New Santa Ana | Category Archives: Politics

Tinajero running for Mayor, making Benavides an afterthought

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Labor, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 31 Comments

Popular Santa Ana Council Member Sal Tinajero pulled papers today to run for Mayor of Santa Ana. Tinajero served on the SAUSD School Board before getting elected to the Santa Ana City Council in 2006, when he beat a candidate backed by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. Tinajero won by just under a thousand votes against Jennifer Villasenor, according to Smart Voter.

Tinajero just missed being the top vote-getter when he won a seat on the SAUSD School Board in 2004. He was the top vote-getter when he first won a school board seat in 2000. Continue reading→

Benavides announces campaign for Mayor of Santa Ana

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 3 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 30, 2012
Contact: Benavides for Santa Ana Mayor, 714.475.1630, david@davidbenavides.com

Santa Ana Councilmember David Benavides announces candidacy for Mayor; thanks incumbent Mayor for over 25 years at City Hall.

Santa Ana, CA (July 30, 2012) – “Santa Ana is ready to once again be the thriving urban center and heart of Orange County. I am ready to be the Mayor with the vision and commitment to help our city realize its potential,” Benavides said. “As Mayor I will engage our residents and businesses and bring our community together around the common goals of safe neighborhoods, strong businesses, and building our city into a cultural destination – a city in which we can all take pride.” Continue reading→

Why I won’t be voting for Benavides in November

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 36 Comments

Is it any surprise to anyone that Santa Ana Council Member David Benavides chose to break the news that he is running against Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido on the Republican OC Political blog? That is exactly what I have come to expect from Benavides.

When Benavides was first elected, back in 2006, he had a great story to offer. He had come to Santa Ana as part of a ministry and he decided to stay here and put down roots. But he very quickly was compromised by Santa Ana’s racist old guard – the Usual Suspects. Mostly old and angry Republicans they brought him up through the Neighborhood Association movement – which pretends to represent the people of Santa Ana but realistically represents at most 1% of our community – and is heavily subsidized by our tax dollars. He declared on his Smart Voter page that he was the winner of the “Neighborhood Hero Award,” the penultimate badge of honor for these metiches. Continue reading→

Why they can’t beat Miguel Pulido – and he will win again this year

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Brett Franklin, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Elections, Eric Alderete, Julio Perez, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Paul Walters, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Transportation, Valerie Amezcua 10 Comments

UPDATE: Council Member Sal Tinajero has pulled papers to run against Mayor Pulido this November. Chisme has it that Benavides will be pressured to get out of the race ASAP.

UPDATE: Council Member David Benavides has announced that he is running for Mayor. Pulido has nothing to worry about.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s detractors are befuddled about how exactly he keeps on winning, every two years. What they don’t understand is that their views don’t reflect the views of the residents at large in our city.

Santa Ana is a huge city. The “inside baseball” and chismoso/gadfly set is fairly small, perhaps a hundred people at most. In 2010, mayoral challenger Alfredo Amezcua lined up a lot of these folks – and combined them with the dwindling “Usual Suspects.” Amezcua spent a quarter million dollars and he thought he had victory in the bag. But you see what he was listening to was an echo chamber – and he failed to reach the majority of voters in Santa Ana. Continue reading→

What if Latino cops had shot a white guy in Anaheim Hills?

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in Anaheim, Crime, Gangs, Latinos, Politics, Public Safety 4 Comments

Imagine if you will that instead of an unarmed Manuel “Stomper” Diaz getting chased down and shot in the back, the victim had been some random white skateboarder in Anaheim Hills? And what if the shooter had been a Latino cop? Oh my. What a different outcome we would have – or would we?

The O.C. Register today asked for calm in Anaheim, opining “The Register’s Editorial Board urges calm and healing at this time of division in the community. We believe a small minority may feel there is something to be gained by inciting further violent confrontations. Nothing is to be gained by fanning animosity on either side of the issue.” Continue reading→

SAUSD Board of Education Candidate Filing Information

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in Elections, Politics, Santa Ana, SAUSD 1 Comment

If you are interested in becoming a candidate in the upcoming SAUSD Board of Education election, click here to be directed to the Orange County Office of Registrar of Voters’ website for information on how to proceed with the process.

Important Dates

July 16, 2012 – August 10, 2012, 5:00 p.m. – NOMINATION PERIOD Continue reading→

Steve Rocco becomes fifth candidate to announce for Ward 3

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Charles Hart, Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Eric Alderete, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Shane Barrows, Shane Ramon Barrows, Steve Rocco 10 Comments

It looks like Steve Rocco is back. According to Santa Ana neighborhood leader Connie Hamilton, Rocco has pulled papers to run for Ward 3 on the Santa Ana City Council. He previously ran for Ward 3 back in 2008.

Here is a rundown of the many races Rocco has been involved in over the years:

Nov 7, 2000 – Ran against Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. Got 5,733 votes according to Smart Voter.
Nov. 5, 2002 – Ran against Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee John Hanna. Got 19,247 votes according to Smart Voter.
Nov. 2, 2004 – Ran against Phil Martinez for the Orange Unified School District’s Board of Education. Rocco won this race with 33,503 votes according to Smart Voter. Red County blogger Matt Cunningham admitted afterwards that he voted for Rocco rather than vote for his Latino Democrat opponent. Continue reading→

Alvarez joins Madrid’s term limits lawsuit against the Santa Ana City Clerk

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Claudia Alvarez, Courts, Democratic Party, Elections, Max Madrid, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Term Limits 12 Comments

Courtroom video courtesy of George Collins, Santa Ana Insight TV

Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez has joined Santa Ana Parks and Rec Commisioner Max Madrid’s lawsuit to compel the Santa Ana City Clerk to issue nomination papers to Alvarez, as “a party to the action.”

Adding Alvarez to the lawsuit dispenses with the issue of whether or not Madrid had standing to bring the lawsuit to the court. Now he does, end of story. Continue reading→

Legal brief by Attorney General implies that Alvarez can run again in Nov.

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, california, Claudia Alvarez, Courts, Democratic Party, Elections, Karina Onofre, Orange County, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 13 Comments

California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris, wrote a legal brief regarding local municipal term limits that should have a considerable bearing on tomorrow’s hearing regarding Santa Ana Park and Rec Commissioner Max Madrid’s lawsuit to compel the Santa Ana City Clerk to issue nomination papers to Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez.

In the brief, which is dated July 17, 2012, Harris concludes that “a term served on a town council that was served prior to the effective date of a local initative term-limit ordinance may not be counted against that term limit by that ordinance.” Continue reading→

Irvine police officer Shane Barrows running for Santa Ana’s Ward 3

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, African Americans, Carlos Bustamante, Charles Hart, Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Eric Alderete, irvine, Politics, Santa Ana, Shane Ramon Barrows 13 Comments

Are you ready for yet another candidate for Santa Ana’s Ward 3? Park Santiago resident Shane Ramon Barrows has pulled papers for the City Council, but he says he won’t be accepting political contributions. I never do either when I run for office, so I can appreciate that.

Barrows is joining an already crowded race that features Orange County middle manager Charles Hart, who lost badly in his run for Mayor two years ago; former Council Member Brett Franklin; and Planning Commissioner Eric Alderete, who has to be considered the early favorite as the only Latino in the race. Most folks believe that the Ward 3 incumbent, Carlos Bustamante, will not stand for reelection, as he is facing serious felony charges of sex crimes and public theft. Continue reading→

Bustamante was the one who advised Onofre to switch to the GOP

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Democratic Party, Elections, Karina Onofre, Politics, Republican Party, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Women 21 Comments

Brainwashed by Carlos Bustamante?

When we revealed in an earlier post that Santa Ana City Council candidate Karina Onofre had switched parties and become a registered Republican, some folks in town started pointing fingers. Liberal OC editor Dan Chmielewski, for example, wrote a post wondering “What led Onofre down this path? Could it be a lunch with Santa Ana Council member Sal Tinajero several weeks ago?”

Well, Onofre did meet with Tinajero and he gave her very good advice. He cautioned that she should run for the SAUSD School Board instead. Let’s face it, Onofre is very young and she has no record of working in the community. The voters don’t know her. But they do know SAUSD Trustee Roman Reyna and Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez, the Ward 5 City Council candidates Onofre is hoping to beat. Continue reading→

Carlos Bustamante’s twin brother sued for alleged affair with client

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Editor Posted in Alfonso Bustamante, Carlos Bustamante, Courts, Crime, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Women 14 Comments

Carlos and Alfonso Bustamante

A lawsuit filed this week in Orange County Superior Court accuses Alfonso Bustamante, the twin brother of Santa Ana Council Member Carlos Bustamante, “of repeatedly abusing his position as a licensed psychologist by secretly engaging in a “side relationship” with the female half of a married couple seeking counseling,” according to the OC Weekly.

“Damien Edwards claims in his seven-page lawsuit that Bustamante–who is the married brother of Carlos Bustamante, the disgraced Republican politician–is guilty of professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of confidentiality and intentional infliction of emotion distress.”

Remember those emails I got from one of Bustamante’s ex-girlfriends, starting back in 2009? She implicated Alfonso as well as Carlos. And looking back at her emails she was rather coy as to which one she was allegedly dating. Continue reading→

Floral Park neighbors battle over RSCCD’s Area 5

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Dave Chapel, Democratic Party, Education, Ken Nguyen, Mark McLoughlin, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Pictured: Rob Richardson, Mark McLoughlin, Carlos Bustamante and David Benavides

Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustees Mark McLoughlin and Dave Chapel both live in Santa Ana’s upscale Floral Park neighborhood and now, thanks to redistricting, they have to run against each other, in November, for the new Area 5. One of them will lose and face the end of his political career.

Chapel complained about the redistricting in an email that the OC Weekly got a hold of. But he could not stop progress. The neat thing about the redistricting is that the Rancho elections are now area-specific. Continue reading→

SAUSD Trustee Roman Reyna will run for the Santa Ana City Council

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Education, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 19 Comments

Pictured: Roman Reyna and Carlos Bustamante

SAUSD Trustee Roman Reyna has confirmed on this Facebook page that he is running for the Santa Ana City Council, again, this November. Reyna will be a candidate for Ward 5, which is currently held by Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez. She is termed out however a lawsuit filed by Santa Ana Parks and Rec Commissioner Max Madrid is seeking to compel the Santa Ana City Clerk to issue nomination papers to Alvarez, on the grounds that Measure D, which extended Council terms, reset the term limit clock for Alvarez. If Madrid’s lawsuit prevails Reyna will have to face off against Alvarez – again. She already beat him once, back in 2004. In that race Alvarez got over 26,500 votes while Reyna got only 10,720 votes, according to Smart Voter. Continue reading→

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer seeks divorce from troubled wife Nadia

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Art Pedroza Posted in Democratic Party, Drugs, Nadia Lockyer, Politics, Santa Ana 3 Comments

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer filed for divorce Friday, months after his wife’s affair with a methamphetamine addict and her own substance abuse problems became public, according to the Sacramento Bee.

At 5:10 p.m. Friday, after the divorce papers were filed, Nadia Lockyer was involved in a car accident near the couple’s home. Hayward Police Sgt. Eric Krimm said she was the sole occupant of the car when it knocked down a light pole before hitting a tree, according to the L.A. Times. Continue reading→