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Orange Park Acre Republicans to host an Amezcua fundraiser on 9/22

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Education, Elections, Entertainment, Orange, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Valerie Amezcua 10 Comments

Republican home where Valerie Amezcua’s fundraiser will be held, in Orange Park Acres

Failed Santa Ana mayoral candidate Al Amezcua’s daughter, Valerie Amezcua, a Democratic Party candidate for the SAUSD School Board, is finally going to have a fundraiser, at the home of Republicans Dr. Arturo & Raquel Lomeli on  Saturday, September 22, 2012, at 20208 E. Rogers Drive, in Orange Park Acres, from 4:00 – 6:00 pm.

Valerie ran previously for the SAUSD School Board in 2006, and lost to Roman Reyna, who she is now supporting for the Santa Ana City Council.

The event will be catered by Casa 7 Mares.  Just to be safe, I looked up their record of health violations on the website of the Orange County Health Agency: Continue reading→

The Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government reveals their Board members

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Civic Affairs, Politics, Santa Ana 9 Comments

The Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government, a Political Action Committee, finally posted the members of their Board of  Directors tonight, on their website, after we prodded them to do so.  Here they are:

CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • President Arturo Lomeli – Downtown property owner: He is a dentist.  He also owns property in Downtown Santa Ana and leases out office space.  He is a Republican and he lives in wealthy Orange Park Acres.
  • John Acosta – Former Santa Ana mayor pro tem: Like Lomeli, Acosta is a Republican.  He served on the Santa Ana City Council many years ago.  He no longer lives in Santa Ana.
  • Jeff Dickman – Friends of Lacy neighborhood: Dickman was booted off the City of Santa Ana’s Historical Resources Commission.  He led a lawsuit against the City of Santa Ana which cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and stuck us with dilapidated buildings that the City cannot even give away.
  • Albert Castillo – Chicano Unidos member: He used to be a staunch supporter of Mayor Miguel Pulido, back in the day.
  • Debbie McEwen – French Park resident: I believe she is a Republican, but am not sure.  That is her picture atop this post, flipping me the one finger salute, at a Santa Ana City Council meeting.  She is notorious for complaining about her Latino neighbors to the Santa Ana Code Enforcement Agency.  She led the charge to install illegal traffic barriers in her neighborhood, but was defeated by the ACLU.  They correctly surmised that the barriers were racist and illegal.
  • Valerie Amezcua – Morrison Park resident: She is the daughter of failed Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua.  She lost a close race for the SAUSD School Board, to Roman Reyna, a couple years ago.
  • Luis Ortiz Franco – Los Amigos of Orange County
  • Gabriela Gonzalez – Community Volunteer
  • Raquel Lomeli – Downtown property owner: She is married to Art Lomeli.
  • Francisco Barragan – Business and community leader: He is a former Marine.  He belongs to quite a few community organizations.  He is also a CPA.  He used to write for this blog.  He drank the Amezcua Kool Aid unfortunately.
  • Alfredo Amezcua – Attorney/Business Property Owner: He got caught when he got elected to the Rancho Santiago Community College District – but was living in a different ward.  He resigned and later ran for Mayor of Santa Ana, last year, losing badly to Mayor Miguel Pulido, despite spending a quarter million dollars on his campaign.  He is a criminal defense attorney who has defended some of the worst drug dealers and gang bangers in Orange County, over the years.  It should be noted that he has also supported every major tax increase (via bond measures) that we have been stuck with here in Santa Ana, over the past decade.

There you go.  This organization appears to be a mixture of Republicans, malcontents, questionable politicians and litigious residents.  I have yet to see any concrete good ideas from these folks, but predictably they are making Code Enforcement a focus, which comes as no surprise given the involvement of McEwen on their Board.  Any organization that includes the likes of McEwen is not to be trusted by the people of Santa Ana, IMHO.

Is the Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government a GOP ploy?

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 3 Comments

The Republicans still rule in Orange County – except for the City of Santa Ana, where only one Republican sits on our City Council.

The Democrats control the 69th Assembly District, the 34th State Senate District and the 47th Congressional District.  All the Republicans have is Supervisor Janet Nguyen.  She might be able to redistrict her way to victory in 2012 – or she might not.

Given that background it is very surprising that two Republicans have started the so-called “Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government,” which is really a state registered Political Action Committee.  Why should Democrats in Santa Ana give them the time of day?

I spoke to the publicist for this coalition a few month ago.  She said they had others on their Board, besides the two Republicans – Art Lomeli and John Acosta – but so far they have not posted any other names on their website.

To make matters worse, Lomeli and Acosta don’t even live in Santa Ana!  Does anyone on their board live in Santa Ana?  Who knows – they won’t post their names!

What exactly do these people advocate?  Again, who knows?  Their website does not cite any original ideas for change – just a laundry list of empty complaints.

You have to wonder if the OC GOP is using this sad bunch to try to regain territory in Santa Ana.  Sorry – that won’t work.

It certainly did not work last year when several of the most bitter Republicans in town lined up behind Amezcua.  He still got blown out of the water by Mayor Miguel Pulido.

Too bad these people are so set on complaining instead of trying to foster real change in Santa Ana.  In the end their effort will amount to nothing – no one at City Hall will give these people any credence.  And in 2012, their favored son, Alfredo Amezcua, is going to lose again to Pulido.  The reality is that Pulido won’t stop being Mayor until he decides to leave.

Amezcua blew a quarter million last year in his failed attempt to beat Pulido.  There is no telling how much more money will be wasted by his “Coalition of Republicans who don’t live in Santa Ana.”

Alfredo Amezcua and his Santa Ana PAC to host a community forum on April 20

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Entertainment, Politics, Santa Ana 5 Comments

The Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government, which is a Political Action Committee, is holding a “Community Forum,” on April 20, at the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s headquarters.  Here is their invitation to the meeting:

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

As you probably know, my commitment to our beautiful City of Santa Ana continues… Quite a few community leaders and stakeholders have requested me to take a role in the creation and development of the SANTA ANA COALITION FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT (SACBG). For those of you who are not yet familiar with this new entity, the SACGB is a community organization comprised of residents and business owners encouraging civic participation, while promoting and advocating for efficient, transparent, accountable and ethical governance by the elected and administrative officials of the City of Santa Ana.

Please join us at our first Community Forum on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Rancho Santiago Community College District Conference Room 107. See the attached Invitation Flier and feel free to distribute this e-mail to your personal e-mail contacts, lists, friends and neighbors. If you have any questions about this new community coalition, please contact me.

I look forward to seeing you on April 20th!

Alfredo Amezcua
Attorney at Law

Law Offices of Alfredo Amezcua & Associates
1319 N. Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Ofc.: (714) 835-3538
Fax: (714) 835-0906
e-mail: amezcualglsrvcs@aol.com

###

Note that the invitation is from Alfredo Amezcua, one of several mayoral challengers last year who lost badly to incumbent Mayor Miguel Pulido.

The Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government is run by two men who do not live here in Santa Ana – Dr. Art Lomeli, who lives in wealthy Orange Park Acres and is a registered Republican, and John Acosta, who lives in Orange and is likewise a registered Republican.

Recap of Larry Mantle’s “Santa Ana Gentrification Wars” radio show on KPCC

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Development, Michele Martinez, Politics, Redevelopment, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Photo: Karen X. Fritsche/KPCC

So you missed Larry Mantle’s “Santa Ana Gentrification Wars” radio show, that taped on Tuesday, March 29, at Libreria Martinez?  Not to worry.  Click here to hear the show, which was part of Mantle’s Air Talk program.

Guests included:

  • Eric Altman, Executive Director of OCCORD, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development, a labor-funded non-profit organization that is headed up by two white male executives.
  • Michele Martinez, Santa Ana City Councilwoman – Ward 2; Human Resources and Education Foundation Director
  • Carlos Bustamante, Santa Ana Councilman – Ward 3; Director of Administration at Orange County Public Works
  • Carolina Sarmiento, member of the Centro Cultural de Mexico, a longtime Santa Ana nonprofit that figures into the gentrification game
  • Art Lomeli, a dentist who lives in Orange Park Acres and who heads up the Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government

Reviews were mixed.  Apparently little was accomplished on this show.

The Voice of OC blog provided a recap, which indicated that a lot of the discussion on the show was about the failed attempt to force a so-called “Community Benefit Agreement” on the Station District redevelopment project, which was going to include affordable housing but was derailed by a lawsuit.

These “Community Benefit Agreements” are nothing more than extortion.  They are attempts by folks who do not own property to force their will on developers.  They usually fail as developers and city governments have no reason to sign on to their demands, which do not respect property rights.

Furthermore, these agreements are advanced by non-elected busy-bodies who have no mandate and really should have no say in what happens in our community.  We already have an elected City Council.  It is their job, along with our City Planning Commission and our Planning Department, to resolve these issues.

Here is what our reader Cook had to say about the program: “The book store was packed, must have been more than the 100 people limit.  Nothing ground breaking happened, but there was a lot of exchanging ideas and talking points.”

And here is what our reader Junior had to say about it: “There were no NEW ideas – it was regurgitated talking points – from all sides.”

What did other folks think?  Well, the comments left on Mantle’s blog are interesting, to wit:

From David: Thanks again for hosting such a great event. I was fortunately to be part of the crowd when AirTalk was being recorded.

A believe that the core question was not answered directly and that was whether these businesses are displacing the natives in the Downtown Santa Ana area. Granted the redevelopment is supposedly be bringing in affordable housing but economically, how many natives can afford housing even when it’s affordable?

When Larry Mantle had asked as to whether they couldn’t compare this project to other cities such as Santa Monica, I think a better example would have been a local city, such as Westminster.

Asian Americans have a strong community in the City of Westminster and have a strong ties to the local businesses in the area. There has been development projects in Westminster as well but they are definitely helping the community by allowing more local businesses to be developed without having to worry for big corporations. I don’t see why Santa Ana can’t follow this business plan.

From Delores: As a Heinz 57 mutt, I love the culture here in Santa Ana. I think most Anglos do. Sadly last night it sounded like Carolina was an apologist for her family’s weath and for living in Floral Park. She has the luxury of being a rich kid who never purchases in downtown and yet cries foul for the community. The truth is, the 80,000 people who live in the sphere of influence of downtown do not shop downtown they head to Target, WalMart and Main Place. Downtown no longer has the 2nd place tax base that Art referenced. That was 7 years ago. As Carlos stated; the whites didn’t want the browns in the 70’s and the browns do not want the whites in 2011. It wasn’t right then, and it’s not right now! Change is afoot. Not unlike Borders, it is survival of the fittest. If you offer good service, value and quality; bridal shop, jewelry store, clothing store, tax preparation, etc., you have nothing to worry about. If your business is being pushed out by the worldwide web (travel, CD’s, movies) you should change your product. The color of downtown is not red, yellow, black, brown or white; it is green Carolina. If it’s not green, who will pay for what you ask for? Who will pay for affordable housing, green space, community centers, healthcare, and on and on????? Developers aren’t standing in line waiting to get a project in Santa Ana. It’s the contrary, the City is courting these developers to please take a look at Santa Ana.

From Holly: As a former longtime resident, I have seen the city of Santa Ana persistently navigate major redevelopment projects over the last 25 years. I’m thinking of the Bristol Corridor Project, the Delhi Community Center Redevelopment and all of the Santa Ana Schools that have been built on former business locations throughout Santa Ana. There were many of these same concerns expressed very actively & effectively from the community then, too and the City heard them and incorporated their concerns. The desire for accessible shopping and parks, open space, affordable housing, safe neighborhoods and a good community center are not unique to just Ward 2 in Santa Ana. Which leads me to believe that perhaps, in these very trying economic times – that the community’s desire for the labor to be ‘only from Santa Ana’ and that it be ‘Union’ only, is one of the true sticking points. To which I would say: only the attorneys for and against the lawsuit will benefit. The community of Ward 2 of Santa Ana will continue to struggle and the Station Area redevelopment project will languish, not improving the situation for anyone. Anyone except the attorneys on both sides of the pending lawsuit, that is.

From Michael: Perhaps the close minded people who want to fight something thing that is met for the betterment of all the community, had better step back and think a little. Breaking the law has consequences, regardless of peoples national origin, race or creed. I was appaled at the comment of one Hispanic woman who said what about the undocumented people who don’t have a voice in this matter. Well the truth is they shouldn’t have any voice period. Break the laws of our country and pay the price without complaining. The second issue is what is called the right of imminant domain. Just remember the courts have always upheld this issue and if people do not want to move forward with a community betterment project, this law can be imposed on them. I am a native of Los Angeles and have watched as the once great and beautiful city of Santa Ana going down to where it has become like a third world city. I congratulate the city council in their vision to bring Santa Ana back to its rightful place in So Cal. It is a total waste of money and time as well as increases a projects cost immensily to bring a lawsuit and with the state of our economy, is there money to waste? I think not. The council and developer get my vote.

The Leaders of the Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government PAC don’t live here

Posted on by Posted in 2010 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Have you heard of the Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government?  They are one of the organizations behind this week’s ridiculous Anaheim Los Amigos press conference that consisted of unfounded innuendo and slanderous attacks against Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, the Santa Ana City Council and Santa Ana Chief of Police Paul Walters.

I took a look today at the  website today and found these stated goals:

  • Identify viable candidates for mayor and city council who are pro-business and encourage the development and growth of small businesses.
  • Support identified candidates with finances, volunteers and in-kind resources.
  • Create a pool of viable candidates by providing training and workshops to educate and enhance their capability for conducting successful campaigns.
  • Support nonprofit groups that promote the city’s progress by continuously incrementing the profile of three sectors: business, arts and education.

It turns out this organization is not a community-based organization.  It is a political action committee.  It is headed up by Dr. Art Lomeli, a resident of wealthy Orange Park Acres, and John Acosta, a resident of Anaheim.  They are both allies of failed Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua.

Now let’s dissect those goals.  The first one is silly.  Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and every single Council member is pro-business.  They all support development – it is ironic that this coalition even mentions development as Amezcua and his allies have repeatedly sued the City of Santa Ana to STOP developments, some of which have included affordable housing.

As for training political candidates, why would a candidate want to take advice from this bunch?  Amezcua spent a quarter million dollars last year and he lost badly to Pulido.  Lomeli got blown out of the water a few years ago when he ran for the Rancho Santiago Community College District.  Acosta has not won an election since before most residents of Santa Ana were born.  Please!  How silly.

What have any of these people done to support the arts, business or education?  I have yet to see any concrete proposals from ANY of them to that end.  In fact their website has NOTHING to contribute – no ideas, no proposals, nada.  In that, it reflects Amezcua’s campaign, which also failed to propose even one good idea.

So who are these non-residents of Santa Ana?

Lomeli owns a dental practice in Downtown Santa Ana.  He is also one of 35 business owners in the Downtown who has signed a petition to stop the Santa Ana PBID – an assessment that has done wonders to clean up, market and improve our Downtown area.  Lomeli is also a landlord as he rents space out in his building.

Acosta served on the Santa Ana City Council many years ago.  He retired recently, but worked in construction his whole life.

I think this coalition needs to change its name if its leaders are going to be non-residents of Santa Ana.  And residents of our city should think twice before contributing to them.  They have no ideas and are simply mad that their candidate, Amezcua, got blown out last November.

Mayor Miguel Pulido endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County

Posted on by Posted in Alfredo Amezcua, Democratic Party, Elections, Labor, Orange, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua brought his whole gang to tonight’s Democratic Party of Orange County meeting, at the Teamsters Hall at Marks and Chapman in Orange, but it was all for naught.  Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido got the endorsement of the DPOC!

Amezcua’s mob lost their minds, according to a pajarito, and DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro had to threaten to escort them out of the room, after they started screaming that not all the votes had been counted.  Amezcua’s supporters at the meeting included a Republican, Art Lomeli, as well as Albert Castillo, and Zeke Hernandez. 

 

As one might expect, the increasingly unhinged Gallegos is now alleging that the DPOC created fake votes and took votes away from Amezcua, over at his fading Liberal OC blog.  Gallegos even went as far as to compare DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro to Iran’s President, Mahmood Ahmadinejad.   

This endorsements means that Pulido will be appearing on all DPOC walk pieces, door hangers and slate mailers.  Obviously this is a huge blow to the underfunded Amezcua campaign, which has been touted heavily of late on the Liberal OC blog, which has also been attacking Pulido mercilessly.

Here are the DPOC members who allegedly voted for Amezcua, courtesy of the Lib OC:

  • Mohammed Amin
  • Mani Kang
  • David Sonnenborn
  • Marti Shrank
  • Giovanii Jorquera
  • Ken Burke
  • Zeke Hernandez
  • Ken Arnold

It should be noted that Ken Arnold is running for Congress against Dana Rohrabacher.  Why he would side with Amezcua is a real mystery.  Also not a good move on his part. 

You cannot win the DPOC endorsement without significant support from organized labor, and Amezcua has utterly failed in that regard.  Pulido recently got the COPE endorsement from the Orange County Central Labor Council, and he has the support of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association and the Santa Ana Firemens Benevolent Associations as well.

Pulido really scored with the trade unions a few weeks ago when he strongly supported the One Broadway Plaza project.  Amezcua showed up to the City Council meeting, when the top item of discussion was a request by the OBP developer for changes in the development agreement.  Amezcua slinked out of the room without supporting the project.  The union members who were there took note of that. 

Pulido will be at the Labor Day event at the Santa Ana Zoo.  I wonder if Amezcua will bother showing up now that he has lost the support of labor and his own party?

Another fundraiser for Al Amezcua, this time in swanky Orange Park Acres

Posted on by Posted in Elections, Orange, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Al Amezcua speaking at Art Lomeli’s home in Orange Park Acres, in 2008

Santa Ana voters can check out how the other side lives on Sunday, August 29, when Art Lomeli, a dentist and Santa Ana landlord, hosts yet another fundraiser for mayoral candidate Al Amezcua, at his home, located at 20208 East Rogers Drive, in swanky Orange Park Acres, from 5 pm to 8 pm.

Lomeli is a Republican, as are many of Amezcua’s supporters.  Lomeli ran for the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Education in 2008.  Amezcua served as Master of Ceremonies at a fundraiser for Lomeli, at Lomeli’s home, so it would appear that Lomeli is now returning the favor.

In 2008, Amezcua supporter Ruben Alvarez opposed Lomeli, instead supporting his opponent, another Republican from Orange named Lisa Woolery.  Alvarez also opposed the mayoral campaign of Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, in 2008.  He supported the incumbent, Mayor Miguel Pulido.  Alvarez is now working closely with Lomeli on the Amezcua campaign, so I would imagine all is forgiven.

At any rate, if you want to attend this event call 714-973-8797.  Amezcua’s campaign email notice about the event does not note the cost to attend.

Pulido orders Amezcua supporters to take down banners at Cinco de Mayo event

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Politics, Santa Ana 10 Comments

 I just received a phone call from Dr. Arturo Lomeli, who is at the City of Santa Ana’s Cinco de Mayo event. The Santa Ana Police Department just asked the supporters of Alfredo Amezcua, who purchased a booth to promote his mayoral campaign, to take down their banners.

According to Dr. Lomeli, who is pictured in the booth in the picture above, the police department was ordered to do this by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. 

Lomeli was told that the event is supposed to be non-political.  Amezcua’s supporters were allowed to keep their campaign t-shirts on, and to give out campaign literature, but they had to take the banners down or they were going to get kicked out of the event, by the police. Continue reading→

Mayor Miguel Pulido meets with downtown merchants to plan Cinco de Mayo event

Posted on by Posted in Business, Civic Affairs, Culture, Santa Ana 20 Comments

Picture Courtesy of the Miniondas Newspaper

Santa Ana dentist Dr. Art Lomeli was one of several downtown Santa Ana merchants who met with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream to plan this year’s Cinco de Mayo festivities, according to the Miniondas newspaper.

This had to be an awkward experience for Lomeli, who is actively campaigning to oust Pulido and replace him with local attorney Alfredo Amezcua.  Another merchant who was at the meeting, Sam Romero, is also part of Amezcua’s “SACrED” organization.

This year’s Santa Ana Cinco de Mayo festivities will start on Saturday, May 1, and continue on May 2.

So why is Cinco de Mayo important both to Mexicans and to Americans?  Here is a great summation of the history of Cinco de Mayo: Continue reading→