Two campaign mailers arrived in Santa Ana mailboxes today – in a direct hit on the SAUSD’s Measure I – the district’s third property tax increase in 19 years.
One of the mailers addressed the unfairness of Measure I, which will have a huge negative impact on Santa Ana senior citizens and others on fixed incomes, such as the disabled and those who are combating serious illnesses. Continue reading
I was at an SAUSD school board forum last week and was shocked when some of the boorish radicals in the audience booed when they heard that I got a contribution from the Santa Ana Police Officers Association. Most folks in Santa Ana don’t hate the police. But a small, very vocal minority does. And they are backing a slate of candidates that we need to steer clear of.
The chief anti-police rabble rouser appears to be failed Socialist Mayoral candidate Benjamin Vasquez. His favored candidates this year include: Continue reading
If you vote by absentee ballot you should be receiving your ballot in the mail this weekend or at the start of next week. We have developed this Voter Guide to help you sort through the many candidates and ballot measures.
There are three open seats this year on the Santa Ana City Council, thanks to term limits. Incumbents Sal Tinajero, Michele Martinez and David Benavides are out.
Tinajero is running for Mayor while Martinez and Benavides are retiring from the City Council. Continue reading
Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero
I attended two Santa Ana City Council candidate forums recently and was astonished to hear every single candidate for the Santa Ana City Council come out publicly against Measure X. Sal Tinajero, who is termed out and is running for Mayor of Santa Ana, is the only candidate still publicly backing Measure X (although he doesn’t mention it on his campaign website).
It is generally a very bad idea for a political candidate to run on a platform based in raising our taxes. Perhaps this is why Tinajero’s City Council candidates – Roman Reyna in Ward 4; Sandra Pocha Pena Sarmiento in Ward 2; and Nelida Mendoza in Ward 6 have all publicly turned their backs on Tinajero’s Measure X.
Measure X, if it passes, will result in Santa Ana having the highest sales tax in Orange County. That will result in several awful consequences: Continue reading
If you see a meth addict begging for money outside a McDonald’s and you give him twenty bucks chances are that he will buy one item off the restaurant’s dollar menu and spend the rest of the money on drugs. Local governments act the very same way. No matter how much tax money they take from us they always find a way to blow most of it and then come back to us for more money.
That is precisely what is happening in Santa Ana right now. The Santa Ana Unified School District has already begged us for millions twice before with two previous bond measures. Now they are back with their hat in hand begging for millions more – even though other area school districts are finding ways to improve their facilities without passing bond measures. Continue reading
When I spoke with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido earlier this week he was not yet sure if he was going to run for what will be his last two-year term. Since them Pulido has indeed pulled papers and he will be on the November 6 ballot. He will face off against termed-out Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero, who has been garnering a lot of media attention of late due to his leadership of the SAUSD Debate Team. The path for Tinajero was cleared when his colleague, Mayor Pro Tem Michele Martinez, opted to not run for Mayor after all. She too is terming out from the Santa Ana City Council.
No question about it – the Tinajero versus Pulido race will be the big contest in the General Election. But the race for Santa Ana’s Ward 2 will also be sure to garner a lot of attention as no less than six candidates have pulled papers. Here are the Ward 2 candidates: Continue reading
There might be a perfectly good reason for the recent trip to China by SAUSD officials, including former Superintendent Rick Miller, Deputy Superintendent Dave Haglund and School Board Members Valerie Amezcua and John Palacio. But since the district did not announce the visit, we have no idea what these folks are doing in China.
Who paid for this junket? Why? Continue reading
Today was Women’s Equality Day but we have not made much progress in Santa Ana. Our local education unions endorsed three men for the SAUSD School Board election in November. They did not even bother to interview the women in the race.
Now I cannot blame the Santa Ana Educators Association (SAEA) and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) Chapter 41 for not backing SAUSD School Board incumbent Cecilia Iglesias. She is a conservative who believes in school choice and wants to spend the district’s money on hiring more teachers and more teacher’s aides instead of just paying the teachers more. So of course the education unions don’t like her.
But what about the other women who are running for the SAUSD School Board? Continue reading
SAUSD School Board Candidate Bruce Bauer is hosting his campaign kickoff event on Monday, August 8, 2016, from 6 to 8 p.m., at 1135 W. Riviera Drive, in Santa Ana.
Please RSVP to rsvp@bauer4sausd.com or send a text to 949-293-5311. Continue reading
Beatriz Mendoza is hosting a fundraiser for her SAUSD School Board campaign on August 4, 2016, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the home of Joe Casas, at 1102 W. Riviera Drive in Santa Ana.
RSVP at 714-213-3873. This campaign event is free to students and alumni of Madison, Lathrop, and Century High School. Continue reading
SAUSD’s Valerie Amezcua Joined NALEO Educational Fund and Latino Policymakers in Nation’s Capital for Policy Institute on School Governance
Two-day event equipped Amezcua and more than 40 other Latino officials with the skills and information needed to advance student success in their communities
(Santa Ana, CA) – Santa Ana Unified School District’s Board of Education Clerk Valerie Amezcua joined the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, the nation’s preeminent Latino leadership organization, and more than 40 other Latino school board members and trustees from across the country for the group’s National Policy Institute on School Governance.
The two-day Institute, held from March 15-16, 2016 in Washington D.C., focused on providing Latino public servants with the enhanced capacity and governance skills needed to become effective advocates for their students, families and communities. During the event, Amezcua and other participants had the opportunity to engage with leading education experts from the public, private and non-profit sectors who tackled pressing education policy and governance topics. Continue reading
For Immediate Release: September 29, 2015
Contact: Dave Jacobson, (818) 943-2348, Shallman Communications
CORREA ADDS MARTINEZ, PALACIO, AMEZCUA & HERNÁNDEZ TO ENDORSEMENT LIST
Santa Ana City Councilwoman & Santa Ana Education Leaders Unite Behind Correa in CA-46
SANTA ANA, CA– On the heels of winning a statewide endorsement from the California Small Business Association (CSBA), today former State Senator Lou Correa’s campaign for Congress rolled out endorsements from several Santa Ana leaders, including the following:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 2014
Contact: Derek Humphrey
Cell: (951) 805-4167
VALERIE AMEZCUA WINS RACE FOR SANTA ANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD
Santa Ana, California – Valerie Amezcua has won a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board. Final election results posted by the Orange County Registrar of Voters show Amezcua placed second in a field of eight candidates. The results are expected to be certified tomorrow.
“I’m humbled by the support our campaign received from families throughout the Santa Ana Unified School District,” said Amezcua. “I would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all of the candidates that volunteered their time and talents to advocate for improving our schools. I look forward to working with Boardmember John Palacio and the rest of my new colleagues in helping to move our district forward.” Continue reading
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
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