Mayor Miguel Pulido will deliver his 2013 State of the City address on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, to the members of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.
Pulido was challenged last year by Councilman David Benavides. Pulido beat him soundly just as he defeated criminal defense attorney Alfredo Amezcua in 2010. Pulido has been our Mayor since 1994. Continue reading
It has been a tough ride for longtime Santa Ana Mayor Miguel A. Pulido since his successful re-election last November. He easily defeated Councilman David P. Benavides in that election, but Bneavides came out on top as part of a City Council that appears to be united in their pettiness towards Pulido.
The City Council fired City Manager Paul Walters, although he saved the city from a massive budget deficit by outsourcing our expensive Fire Department to the Orange County Fire Authority. And someone on the Council leaked damaging information to the Voice of OC about the embarrassing investigation of Deputy City Manager Jill Arthur, who has always been loyal to Pulido. She will almost certainly retire and not return to City Hall.
But despite all the attacks on him, Pulido has been in the news, a lot, because he has been heavily involved in two regional issues. Pulido has been leading the charge to save the fire pits on our Orange County coastal beaches. He has been doing so in his capacity as a member of the Southern California Air Quality Managment District’s Board of Governors. Even OC Weekly editor Gustavo Arellano, who has no love for Pulido, has to begrudgingly admit that he is rooting for Pulido: Continue reading
I had a long talk this afernoon with a Santa Ana insider who had some amazing chismes for me. I was expecting that perhaps Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido would run for the Orange County Supervisorial seat that is currently held by Janet Nguyen, but apparently Councilman Vincent Sarmiento has decided to run, and Pulido is not going to oppose him.
But the biggest shocker was that Measure D may be in trouble – and that it could be reversed if it is challenged in court. That was the measure that extended the term limits of the Santa Ana Council Members by four years, from 8 years to 12. That measure was on the ballot in a special election but apparently it should have been put in front of the voters in a general election. What this means, if it does get wiped out, is that several Santa Ana Council Members will be termed out – including Michele Martinez and Sal Tinajero. Continue reading
Karina Onofre didn’t win when she ran for the Santa Ana City Council last year, but while her opponent at the time, Roman Reyna, is now struggling with a massive city budget deficit and is being questioned about what he did as a member of the SAUSD’s School Board, which is also having deficit problems, Onofre is busy building a grassroots organization based in educating the local community.
Onofre has been hosting seminars at her office, in Santa Ana, on subjects including immigration and jobs and is now planning to host another seminar on the subject of education, on Wednesday, June 12, at 7pm, at 726 S. Main St., in Santa Ana. There is a good chance that State Senator Bob Huff will be their guest speaker. He is the leader of the California Republican Party’s State Senate delegation. Continue reading
I am hearing that the Santa Ana City Council has settled on their next City Manager and despite a supposed national search and calls for transparency they are going with the Santa Ana Public Works director, Raul Godinez II, who was designated in September as a Public Works Leadership Fellow by the American Public Works Associate. Godinez lives in Orange with his wife Deidra Simon de Godinez and their kids.
This really should not come as a surprise to anyone. Godinez left the Public Works Director position in Oakland, where he oversaw over 800 employees, to come to Santa Ana where he has been leading less than two hundred Public Works employees. You don’t make a move like that unless there is a good shot to move up at some point. Continue reading
So many chismes! The big one I am hearing is that the Santa Ana City Council is preparing to hire a new City Manager at a special meeting next week, perhaps on Tuesday, and that they are continuing to accept job applications through this Friday. But who would want to work for this bunch?
Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez is up for re-election in 2014. But this time she won’t be getting a free pass. I hear a very well-connected Latina is preparing to challenge her! Considering how poorly Martinez fared in last June’s Open Primary, when she came in almost last in her campaign for the 69th Assembly District, she better be worried about this. She blew some $200K on that race. Who will donate money to her now? Continue reading
The Trustees of the Rancho Santiago Community College District have completed voting to rip us off. How so you ask? They have voted to enter into a union-only Project Labor Agreement (although they chose to call it something else, that is what it is) with regard to the Bond Measure passed last November, ostensibly for construction projects at Santa Ana College. (It should be noted that Trustees Phil Yarbrough and Arianna Barrios as well as the Student Trustee Ryan Ahari voted against the PLA!).
What this means is that the RSCCD is going to hire only contractors who hire from union halls. While it is true that Santa Ana College has a number of union-only apprenticeship programs their dirty little secret is that it is very difficult to get into those programs and most of the union workers that will end up working at Santa Ana College will not in fact be apprentices. And the RSCCD will not allow non-union apprentices to work on these projects. What all this adds up to is that they are going to waste our tax money to the tune of at least 15%. Continue reading
The Newport Mesa Tea Party Patriots are holding a protest against the IRS, on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at noon, on behalf of Tea Party, Patriot groups, 9/12, liberty activists, and the American people, against the IRS’ “complete abuse of power.”
From the New Anaheim blog
Orange County’s Democratic State Assembly Representatives, Tom Daly and Sharon Quirk-Silva, did not vote for the “Trust Act,” which made its way once more through the California Assembly this week by a final vote of 44-22, according to Gabriel San Roman over at the OC Weekly.
San Roman reported that “The legislation was vetoed late last year when it reached the desk of Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. Supporters say the bill authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will limit deportations fueled by the fingerprint-sharing federal Secure Communities program while restoring confidence between law enforcement and largely immigrant, Latino communities. It heads to the Senate next.” Continue reading
“We’re Not Broke,” a documentary by Karen Hayes and Victoria Bruce, will be airing on Sunday, May 19, 2013, from 4:00 pm until 6:30 pm, at the Santora Building for the Arts, located at 207 N. Broadway, in Santa Ana.
This is the story of how multi-national corporations make record profits, yet dodge billions of dollars in income tax, and how seven fed-up citizens take their frustration to the streets… and vow to make the corporations pay their fair share. Continue reading
We reported back on March 21, that Steve Rocco, the perennial candidate who appears to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic, had filed paperwork with the Santa Ana City Clerk to begin a petition to recall Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.
Now the Orange County Register has reported that Rocco’s paperwork has been approved, so he can start collecting signatures in order to try to put his Pulido recall on the ballot. Continue reading
CORREA HONORS FALLEN CALIFORNIA PEACE OFFICERS
“We should never forget that enforcing the law and ensuring public safety is dangerous work. It has been tragically shown too many times over the years, officers are sometimes killed or wounded while performing their duty for the communities they serve,” Correa said. “Though Californians are indebted to our peace officers each day of the week, we make particular note of their bravery and dedication on California Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.” Continue reading
HIGHER EDUCATION FOR DEPORTED U.S. CITIZENS CLEARS FIRST HURDLE
“This was an important victory for young aspiring college students. SB 141 would allow U.S. born children forced out of the country, at no fault of their own, to pursue the American Dream and get a quality education,” said Correa. Continue reading
Assemblyman Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) is hosting an Assembly District Office Open House on Friday, May 17th, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 2400 E. Katella Avenue, Ste. 640, in Anaheim. To RSVP click here.
Daly invites you to come by to discuss the legislative issues of importance to our communities and to the State of California. Daly represents the 69th Assembly District, which is the most Latino district in Orange County. It includes most of Santa Ana and part of Anaheim. Continue reading
Santa Ana’s May Day march was a huge success. The theme of the May Day March was immigration reform. There are only two immigrants left on our City Council today – Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilman Vince Sarmiento. David Benavides, Michele Martinez and Roman Reyna are however fluent in Pocho.
Kudos to Naui for shooting these videos. Here is another video shot at the march: Continue reading