Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Carlos Bustamante

O.C. Supervisors want to cut Rob Richardson’s pay and take away his car

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 6 Comments

The O.C. Supervisors are finally going after Assistant County CEO Rob Richardson, who is also a Trustee on the SAUSD School Board.  “Nelson and Bates recommend demoting Assistant CEO Rob Richardson and revoking a 13.1 percent unjustified raise given to Deputy CEO for Infrastructure Alisa Drakodaidis,” according to the O.C. Register.

Why is Richardson in trouble?  Check this out – “Richardson saw his pay increase 33.13 percent in just six months after he was promoted in January 2006 to assistant to the CEO, a position without any direct oversight of county departments or employees. Richardson draws a salary of $191,089.” Continue reading→

Bustamante facing a recall, may resign and be replaced by another Republican

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Republican Party, Santa Ana 14 Comments

Is it Sandy Nalle time in Santa Ana’s Ward 3?

Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante is now facing the threat of a recall, according to a source who is tight with the Santa Ana City Council majority.

I am told that Bustamante will ultimately resign rather than face the embarrassment of being recalled.  And here is the odd part – the City Council is considering replacing him with a non-Latino Republican!  Who says they don’t appreciate diversity?

The supposed candidates to replace Bustamante include: Continue reading→

Who would hire Bustamante to work in the private sector and what can he do?

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Jobs, Orange County, Republican Party, Santa Ana 9 Comments

Well, talk about adding insult to injury.  Yes, Santa Ana Carlos Bustamante quit his high-paying County of Orange job, after being suspended while he was investigated for charges that allegedly included sexual harassment and tampering with witnesses.  But – the taxpayers are going to have to pay this guy a severance package on the way out!  So he won’t sue the County!  Unbelievable.

“Bustamante said in his resignation letter that he is not entitled to a 90-day severance package because he is voluntarily resigning, but said he has agreed to accept a 90-day severance package in exchange for not suing the county,” according to the O.C. Register.

Bustamante says he is going to work in the private sector, but here’s the rub – would you hire this guy?  Would anyone?  What exactly is he qualified to do? Continue reading→

Who will replace beleaguered Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante?

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, David Benavides, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 25 Comments

UPDATE: Bustamante has resigned from his job at the County of Orange.  It is only a matter of time now before he is pressured off the Santa Ana City Council.  It is time to speculate as to who might replace him on the City Council when that happens…

I am hearing that beleaguered Republican Carlos Bustamante, who has been “put on paid administrative leave (from his job at the County of Orange) following anonymous allegations of a sexual nature,” according to ABC News, may dig in his heels and refuse to quit the Santa Ana City Council, which is meeting this Monday night.

Bustamante would be well-advised to leave the City Council.  He needs to focus on trying to save his job at the County, which pays him over $170,000 a year – and on saving his family.  He ought to just quit tomorrow before the City Council meeting, to save him what will surely be an embarrassing night. Continue reading→

Bustamante quits his County job – will he resign from the Council too?

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 23 Comments

“County executive manager Carlos Bustamante, the target of an internal investigation into accusations that he had sexual encounters with his employees, resigned from his ($178,000) job Tuesday afternoon,” according to the O.C. Register.

The Register article hinted that others in Bustamante’s department might still be on the hot seat, which makes sense given California’s tough anti-harassment laws.  If it can be proven that Bustamante’s superiors covered up for his alleged behavior, or looked the other way, more heads will surely roll.

Will Bustamante resign from the Santa Ana City Council?  He must. Continue reading→

Thank you Carlos Bustamante!

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 6 Comments

None of us knows for sure what is going to happen to Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante, who is under investigation by his employer, the County of Orange, for allegations of sexual harassment and an alleged attempt to tamper with the witnesses.  However, what I do know is that this scandal has been gold for our blog, to wit we have gone from averaging just over 22,000 visits a month to over 30,000 visits in the month of September, 2011.  Thank you Carlos!

Here is a breakdown of our site visits over the past year – note the immense spike in readership in September: Continue reading→

Could alleged tampering with witnesses be Bustamante’s downfall?

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 3 Comments

The Voice of OC reported on Sep. 16, that Santa Ana Councilman and County of Orange Public Works Administrator Carlos Bustamante, “who first began working at the county in 2000, was placed on administrative leave this week after county officials received what they considered credible reports that he was talking to potential female witnesses in the probe, sources confirmed Friday.”

The Voice of OC also reported that “The feeling among senior officials in the county administration is that Bustamante will not return to work for the county, according to sources close to the investigation.”

I heard yesterday from a source that has connections both at the County of Orange and at Santa Ana’s City Hall.  She said that her sources were telling her that Bustamante is ultimately going to be charged with tampering with witnesses, which means that the senior officials who talked to the Voice of OC are correct – Bustamante is likely toast. Continue reading→

What if Bustamante were still on the state’s anti-harassment commission?

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

When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced, back on Jan. 2, 2008, that he was appointing Santa Ana Carlos Bustamante to the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission, I could not believe it.  It was perhaps the most ridiculous appointment ever.

Looking back at the failed appointment it is even more ridiculous given that the Fair Employment and Housing Commission is in charge of overseeing sexual harassment cases!  How dumb does the appointment look now – after Schwarzenegger’s career imploded when we all found out that he impregnated a Latina housekeeper, behind his wife Maria’s back, and of course Bustamante has now been accused of some of the most embarrassing sexual harassment behavior in the history of Orange County.

Below are a few excerpts from the Orange Juice blog post that I about the appointment – this post blew up and eventually I heard from State Senator Lou Correa, who personally rallied the legislators to stop the Bustamante appointment, forcing Bustamante to resign from the commission. Continue reading→

Is Bustamante qualified to serve as an O.C. Public Works manager?

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Orange County, Republican Party, Santa Ana 16 Comments

Santa Ana Council Member Carlos Bustamante once told an audience at a fundraiser (for his failed Supervisorial campaign) that his life was like Forrest Gump – a movie character who lucked into one success after another.  While folks were shocked at the time, he was right – at least up until he got into trouble this past week, at work, where he is now facing serious sexual harassment allegations.

Bustamante got a job as a middle manager a couple years ago, at the County of Orange.  Today he is a vastly overpaid Orange County Public Works Director of Administration – and he does not appear to be qualified for the job.  In fact his pay has come under scrutiny since an internal County audit revealed that his last few raises were not merited.

Let’s take a look at his “qualifications” and background: Continue reading→

City of Santa Ana may investigate Bustamante as more women surface

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 24 Comments

According to a new anonymous letter that was sent to the County of Orange and to the Orange County Register, Bustamante and one of the four women named in the new letter “met more than a dozen times a month for more than a year either in his office or her palatial quarters he built for her.” The letter writer also promises “steamy, erotic pictures” of the sexual encounters will be soon posted on social media.

The new letter also “accuses another high-ranking male county employee of having sex in his office.”

I am also hearing that the City of Santa Ana may have to start their own investigation of Bustamante – which could turn up even more cases of alleged harassment. Continue reading→

Carlos Bustamante anti-tax crusader???

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Santa Ana, Taxes 1 Comment

Twin devils of deception

Embattled Ward 3 City Councilman Carlos Bustamante likes to portray himself as an anti-tax crusading small government Republican, but is he?

At last evenings Santa Ana City Council meeting Bustamante, who is currently on paid leave from his county job due to sex allegations, played to the crowd of “Usual Suspects” and anti-Chivas NIMBY’s by saying that he would fight any attempt to use tax dollars or raising of taxes to help bring Chivas USA to Santa Ana.  A few hours later, at the same meeting, Bustamante sat with a disgusted look on his face as Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez spoke out against PBID, a tax, which many call unfair and illegal, on downtown business owners.

Continue reading→

Will City of Santa Ana raise taxes – or file bankruptcy?

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Paul Walters, Santa Ana 11 Comments

The Santa Ana City Council voted unanimously tonight to support a potential move of the Chivas USA soccer team to the Willowick Golf Course (that’s right – Usual Suspects fave Carlos Bustamante voted for that too!), but my sources insist that this deal simply is not going to happen.

The real news is the budget report that our City Manager, Paul Walters, posted online today.  In it he references a report prepared by a consultant, Management Partners, Inc.  They took a long hard look at the City budget, which features a $30 million dollar deficit, and recommended several painful fixes, including: Continue reading→

Bustamante and the County could face big fines if harassment charges stick

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Orange County, Santa Ana 2 Comments

What penalties does Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante face – if the harassment charges against him stick?  Well, the bad news for him is that the harassment penalties in California are the toughest in the nation – and he could face big fines – but the County of Orange could be on the hook for even bigger penalties, as his employer.

Here is an explanation of what constitutes sexual harassment, in California, from an online legal source: Continue reading→

Bustamante appears to be finished, as allegations of sex at work surface

Posted on by Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Orange County, Santa Ana 7 Comments

“The initial inquiry into Bustamante’s behavior was prompted by an anonymous letter to county officials received after a female employee allegedly walked in on Bustamante and another female employee having sexual relations in a conference room,” according to the Voice of OC.

Remember that Bustamante has a degree in H.R.  He knew better than to engage in such behavior in the workplace, but he did it, allegedly, anyway.

I am hearing from insiders at the City of Santa Ana and the County of Orange that Bustamante has been under investigation for a long time – perhaps as long as three months – and that it finally got to be too much for his biggest supporter, Assistant County CEO Rob Richardson, to cover up. Continue reading→

Santa Ana Political Chismes: Did Nguyen prod Bustamante to attack Alvarez?

Posted on by Posted in 2012 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Santa Ana 12 Comments

When Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante ran for reelection, in 2008, he was fully supported by Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez.  In fact he even sat next to her during the campaign debates – and she would help him with what to say as he was usually over his head.

Why then did Bustamante turn on Alvarez this week – and try to use the Code of Ethics to remove her from the position of Mayor Pro Tem, and from the OC Water Board?

An insider I know, who is about a third-tier member of the Usual Suspects, confided to me yesterday that the reason that Bustamante turned on Alvarez is simple – Supervisor Janet Nguyen put him up to it. Continue reading→