The City of Santa Ana is closing its playgrounds, volleyball courts and tennis courts beginning Wednesday, April 1, in order to prevent gatherings and protect the public from COVID-19. The City has already shuttered its enclosed parks, recreation and other facilities and canceled all programs and classes except the take-out senior meals program. Those include:…
Effective March 30, Orange County Community Services has implemented a call center to meet the needs of businesses impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Economic & Business Recovery Call Center will offer information and resources to help Orange County businesses navigate the current economic climate. These resources will support businesses with challenges such…
The City of Santa Ana is offering a grant of $2,500 to $5,000 for Santa Ana-based microenterprises through the Santa Ana Small Business Incentive Program. Applicants must qualify for the Small Business Incentive Grant. Details are available at www.santa-ana.org/SBIP. Eligibility Qualifications The program provides a reimbursement grant for eligible businesses on a first-come, first-served basis. Grant…
The City of Santa Ana has created webpages in English, Spanish and Vietnamese to help residential and commercial tenants understand the City and State moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The webpages include frequently asked questions, a sample letter that renters can use to advise their landlord of their inability to pay…
A man was shot in the head in Santa Ana late Sunday, Feb. 23, at the 1700 block of West Hall Avenue.
The incident happened just past 11 p.m. according to the O.C. Register, just north of Carl Thornton Park.
Responding SAPD police officers found the victim suffering from a single gunshot wound, inside a vehicle.
The unidentified male victim was rushed to a hospital for treatment, Alvarez said. He had stable vital signs.
The SAPD has not released any information about a suspect in this shooting.
COSTA MESA, CA — A federal judge ruled on Monday that a Temporary Restraining Order preventing the State and Federal Government from moving infected Novel Coronavirus patients to Fairview Developmental Center should be extended for a week, directing the parties to meeting and confer and giving the city an opportunity to present more information.
“We are grateful that the judge saw through the inconsistencies in the federal and state positions, and has extended the restraining order to see if the government can comply with its own protocols for quarantine and isolation of people with serious, communicable and possibly deadly disease., Mayor Katrina Foley said. “While we have nothing but compassion for those who are suffering from this virus, the health and welfare of our community is our top priority. Bringing those infected into this densely populated area is simply the wrong approach.”
The city requested and was granted a temporary restraining order last Friday by the Honorable U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton, after the city learned that federal and state authorities were considering moving between 30 to 50 infected individuals to Fairview.
City officials contend that transporting persons infected with or exposed to the Coronavirus to any place within Costa Mesa until an adequate site survey has been conducted would be irresponsible. In addition, the city contends the populations of Costa Mesa and surrounding communities puts these infected patients in a much too-densely populated area.
The city contends that any designated site that has been determined suitable for this purpose will need all necessary safeguards and precautions put in place, and the public and local government informed of all efforts to mitigate risk of transmission of the disease.
The City still has not received critical information needed to keep the public safe and to be an effective partner in responding to any emergency arising from the use of Fairview to isolate Coronavirus patients.
Information needed by the city includes:
· The identities of the lead agencies, their roles, and the incident commanders for each agency; operational details of how FDC will be used: when it is expected to begin operations as an isolation location, how long it is expected to be used for this purpose, will the site be expanded, what is the maximum number of patients to be housed, will the number of buildings used on site will change over time, and whether state and federal agencies have considered or identified overflow sites.
· The city is also requesting how information will be shared among the different levels of government, how requests for resources and mutual aid will be made, how media and public inquiries will be handled, and how emergencies will be communicated.
· The city is requesting general safety information that first responders need to be aware of how far the Coronavirus can travel, how far it can be transmitted by airborne means, whether there will be physical barriers preventing access to Fairview, how tall and secure those barriers will be, how far they will be from the buildings and publicly accessible areas, and how the facility will be guarded.
· The city also wants to know the conditions of the facilities and plans to maintain and repair them given the aging and obsolete infrastructure. The City also must know how will the housing, feeding, and movement of Fairview support personnel happen, when will patients be moved on and off the facility, what the testing procedures for patients includes, and protocols for removal to local hospitals, if necessary.
The Santa Ana City Council has unanimously approved a resolution opposing the County of Orange’s construction of a 425-bed homeless shelter on Yale Street in southwest Santa Ana.
The resolution also declares the Council’s opposition to the construction and operation of a County shelter “anywhere else in Santa Ana until the County of Orange is operating a proportional amount of shelter beds in the South Service Planning Area as exists in the Central and North Service Planning Areas.” The signed resolution was delivered today to the Board of Supervisors to notify them of the City of Santa Ana’s official stance, which the Council approved on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
“The City of Santa Ana, its residents and business community are sick and tired of having the County treat us as their dumping ground for the homeless,” said Mayor Miguel Pulido. “They need to quit pushing for homeless shelters in the middle of our city’s neighborhoods, releasing their jail inmates within our city’s boundaries and concentrating most of their homeless services within Santa Ana. We have had enough.”
The City has a long history of providing services to combat homelessness for Santa Ana individuals and families. The City last year established a Homeless Strategic Plan and spends about $17 million annually to address homelessness and its impacts.
In January 2018, the City formed the Quality of Life Team, a multi-disciplinary working group consisting of various City departments and community organizations that work together to provide outreach to people experiencing homelessness and to help them get access to social services, housing and other resources.
In January 2020 alone, the team made 725 contacts with individuals experiencing homelessness. Of those, 495 were determined to not be from Santa Ana. Additionally, The Link, a 200-bed shelter funded by the City of Santa Ana, has placed 118 homeless individuals in housing. The City hosts a total of 785 year-round shelter beds, as well as a 200-bed winter shelter at the Armory. As of fall 2019, Santa Ana had 408 units of homeless supportive housing and approximately 1,600 units of affordable housing.
The City has taken legal action against the County of Orange and other entities to curb the influx of homeless into Santa Ana.
“Santa Ana should and does provide shelter beds for its own homeless population, but I am opposed to opening any new shelters to house homeless individuals who come here from outside of our city,” Ward 1 Councilmember Vicente Sarmiento said.
Ward 2 Councilmember David Penaloza stated: “The Board of Supervisors owes an apology to the residents of Santa Ana. For the past year, I have been yelling from the mountaintops that we need to hold the County accountable and demand that they stop dumping their homeless problem on the residents of Santa Ana.”
“This resolution may be largely symbolic, but the homelessness crisis in Santa Ana and throughout Orange County is very real,” said Ward 3 Councilmember Jose Solorio. “I’m optimistic that more cities will ultimately do the right thing and develop shelters, permanent supportive housing units, and drug and mental health treatment programs for their homeless residents.”
“The City of Santa Ana, its residents and its businesses cannot continue to shoulder the disproportionate impacts that the homeless crisis is having in Orange County, while our neighbors to the south do very minimal to address it, if anything at all,” Ward 4 Councilmember Phil Bacerra said.
Mayor Pro Tem Juan Villegas of Ward 5 stated: “This resolution shows the City Council is united in its stance against the Yale Street homeless shelter and the transport of homeless into our community, but we must give it teeth by aggressively pursuing other solutions.”
“This resolution is a start, but we need to use every legal tool at our disposal to send a stronger message to the County and tell them that the buck stops here,” Ward 6 Councilmember Cecilia Iglesias said. “We are living in a state of emergency here in Santa Ana.”
The NIMBYs in north Santa Ana successfully collected 16,000 signatures – when they only needed 11,000 to qualify their ballot referendum against the proposed luxury apartment project at 2525 N. Main St. for the ballot, according to an insider at City Hall.
The Santa Ana City Council will now determine when to hold this Special Election. It won’t be on the May ballot, when Santa Ana voters will consider the proposed recall of Santa Ana City Councilwoman Ceci Iglesias.
The City Council could opt to set a date for yet another Special Election, which will cost a small fortune but unfortunately the project developer will be forced to foot the bill.
The City Council could also do the right thing and put this on the November General Election ballot, which would cost less and would open the issue up to more voters.
The NIMBYs would benefit from having a single issue Special Election as turnout would be super low and they could prevail even though they make up less than 20% of the overall voters in Santa Ana.
Placing the referendum on the November ballot would actually make it easier to defeat but it could pose a challenge for Iglesias at that time as she will be on the ballot as a Mayoral challenger – and the NIMBYs are not happy with her as she voted to approve the apartment project.
The NIMBYs are of course totally ridiculous. Were the developer to put a new office project at 2525 N. Main St. that would generate a ton more traffic than a luxury apartment project!
The NIMBY’s are also working on another ballot referendum to recall the Ward 3 City Councilman, Jose Solorio, who like Iglesias is also a candidate for Mayor. That referendum however still is short on signatures.
It is highly unlikely that voters who don’t live in north Santa Ana will support the anti luxury apartment referendum. That project would generate millions of dollars in tax revenue and development fees for the City of Santa Ana. And it is unfair to foist tons of development on our neighbors in central and south Santa Ana while the north avoids any housing development.
It is also awkward for the mostly Republican NIMBYs to ask the mostly not Republican voters in other parts of the city to do them a solid…
COSTA MESA – Senator John M. W. Moorlach has been apprised and briefed of the situation by both the Governor’s office and the leadership of the city of Costa Mesa.
Here is his statement on these recent events:
“The coronavirus patients from California should have finished their quarantine on the cruise ship in Japan. Now that they are in the state, they should not be sent to Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa. Nor to any other highly populated area.
“Because the facilities have air vents, it is not prudent to house them off of a main thoroughfare like Harbor Boulevard. It would be better that they are sent to a retired military base in the desert.
“The coronavirus patients should be treated humanely and with the best medical care available. But the first priority must be to contain the virus and make sure it doesn’t jump into the local population, in this case, the citizens in my 37th Senatorial District or any other densely populated Senatorial District.”
The O.C. Health Care Agency has released a list of the eateries (including restaurants, caterers and even school kitchens) that they inspected and shut down for the week of Feb. 13 to Feb. 21. Most of these eateries reopen pretty quickly after the health inspectors determine their issues have been resolved.
ORANGE – The Orange County Transportation Authority is conducting an online survey to gain better insight into how people living in Orange County are changing the way they get around the county.
The Transportation Needs Assessment Survey is intended to gauge people’s opinions on the current public transit system and help shape future transportation planning in Orange County.
The online survey is part of an ongoing effort by OCTA to reach out to current riders of OC Bus and Metrolink, as well as non-riders, to deliver a balanced and sustainable transportation network for the county and to enhance overall quality of life.
The survey, at www.OCTAsurvey.com, will be online through the end of March. In an effort to engage residents from a variety of backgrounds, the survey is available in English and six other languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
“Our goal is to ensure all residents have a voice when it comes to transportation needs,” said OCTA Chairman Steve Jones, also the mayor of Garden Grove. “The Transportation Needs Assessment is an opportunity for residents to have a say in local and regional mobility and to ensure everyone is being served.”
The brief survey, which should take approximately 10 minutes or less to complete, asks how residents currently get around Orange County, and seeks suggestions on what can be improved to encourage people to use public transportation or consider active transportation options, such as walking and cycling.
For more information about the OC Bus system, visit www.OCBus.com and take the survey at www.OCTAsurvey.com.
On Saturday, February 22, 2020, at approximately 10:40 AM, SAPD Officers responded to 1203 South Baker Street for a death investigation. Officers met with a family member who located the homeowner deceased inside. Officers entered the home and located an elderly woman deceased. Orange County Fire Authority paramedics responded and confirmed the woman had died. The manner and cause of death is unknown at this time.
During the preliminary field investigation, officers canvassed the neighborhood. Based on witness statements and their observations inside the home, the officers suspected foul play. The scene supervisor requested the Santa Ana Homicide Section respond.
SAPD Homicide detectives responded and assumed the investigation. Detectives are seeking a search warrant to enter the home and recover potential items of evidentiary value. The Orange County Coroner’s Division is standing by for the warrant in order to conduct their investigation. The identity of the decedent has not been confirmed.
At approximately 1:43 PM, a possible suspect in the case approached the residence in a vehicle. When officers attempted to speak with him, the person drove away, leading officers in a slow speed vehicle pursuit. The pursuit terminated in the City of Irvine. The suspect barricaded himself in the vehicle. A K9 deployment occurred, which resulted in officers apprehending the suspect. The suspect is currently at a local trauma center receiving medical attention due to injuries sustained during his apprehension.
The investigation is ongoing.
Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is seeking volunteers to help promote early childhood education and health programs by serving on the First 5 Orange County Children and Families Commission.
“By providing early access to proper health and education, we can have a profound and meaningful impact on a child’s life,” said Supervisor Andrew Do, who serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “We’re looking for leaders in early childhood development to join First 5 Orange County to help us develop the most effective early childhood programs.”
Established in 1998 through Proposition 10, First 5 Orange County funds education, health care, and child development programs that support children from the prenatal stage up to age five. The nine-member Commission is appointed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors and includes six at-large members of the public.
Commission members will help advance First 5 Orange County’s Strategic Plan by serving a two-year term, meet six times per year, serve on ad-hoc committees, and represent First 5 Orange County at community events.
“Orange County residents now have the opportunity to part of a team that helps ensure children have access to quality early learning experiences and environments,” said Supervisor Do.
First 5 Orange County Commissioner Requirements
Do you have experience in education and early child intervention? Want to make a positive impact in your community?
To qualify for the First 5 Orange County Board of Directors, candidates must be Orange County residents with relevant expertise in one of the following two categories:
VisiVisit First 5 Orange County’s website for more information on the commission and to view the application. Applications will be accepted until 3:00 PM on March 6, 2020.
For more information, please contact Lisa Burke at First5OC@cfcoc.ocgov.com.
COSTA MESA – Earlier today Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he intends to use Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa as a site to house the homeless. This announcement comes on the heels of his State of the State address on Wednesday in which he discussed the need to solve California’s growing homelessness crisis.
In response to this sudden announcement, Senator John Moorlach released the following statement:
“I am disappointed the Governor has rushed to announce his intention to use Fairview Developmental Center as a homeless shelter before doing the site assessment I negotiated in the fiscal year 2017-18 budget to evaluate the feasibility and best use of the property. Orange County, much like the rest of California, is facing a crisis surrounding mental health and homelessness which must be addressed in a smart, consistent and safe way. This rush to place homeless Californians on a property where there is an uncertain determination of its disposition is premature and reactive. And it doesn’t consider the many good-faith discussions I’ve tried to have with this and the previous Administration over the last five years.
I’m proud of the progress that has been made in Orange County by its agencies and the medical and nonprofit community to build a system of care for the mentally ill. Engaging mental health professionals, while crafting public policy and using public resources, is essential to getting this right. The Fairview property provides a unique opportunity to provide services in a safe, secure and effective way. I would ask Governor Newsom to consider the needs of Orange County and the work that is already being done here. And I call on him to be a part of the solutions already being pursued, rather than rush to use Fairview as a Band-Aid by converting the property into a homeless shelter.”
Fairview is a 116-acre state-owned property in the heart of Costa Mesa that has been used as a medical facility to treat the developmentally disabled for the last 60 years. The site has been gradually closing for the past five years and is scheduled to be fully shut down by 2022. The announcement of Fairview’s closure has begun a discussion on the future use of the property.
Senator John M. W. Moorlach represents California’s 37th Senate District. He is a member of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus and previously Chaired Orange County’s Commission to End Homelessness while a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
SACRAMENTO – A day after meeting with officials from cities across California on the front lines of the homelessness crisis, Governor Gavin Newsom today highlighted the 286 state-owned properties available to local governments to use for homelessness solutions. The Governor called on local leaders to review the sites available in their regions and invited officials to work with the state to develop housing and shelter proposals that help move people off the streets. The state is offering local governments $1 leases on state owned-property, and the $650 million in State Emergency Homeless Aid can be used to build out sites.
“As a former mayor I get that localism is determinative and that all levels of government must work together to get Californians off the street and into housing and supportive services,” said Governor Newsom. “The state is stepping up by making land available to cities and counties willing to meet this moment head-on. I invite local leaders to use this land on what works for their community’s homeless needs so that we can begin to make meaningful progress to help individuals experiencing homelessness.”
The Governor announced the release of these properties as part of his State of the State address Wednesday. They include vacant lots, fairgrounds, armories and other state buildings – and were identified as part of the Governor’s executive order requiring state agencies to take urgent action to make state properties and facilities available to rapidly increase housing and shelter options. The Department of General Services has developed an interactive map of the available properties, which will continue to be updated as it works with local governments on the suitability of parcels for temporary shelter.
In his State of the State address, Governor Newsom called on all levels of government to step up their efforts to combat the homelessness crisis, and laid out his Administration’s five-part approach – reducing street homelessness quickly and humanely through emergency actions, a laser focus on getting the mentally ill out of tents and into treatment, providing stable funding to get sustainable results, tackling the underproduction of affordable housing in California, and doing all of this with real accountability and consequences.
Following his State of the State address, the Governor will travel the state meeting with service providers and homeless individuals and hearing directly from Californians about his Administration’s homelessness response. He kicked off this tour in Yountville yesterday, where he met with over 50 leaders at the League of California Cities meeting, outlining his vision and inviting partnerships.
The Governor has released the full $650 million in State Emergency Homeless Aid and issued a challenge for cities and counties to partner with the state on immediate impact solutions to tackle homelessness. On the heels of his proposed budget featuring more than $1 billion to fight homelessness, and executive order on homelessness, Governor Newsom last month traveled to San Diego, Oakland, Grass Valley, Riverside, Los Angeles and Fresno, participating in a local point-in-time count and meeting with staff and residents at shelters, a board and care home, and a crisis stabilization center.
The first in a series of events at The Frida Cinema funded through the City of Santa Ana’s Investing in the Artist grant program will take place on Sunday, Feb. 23.
The Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble will present a free screening and performance of “Home for Mom,” a digital musical series about three families facing the challenge of making end-of-life choices with laughter, tears and love.
The event will be from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at The Frida Cinema, 305 E. 4th Street #100, Santa Ana. Seating will be first-come, first-served. For more information on The Frida Cinema event, click here.
The Investing in the Artist grants distribute small but impactful funds to emerging and established artists and arts organizations/cooperatives serving as a catalyst to further their work while living and creating in Santa Ana, resulting in a more vibrant local art scene.
The Frida Cinema is one of the new grantees and is collaborating with four arts organizations on a series of events.
For more information on the Investing in the Artist Grant please visit: https://www.santa-ana.org/cd/arts-culture-office/grants-and-funding-opportunities/investing-artist-grant.
In response to community complaints regarding narcotic activity at a residence at 1200 W. St Anne, SAPD Police Detectives obtained a search warrant, according to the SAPD’s Twitter page.
The raid occurred a few blocks west of Memorial Park.
The SAPD Metro Division served the search warrant this afternoon, 14 subjects were detained and the investigation is ongoing
This is a reminder of the Santa Ana Communication Linkage Forum (Com-Link) General Meeting, scheduled for Thursday, February 27, 2020 at 7 p.m. at the Santa Ana Police Department Community Room, located at 60 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana (on Boyd Way between W. Civic Center Drive and W. 6th Street). Validated parking will be provided.
Topics to be discussed:
• Call to Order and Com-Link Board Introductions
• Presentation and Discussion with OC Health Care Agency on Drug Abuse and Drug Abuse Prevention Resources in our Community
• Announcements and Upcoming Events
Agenda:
Note: Meeting may be audio or video-recorded for distribution by a member of the public.
Tap or click here to view the Feb. 27th Com-Link meeting flyer.
Nelida Mendoza ran against Santa Ana Ward 6 City Councilwoman Ceci Iglesias back in 2018, garnering just over 18,000 votes. Mendoza lost but has announced that she is going to run again in the upcoming May 19 Special Recall Election.
Mendoza is currently a member of the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Trustees.
Mendoza was born in Jalisco, Mexico, immigrated to the United States in 1965 and has been a resident of Santa Ana since then.
Mendoza earned an A.A. in liberal arts, an A.A. in paralegal studies, and an A.A. in office technology from Santa Ana College. She holds a B.A. in sociology and a Master’s in Public Administration from California State University, Fullerton. Mendoza also earned a Career Technical Education Teacher’s Credential from the Orange County Department of Education.
In her time as a Trustee for the Rancho Santiago community College District Mendoza has been slammed for supporting a ridiculous program education program in Saudi Arabia and for backing union-only project labor agreements that wasted taxpayer money generated by several bond measures.