New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: Vince Sarmiento

Divorce attorney Jessica Cha is challenging Vince Sarmiento in Ward 1 this November

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Jessica Byulnim Cha, Politics, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

It looks like Santa Ana City Councilman Vince Sarmiento won’t be getting a free pass in November after all, as he has drawn an General Election challenger – Jessica Byulnim Cha, a divorce attorney who lives in Santa Ana and also has a law practice on 1851 East First Street.

Cha has an undergraduate degree from U.C. San Diego and a law degree from Syracuse University, according to the California State Bar Association. Unlike Sarmiento she actually practices law and is pretty good – she has a “Superb” rating from AVVO. Sarmiento has a much lower AVVO rating. Continue reading→

Is the under-reporting of crime in Santa Ana an election year tactic?

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, Carlos Rojas, Crime, Mike Harrah, Public Safety, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

Over the last few days two major crimes occurred in Santa Ana that were not reported by the media. In one case a man stole a car in Anaheim and led police on a pursuit that ended when he crashed into Santa Ana’s Walmart. And in another a security guard at Original Mike’s was shot.

While it is true that the O.C. Register is hurting and probably not well-staffed one has to wonder if the under-reporting of crime in Santa Ana is an election year tactic. Continue reading→

Sarmiento elected to serve on NALEO’s Board at a meeting in D.C.

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community: Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento Elected to NALEO Board of Directors

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) has elected Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Vicente Sarmiento to serve a three-year term on the NALEO Board of Directors to begin June 2016 and end in June 2019.

The Board elections took place yesterday at the NALEO Board meeting in Washington, D.C., immediately following the NALEO 33rd Annual Conference. NALEO is the non-partisan leadership organization of the nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials. Continue reading→

Councilwoman Michele Martinez pulls papers to run for the Board of Supervisors

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2016 Elections, Andrew Do, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 5 Comments

Santa Ana City Councilman Vince Sarmiento has chickened out again. He was all set to run for the First District of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, challenging the incumbent, Supervisor Andrew Do. But Sarmiento has apparently pulled out and now his colleague, City Councilwoman Michele Martinez, is running against Do instead.

A fellow named Robert Bao Nguyen has also pulled papers for this seat in addition to perennial candidate Steve Rocco, who has been trying for months to launch recalls of Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and OCDA Tony Rackauckas. Continue reading→

Should the Santa Ana City Council have given a $17,000 bonus to our overpaid City Manager?

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Angelica Amezcua, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana 7 Comments

The Santa Ana City Council majority has granted a 5 percent, $17,000 performance bonus to City Manager David Cavazos, who is the highest-paid city manager in Santa Ana history, according to the O.C. Register.

Kudos to Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilwoman Michele Martinez for opposing this ridiculous bonus. To pay Cavazos even more money while our nation is slipping into another recession and while our city is in the midst of a gang war that the City Council refuses to acknowledge is simply mind-boggling. Continue reading→

Another shooting reported today at Broadway and Pine, in Santa Ana

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Gangs, Michele Martinez, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

One of our readers has reported a shooting today, just after 1 p.m., at Broadway and Pine in Santa Ana. That area is just east of Santa Ana High School. There are several SAPD units there apparently looking for suspects as seen in the picture below.

Another shooting was reported late last night at McFadden and Standard, just west of Kennedy Elementary School. A truck was reportedly hit by the bullets. The media did not report that shooting or the one today at Broadway and Pine.

The New Year is off to a very bloody start in Santa Ana. So far we have posted five articles in 2016 about gang incidents (two of the articles were about the same incident, where a 19-year-old from Garden Grove died after being shot in the head near Centennial Park). Continue reading→

Why was a 16-year-old allowed to party at the dreadful El Festival Hall Nightclub?

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alcohol, Crime, Public Safety, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 12 Comments

When Lizbeth Mateo, a 16-year-old from Seattle, WA who was visiting family in Santa Ana, disappeared from El Festival Hall Nightclub, in Downtown Santa Ana, after celebrating New Year’s Day there, many of our readers wondered why a teenager was allowed to party at a nightclub that is supposed to be for those 21 years and older.

Mateo has since been found but the questions about El Festival Hall Night Club persist. Continue reading→

Two men in Santa Ana shot while the rest of us rang in the New Year

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

It’s a New Year today but last year’s violence in Santa Ana has continued as two men were shot on New Year’s Eve and early on New Year’s Day, according to the O.C. Register.

SAPD police officers responded on Thursday night, at about 9:50 p.m., to a shooting call at the 1000 block of South Sullivan Street, just west of Jerome Park, where they found that a male homeless person had been shot from behind by an unknown attacker.

The homeless victim was shot in the lower calf and ended up at a local hospital with a wound that did not appear to be life-threatening. Continue reading→

The empty bus terminal in Downtown Santa Ana may be used to help the homeless

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Andrew Do, homeless, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Many community activists in Santa Ana have openly wondered why the vacated OCTA bus terminal, at 405 W. 5th St., has not been used to provide temporary shelter for the many homeless who gather at the Civic Center every day. Now the County of Orange is finally in a position to make this happen as they are finalizing the purchase of the bus terminal, according to the O.C. Register.

The terminal will be purchased for $3.3 million dollars, which will include the terminal and a 473-space parking structure and a seven-story office building that will remain the headquarters of the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The OCTA opened the bus terminal in 1984 but stopped using it in 2008 instead of renovating it to fit the newly designed, natural-gas fueled buses that have become much of the OCTA’s fleet today. Continue reading→

Council Members Sarmiento, Amezcua, Tinajero and Reyna approve a pay increase for top city executives

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Angelica Amezcua, Civic Affairs, David Benavides, Erika Carranza, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

Santa Ana City Council members Angie Amezcua, Roman Reyna, Vince Sarmiento and Sal Tinajero voted on Tuesday evening this week to approv a 2.5 percent salary increase this fiscal year for their executive management staff, as well as another 2.5 percent increase in July 2016, according to the Voice of OC.

Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilwoman Michele Martinez rejected the pay raise for the top city executives while City Councilman David Benavides was absent – as he is on his honeymoon having just married his Parks and Rec Commissioner, Erika Carranza, this weekend. Continue reading→

Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento attends a meeting in DC with Obama officials

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Federal Government, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community: Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento among White House Policy Leaders / Vice-Alcalde Vince Sarmiento Entre Líderes en la Casa Blanca

On Friday, November 13th, Mayor Pro Tem Vince Sarmiento met with President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff and Senior Administration officials from the White House to discuss legislative priorities that will help make the American middle class stronger and underscore the importance of middle-class economics.

Sarmiento was among 27 distinguished local elected officials from throughout the United States invited to the Policy Leaders Convening in Washington, DC; he was one of four California elected officials and only one of two from Southern California. It was a tremendous opportunity for the City of Santa Ana and an honor for Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento to be selected to represent our community at this important meeting. Continue reading→

Man with no gang ties shot while standing on his porch, on South Minnie St.

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Gangs, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 4 Comments

The situation in some parts of Santa Ana is getting so bad that you are not safe even when you are at home. Consider what just happened on Wednesday night. An unidentified 22-year-old man who was shot while he was standing in front of his home, at the 900 block of South Minnie Street, in Santa Ana, according to the O.C. Register.

The incident happened at about 7:20 p.m. The SAPD police officers who responded to the incident found the victim on his porch, with a gunshot to his upper body. Apparently he had been standing on his porch, facing the street, when an unidentified male fired one gunshot from the sidewalk and then fled on foot. Continue reading→

Good Samaritan tracks down a DUI hit and run driver who killed a pedestrian near Madison Park

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Alcohol, Crime, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Ramon Horta-Jaime

Marcello Bisarello, a 24-year-old resident of Santa Ana, has been identified as the pedestrian who was struck and killed by a car on Tuesday, according to the O.C. Register.

Bisarello was sitting on a curb just before 1:10 p.m. at the 800 block of East McFadden Avenue when he was fatally struck by Ramon Horta-Jaime (aka Jaime Ramon Horta), 55, who was driving a Ford Windstar van eastbound on the street before swerving, police said.

A witness, Cesar Guzman of Santa Ana, was driving behind Horta-Jaime’s minivan when he saw the vehicle swerve up onto the curb and make a loud bang. Then Guzman said that he “saw something rolling over under the car and when it came out it was … a person,” according to KTLA. Continue reading→

Sarmiento honored for creating an affordable housing ordinance that prevents new housing

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Civic Affairs, Development, Housing, Real Estate, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Vincent Sarmiento was selected today as one of the fourteen politicians to join something called the NewDEAL, which is “a national network that is committed to highlighting innovative ideas from state and local elected leaders who are progrowth progressives.”

Governor Jack Markell of Delaware and U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, Honorary Chairs of the NewDEAL, recognized City Councilor Sarmiento’s efforts to expand opportunity by providing affordable housing options in areas where it can have the most impact.

That is pretty ironic given that the Santa Ana City Council recently “amended a housing ordinance to no longer require developers to set aside a percentage of converted residential units for affordable housing, which is sold or rented below the market rate,” according to KPCC. Continue reading→

Man attacked by four men who tried rob him a few blocks from the SAUSD’s HQ

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Art Pedroza Posted in Crime, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

A man was attacked and beaten up by four men during an attempted robbery at the 1600 block of East 4th Street at 8:50 p.m., according to the O.C. Register.

The man was walking home when he was surrounded by the four men, who demanded cash. The victim told them he had no money and they reacted by striking him from behind with what might have been a baseball bat. Then they set upon him, punching him repeatedly before they ran off west on 4th St. Continue reading→