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Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Carlos Bustamante

Could Roman Reyna be the next Carlos Bustamante?

Posted on by Posted in Al Mijares, Carlos Bustamante, Orange County, Republican Party, Rob Richardson, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, SAUSD 9 Comments

Roman Reyna and Carlos Bustamante

Funny how history has a habit of repeating itself.  A few years ago a Santa Ana Councilman got a job as an Orange County middle manager.  He proceeded to get promoted repeatedly, despite an obvious lack of talent.  And eventually he was arrested for allegations of sexual harassment and sex crimes, as well as public theft.  His name was Carlos Bustamante.

Bustamante was recruited to the County of Orange, reportedly, by Assistant OC CEO Rob Richardson, who is a Trustee on the Santa Ana School Board.  Both are Republicans as well.

Now we come to find out that Councilman Roman Reyna, who has even less education than Bustamante did, with naught but a high school diploma, has scored a job as a Case Manager at the Orange County Department of Education, according to Reyna’s city bio. Continue reading→

Santa Ana Political Chismes – Special Bustamante edition

Posted on by Posted in Angelica Amezcua, Carlos Bustamante, Carlos Rojas, Civic Affairs, Crime, David Benavides, Food, Kevin O'Rourke, Michele Martinez, Planning, Politics, Public Safety, Safety, Santa Ana 18 Comments

David Benavides and Carlos Bustamante

There is so much going on today in Santa Ana that I chose to report it all in our infamous Political Chismes format, rather than post several articles.  Here we go!

  • Bad news for Busty.  Today was a bad day for former Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante, as a “judge refused to dismiss a number of felony sex crime charges against him,” according to the O.C. Register.  Bustamante is accused of sexually assaulting seven women he worked with in his former job in the county’s Public Works Department. The judge also denied a motion to have the Orange County District Attorney’s Office taken off the case.  Bustamante worked to elect his former colleague, David Benavides, in last year’s Santa Ana Mayoral race.  Luckily Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido prevailed.  Will Benavides commisserate with Bustamante tonight?  Stop by Chapter One, in Downtown Santa Ana, and see if they show up.  Be sure to send us any pictures you get of these two tossing them down! Continue reading→

Our top ten Santa Ana news stories of 2012

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, Bicycles, Carlos Bustamante, Cecilia Iglesias, Churches and Religion, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Elections, Francisco Barragan, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Nadia Lockyer, Politics, Santa Ana, Tom Daly 1 Comment
Angelica Amezcua - or Angie Oliver, courtesy of the OC Register

Angelica Amezcua, courtesy of the OC Register

The year 2012 was a great year for news in Santa Ana.  I have reviewed all of our readership data and come up with our top ten stories in Santa Ana this year. Here they are:

  1. Mayor Miguel Pulido easily reelected as Council Member David Benavides loses badly, as we predicted.
  2. Council Member Carlos Bustamante busted for alleged sex crimes – and his twin brother Alfonso faced a civil suit too.
  3. The unknown and unfunded Ward 3 Council candidate Angelica Amezcua soundly defeats Team Benavides ally Eric Alderete. Continue reading→

Benavides stews while Pulido extends an olive branch

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, David Benavides, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 7 Comments

It didn’t take long for losing Santa Ana mayoral candidate David Benavides to show his immaturity.  Check out these excerpts from the Voice of OC:

Benavides was defiant in defeat, saying wins by Vincent Sarmiento and Roman Reyna in their City Council races gives the Santa Ana Spring coalition a super majority that overrides Pulido’s landslide victory. Continue reading→

Disgraced Councilman Bustamante promotes Benavides for Mayor!

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Crime, David Benavides, Elections, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 16 Comments

Benavides signs at Bustamante’s house

I got a tip today that disgraced Santa Ana Council Member Carlos Bustamante has been seen putting up signs for his pal David Benavides’ mayoral campaign, and that Bustamante has Benavides’ signs in his yard.

So I drove over to Bustamante’s house and sure enough, he had two Benavides signs in his lawn!  And a pile of Vince Sarmiento signs on his porch to boot. Continue reading→

Bustamante returns to join Benavides in supporting the PBID tax

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Arts and Culture, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Taxes 11 Comments

Benavides tried to evade the PBID issue, but failed

A clearly chastened Santa Ana Council Member Carlos Bustamante returned to work tonight, showing up to the City Council meeting so that he could join his longtime friend and Council ally David Benavides in supporting the unethical PBID tax.  Benavides is also a mayoral candidate this year.

Bustamante’s presence allowed the City Council to discuss the PBID.  Only two other Council Members could participate in that discussion – Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez, who capably presided, and Council Member Sal Tinajero. Continue reading→

Thanks to Robert Allen we have a chance to boot SAUSD Trustee Rob Richardson!

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Education, Elections, Orange County, Rob Richardson, Robert Allen, Santa Ana, SAUSD Leave a comment

A surprise candidate filed for the SAUSD School Board at the last minute – a “customer service administrator” named Robert Allen.  I have no idea who he is, and I don’t care – the fact is that his presence on the ballot gives us a chance at long last to boot to SAUSD Trustee Rob Richardson.

Richardson recently told the O.C. Register that he is okay with 20% of our schools having API scores under 700.  That alone is reason to get rid of Richardson – but consider that Richardson engineered an illegal 33% pay raise, as an Orange County administrator, that the Board of Supervisors revoked last year, according to the Voice of OC.  They also took away Richardson’s County car. Continue reading→

The Santa Ana PBID tax may finally go away after next year

Posted on by Posted in Business, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Taxes 5 Comments

In the end the Santa Ana PBID tax may finally die – but it won’t be because our City Council had the guts to get rid of it.  Instead it is on its last legs because some Council Members are on vacation, others cannot vote on PBID matters due to conflicts of interest, and Council Member Carlos Bustamante is refusing to attend public sessions of the City Council, according to the O.C. Register.

It is too bad our City Council did not have the guts to get rid of the PBID outright.  And it is sad that the Downtown businesses are going to get stuck paying this tax again for another year.  But I do hope that this will prove to be the end of the PBID. Continue reading→

UPDATE: City Council places Mayoral term limit measure on the Nov. ballot

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 30 Comments

UPDATE: A four member city council voted tonight to unanimously put to the voters a four term limit of 2 years each for the office of Mayor.

I can understand why the Santa Ana City C0uncil Members are upset at Mayor Miguel Pulido.  Let’s face it – he has been running circles around them for almost 20 years.  But he is now dealing with a Council that, for the most part, he did not elect.  He opposed Sal Tinajero and Michele Martinez when they first ran for the City Council.  He did create David Benavides, but when Vince Sarmiento was appointed to the Council, to replace Jose Solorio, he was already his own man.  Unlike Benavides, he was a polished product and a guy most people respected.  Who would have forseen two Pulido allies going down in flames – Carlos Bustamante’s own alleged misbehavior did him in, and Claudia Alvarez could not undo the term limits she helped create.  Now Pulido, like Julius Caesar, is surrounded by short swords and although we are headed into August, it might as well be the Ides of March.

Back in Pulido’s heyday, he and former City Manager Dave Ream knew how to work this bunch.  Once they got elected, they would be warmly welcomed, even if they had initially been opposed.  Commission appointments would be handed out like Halloween candies and just like that Council members would be subverted.  But Ream is gone and so is his magic bag of redevelopment – and now even the developers that lived high on the hog in our town for so long are slinking to the Council’s side.  Continue reading→

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

Posted on by 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→

Steve Rocco becomes fifth candidate to announce for Ward 3

Posted on by 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→

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

Posted on by 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 by 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 by 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→

The Voice of OC will sue to compel release of Drakodaidis letter

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Courts, Crime, Orange County, Republican Party, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Norberto Santana, the Editor in Chief at the Voice of OC, said today on KPCC’s Airtalk that the Voice of OC is going to sue the County of Orange to compel the release of the letter written by “Alisa Drakodaidis, which reportedly contains allegations of improper actions by several county supervisors and District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.”

Orange County officials are now arguing that the public should not see the details of the Drakodaidis letter because “the letter contains personnel information, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” according to the Voice of OC. Continue reading→