life support

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Gangs, Politics, Public Safety, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Police say a 15-year-old boy was on life support at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Tuesday following a shooting in an alleyway last week, according to the O.C. Register.

The incident happened at about 6:40 p.m. Friday in the 400 block of North Laurel Street, which is in Santa Ana Councilman Roman Reyna’s Ward 5. Police say the shooting was gang related. Continue reading→

Protest against the killing of 43 Mexican students set for 11/20 in Santa Ana

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civil Rights, Drugs, Education, Entertainment, mexico, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

A group of local students led by Emmanuel Gonzalez, a Beckman High School student, has organized a protest in Santa Ana against the murder of 43 students who went missing Sept. 26 after a confrontation with police in Iguala, 80 miles southwest of Mexico City.

There are allegations that the Mayor of Iguala and his wife conspired with the police and drug gangs to kill the 43 students who had come to town to collect money and had commandeered buses. Continue reading→

Santa Ana Library’s after school program for teens recognized by the White House

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Education, Politics, Santa Ana, Youth Activities Leave a comment

City of Santa Ana

Community Alert: CITY OF SANTA ANA TEEN SPACE YOUTH PROGRAM 1 OF 12 AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS RECOGNIZED BY THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 10, 2014) – Twelve young people from across the country shared the stage with First Lady Michelle Obama today as they accepted the 2014 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award on behalf of the after-school programs that have changed their lives.

The award recognizes the country’s best creative youth development programs for using engagement in the arts and the humanities to increase academic achievement, graduation rates, and college enrollment. The awardees—chosen from a pool of more than 350 nominations and 50 finalists—are also recognized for improving literacy and language abilities, communication and performance skills, and cultural awareness. Continue reading→

Why Correa is no sure bet to replace Nguyen in the First District

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2015 Elections, Chris Phan, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Now that First District County Supervisor Janet Nguyen is packing her bags for Sacramento, where she will become the State Senator in the 34th District in January, it is time to select a new Supervisor to take her place. A special election will be held in February, which means there will be very little time for the candidates to make their case to the voters.

Former Supervisor Lou Correa, who is terming out in the 34th State Senate District, wants to return to the OC Board of Supervisors. He quit the First District a few years ago when he headed to Sacramento. Nguyen took his place in the First District and in a weird bit of karma is taking his place in Sacramento now.

The Orange County Employees Association has already announced that they are endorsing Correa, on the premise that he can bring back more tax revenue to the County. Continue reading→

Why Quirk-Silva and Solorio lost in the 2014 General Election

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Democratic Party, Fullerton, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

By the OC Politics Blog

Orange County Democrats were ecstatic when former Fullerton Mayor Sharon Quirk-Silva knocked off Chris Norby in 2012, in the 65th Assembly District. They partied hard but the party is over now that former Ed Royce staffer Young Kim has trounced Quirk-Silva in the 2014 General Election.

This was not a casual loss for the Democrats. It may well end up costing them their super majority in the State Assembly – an uncertain matter as several Assembly seats are still in close contention.

Make no doubt about it – retaining the 65th Assembly District was the major goal of the Democratic Party of Orange County in the 2014 General Election. They failed – and there are several good reasons for that. Continue reading→

A look at the final Santa Ana voting results in the 2014 General Election

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD 3 Comments

Mayor Pulido’s daughter kept tabs on the election results on Election Night

I met with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido last night at his Election Night Party. He was relieved that he was winning but was worried he wouldn’t garner more than 50% of the vote. His 11-year-old daughter was checking the election results on her IPad last night. She has quite an interest in politics – and perhaps she will be running for office after she finishes college.

Pulido ended up with 50.7% of the vote while his challenger Roman Reyna only mustered 6,778 votes, or 33.6% of the vote. The unknown third mayoral candidate, Mark I. Lopez, netted 15.8% of the vote – likely from those who couldn’t bear voting for the other two candidates.

The bad news for Pulido was that his team of City Council challengers – Alex Padilla, Mike Gonzalez and Mirna Velasquez, all lost. If there is any good news it is that the incumbent who did the worst was David Benavides. While his colleague Michele Martinez got less votes than Benavides she had three opponents while Benavides squared off against one challenger – Padilla. Continue reading→

Santa Ana’s incumbents leading in the 2014 General Election early returns

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Adam Nick, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, Gilad Salmon, Janet Nguyen, John Palacio, Jose Solorio, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mike Gonzalez, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Rene Gomez, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Shuntele Andrews 6 Comments

The early returns are in with regard to today’s General Election. So far the incumbents are leading in all of the Santa Ana City Council races. It is early yet but in what should prove to be a low turnout election this first batch of votes can foreshadow the evening’s results. These are the early absentee votes – representing the most frequent voters.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is thoroughly trouncing Councilman Roman Reyna, with over 52% of the vote versus only 32% of the vote for Reyna. Clearly Reyna’s campaign was undone by his unwise decision to hang out with gang bangers.

In Ward 2 the incumbent, Michele Martinez, is leading with 53.8% of the vote in a crowded field. Shockingly Gilad Salmon is in second place with 21.3 % of the vote. Not surprisingly the sole Republican in the race, salsa dancer Rene Gomez, is in dead last with 9% of the vote. Continue reading→

U.S. Rep. Sanchez to host an Election Night Watch Party in Anaheim

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Anaheim, Democratic Party, Loretta Sanchez, Politics Leave a comment

U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez is hosting an Election Night Watch Party on Nov. 4, 2014, starting after the polls close at 8 pm.

Join Team Sanchez as they watch election night returns come in. They will have tacos made at the event.

Location: At Campaign Headquarters Continue reading→

Team Pulido to host an Election Night Party tonight at The Robbins Nest

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Mike Gonzalez, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Team Pulido is hosting an Election Night Party on Nov. 4, 2014, starting at 8:30 pm, at The Robbins Nest, in Downtown Santa Ana, at 214 N. Sycamore St.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has provided considerable support to City Council challengers Mirna Velasquez, Alex Padilla and Mike Gonzalez. All of them will be at the Election Night Party tonight. Continue reading→

SAUSD School Board candidate Andrews to host an Election Night Party

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Education, Politics, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Shuntele Andrews Leave a comment

Former Valley High School Teacher Shuntele Andrews, a leading candidate for the SAUSD School Board, is hosting an Election Night Party on Nov. 4, 2014, starting at 7 pm.

The event is sponsored by the Santa Ana Educators’ Association and will be held at 2107 N. Broadway, Suite 305, in Santa Ana. Continue reading→

Weedmaps.com tries to split the vote on Measure CC in Santa Ana

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Drugs, Marijuana, Politics, Santa Ana 13 Comments

Orange county NORML and California Cannabis Coalition members stand with patients for Yes on CC

Orange County NORML and California Cannabis Coalition members stand with patients for Yes on CC

Weedmaps.com Tries to Split Vote on Measure CC in Santa Ana

By Craig Beresch, California Cannabis Coalition

Tomorrow, the voters of Santa Ana, CA will be faced with two choices: Vote for Measure CC, a citizen promoted initiative, or vote for Measure BB, a City Council initiative promoted and paid for by a murky organization named Ghost Management Group LLC.

Ghost Management Group LLC’s financial support and backing of the City Council’s measure can be seen in the Form 460 filed with election officials and shown here as a pdf file. You can see that Ghost Management Group LLC is listed as operating at 41 Discovery in Irvine, CA. Now, put the following URL in your browser http://justinhartfield.me/. At that link you can see Mr. Justin Ross Hartfield, the Chief Executive Officer of Weedmaps.com and General Partner at “Ghost Group, a holding company of various marijuana assets”. Note that he and his companies are located in Irvine, CA. Continue reading→

The OC Register endorses Mayor Miguel Pulido

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The Orange County Register finally endorsed a candidate for Mayor in Santa Ana. We’re not sure why they took so long or why they haven’t endorsed in the City Council races. The OC Register is based here in Santa Ana, although they recently sold their building and property in order to pay their bills. As far as we know they intend to continue leasing their building from the new owner, developer Mike Harrah.

Here is their op-ed announcing their support for Pulido:

Editorial: Pulido for mayor in Santa Ana

Santa Ana, unfortunately, is not without its share of problems. But it is also a city, when comparing the problems of today to those of yesteryear, which has made great strides. The city now rests on the cusp of a potential renaissance, and it will need strong leadership to continue down the path of making Santa Ana the healthy and vibrant community it should be.

Mayor Miguel Pulido remembers the tough times. In an interview with the Register Editorial Board he recalled a story from his first electoral run, when a constituent invited him into his house so he could show the then-council candidate the bricks the homeowner lined his walls with to protect his family from stray bullets. Continue reading→

The OC Registrar of Voters is open this weekend for early voting

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Orange County, Politics Leave a comment

Registrar of Voters Open Weekend Hours for Early Voting

Office to be open Saturday and Sunday prior to election

SANTA ANA, CA – October 31, 2014 – In order to allow greater flexibility in voting for the November 4, 2014 General Election the Orange County Registrar of Voters will be open Saturday, November 1, 2014 and Sunday, November 2, 2014. The Registrar will also accept voted vote-by-mail ballots for voters that wish to drop them off that day.

WHEN: Saturday, November 1, 2014 and Sunday, November 2, 2014, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Continue reading→