New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: miguel pulido

Mayor Pulido selected to serve on the OCTA Board again

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Miguel Pulido, OCTA, Transportation Leave a comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 14, 2014

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Joel Zlotnik (714) 560-5713/Eric Carpenter (714) 560-5697

OCTA Board Members Chosen by City Selection Committee

Five members returning to the board and one new member will join OCTA

ORANGE – The City Selection Committee met Thursday and elections were held to appoint six members to the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors, with five members being reappointed to the board and one new member being appointed to fill a vacancy.

The following appointments were made: Continue reading→

It’s time for a new City Council majority

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Phil Bacerra, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 3 Comments

Transparency really matters to Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero. It is why he split from Councilman David Benavides’ “Team Santa Ana” in the recent City Council election. Benavides steadfastly refused to compel his Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra to fill out the mandated Communication Disclosure forms until Tinajero threatened to remove Bacerra from his Commission.

Tinajero had the votes to dismiss Bacerra and Benavides knew it. Mayor Miguel Pulido and Council Members Vince Sarmiento and Angie Amezcua would have likely backed Tinajero.

Now that the election is over it is time for our City Council to get back to work trying to improve our city however Council Member Michele Martinez reacted in typical chola fashion after the election, when she told the Voice of OC that “When I was fighting the mayor before, the gloves were on, now the gloves are off — its bare knuckles.” Continue reading→

Why Correa is no sure bet to replace Nguyen in the First District

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2015 Elections, Chris Phan, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Now that First District County Supervisor Janet Nguyen is packing her bags for Sacramento, where she will become the State Senator in the 34th District in January, it is time to select a new Supervisor to take her place. A special election will be held in February, which means there will be very little time for the candidates to make their case to the voters.

Former Supervisor Lou Correa, who is terming out in the 34th State Senate District, wants to return to the OC Board of Supervisors. He quit the First District a few years ago when he headed to Sacramento. Nguyen took his place in the First District and in a weird bit of karma is taking his place in Sacramento now.

The Orange County Employees Association has already announced that they are endorsing Correa, on the premise that he can bring back more tax revenue to the County. Continue reading→

A look at the final Santa Ana voting results in the 2014 General Election

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD 3 Comments

Mayor Pulido’s daughter kept tabs on the election results on Election Night

I met with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido last night at his Election Night Party. He was relieved that he was winning but was worried he wouldn’t garner more than 50% of the vote. His 11-year-old daughter was checking the election results on her IPad last night. She has quite an interest in politics – and perhaps she will be running for office after she finishes college.

Pulido ended up with 50.7% of the vote while his challenger Roman Reyna only mustered 6,778 votes, or 33.6% of the vote. The unknown third mayoral candidate, Mark I. Lopez, netted 15.8% of the vote – likely from those who couldn’t bear voting for the other two candidates.

The bad news for Pulido was that his team of City Council challengers – Alex Padilla, Mike Gonzalez and Mirna Velasquez, all lost. If there is any good news it is that the incumbent who did the worst was David Benavides. While his colleague Michele Martinez got less votes than Benavides she had three opponents while Benavides squared off against one challenger – Padilla. Continue reading→

Santa Ana’s incumbents leading in the 2014 General Election early returns

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Adam Nick, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, Gilad Salmon, Janet Nguyen, John Palacio, Jose Solorio, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mike Gonzalez, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Rene Gomez, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Shuntele Andrews 6 Comments

The early returns are in with regard to today’s General Election. So far the incumbents are leading in all of the Santa Ana City Council races. It is early yet but in what should prove to be a low turnout election this first batch of votes can foreshadow the evening’s results. These are the early absentee votes – representing the most frequent voters.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is thoroughly trouncing Councilman Roman Reyna, with over 52% of the vote versus only 32% of the vote for Reyna. Clearly Reyna’s campaign was undone by his unwise decision to hang out with gang bangers.

In Ward 2 the incumbent, Michele Martinez, is leading with 53.8% of the vote in a crowded field. Shockingly Gilad Salmon is in second place with 21.3 % of the vote. Not surprisingly the sole Republican in the race, salsa dancer Rene Gomez, is in dead last with 9% of the vote. Continue reading→

Team Pulido to host an Election Night Party tonight at The Robbins Nest

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Mike Gonzalez, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Team Pulido is hosting an Election Night Party on Nov. 4, 2014, starting at 8:30 pm, at The Robbins Nest, in Downtown Santa Ana, at 214 N. Sycamore St.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has provided considerable support to City Council challengers Mirna Velasquez, Alex Padilla and Mike Gonzalez. All of them will be at the Election Night Party tonight. Continue reading→

The OC Register endorses Mayor Miguel Pulido

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The Orange County Register finally endorsed a candidate for Mayor in Santa Ana. We’re not sure why they took so long or why they haven’t endorsed in the City Council races. The OC Register is based here in Santa Ana, although they recently sold their building and property in order to pay their bills. As far as we know they intend to continue leasing their building from the new owner, developer Mike Harrah.

Here is their op-ed announcing their support for Pulido:

Editorial: Pulido for mayor in Santa Ana

Santa Ana, unfortunately, is not without its share of problems. But it is also a city, when comparing the problems of today to those of yesteryear, which has made great strides. The city now rests on the cusp of a potential renaissance, and it will need strong leadership to continue down the path of making Santa Ana the healthy and vibrant community it should be.

Mayor Miguel Pulido remembers the tough times. In an interview with the Register Editorial Board he recalled a story from his first electoral run, when a constituent invited him into his house so he could show the then-council candidate the bricks the homeowner lined his walls with to protect his family from stray bullets. Continue reading→

Team Pulido is in a dead heat with the faltering Team Santa Ana

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, Crime, David Benavides, Education, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mike Gonzalez, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 15 Comments

The election is almost upon us and the latest news is not good for the splintered Team Santa Ana. A major labor association has conducted secret polling that shows that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s team of City Council Candidates are in a dead heat with the splintered Team Santa Ana.

This is huge news as the Team Pulido slate, which includes Ward 2 candidate Mirna Velasquez, Ward 4 candidate Alex Padilla and Ward 6 candidate Miguel Gonzalez, has much less political experience than the longtime Council incumbents they are facing off against – Councilman David Benavides, Councilwoman Michele Martinez and Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero. Continue reading→

Should we recall Reyna and bring Alvarez back to the City Council?

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Claudia Alvarez, Education, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 14 Comments

This year’s General Election is coming up very quickly, on Nov. 4. Time is running out for Santa Ana Mayoral challenger Roman Reyna, who has been under fire for weeks over a picture that emerged on Facebook depicting Reyna with two of his “homies” who were identified by the Santa Ana Police as dangerous members of a criminal enterprise.

It is by now a forgone conclusion that Reyna is going to lose and lose big – unless his bizarre coalition of gang bangers and high density apartment developers can somehow steal the election.

The question now is when should those who want to restore order at Santa Ana’s City Hall start planning to recall Reyna from the City Council? And is former Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez eligible to return to Reyna’s Ward 5? Continue reading→

Benavides, Reyna and Martinez rejected by two more law enforcement associations

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mirna Velasquez, Orange County, Paul Walters, Politics, Public Safety, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Both the Anaheim Police Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California have rejected Santa Ana Council Members David Benavides and Michele Martinez as well as their colleague Roman Reyna, who is in the midst of an ill-advised Mayoral campaign.

This comes on the heels of rejections of these candidates by the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs. The Santa Ana Police Officers Association (SAPOA) also rejected Reyna and Martinez.

Reyna really stepped in it when SAPOA called him out after a picture of Reyna with two hard core gang bangers was posted on Facebook. He has since become toxic to the entire Santa Ana City Council majority, which recently splintered when Benavides attacked Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero. Continue reading→

Recap of tonight’s Santa Ana City Council meeting – mosquitoes, homeless and Lou Correa

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, homeless, Lou Correa, Orange County Vector Control District, Santa Ana 35 Comments

The OC Vector Control District tries to explain themselves

Jared Dever, the Director of Communications for the OC Vector Control District, showed up at tonight’s Santa Ana City Council meeting to explain why his agency tried to spray an insecticide on homes in Santa Ana’s inner city neighborhoods a few weeks ago.

Santa Ana Council Members Michele Martinez and David Benavides spoke up and asked that Dever and the OCVCD learn from this episode. That is because this mosquito spraying decision blew up in everyone’s face.

When we posted about the mosquito spraying, which was announced on a Friday and was supposed to happen the following Monday, the post went viral on Facebook and because I posted the email addresses of the City Council members they each received hundreds of emails from angry residents.

What to do about the proposed Santa Ana Homeless Shelter Continue reading→

2014 General Election voter guide for Santa Ana voters

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, Angie Rosario Cano, Ballot Measures, Cecilia Aguinaga, David Benavides, Elections, Everlena Oliver, Gilad Salmon, Janet Nguyen, John Palacio, Jose Solorio, Marijuana, Mark I. Lopez, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mike Dalati, Mirna Velasquez, OC Assessor, Politics, Rene Gomez, Rigo Rodriguez, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Sherry Walker, Shuntele Andrews, Tom Daly, Valerie Amezcua 11 Comments

This voter guide addresses the Orange County local and legislative races as well as the State and Local ballot measures.

General Election, November, 2014:

Local Elections

Santa Ana City Council

Mayor:

Endorsed Candidate: Mayor Miguel Pulido

Other Candidates: Roman Reyna, Mark I. Lopez

Note: Even Reyna’s friends and allies admit that he is not a capable candidate for Mayor of Santa Ana. This will be Pulido’s final term and in the next two years we need to recruit better candidates than the likes of Reyna, who has only served two years on the Santa Ana City Council. Continue reading→

Tinajero decries leaked release of the Miguel Pulido City Investigation Report

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Miguel Pulido, OCDA, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 7 Comments

Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 14, 2014

Contact: Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero, 714-913-3515

Sal Tinajero Distances Himself From The Release Of The Miguel Pulido City Investigation Report

Santa Ana Mayor ProTem Sal Tinajero was surprised and disappointed when he found that the investigation report on Mayor Miguel Pulido had been leaked to the media. Tinajero stated, “I have always respected the opinion of the Orange County District Attorney’s office. From the very beginning I informed the public that I would not release the report if I found that doing so could potentially damage the ongoing investigation.”

It was made public that the office of the Orange County District Attorney urged the city of Santa Ana not to release the report. Continue reading→

The Association of OC Deputy Sheriffs rejects Benavides, Reyna and Martinez

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Crime, David Benavides, Gangs, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Public Safety, Santa Ana 9 Comments

The Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs PAC has rejected Santa Ana Council Members David Benavides and Michele Martinez as well as their colleague Roman Reyna, who is running an ill-advised campaign against Mayor Miguel Pulido.

All three of these candidates are thought to have connections to Santa Ana’s gangs. They were all involved in firing our former Chief of Police, Paul Walters, and they voted to get rid of the SAPD’s Strike Force. All three of them were also caught ignoring several SAPD officers who were being honored a few weeks ago at a Santa Ana City Council meeting. Continue reading→

Councilwoman Martinez says she won’t mind if she isn’t reelected in November

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Angelica Amezcua, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mirna Velasquez, Orange County, Politics, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 27 Comments

Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, told NBC News this week that she “will not mind if she isn’t reelected in November.” She was interviewed after this week’s City Council meeting had to be canceled after a punk in a “F*ck the police” hat wouldn’t leave.

“As I sat here and listened to all the comments, it’s really disheartening. People want to come here and threaten us,” said Martinez. “At the end of the day let me tell you I can go to sleep at night, so I don’t care if you feel that I have not done a job that you’ve asked me to do.”

The sad reality for Martinez is that she has been pandering to the FTP crowd for some time – but as she saw on Tuesday night they are insatiable. They are anarchists and nothing she or any other politician does is going to mollify them. Continue reading→