New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: Republican Party

O.C. Supervisors add Fountain Valley’s Viet voters to Nguyen’s 1st District

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Elections, Fountain Valley, Janet Nguyen, Latinos, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 5 Comments

The O.C. Board of Supervisors approved by a 4-1 vote a redistricting plan this week, that was put forward by Board Chairman Bill Campbell. The plan moves a portion of Fountain Valley north of Warner Avenue from the Second District to the First District, according to the Fountain Valley Patch. The plan was opposed by the Fountain Valley City Council and by Supervisor John Moorlach, whose district got chopped up in the process.

The redistricting benefited the Republican Party of Orange County, as there will now be more Vietnamese voters in the First District and presumably they will vote for the incumbent, Supervisor Janet Nguyen, in 2012. Continue reading→

ESPN says that Mexican soccer fans are the best sports fans in the U.S.A.

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in Latinos, mexico, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 3 Comments

Fans of the Mexican National Soccer Team, known as “El Tri,” are the best sports fans in the U.S.A., according to a new column in ESPN Magazine. These fans travel – anywhere in the U.S.A. where they can watch their beloved “El Tri.” You can see their effect on Facebook, where El Tri has almost 4,000 fans.

And big business has taken note.

Whom did Jerry Jones book to headline the inaugural sporting event at Cowboys Stadium? Mexico, which set a soccer attendance record in Texas in its 2009 Gold Cup quarterfinal against Haiti. And guess who kicked off the first full event at New Meadowlands Stadium the following year? Mexico again, in a friendly against Ecuador that was attended by 77,705 fans, according to ESPN. Continue reading→

New Santa Ana’s editor, Art Pedroza, joins the Democratic Party

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Democratic Party, Elections, Latino Leaders, Politics, Santa Ana 30 Comments

Santa Ana is dominated by voters registered with the Democratic Party – and it has gotten worse for the Republican Party over the past few years.

Take a look, for example, at voter registration in the First Supervisorial District, which includes all of Santa Ana. There are 98,164 Democratic voters in the district, versus 76,738 Republican voters. And there are only 1,306 Libertarian voters in the district. The only other significant voter demographic is the 45,876 voters who have no party preference. Continue reading→

What if Vince Sarmiento doesn’t run for the 69th Assembly District?

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Democratic Party, Elections, Jose Solorio, Labor, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 9 Comments

I am hearing that there is a chance that Santa Ana Council Member Vince Sarmiento may not run for the 69th Assembly District after all. Apparently it is going to be up to his wife – and as he has a successful law practice and young children she may in the end not go for it.

The incumbent legislator, Jose Solorio, is terming out – in 2012. His open seat will be a rare opportunity to elect someone decent. Continue reading→

You can pay $250 to be a “Single Bamboo” at Janet Nguyen’s “Taste of Asia”

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Asians, Elections, Entertainment, Food, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 3 Comments

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a Republican, is a creature of habit, if nothing else. She is holding her Third Annual “Taste of Asia” fundraiser on Thursday, June 30, at 5:30 pm, at the home of Ralph and Joyce Allen, at 1002 West River Lane, in Santa Ana.

The last time she held one of these she got ripped by the OC Weekly:

Political fundraisers sometimes have a theme, usually involving patriotism or some type of activity. Ethnic politicians usually do a riff off their, well, ethnicity. So it’s not surprising that First District Supervisor Janet Nguyen is advertising a fundraiser in August as a “Taste of Asia” soiree, featuring “Asian World Fusion Cuisines,” according to an invite obtained by the Weekly. The grammar in that promise is atrocious–is the food from the Asian world? Is the world fusion Asian? Are the fusion cuisines from the Asian world? Where’s the European world?–but not as bad as how Janet is classifying the levels of sponsorship according to donation amount. Cue the gongs…

So what does it cost to taste Nguyen’s idea of Asia?

You can be a “Single Bamboo” for only $250! What a deal.

It is ironic that Nguyen has stuck with the “Taste of Asia” motif after we caught her taking money from restaurants with horrible health ratings, back when she voted against letter grade ratings for restaurants. You might recall that Nguyen also failed to mention that her husband, Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Tom Bonikowski, and her then Chief of Staff, Andrew Do, also co-owned a Lee’s Sandwiches franchise, in lovely Stanton, that had been repeatedly busted by the O.C. Department of Health. You can read more about that mess here.

Just for fun I checked the O.C. Health Department’s file on the Bonikowski Lee’s Sandwiches, and sure enough they got busted again this past May. Click here for the gory details.

You can spend hundreds to be a bamboo at Nguyen’s fundraiser, but when it comes to a “Taste of Asia,” just make sure it isn’t a taste of the Stanton Lee’s Sandwiches!

Is the Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government a GOP ploy?

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Alfredo Amezcua, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 3 Comments

The Republicans still rule in Orange County – except for the City of Santa Ana, where only one Republican sits on our City Council.

The Democrats control the 69th Assembly District, the 34th State Senate District and the 47th Congressional District. All the Republicans have is Supervisor Janet Nguyen. She might be able to redistrict her way to victory in 2012 – or she might not.

Given that background it is very surprising that two Republicans have started the so-called “Santa Ana Coalition for Better Government,” which is really a state registered Political Action Committee. Why should Democrats in Santa Ana give them the time of day?

I spoke to the publicist for this coalition a few month ago. She said they had others on their Board, besides the two Republicans – Art Lomeli and John Acosta – but so far they have not posted any other names on their website.

To make matters worse, Lomeli and Acosta don’t even live in Santa Ana! Does anyone on their board live in Santa Ana? Who knows – they won’t post their names!

What exactly do these people advocate? Again, who knows? Their website does not cite any original ideas for change – just a laundry list of empty complaints.

You have to wonder if the OC GOP is using this sad bunch to try to regain territory in Santa Ana. Sorry – that won’t work.

It certainly did not work last year when several of the most bitter Republicans in town lined up behind Amezcua. He still got blown out of the water by Mayor Miguel Pulido.

Too bad these people are so set on complaining instead of trying to foster real change in Santa Ana. In the end their effort will amount to nothing – no one at City Hall will give these people any credence. And in 2012, their favored son, Alfredo Amezcua, is going to lose again to Pulido. The reality is that Pulido won’t stop being Mayor until he decides to leave.

Amezcua blew a quarter million last year in his failed attempt to beat Pulido. There is no telling how much more money will be wasted by his “Coalition of Republicans who don’t live in Santa Ana.”

Video by Santa Ana’s George Collins captures anti-Muslim Republicans in action

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in Arab Americans, Churches and Religion, Civil Rights, Hate, immigration, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party 9 Comments

When George Collins, a past candidate for Santa Ana Mayor, showed up at a Republican Party of Orange County event in Yorba Linda, his aim was to film the comments made by the speakers, and then put them up on his YouTube page. He surely had no idea what was going to happen after he put up the video, which shows Villa Park Council Member Deborah Pauly making very harsh statements about Orange County’s Muslim community.

What set Pauly off was the actions of the Muslim Student Union at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). Eleven Muslim students were arrested during Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s speech on campus in February. Those 11 students stood up one at a time and yelled during Oren’s presentation and were subsequently detained, according to the O.C. Register.

Here is a video of the Muslim students’ protest:

Who is this guy Michael Oren?

Here are excerpts from his bio.:

Michael B. Oren is the State of Israel’s Ambassador to the United States.

A graduate of Princeton and Columbia, Dr. Oren has received fellowships from the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and from the British and Canadian governments. Formerly, he was the Lady Davis Fellow of Hebrew University, a Moshe Dayan Fellow at Tel-Aviv University, and the Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown.

Ambassador Oren has written extensively for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The New Republic, where he was a contributing editor. His two most recent books, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East and Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present, were both New York Times bestsellers. They won the Los Angeles Times’ History Book of the Year prize, a National Council of the Humanities Award, and the National Jewish Book Award.

Raised in New Jersey, where he was an activist in Zionist youth movements and a gold medal winning athlete in the Maccabia Games, Ambassador Oren moved to Israel in the 1970s. He served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, in the paratroopers in the Lebanon War, a liaison with the U.S. Sixth Fleet during the Gulf War, and an IDF spokesman during the Second Lebanon War and the Gaza operation in January 2009. He acted as an Israeli Emissary to Jewish refuseniks in the Soviet Union, as an advisor to Israel’s delegation to the United Nations, and as the government’s director of Inter-Religious Affairs. He has testified before Congress and briefed the White House on Middle Eastern affairs.

Interesting. This guy Oren is no common diplomat. He has a lot of Arab blood on his hands. Now you could argue how that came to be, but the fact is I can understand why Muslim students might not be happy to welcome this man to their campus.

These Muslim students aren’t monsters, I don’t think. They are brave individuals who risked everything for what they thought waas right.

But Pauly thinks they are “unwelcome invaders.” Click here to see the video of her disturbing comments. I would normally embed the video here, but Collins disabled that feature on his YouTube page. He was upset because a Muslim organization used excerpts of his video in their own YouTube video, which was taken down when Collins claimed he had a copyright to the original video.

Collins, like Pauly, is a Republican. She is also a member of the OC GOP’s Executive Committee.

OC GOP Update: Whitacre loses and Moreno returns

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2010 Elections, Elections, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Santa Ana resident Tim Whitacre fought the good fight on Monday night, at the Republican Party of Orange County’s Central Committee meeting – and he has nothing to hang his head about. He got 23 votes, out of a total of 54 elected members of the Central Committee, in his campaign for party chair, against longtime incumbent OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh.

According to Whitacre, who I spoke with tonight, there was a large crowd at the back of the room that largely cheered him on, much to Baugh’s consternation.

The big news on Monday, was that party heavyweight Jon Fleischman lost his campaign for Vice Chair. He was upended by Deborah Pauly. Whitacre’s ally, Allan Bartlett, lost that race but the consolation prize was watching Fleischman lose.

There were also a couple of seats to fill on the 69th Assembly District’s delegation, as Robert Hammond earned a seat on the Central Committee as a candidate for that Assembly District. But since he also ran for the Central Committee, he vacated that seat, and it was handed to Gwen Dyrud, who campaigned for Van Tran this year in his race against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.

Minuteman Lupe Moreno was appointed to serve as Dyrud’s alternate on the Committee – so, after losing in the Central Committee election in June of last year, she is back on the Committee – as an alternate.

Moreno was involved in a huge scandal this year when she took over the Santa Ana 4th of July event, at the Santa Ana Public Library, and brought a bunch of Minutemen with her. One of them got caught on video calling a Santa Ana resident a “wetback.” Moreno was rewarded for her efforts with a certificate from Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides.

Scott Carpenter won a seat in the 69th but he moved out of the district after the election. His seat was given to Charles Hart, who ran for Mayor of Santa Ana this year. Hart started out strong only to watch many of his supporters jump on Alfredo Amezcua’s bandwagon, late in the game.

Thomas Gordon won a seat on the OC GOP Central Committee in June as well – but he skipped Monday’s meeting. I spoke to Gordon and he said that he told Baugh and others with the OC GOP Executive Committee that he was not going to be there, for personal reasons.

There was a commotion in the press today, as Walter Myers , a conservative black Republican, raised a stink after he was overlooked in his quest to gain a vacant seat on the Committee in the 71st Assembly District. The seat went to a white candidate, as reported today in Total Buzz, by Martin Wisckol. What Wisckol did not report is that the three members of that delegation who chose not to vote for Myers were all Baugh allies – including Mark Bucher, and Marcia Gilchrist.

Myers has worked diligently for the OC GOP in ethnic outreach – but he got punked anyway. And there is no way Baugh did not know about this, not with his allies joining in rejecting Myers.

Baugh tried to recover from this faux pas by pointing out that he has hired Laura Cunningham and George Andrews to fill out his party staff. Cunningham is a Latina, who is married to Red County blogger Matt Cunningham – a consultant who serves on both the Orange Planning Commission and the Orange County Beaches, Harbors and Parks Commission – even though he often works for developers. Andrews is East Indian. He is an ally of the aforementioned Van Tran.

Laura made headlines in 2008, when she was hired to conduct Latino outreach for Prop. 8, the anti-gay marriage ballot measure. She once serves as the OC GOP’s Executive Director, when Baugh first took over as Party Chairman. But that was a train wreck. She was dismissed a few months into her tenure, amidst allegations of ego problems.

If you want a big laugh, check out the OC GOP’s Central Committee page. The OC GOP is utterly lacking in diversity. Orange County is now a majority minority county. The only saving grace for Baugh and his cohorts is that their Democratic counterparts are an even bigger mess.

Santa Ana resident Tim Whitacre releases his plan to reform the OC GOP

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2012 Elections, Republican Party, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana resident Tim Whitacre, who is challenging Scott Baugh for the Chairmanship of the Republican Party of Orange County, today released his five page plan to reform the OC GOP.

Click here to read Whitacre’s entire plan. Here is an excerpt from Whitacre’s plan:

The WHITACRE “ALL IN” Plan for the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee

To Reform and Reorganize the way the Party conducts its mandated business in a manner that motivates all Members to excel in their Elected Positions; to Re-engage and Reconnect with its Volunteer Clubs and Base; to Reach out and support & educate Local Elected Republican Officials; to Retake and hold all elected offices in Orange County currently held by Democrats.

ETHICS AND INTEGRITY

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice (greed), ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams, Address to the Military, October 11, 1798

“Written and unwritten codes of principles and values that govern decisions and actions…knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing to do what is right….Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty…The state of being unimpaired; soundness…”

We must begin with ethics and integrity. We can accomplish any worthwhile and honorable task as long as we NEVER compromise our ethics and integrity; first as individuals and then united as a Party. As evidenced by the fervor in which ordinary Republicans and other disenfranchised Americans have been leaving their Parties in disgust and registering ‘Decline to State,’ we only need to look at our failed leadership across the nation to see why.

To use an old cliché: “They didn’t abandon the Republican Party; the Republican Party abandoned them!” Our problem isn’t the Democrats; our problem is entrenched leadership that has lost its compass heading and has become tone deaf to The People who they were elected to represent.

Locally, as a County Party Central Committee, we have all observed what many perceive to be a lack of ethics and integrity when it comes to adherence to our Bylaws by our current Leadership: We had the unprecedented Carona debacle that utterly decimated us in the eyes of the public (i.e. Carona was assured an endorsement for his monetary contribution months earlier); we had two voter registration scandals resulting in fraud (i.e. against advice, Leadership twice hired the same out-of-state firm for voter registration which falsely registered people as Republicans without their knowledge and consent.); and, we have observed preferential treatment of selected Republican candidates by Leadership while other fine Republicans were cast aside (i.e. most recently the Irvine City Council election this past November).

Is Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides a member of the GOP’s Hispanic 100?

Posted on October 9, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2010 Elections, Carlos Bustamante, David Benavides, Elections, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 2 Comments

No bueno! Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides appears on the home page of the so-called “Hispanic 100,” which is really a front for the Republican Party. Note that GOP Senate candidate Carly Fiorina also appears on their home page, as does Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante – the last Republican on the Santa Ana City Council.

Their President is Mario Rodriguez, a GOP consultant who worked in the Bush administration.

Why is Benavides hanging out with these people when he is supposed to be a Democrat?

A few weeks ago Benavides found himself in hot water when he honored Lupe Moreno and a bunch of her fellow Minutemen, after they took over the Santa Ana Independence Day event – during which one of them called Santa Ana residents “wetbacks.” Benavides told me when he appeared on the Orange Juice Blog Radio show that he has no problem working with Moreno. Of course he doesn’t – he appears to be a closeted Republican!

A few years ago Benavides even flew to Washington D.C., with Bustamante, at the invitation of President Bush, to attend a Republican Cinco de Mayo event.

Benavides is also a supporter of the mostly Republican “Usual Suspects.” He has appointed several of them to City Commissions, even though they don’t live in his ward.

Benavides is running unopposed this year. It may well be that local Democratic voters may opt to not vote for him, or perhaps write in someone else’s name.

Protest at Meg Whitman’s Santa Ana office today at 4 pm!

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2010 Elections, Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Elections, immigration, Latinos, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Youth Activities Leave a comment

Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman has opened a campaign office in Santa Ana, at 4th and Broadway. This is such an insult to our Latino residents. Whitman’s campaign chairman is none other than former Governor Pete “Prop. 187” Wilson!

Fortunately our people are not taking this lying down. Protesters are going to be at the Whitman office today at 4pm. They ask that you bring signs.

Whitman is wasting her time and money. “Latino voters, who have helped to propel California’s leftward political swing over recent years, remain reluctant to embrace Republican candidates as the November general election nears, a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll shows,” according to the L.A. Times.

Registered voters who identified themselves as Latino backed Democrat Jerry Brown by a 19-point margin over RepublicanMeg Whitman in the race for governor, despite Whitman’s multiple appeals to Latino voters during the general election campaign. Registered voters who identified themselves as white gave Brown a slim 2-point margin.

Whitman isn’t fooling us at all! Be sure to show up to today’s protest and let her know we aren’t going to vote for her and we don’t want her in our downtown!

Click here to join the “Meg Matasuenos” Facebook page.

Barbaro bullies Cecilia Iglesias, but Sanchez and the DPOC have only themselves to blame

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2010 Elections, Democratic Party, Elections, Loretta Sanchez, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Frank Barbaro, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County, had a fit today because independent Congressional candidate Cecilia Iglesias got caught in a picture with Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for Governor, over at the O.C. Register.

Hard to blame Iglesias. I can’t stand Whitman, but the California Democrats failed to recruit ANY Latinos for statewide office – and the best they could do for Governor was to nominate a retread who is doing a poor job of reaching out to Latinos, while Whitman is pandering non-stop to Latino voters.

Barbaro sent out an email statement: “Voting records show that Ceci walks like a Republican, talks like a Republican and votes as a Republican. While she may have ‘changed’ her party registration to Decline to State in 2009 so that she could qualify for the charade of running in the 47th Congressional District in 2010, she requested GOP ballots for elections in 2008 and 2006. I think she needs to explain why she is so embarrassed about being a Republican.”

Fair enough, but why isn’t Barbaro saying anything about John Leos, the Republican candidate for the Anaheim City Council who is actually a shill for the Orange County Employees Association? Leos has the support of a bunch of Democrats – even though there are two good Democrats in that race – Bill Dalati and John Santoianni. C’mon Barbaro – why are you sticking up for Sanchez but not for Dalati and Santoianni?

Sanchez now says she never endorsed this immigrant basher

What about the Orange City Council candidate Robert Louis Douglas, who Barbaro and the DPOC endorsed this year even though the guy is an immigrant basher? Click here to read all about that.

And where was Barbaro’s ire in 2008, when the turncoat Liberal OC bloggers crawled in bed with Red County editor Matt Cunningham and GOP consultant Mike Schroeder, as well as the OCEA, and a bunch of Van Tran’s acolytes, to attack my campaign for the Santa Ana City Council – when I was running against Republican Carlos Bustamante? Boy did that blow up in their face – Bustamante won and now he is hosting fundraisers for Van Tran, the Republican opponent to Sanchez!

And of course Barbaro said nothing when Lib OC favorite David Benavides got caught and exposed this week at the OC Weekly, trying to split the vote in Ward 6, to help Republican Thomas Gordon to take out Democrat incumbent Sal Tinajero. Fortunately Gordon failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Barbaro was also silent when we exposed Benavides working with a bunch of Republicans and Minutemen, including Gordon, when the latter took over the Santa Ana Independence Day event this year. One of Lupe Moreno’s henchmen even called our residents wetbacks! The silence from Barbaro was deafening.

It’s easy for Barbaro to pick on Iglesias. He even let the stalkers at the Liberal OC post her home address, even though she is a single mother! But is any of this really her fault?

Sanchez has spent years kissing up to her Viet constituents, but she has ignored the Latino community. Sanchez dresses up in Viet clothing and prances around the Tet Parade every year, but I cannot recall the last time I saw her at Santa Ana’s Fiestas Patrias Parade. And why did it take so damn long for Sanchez to support the Dream Act? Iglesias has always supported the Dream Teamers, even as Barbaro’s pals at the Liberal OC have ripped them at every opportunity!

Sanchez has also not been very vocal about opposing the Bush wars in Iraq and Afghanistan either.

Now Sanchez and Barbaro are freaking out about Iglesias. Well, you folks did this to yourselves. You want to blame someone? Look in the mirror. You took your base for granted. Come November 2, you just might pay for it.

Benavides goes after Mayor Pro Tem Alvarez while defending Moreno and the Minutemen again

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Civic Affairs, Civil Rights, Claudia Alvarez, David Benavides, Democratic Party, Elections, immigration, Latinos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Racism, Republican Party, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 3 Comments

Tonight’s Santa Ana City Council meeting blew up again as a few of the haters that Councilman David Benavides honored at the last meeting showed up to cry about the fact that the City Council ripped Benavides for doing that.

One of the speakers, Ann Menaldo, claimed tonight that she did not sign Lupe Moreno’s nomination papers, according to a friend of mine who was at the meeting. She lied. She did indeed sign the papers, when Moreno ran for the OC GOP Central Committee this year. Here is the form with her signature:

During the Council Members’ comments, Benavides once again ripped into his colleagues and he even went after Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez. He commented that she seconded the motion, a few years ago, that put Moreno on the Santa Ana Public Library Board. He did not mention that Mayor Miguel Pulido submitted that motion. Why did Benavides only go after Alvarez?

Alvarez spoke next – and she let Benavides have it. She said that the Council gave Moreno a chance but she proved to be a hater and they had to get rid of her. That is true. Pulido and company deserve much credit for dumping Moreno.

Alvarez was rudely interrupted by some of Benavides’ supporters, who you can see in the picture above.

Pulido said he wants to plan the event next year with Council members on the event committee, and they need to raise significant money so they can hold the event at Centennial Park with music, fireworks, etc. He suggested we do old-fashioned thinks like sack races, tug of war, bobbing for apples, etc. He said that everyone will know that we are united and we love and respect both this country and our city.

Bustamante said he wanted to spearhead the 2011 Santa Ana Independence Day event. He specifically said that “all citizens are welcome to participate.” His comments appeared to exclude those who are not citizens but do reside in our city. That is typical of Bustamante, who is a Republican and who is backed by the same people Benavides is involved with.

Benavides spoke again at the end and said he wanted to make some corrections. He said he did not lie to the City Staff by saying that the Council backed his recognition of the haters. He said the names of the Committee members were removed. However what he did not admit to was that certificates were presented to each of the Committee members including the Minutemen and their leader Moreno. Sure, they were not individually noted on the Agenda but all of them, including Thomas Gordon – who wasn’t even at the event, got their awards.

Pulido finally had to shut Benavides down as he was way over his three minutes.

Alvarez then asked Chief of Police Paul Walters to talk about tomorrow night’s National Night Out, at Davis Elementary, at 4 pm, to 7 pm. Click here to read about that event.

I am hearing now that the City Council has had it with Benavides. They have until this Friday to recruit a new candidate to replace him. It is very likely that by tomorrow they will all be renouncing him, withdrawing their support, and casting him to the dogs.

Stay tuned as my colleague, Sean Mill, has received information revealing that Benavides’ campaign committee is made up entirely of Usual Suspects. That post should be up by tomorrow afternoon.

Republicans already attacking Art Pedroza’s SAUSD School Board campaign

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Education, Elections, Politics, Racism, Republican Party, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Republican Kyrsten Bromiski is not one of my fans!

Well, that didn’t take long. I received a nasty Facebook message today from a lady named Kyrsten Bromiski. Here is some of what she had to say (I had to redact the worst of it – it was quite nasty):

Really running for school dist? Are you kidding..you are a complete racist! You through so much hate and are disguisting. I hope to fund some part of IE against you again… You’re an idiot!

I never heard of this lady so I looked at her Facebook profile. She lives in Orange and is a Republican. Apparently spelling and grammar are not her strong suits. Her friends include:

GOP lobbyist and consultant Adam Probolsky
GOP lobbyist Bert Ashland, who was appointed to the OC Beaches, Harbors and Parks Commission by Supervisor Janet Nguyen
State Senator Bob Huff, a Republican in north Orange County
Chris Emami, a Republican blogger at the Red County blog
Assemblyman Curt Hagman, a Republican
Fred Whitaker, a Republican running for the Orange City Council and a member of the OC GOP Central Committee
Supervisor Janet Nguyen
GOP lobbyist Matt Holder
GOP consultant Phil Paule
and Republican Assemblyman Van Tran, who is running against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.

Inexplicably, Bromiski is also friends with Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua and Jessica Amezcua. She claims that she is just spying on Amezcua. If so I recommend that he defriend her.

Why does Bromiski say I am a racist? Because I object to Republican attacks on migrants – and I strenuously oppose the Minutemen and other such hate groups. And that makes me a racist? Unbelievable. No wonder the GOP cannot tread water in Santa Ana.

I was also attacked last week on another blog by a Democratic blogger who admitted that he doesn’t even live in the SAUSD. His claims were largely libelous and he did not speak to the issues. He just went on the attack. He is one of the local bloggers who supported Councilman David Benavides’ attempts to honor the Minutemen who were involved in the Santa Ana 4th of July debacle.

I also took a look today at the OC Voter Registrar’s website and found that there are still no other challengers running for the SAUSD School Board. The deadline for challengers to file is August 6.

SAUSD incumbent John Palacio told me last week that Alfredo Amezcua’s daughter, Valerie, is not going to run. She ran in 2008 but lost, barely, to Roman Reyna. Palacio is one of Amezcua’s most faithful supporters. As such I wonder if Amezcua’s daughter opted not to run so that Palacio’s seat won’t be at risk?

The only other candidate is incumbent Audrey Noji. She has been on the board for over 20 years. Palacio, I think, has been on the board for 12 years.

One of my main issues as a candidate is term limits for SAUSD School Board members. They should not be able to serve more than two consecutive terms. When you consider the disaster that is the SAUSD, it is obvious that we need more turnover on our School Board. We cannot allow the same faces to keep getting elected – as they are not giving us the results we want.

I did hear rumors that at least two Vietnamese candidates are considering running. I would welcome that. Our Viet community is growing. They are becoming a very important part of our community and it would accordingly be great to see one or more of them run for the School Board.

UPDATE: I just received another delightful note from Bromiski. She is most upset that we publicized her original hateful, misspelled diatribe. Perhaps she will refrain in the future from attacking candidates she doesn’t know, via a public website like Facebook…

Tran Welcomes Tea Party Express Endorsement Proving He’s On The Fringe

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Carlos Bustamante, Democratic Party, Politics, Racism, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

For Immediate Release, July 30, 2010
CONTACT: Jennifer Crider & Andy Stone (202) 485-3440

Tran Welcomes Tea Party Express Endorsement Proving He’s On The Fringe

Van Tran has welcomed the endorsement of Tea Party Express, which begs the obvious question: Does Tran agree with the racist and anti-Semitic attitude that has become a hallmark of the group?

After all, Tea Party Express leader Mark Williams came under withering criticism for making racist and anti-Semitic comments – which the Tea Party Express has defended, even as other national Tea Party groups have distanced themselves. The National Tea Party Federation even kicked Williams’ group out over the remarks.

Click here to read the rest of this post.