City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County
Community: Jail Reuse Study Update and Request for Public Input Scheduled for September 13, 2017
The community is invited to attend a meeting on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 regarding an update on the current jail reuse study. Along with a brief presentation that will outline current findings, there will be an opportunity for community members to provide their input regarding possible reuse options for the facility. Continue reading
Santa Ana Police Department
Advisory: SAPD and OCDA Investigating In Custody Death
On Wednesday, August 4, 2017 at approximately 9:49 pm, Santa Ana Jail Correctional Officers discovered a U.S. Marshal’s Service detainee unresponsive in his cell.
Correctional Officers initiated life-saving measures while awaiting the arrival of OCFA medics. Medics transported the inmate to a local hospital where he was stabilized and ultimately admitted due to his medical condition. Continue reading
City of Santa Ana
SANTA ANA, CA – The community is invited to attend the upcoming City Council on Tuesday, August 1, 2017, where the City’s jail reuse consultant, Vanir Construction Management, Inc., will provide an update on the current jail reuse study. In addition, the consultant will provide an opportunity for community members to provide their input regarding possible reuse options for the facility. Continue reading
As time ticks away on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s contract at Santa Ana Jail, a city councilman tried Tuesday to restart talks for a new agreement with the federal agency – and fell short again, according to the O.C. Register.
City Councilmen David Benavides, Sal Tinajero and Vincent Sarmiento all voted once again to oppose Councilman Jose Solorio’s agenda item to direct city staff to negotiate and execute a contract with ICE and Mayor Pro Tem Michele Martinez did not show up to the meeting because her brother passed away. Continue reading
Ending jail contract with ICE hurts community
By GERRY SERRANO / Contributing writer, O.C. Register
Cutting off your nose to spite your face is an expression that dates back to the 12th century. It is thought to be derived from legends of pious women who disfigured themselves in order to protect their virginity. Today it has come to mean a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem. “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face” is a warning against acting in a way that would damage oneself more than address the subject of your concern.
The previous Santa Ana City Council cut off its nose, and by extension the nose of the city, by giving in to the bullying of a small group of outside agitators and refusing to comply with the federal contract with ICE which is a legal agreement in place with the city. Rather than considering the drastic implications of allowing ICE to remove inmates from the jail, the previous council provoked the cancellation of a contract that could have kept the facility operating for years to come, provided fiscal stability to the city and saved union jobs. Continue reading
As we predicted the Santa Ana City Council is having a conniption after President Donald Trump ordered ICE to prematurely cancel their contract with the Santa Ana Jail. This went down after our lame City Council decided to vote to become a Sanctuary City and announced they were going to curtail the ICE contract in a few years.
Trump’s move to cancel the ICE contract in 90 days left the city in the lurch to the tune of $3 million dollars in annual jail-related debt payments.
Now the Santa Ana City Council is actually considering unwinding what they did. Councilman Jose Solorio on Friday placed an item on Tuesday’s Council agenda for “discussion and possible action(s) as they relate to the city’s contract with immigration and customs enforcement (ICE),” according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
Santa Ana City Council members unanimously voted to terminate a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – but not immediately, as some activists pressured with a hunger strike, according to the O.C. Register.
The Santa Ana City Council directed the City Manager, David Cavazos, to not renew the ICE contract set to expire on June 30, 2020, and not to end it earlier without a viable way to pay off the $24.3 million jail facility debt that ICE dollars are going toward. Continue reading
A protest by the OC May Day Coalition will take place at the Santa Ana City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, at 5:30 pm, regarding the contract between ICE and the SAPD. The SAPD is paid to jail immigrants who are arrested.
Organizers ask that you “Come early to sign up for public comments and let the council know that we are tired of them paying off their debt at the expense of our hard working immigrant communities. Not 1 more! No mas deportaciones!”
The Orange County May Day Coalition is a community-centered coalition of organizations and individuals; member organizations include: Continue reading
Not only was Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez the driving force behind the ouster of Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters – my sources are now telling me that she has apparently turned on the Santa Ana Police Department.
I am hearing that Martinez is trying to get rid of the SAPD Strike Force – the heroic police officers who helped stem the tide against gang violence and drug dealing in our city. She blames them, I am told, for the arrest of her half brother, a few years ago, during her failed campaign for Mayor. She blames Walters for that arrest too, I am told. Continue reading