Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Downtown Inc.

The owners of DTSA’s ESports Arena caught red-handed mollifying the Trumpers

Posted on by Posted in immigration, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 12 Comments

To the Owners of ESports /Santa Ana – Tyler Endres and Paul Ward

Re: Make Cali Great Event at ESports “Summer of Conservatism”

Note – a friend wrote this on Facebook but asked us to keep her name out of it

Upon learning that your establishment was being rented to the Make Cali Great organization for their “Summer of Conservatism” event. I, along with other community members of Santa Ana became extremely alarmed and upset to see that your venue (the ESports Arena in DTSA) would be given hate speech a platform to speak in the middle of Downtown Santa Ana/LA CUATRO.

The event highlighted keynote speaker Kyle Chapman a.k.a. “Based Stickman” who became famous when he got arrested in Berkeley for assault with a deadly weapon after hitting a protestor in the head. He is currently out on bail. Continue reading→

Savor Santa Ana set for September 16 in DTSA

Posted on by Posted in Alcohol, Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Downtown Inc. presents: Savor Santa Ana on Friday, September 16, 2016 from 5:00 pm-9:00 pm. Savor Santa Ana is a fun night of friends and food. $10 gets you five tastings at your choice of nearly 50 distinctive restaurants and artisanal food producers across Downtown Santa Ana!

Savor Santa Ana is a walkable food festival that gets you into downtown’s restaurants: your tastings will occur at downtown restaurants that you will walk around to. Stroll the sidewalks and enjoy live music along the way, or hop on to our free historic trolley for a ride to your next destination. Continue reading→

Downtown Santa Ana Street Breakfast set for June 12

Posted on by Posted in Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Street Breakfast set for June 12

On Sunday, June 12th, 2016 a tasty meal that celebrates the resiliency and spirit of the Santa Ana community will be provided by your downtown business district partners and the City of Santa Ana. With a centralized kitchen in the middle of La Calle Cuatro (4th Street) we will highlight our amazing chefs from our downtown restaurants as well as Valley High School’s Culinary Academy who will cook for the Santa Ana community in the middle of the street.

The Historic Street Breakfast Concept: Imagine the radical beauty of over 1,000 community members sitting down on a Sunday morning to break bread together in the middle of our downtown in Santa Ana, preparing to start their day? Without a doubt, eating together as a community is revolutionary and an amazing way to show our civic pride. Inspired by the brilliance of the Historic Fiesta Del Oro Street Breakfast organized by the Santa Ana Breakfast Club in 1933, we are restarting the tradition by hosting a community street breakfast featuring tasty chilaquiles and good ol’ fashioned pancakes. Continue reading→

Sample DTSA’s food and drinks at return of Savor Santa Ana on July 23

Posted on by Posted in Alcohol, Bars, Entertainment, Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Savor Santa Ana

Downtown Inc. presents Savor Santa Ana on Thursday, July 23, 2015 from 5:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. at Spurgeon St. (between 3rd and 4th), in Downtown Santa Ana.

Savor Santa Ana lets you sample dozens of OC’s hottest restaurants in the walkable urban DTSA restaurant district all in one evening and at a great price – $10 for 5 tastings, buy online or at the event.

At Savor Santa Ana pick up a booklet of 5 taste tickets for ONLY $10 or upgrade to the FOODIE FAST PASS and take advantage of shorter lines, more tastings, drink tickets and a VIP experience for only $45. With your booklet and a route map in hand, you will traverse downtown, devouring your most-wanted food tastings at local eateries. Continue reading→

Is crime in Downtown Santa Ana being under-reported?

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Downtown Santa Ana Security Guards

A friend of mine runs a small business in Downtown Santa Ana, over at what they now call the East End Promenade.  The other day he saw a drug dealer working nearby so my friend called the Downtown security guards and they came over and rousted the guy.  Before long the drug dealer was back so this time my friend called the police. They knew nothing about any of this.  And the truth dawned on my friend – the security guards in the Downtown are not passing their reports along to the Santa Ana Police Department.

Why should they?  They report directly to Ryan Chase, the son of Downtown Santa Ana landlord Irv Chase.  So of course they don’t give their reports to the police – but what this means is that the Santa Ana Police Department’s crime statistics are way off.  Most of the incidents going on in Downtown Santa Ana, at night, are not being reported to the cops.  The Downtown Inc. crowd is essentially cooking the crime books. Continue reading→

Benavides apparently wants to keep bars in town open until 4 a.m.

Posted on by Posted in Alcohol, Bars, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Phil Bacerra, Planning, Public Safety, Santa Ana 27 Comments

David Benavides at Alderete's Fundraiser

Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides is apparently pushing for a modification to the City of Santa Ana’s Proposed Alcohol and Entertainment Ordinance that I can at best call irresponsible and ridiculous. Click here to read what Benavides is proposing.

Benavides wants to allow after-hours alcohol sales up to 4 am.  Currently bars in town have to close up at 2 am at the latest. Continue reading→

New Downtown business license tax will be split between hipsters and paisas

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Business, Civic Affairs, Hipsters, immigration, Latinos, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Hipster in a sombrero

The Santa Ana City Council Monday night approved a new downtown business tax, replacing a controversial special property tax that had divided downtown businesses and brought the issue of gentrification to the fore, according to the Voice of OC.

Under a settlement agreement, the city will for three years provide $400,000 annually for Downtown Inc.’s cleaning and security services. The proceeds of the new district will be equally split between two groups: Downtown Inc. and the Santa Ana Business Council, a group composed of business owners who opposed the special property tax and are likely to conduct more Latino-oriented promotions. The revenue from the new tax district, approximately $250,000 annually, is far less than the revenue generated by the previous property tax district.

So as I understand it we are going to have a split marketing effort in Downtown Santa Ana with one group promoting the area to hipsters and the gay community and the other to paisas.  Continue reading→

How did a dog catcher end up running the Downtown S.A. restaurant assn.?

Posted on by Posted in Business, Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana 113 Comments

Cleaning up caribou roadkill?

The loudest, crudest supporter of the Little Sparrow, at the Santa Ana Planning Commission meeting earlier this week, was a guy named Nathan Hittle, according to several eyewitnesses.  Who is Hittle?  That is quite a story actually.

Hittle is the head of the Downtown Santa Ana Restaurants Association.  Don’t bother trying to find their website – they don’t have one.  They are affiliated with Downtown, Inc., the organization that spends the money collected via the unethical Downtown Santa Ana PBID tax.

How did Hittle end up in such a lofty position?  It is a very good question considering that in 2003 he was a Santa Ana Animal Control officer. Continue reading→

Downtown Inc. steps in it again with Farmer’s Market idea

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Entertainment, Food, Santa Ana 26 Comments

“A community forum Oct. 7, from 2 to 4 pm, in Santa Ana’s eclectic Artists Village could be an important litmus test for whether the controversial booster organization Downtown Inc. can mend fences with a group of artists and nonprofit organizations that have grown increasingly bitter about the agency,” according to the Voice of OC.

Once again Downtown, Inc. has stepped in it.  They proposed a Farmer’s Market to be held at night, during the monthly Art Walk, for Chefs, and disregarded advice from Lara Montagne, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Santa Ana Certified Farmers’ Market.  Here is what she had to say about this latest DTI marketing disaster:  Continue reading→

Saturday’s Santa Ana Art Walk to feature a summer Art & Music Festival

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Bars, Entertainment, Food, music, Santa Ana Leave a comment
 

Join us every this Saturday, August 4, 2012, for the Downtown Santa Ana Art WalkArts, crafts and live entertainment centrally located at: Artists Village – Second Street Promenade (2nd & Broadway) & the Santiago Arts Colony (Santa Ana Blvd. & Poinsettia).  There is always something new to see !

Downtown Inc. encourages artists of all medias to participate in this event. For more information or to list your event, contact: claudia@downtown-inc.com, (714) 547 – 6100 ext. 205.  WWW.DOWNTOWN-SANTAANA.COM.  Continue reading→

City Council to decide the fate of the Downtown PBID tax tonight

Posted on by Posted in Business, Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Courts, Dave Ream, David Benavides, Development, Fraud, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 12 Comments

July 4 falls on a Wednesday this year but there will be fireworks early this week, at Monday night’s Santa Ana City Council meeting, on July 2, at 5 pm, as Council Member Sal Tinajero and Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez have placed an 85 A item on the City Council agenda to disestablish the Downtown Santa Ana property tax – the PBID.

Here is the 85 A PBID agenda item: Continue reading→

The O.C. Grand Jury agrees with Claudia Alvarez – the PBID must go!

Posted on by Posted in Business, Civic Affairs, Courts, Development, Santa Ana 8 Comments

The city of Santa Ana “appears to be in violation of state law” in the way it formed its downtown business improvement district, says a report released Thursday by the Orange County Grand Jury, according to the O.C. Register.

“Monies collected from the improvement district appear to have only benefited a few and have not resulted in a direct benefit to the assessed property as required by California law,” the grand jury said.

“The primary influences promoting the changes to this consistently historical area were the developer on the one hand with resistance by the cultural traditionalists on the other, with the latter being forced to pay for the changes which they vigorously opposed,” the report said. Continue reading→

Downtown Inc. sets annual meeting on 7/26 and seeks new board members

Posted on by Posted in Arts and Culture, Business, Entertainment, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Downtown Inc Annual Meeting
July 26th Thursday at 6:00 PM
Downtown Inc., 305 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Santa Ana

The Community Management District, Downtown Inc, has vacancies on the board. If you are a property owner, merchant or resident in the district, you are invited and encouraged to submit your name to be included on the ballot.

The community management district is looking for diversity to serve on the board. If you are a property owner, merchant or resident, please consider serving on the board to further the mission. Continue reading→

PBID to be reconsidered by the Santa Ana City Council in May

Posted on by Posted in Business, Civic Affairs, Claudia Alvarez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez tried her best to stop the PBID (a property tax in Downtown Santa Ana that is used largely to promote bars and restaurants and to maintain and secure the area) at Monday night’s Santa Ana City Council meeting, but she could not muster any support from her colleagues.

Instead, “The issue will be taken up again in May, according to Councilman Sal Tinajero, who told the Voice of OC “because the city should be allowed to consider dismantling the district without threat of litigation at that time. The law governing the district requires council members vote annually on whether to continue the district.” Continue reading→