It is hard to believe given that the Santa Ana City Council is entirely comprised of Latinos, but there are only two Latinos serving currently on the Santa Ana Planning Commission.
To make matters worse, five of the seven Planning Commissioners all live in Ward 3 – which lies in the wealthier, whiter North Santa Ana, including the new Chairman of the Commission, Jim Gartner.
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides represents the heavily Latino Ward 4. But his Planning Commissioner doesn’t live in Ward 4 – and he is not Latino. Benavides appointed Phil Bacerra – a half-Filipino originally from Garden Grove, to represent Ward 4. It is highly unlikely that, were you to drop Bacerra into the middle of Ward 4, he would be able to figure out how to get home, particularly since Bacerra doesn’t drive. Continue reading