New Santa Ana | Category Archives: Cecilia Iglesias

Recap of the SAUSD School Board candidates forum

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Angie Rosario Cano, Cecilia Aguinaga, Cecilia Iglesias, Education, Everlena Oliver, John Palacio, Mike Dalati, Rigo Rodriguez, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Shuntele Andrews, Valerie Amezcua 7 Comments

A friend of mine who is a teacher was at the SAUSD School Board candidates meeting tonight. She said that Valerie Amezcua (pictured above) was one dimensional. She also felt that Mike Dalati was out of his league and apparently he ducked out before the question and answer session.

Amezcua has already lost in two previous SAUSD School Board elections. She lost by 75 votes to high school dropout Roman Reyna in 2008 and she lost again in 2012 by 537 votes to Jose Alfredo Hernandez. Continue reading→

Woman who helped collect signatures for Lake Forest carpetbagger Walker indicted

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Adam Nick, Cecilia Iglesias, Elections, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Sherry Walker Leave a comment

Lake Forest carpetbaggers Sherry Walker and Adam Nick

The woman who helped collect nomination signatures for Lake Forest carpetbagger Sherry Walker, Farzaneh Akhavi, 55, aka Frances Akhavi, has been indicted on charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, by a grand jury in Phoenix, Arizona, according to the East Valley Tribune.

Both Walker and Nick changed their names. They are originally from Iran. Walker also became a registered Republican right before running for the 69th Assembly District.

The indictment refers to the victim only by the initials SRG. But court records showed a federal civil lawsuit was filed against Akhavi last month by a California woman named Soraya Ghalchi, who claimed she was defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the financial scheme, according to AZ Central. Continue reading→

Formal complaint filed against 69th A.D. carpetbagger Sherry Walker

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Adam Nick, Anaheim, Cecilia Iglesias, Politics, Santa Ana, Sherry Walker, Tom Daly Leave a comment

Lake Forest carpetbaggers Sherry Walker and Adam Nick

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, July 23, 2014

State Assembly candidate may have violated residency requirements and acted to deceive the voters

69th Assembly District candidate Cecilia “Ceci” Iglesias calls for investigation into election irregularities and violations

Santa Ana – Cecilia “Ceci” Iglesias, who narrowly lost in the June 3 Primary Election in the 69th Assembly District, has filed a formal complaint against neophyte Republican candidate Sherry Walker. In a letter to Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s Election Fraud Investigation Unit, Iglesias alleges Walker violated residency requirements and conspired to deceive voters who live in Santa Ana and parts of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Orange. Continue reading→

Teacher’s union taking a big interest in the 2014 SAUSD School Board election?

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Audrey Noji, Cecilia Aguinaga, Cecilia Iglesias, Education, Eric Alderete, John Palacio, Politics, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Shuntele Andrews, Valerie Amezcua 1 Comment

Valerie Amezcua

This fall’s Santa Ana School Board race is shaping up to be perhaps the most interesting local election in awhile.

Candidates for the SAUSD School Board who already announced that they are running in November include Shuntele Andrews, a retired Valley High School teacher; Cecilia Aguinaga, a community activist who serves on the OC Vector Control Board; Eric Alderete, an attorney and Planning Commissioner; and Valerie Amezcua, a Supervising Probation Officer at the Central Youth and Family Resource Center in the City of Santa Ana.

Two SAUSD School Board Trustees are up for reelection – John Palacio and Audrey Yamagata-Noji. Both have been in office far too long. I hear Yamagata-Noji may be retiring from the School Board. I have not heard that about Palacio. I suspect he will run again. He almost has to. He says he is a political consultant but who would hire him? He needs the pay and benefits he gets from the SAUSD. Continue reading→

Community leaders endorse Ceci Iglesias for the 69th Assembly District

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Anaheim, Cecilia Iglesias, Latino Leaders, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Community Leaders Endorse Ceci Iglesias for 69th Assembly District

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Campaigning for the 69th Assembly District on the theme of “Put Community First,” Santa Ana Unified School District Board Member Ceci Iglesias today announced the endorsements of two respected community leaders, Reuben Martinez and Frank Garcia.

Martinez and Garcia join a long list of organizations and leaders endorsing Iglesias for Assembly, including the Lincoln Club of Orange County, the Hispanic 100, Los 32 por Mexico, the California Women’s Leadership Association, Atlas PAC, Assemblymen Travis Allen and Don Wagner, Senators Bob Huff and Mimi Walters, Orange County Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Todd Spitzer, Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen, and Orange County Board of Education Trustee Robert Hammond. Continue reading→

Who are Walker and Nick and why are they carpetbagging in Santa Ana?

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Adam Nick, Carlos Vazquez, Cecilia Iglesias, Democratic Party, Loretta Sanchez, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Sherry Walker, Tom Daly 4 Comments

Lake Forest couple Sherry Walker and Adam Nick

Who in the world are Sherry Walker and Adam Nick? They are Orange County political candidates with minute social media profiles. Nick was elected to the Lake Forest City Council in 2012. He is pictured with his wife Sherry on his Facebook page. But Sherry is running for the 69th Assembly District, which includes parts of Santa Ana and Anaheim, while Nick is running for the 46th Congressional District, which includes the same areas. These are carpetbaggers – the question is who are they and what are the up to?

My sources tell me that Walker and Nick are reportedly Iranians who changed their names. Nick owns a gas station and actually sued his own city in a fit because the city granted an alcohol license to a 7-11 but Nick wanted to monopolize alcohol sales in his area. What sort of Councilman sues his own city – forcing taxpayers to waste money in the legal defense process? Continue reading→

Meet candidates Iglesias and Vazquez on May 16 in Santa Ana

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Carlos Vazquez, Cecilia Iglesias, Entertainment, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

You can meet Cecilia Iglesias, a candidate for the 69th Assembly District, and Carlos Vazquez, a candidate for the 46th Congressional District on Friday, May 16, 2014, from 6 to 8 pm, at the home of John and Anna Coil, located at 2024 Victoria Drive in Santa Ana.

RSVP to anncoil@att.net or call 714-648-0227.

Iglesias was the top vote-getter for the SAUSD School Board in 2012. She is also a representative of State Senator Mimi Walters. Iglesias immigrated to the United States and to Central Orange County three decades ago. She is a proud product of Central Orange County public schools and earned degrees at Santa Ana College and Cal State Fullerton. Her child attends a Central Orange County public school. Continue reading→

Daly and Nguyen agree when it comes to opposing Latino voter turnout

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Carlos Vazquez, Cecilia Iglesias, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Politics, Santa Ana, Tom Daly 5 Comments

Janet Nguyen, Scott Baugh and Tom Daly

Think about it. Tom Daly, a career Democratic politician who is representing the 69th Assembly District – the most Hispanic legislative seat in Orange County, and Janet Nguyen, the Republican County Supervisor who is running for the 34th State Senate District, are both in the same hot seat. Both have been challenged by popular Latino candidates. Daly is facing off in the June Primary against SAUSD Trustee Ceci Iglesias while Nguyen is being opposed by a college Trustee, Jose Solorio, who previously served in the 69th Assembly District.

I know for a fact that Solorio is thrilled that Nguyen is in the race as she is so corrupt that it is going to be easy for him to slam her in the mail. He won’t do that now as he will hold his fire for the November General Election. And as we wrote earlier this week, Solorio is very busy overseeing a massive Latino voter registration effort in Central Orange County.

Nguyen could not have been pleased to see Iglesias get into the race against Daly. Iglesias will bring out the Latino vote and they will surely vote for Solorio, not Nguyen, in the 34th State Senate District. I don’t see much crossover vote for Nguyen from Iglesias supporters. Not after what she did to CalOptima, the public agency that oversees health benefits for OC seniors. Continue reading→

Will Solorio’s efforts to register Latino voters cost Daly his Assembly seat?

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Anaheim, Cecilia Iglesias, Francisco Barragan, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Lou Correa, Politics, Santa Ana, Tom Daly 4 Comments

Say what you will about Jose Solorio, but he knows the score. As the Democratic Party’s sole candidate in the race to replace Lou Correa in the 34th State Senate District, Solorio is quite aware that he must pull out all the stops in order to beat the leading Republican candidate, and Queen of corruption, Janet Nguyen, in what is a very purple district. Continue reading→

Updated: Failed Democratic candidate stalking and trolling woman candidates on Facebook

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2010 Elections, 2012 Elections, 2014 Elections, Cecilia Iglesias, Democratic Party, Julio Perez, Michele Martinez, Politics, Tom Daly, Women 2 Comments

Tom Daly and Francisco Barragan

When SAUSD School Board Member Cecilia Iglesias ran for Congress back in 2010, she gathered over 10,000 signatures so that she could qualify for the ballot as an independent candidate. While she did not prevail in the election she showed us all that she was a viable candidate in Santa Ana, in a race that featured the powerhouse that is Democratic U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez and a former State Assemblyman, Van Tran, who was at the time still a dominant player in central Orange County.

Iglesias confirmed this when she ran for the SAUSD School Board in 2012, this time as Republican. While at the time I was unsure that she would do well in our city as a member of the GOP, she proved me wrong by becoming the top vote-getter in that election – she garnered more votes than two incumbents, Rob Richardson and Jose Alfredo Hernandez. That surely was a wake-up call for them as well.

Now Iglesias is challenging a Democrat, Tom Daly, who was elected to the 69th Assembly District in 2012 when three Latino Democrats split the Hispanic vote in that year’s Open Primary. Those candidates included Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez; labor organizer Julio Perez and an accountant named Francisco Barragan. While Martinez is still in power and Perez recently got appointed to a top labor post, Barragan has resorted to stalking candidates he doesn’t like, on their Facebook pages. Continue reading→

Why is the SAUSD School Board MIA about the school cop that roughed up a kid?

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Audrey Noji, Cecilia Iglesias, Education, John Palacio, Jose Hernandez, Police Brutality, Public Safety, Rob Richardson, Santa Ana, SAUSD Leave a comment

The Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department has launched an investigation into video footage apparently showing a school police officer restraining a sobbing 14-year-old boy with a headlock, according to the OC Register.

We broke this story – and it has since been reported in New York, in Philadelphia, and in Riverside. But where has it not been reported? That’s right – there is NO MENTION of this on the SAUSD’s website nor on their Facebook page.

SAUSD School Board Member Rob Richardson has not mentioned any of this on his Facebook Page. SAUSD School Board Member Cecilia Iglesias has not mentioned it on her Facebook Page either. What about the other SAUSD School Board Members? I don’t think John Palacio and Audrey Noji have Facebook Pages. Jose Alfredo Hernandez does but it is just used to hype his law firm. Continue reading→

69th A.D. candidate Iglesias to host a campaign fundraiser on April 10

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Cecilia Iglesias, Newport Beach, Santa Ana Leave a comment

SAUSD Trustee Cecilia Iglesias is hosting a campaign fundraiser for her race for the 69th Assembly District, which includes most of Santa Ana, on April 10, 2014, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the home of Dr. Kerry Reynolds, at 15100 Kings Road, in Newport Beach. Dress is business casual.

The event is billed as a “Taco Night” and will feature tacos and margaritas. A donation of $100 is requested. RSVP to Teresa Hernandez at 949-533-8387 or via email at twinsok@mac.com.

The Host Committee includes: Continue reading→

The OC GOP laughs at Karina Onofre, but should they be crying instead?

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Cecilia Iglesias, Karina Onofre, Orange County, Republican Party, Thomas Gordon, Tom Daly 9 Comments

Thomas Gordon, Member of the OC GOP Endorsement Committee

The OC GOP’s Endorsement Committee met last night to consider a handful of candidates. They ended up punting on two races where Republicans are facing off against each other, but then their true colors emerged when they reviewed the candidates for OC Auditor-Controller.

It was of course never in doubt that they would endorse good old boy Eric Woolery. That is of course disturbing since it is highly unlikely that Woolery will actual audit the Republicans on the Board of Supervisors or their handpicked agency heads. But the worst was yet to come – after they announced their endorsement.

“Thomas Gordon noted that Mike Dalati (a Democratic candidate for OC Auditor-Controller) is Karina Onofre’s fiancee, to the laughter of the entire room,” as reported by the OC Political blog, which is essentially the new Red County blog. Continue reading→

SAUSD Trustee Cecilia Iglesias announces her campaign for the 69th A.D.

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Cecilia Iglesias, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Unified School District Trustee Cecilia Iglesias Enters 69th District Assembly Race

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2014

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – School Board Trustee Cecilia “Ceci” Iglesias kicked off her campaign on Wednesday at the Mexicanisimo Restaurant in Santa Ana. With a large coalition of supporters, Iglesias enters the race as the leading Republican for the seat.

“My campaign is about putting our community first and not letting the Sacramento political establishment dictate what is best for the residents of Santa Ana, Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Orange,” Iglesias said. “My goal is to reach out to all residents of the 69th District to tell them that I will work to represent our entire community, regardless of political affiliation.” Continue reading→

Ceci Iglesias to kick off her campaign for the 69th A.D. on 3/12

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Cecilia Iglesias, Entertainment, Politics, Santa Ana, Tom Daly Leave a comment

SAUSD Trustee Cecilia “Ceci” Iglesias will kick off her campaign for the 69th Assembly District on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm, at Santa Ana’s Mexicanismo Restaurant, located at 2323 W. First St. Appetizers will be provided.

The 69th Assembly District includes portions of the cities of: Santa Ana, Anaheim, Orange and Garden Grove. The 69th is Orange County’s most Hispanic legislative district but it is currently represented by career politician Tom Daly. Continue reading→