Alex Padilla, our endorsed candidate for Ward 4 on the Santa Ana City Council, is hosting a campaign reception on Thursday, Sep. 18, 2014, from 6 to 8 pm, at his family’s home, at 2542 S. Rene Dr., in Santa Ana. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido will be speaking at this event.
Tacos and refreshments will be provided courtesy of Mexicanisimo Restaurant, which his owned by another of our endorsed Council candidates, Mike Gonzalez, who is running for Ward 6. RSVP here or call 714-724-6114.
Santa Ana City Council members voted Tuesday in closed session to release to the public the city attorney’s report on Mayor Miguel Pulido’s property swap case on Sept. 30 if District Attorney Tony Rackauckas or the state’s political watchdog don’t file criminal charges against the mayor by then, according to the Voice of OC.
What is this all about? In 2010, members of the Pulido family traded a parking lot they owned to Rupen James Akoubian, owner of NAPA Orange County Auto Parts, in exchange for a house in Westminster. According to the public assessor’s appraisals, the fair market value of the house was more than twice as much as the Pulidos’ lot, according to the Voice of OC.
The family later transferred the house solely into the mayor’s name, and he ultimately sold it for nearly $400,000, netting a $197,000 profit. Meanwhile, Akoubian’s store received a $1.35 million, no-bid city contract to supply auto parts to the municipal vehicle fleet.
So did Pulido break any laws? Let’s look at this point by point: Continue reading
The Orange County Labor Federation’s granted their COPE (Committee on Political Education) General Election endorsements to the three incumbents running for the Santa Ana City Council – Michele Martinez (Ward 2), David Benavides (Ward 4) and Sal Tinajero (Ward 6) but they also endorsed Ward 2 challenger Mirna Velasquez.
All of these incumbent candidates are Democrats and OC Labor tends to stick to the blue party. But Velasquez, the last time I heard, is a Decline to State voter. That she received a co-endorsement is pretty astounding and a good sign that she is indeed an electable City Council candidate.
Mirna’s bio: Continue reading
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides represents Ward 4, which stretches from Willits on the North to Sunflower on the South and from Fairview on the West to Flower on the East. There are plenty of restaurants in Ward 4 but for whatever reason Benavides is hosting a fundraiser on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 at the Little Sparrow, located at 300 N. Main St., in Downtown Santa Ana – that is in Ward 2, which is represented by Councilwoman Michele Martinez.
Why is Benavides holding a major campaign fundraiser outside of his Ward? This is a major snub to the businesses and residents of Ward 4. Continue reading
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides got a free ride when he ran for reelection in 2010. No one ran against him. He got just over 34,000 votes according to Smart Voter. There were about 43,000 votes cast in that year’s Santa Ana Mayoral contest, according to Smart Voter. That means that over 9,000 voters chose not to vote for Benavides in 2010, even though his was the only name on the ballot in Ward 4.
Benavides ran for Santa Ana Mayor in 2012. His campaign was very ill-advised. He ended up with 14,995 votes, according to Smart Voter. The incumbent, Mayor Miguel Pulido, got 27,092 votes. The rest of the vote was split among three gadfly candidates. Benavides raised a ton of money in that campaign but it was for naught.
Perhaps Benavides was distracted as his marriage was reportedly falling apart during his mayoral campaign. He is supposedly divorced now. Ironically he came to town with his wife years ago and took advantage of a program that allowed his wife, a teacher, to buy a home in Santa Ana at a low interest rate. I believe that Benavides is still living in that home. He has since scrubbed his official city bio of any mention of his wife and kids. Continue reading
Well the dust has finally cleared and we now know who is running for the Santa Ana City Council in this November’s General election.
The Mayor’s race lost many of the candidates who had pulled papers, including State Senator Lou Correa and Santa Ana Councilman Vince Sarmiento. The incumbent, Mayor Miguel Pulido, is running again and he will be facing off against first term Council Member Roman Reyna and a fellow named Mark I. Lopez, who is an entrepreneur/soldier, according to the Voice of OC. Continue reading
State Senator Lou Correa has opted not to run for Mayor of Santa Ana. Why did he get cold feet?
“After a review of various factors, I have decided not to run for Mayor at this time,” Correa (D-Santa Ana) stated in an email to a Voice of OC reporter. “I was deeply touched by all of the calls of encouragement that I received from folks from all walks of life, and all across party lines. I thank you all,” according to the Voice of OC.
Well that statement tells us nothing at all. What I heard from several inside sources was that Correa didn’t think he could beat the longtime incumbent, Mayor Miguel Pulido. Correa has enough money in his vast campaign war chest that I would be willing to wager that he conducted a poll and the results were no bueno. Pulido, apparently, is still the man in Santa Ana. Continue reading
Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra
Why would two Santa Ana Planning Commissioners vote against transparency? That is what happened at tonight’s Santa Ana Planning Commission meeting when Planning Commissioners Phil Bacerra and Bruce Bauer voted against disclosure of communications by Planning Commissioners regarding agendized projects with third parties such as business owners and residents
Now why in the world would Bacerra and Bauer opt to hide in the shadows? This is particularly disturbing when you consider that Bacerra was appointed to the Santa Ana Planning Commission by Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides. You may recall that when Benavides ran for Mayor in 2012 he made transparency the cornerstone of his campaign. What happened? Continue reading
The Santa Ana City Council unanimously rejected their own ballot measure proposal, which was Agenda Item # 65A, to give themselves what amounted to a 700% pay raise. We have been hammering them on this issue for weeks – even posting an article about how much this Council really makes. I surmise that they finally realized this was going to kill their re-election campaigns. Council Members Michele Martinez and David Benavides as well as Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero are all up for re-election this November.
The ballot measure proposal they killed included revisions to the Code of Ethics and to their own campaign finance rules. Remarkably the Council was proposing to accept campaign contributions from residents and business owners who were asking for licenses or permits.
I think the gorilla in the room tonight was the possibility that State Senator Lou Correa will be running for Mayor of Santa Ana. This rumor has now been confirmed by multiple sources and I believe he will be running regardless of what Mayor Miguel Pulido decides to do. You can bet that Correa will win and I am certain that he will find candidates to oppose the Council Members who are up for re-election if they don’t start getting in line. Continue reading
Three Santa Ana City Council Members, including Michele Martinez, David Benavides and Angie Amezcua have placed an 85A item on the agenda for this Tuesday’s City Council meeting, regarding medical marijuana.
These Council Members would like to place a measure on the November General Election ballot that would allow voters to vote against the sale of medical marijuana by collectives/dispensaries. Continue reading
Santa Ana’s City Council Members are finally reacting to the increasing violence and crime in our city – but their reaction is not what anyone might have expected. In a city where the Council Members have in the past led marches against violence and conducted town hall meetings to discuss the issue, our elected officials are now ducking and covering.
Consider what several of the Council Members told the O.C. Register after five shootings and three fatalities in the past month: Continue reading
When Ellie Soto, a student at Santa Ana College, posted this on Facebook: “The community of Santa Ana is asking for more green spaces and less drinking spaces. The city may have an increase in sales, business license, and income but it has become a very dangerous city to be in,” Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides immediately responded – “Really? Santa Ana has become a ‘very dangerous city to be in’? I would be very interested to see the statistics that the persons that are making this claim have to support this theory. In fact, Santa Ana crime statistics have been on a nose dive the last few years, in fact the OC Register wrote about it not too long ago. If someone has statistics that prove the OC Register or the SAPD wrong please present them to me, that would be very concerning to me.”
The response, from none other than local arts leader Pocha Pena, was downright incredible: Continue reading
Santa Ana’s longtime mayor is under investigation for his relationship with the owner of the Santa Ana location of NAPA Auto Parts, to whom the mayor sold a piece of downtown property and then voted in favor of giving an exclusive city contract, according to the L.A. Times.
We have heard all this before from the Voice of OC. Here is what it boils down to – an auto parts business owner in Santa Ana swapped a home in Westminster for a parking lot owned by Mayor Miguel Pulido’s father. Pulido later sold the home for a $197,000 profit. Continue reading
The Memphis at the Santora partied one last time last night, as they are closing down. But the night ended ominously as a suspect pulled a knife on David Hastie, a partner at the Memphis, which is located in Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA).
David wrote about this on his Facebook page – see the comments in the pictures below. Apparently David manned up and took the knife away from the suspect. David called the SAPD and he is pressing charges against the miscreant. And good news – David wasn’t hurt although I am sure his nerves were frazzled. Continue reading
Teachers Daniel Ramirez, Emily Benavides, and Mark Bush were honored.
SAUSD Teachers Daniel Ramirez, Emily Benavides, and Mark Bush were honored earlier this year as “Teachers of the Year,” according to the SAUSD.
Emily Benavides has served the district for 13 years. Benavides has taught everything from sixth-grade science to math and the Advancement Via Individual Determination program. Benavides boosts morale, encourages other teachers and is involved in lunchtime events, fundraisers, dances and activities that support school spirit. Benavides also finds the time to support after-school tutoring at Carr Intermediate School. She even stays in touch with her former students who have gone on to high school and college by attending their sports games and even helping them and their families with monetary support, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading