New Santa Ana | Category Archives: Politics

Who will the Santa Ana City Council blame now?

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Elections, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 63 Comments

Michele Martinez will be blamed

Well, the Santa Ana City Council got their way – and not even their own supporters can figure out why they fired City Manager Paul Walters. But here’s the kicker – from now on whatever happens in this city is going to be blamed on the Council.

Remember that at the last Council meeting the entire cabal begged for respect, in their closing comments. But what they are now going to get is the blame – if crime goes up, if tax revenue goes down, if businesses close it will all get placed at the Council Members’ doorsteps.

And you can forget about blaming Mayor Miguel Pulido. He no longer appoints Council Members to Council commissions and the Council rejected his request to serve on just one committee – transportation and development. Pulido has the support of the people but this Council has cornered him. Continue reading→

Hospital association that donated to Nguyen wrote anon CalOptima complaint

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Health and Medical, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

From the OC Politics Blog

The CalOptima scandal continues to grow as evidence has arisen that Supervisor Janet Nguyen was in cahoots with a hospital association that turned out to be the “source of anonymous allegations against CalOptima’s former board chairman that were the subject of several articles in the Register last year,” according to the O.C. Register.

That same association went on to hold a $250-a-plate fundraiser for Nguyen at the home of a hospital CEO. Continue reading→

The Council praised former City Manager Ream but back-stabbed Walters

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Paul Walters, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Dave Ream

The same Santa Ana City Council Members who just fired our City Manager, Paul Walters, heaped praise on his predecessor, Dave Ream, when he finally retired, as noted in the minutes of the May 16, 2011 City Council meeting.

Council Member Michele Martinez, who went ballistic, according to insider reports, when Walters was offered the chance to stay on as our Chief of Police, had this to say about Ream, who wrecked our city budget: Continue reading→

Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters submits his resignation

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Miguel Pulido, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 11 Comments

Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County Advisory: City Manager Submits Resignation

SANTA ANA, CA (January 31, 2013) – The Santa Ana City Council has agreed to accept the resignation of its City Manager, effective Friday, February 1, 2013. Pending finalization of an agreement to that effect, Mr. Paul Walters will continue to serve the City as a Law Enforcement Liaison, functioning in the role of a Police Commissioner with the specific duties to be determined by the City’s Police Chief and City Manager.

“Mr. Walters has served this City very well for many, many years” said Mayor Miguel Pulido, “and we are particularly appreciative of his leadership to the City and community during his tenure as City Manager. Mr. Walters worked closely with the City Council in handling some difficult financial issues and we are grateful for his service. Continue reading→

While wrecking CalOptima, Nguyen got over $50K in med industry donations

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Health and Medical, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Janet Nguyen and Carlos Bustamante

From the OC Politics Blog

“Supervisor Janet Nguyen raised about $50,000 in campaign contributions from the medical industry in the nine months after she began restructuring the board of CalOptima to give health providers a stronger voice, according to her campaign reports,” as reported by the Voice of OC.

This is not the first time that Supervisor Nguyen has reaped the benefits of her votes. When she cast the decisive vote against letter grade health ratings for our restaurants – a common practice in every other Southern California county around ours, she ended up collecting over $20K in donations from restaurant owners who had poor restaurant health records – many of them had received multiple major health violations. Continue reading→

Medical marijuana dispensary ballot measure campaign turns in 16K signatures

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Drugs, Marijuana, Politics, Santa Ana 13 Comments

Smoking big joints in Santa Ana

“Yesterday, medical marijuana activists seeking to overturn Santa Ana‘s ban on medical marijuana collectives showed up at city hall with 16,000 signatures of city residents who want the pot clubs back in business. The group, which formed in August 2012 and calls itself the Committee to Support Medical Marijuana Ballot Initiative, hopes to let voters decide whether to set up a registration process that would allow no less than 22 cannabis clubs to operate, or roughly one per every 15,000 residents,” according to the OC Weekly.

The Santa Ana City Clerk’s office is apparently going to validate every single signature collected, which is not the norm – usually only ten percent of the signatures are inspected.

Some residents are up in arms over this proposed ballot measure, which won’t show up on any ballots until 2014. One of my readers sent me this list of complaints: Continue reading→

Martinez blows up as Mouet allegedly dumps the Park Rangers

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Gerardo Mouet, Michele Martinez, Parks and Recreation, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Santa Ana Park Ranger

Did you notice how out of control Santa Ana Council Woman Michele Martinez appeared at the last Council meeting? I have been hearing for some time that she has become unhinged and has taken to making ridiculous demands at City Hall. Diva? You bet.

And now she has done it again. According to my sources, she blew a gasket this week when her pals at the SEIU whined about the Santa Ana Park Rangers getting axed. Continue reading→

O.C. Grand Jury rips Supervisor Janet Nguyen for wrecking CalOptima

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Health and Medical, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Janet Nguyen

From the OC Politics Blog

In the wake of a blistering report by Orange County’s Grand Jury that raised troubling questions about hospital lobbyists writing controversial changes to the county’s $1.5 billion health plan for the poor and then fundraising for Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a majority of her colleagues Friday said they supported changing the board governance for CalOptima, according to the Voice of OC.

“While not naming names, the report criticizes county Supervisor Janet Nguyen for her role in remaking CalOptima after she joined its board two years ago. Lobbyists from the Hospital Association of Southern California were allowed to rewrite the county’s ordinance that governs CalOptima to give more control to health-care providers “and less to members and organizations representing members,” the report says, without naming the lobbying organization,” according to the O.C. Register.

This withering report could tank Nguyen’s plans to run for the 34th State Senate District in 2014. Here is the Orange County Grand Jury’s report summary:

Continue reading→

The race for the 34th State Senate District is already heating up

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Anaheim, Democratic Party, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Long Pham, Lou Correa, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 2 Comments

Jose Solorio and Jerry Brown

From the OC Politics Blog

Lou Correa has had a great run in the 34th State Senate District but he is terming out in 2014 and already both Democratic and Republican candidates are lining up for a shot at his seat.

The leading Republican candidate for the 34th is O.C. Supervisor Janet Nguyen. She has not distinguished herself in any way but the DPOC gave her a free pass last year and so she is loaded – her fundraising advantage will make it hard for any other Republicans to challenge her in the Open Primary. Continue reading→

Updated: Walters will accept a negotiated exit

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 41 Comments

Paul Walters Fired

UPDATED: Reportedly Paul Walters is going to negotiate an exit from Santa Ana’s City Hall and won’t be returning to the SAPD. I am told that he cares too much about the rich history of the SAPD and is afraid that if he returns to there the Council will undermine him and hurt the department. Best of luck to Walters, who deserved better than this, after 42 years of service to the people of Santa Ana.

“The Santa Ana City Council was scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon to discuss the terms of its separation from City Manager Paul Walters, which could include a request for a public hearing on behalf of the fired administrator,” according to the L.A. Times. Continue reading→

Council to meet behind closed doors again tonight regarding dismissal of Walters

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Entertainment, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 17 Comments

Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters

The Santa Ana City Council has agendized a clsoed door session to take place tonight at 5 pm. The topic? Dismissing City Manager Paul Walters. Details below.

This is a chance to show up and let them have it again – if they allow for any public comments. If not, at least we can bring signs and picket. This Council needs to know that we are not happy with their dismissal of our great City Manager, Paul Walters.

Meeting details: Continue reading→

Is the Council preparing more attacks on Walters, Pulido – and Alvarez?

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Paul Walters, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 10 Comments

Michele Martinez whining

Should Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and local community leaders demand an appeal of the Santa Ana City Council’s decision to fire City Manager Paul Walters – seven months after they voted unanimously to hire him?

My sources report that the Council is allegedly working overtime to discredit Pulido and Walters – in case there is a public hearing to review the Council’s decision to fire Walters.

While the Council Members said nice things about Walters at the close of Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the attack they are supposedly preparing is beyond belief. My insiders tell me that the Council is trying to find proof that former Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez had an affair some years ago, with Walters. Continue reading→

Exclusive: Santa Ana City Council votes to fire City Manager

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 8 Comments

Angry David Benavides

Update: Confirmed. The Santa Ana City Council voted 6-1 to fire City Manager Paul Walters.

The Santa Ana City Council is still in closed session but one of our readers, in the audience, was tipped off moments ago that they have voted to do the unthinkable – they are going to fire City Manager Paul Walters even though he saved our city last year from a budget crisis created by the previous City Manager, Dave Ream, and the Council.

This is by no means the end of this story. The Council will have to agendize this for a future meeting. But they have the votes to see this through. Continue reading→

Delusional liberal blames Walters for poverty and obesity

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Carolina Sarmiento, Civic Affairs, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 7 Comments

Commie Gang of Five Supporter

Carolina Sarmiento, of El Centro Cultural de Mexico, penned a ridiculous op-ed over at the union-funded Voice of OC, ripping our Santa Ana City Manager, Paul Walters, and demanding a national search for a new City Manager. Obviously she timed this to coincide with tonight’s scheduled City Council meeting as the “Gang of Five” may be terminating Walters – with no cause to be sure.

Here are a few excerpts from Sarmiento’s delusional missive. Note that she is essentially trying to pin the problems in our city, which stem from poverty, on Walters – this dear readers is class warfare, right from the writings of Karl Marx: Continue reading→

Is the Council’s attack on Walters demoralizing all the City’s employees?

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Adam Probolsky, Civic Affairs, Paul Walters, Politics, Santa Ana 17 Comments

From the Save Paul Walters blog

Is the Santa Ana City Council majority undermining their relationship with all of their city employees by going after their City Manager Paul Walters? That is exactly what Adam Probolsky, an Orange County political consultant and pollster, suggested in a column posted today at the Voice of OC.

While Probolsky did not finger the attack on Walters specifically, he did suggest that “Demonizing public employees might be good for a sound bite, but it’s an ineffective management approach.”

Here is Probolsky’s column, in its entirety. Let’s hope the Santa Ana City Council’s bullies take the time to read it: Continue reading→