Former Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Sean Mill, who recently moved to Riverside after getting married, was appointed today by Riverside City Councilman Chris MacArthur to the City of Riverside’s Airport Commission.
Mill’s appointment was supported by Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey and the entire Riverside City Council. Continue reading
Beatriz Mendoza, a Field Representative for U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, and a candidate for the SAUSD School Board, has been nominated by Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero to replace Sean Mill on the Planning Commission.
Mendoza’s nomination will be voted on at the upcoming Santa Ana City Council meeting on 8/2/16. Continue reading
Did you know that former Santa Ana City Commissioner Thomas Gordon maintains a second home in Denver, CO? He has in fact served in City Commissions both in Denver and in Santa Ana. Yet Gordon today is attacking former Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Sean Mill, who resigned from his city post after Gordon and Liberal OC blogger Dan Chmielewski paid a private investigator to tail Mill to see if he was living in Santa Ana, according to the O.C. Register.
As it turns out both Gordon and Chmielewski have been caught red-handed previously by Mill. It was Mill who discovered that Chmielewski was running a business based in Santa Ana, a few years ago, but he had not at the time acquired or paid for a Santa Ana city business license. And of course it was Mill who brought up Gordon’s own residency issues when Gordon was a Santa Ana City Commissioner. Continue reading
Do you remember the brouhaha that broke out more than a decade ago when a sign was erected on Santa Ana’s west side that welcomed drivers to the “Little Saigon Business District?” The Usual Suspects were upset about the sign – calling it divisive and worse. (Ironically these same people are now upset about the proposed DTSA Wellness District).
Well bad news for the Usual Suspects – the Santa Ana City Council has unanimously approved restoring the monument near First Street and Harbor Boulevard that was wrecked by a vehicle in 2008, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading
It is hard to believe given that the Santa Ana City Council is entirely comprised of Latinos, but there are only two Latinos serving currently on the Santa Ana Planning Commission.
To make matters worse, five of the seven Planning Commissioners all live in Ward 3 – which lies in the wealthier, whiter North Santa Ana, including the new Chairman of the Commission, Jim Gartner.
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides represents the heavily Latino Ward 4. But his Planning Commissioner doesn’t live in Ward 4 – and he is not Latino. Benavides appointed Phil Bacerra – a half-Filipino originally from Garden Grove, to represent Ward 4. It is highly unlikely that, were you to drop Bacerra into the middle of Ward 4, he would be able to figure out how to get home, particularly since Bacerra doesn’t drive. Continue reading
Brandon Fender, owner of the Good Beer Company
When Sean Mill heard that the UCI Alumni Association was trying to find a local craft brewery to develop an “Anteater Ale” he immediately thought of a new business that had been approved by the Santa Ana Planning Commission he serves on.
Mill is himself an anteater and as it turns out so is Brandon Fender, the owner and founder of the Good Beer Company – a craft brewery that has opened in Downtown Santa Ana.
Fender started brewing his own beer, at home, as a hobby but he grew to love the process so much that he opened The Good Beer Company, in Downtown Santa Ana, on September 2014. He has a degree in Sociology from UCI but taught himself how to make great beer. Continue reading
The Santa Ana City Council voted 4-3 tonight to not accept Phil Bacerra’s reappointment to the Santa Ana Planning Commission. Bacerra got in hot water earlier this year when he stubbornly refused to turn in required Planning Commissioner Communication Disclosure Forms. According to the City Attorney, Bacerra took over four months to finally turn in the forms. All of the other Planning Commissioners turned in their forms right away.
Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides, who tried to reappoint Bacerra to the Planning Commission, responded by falsely claiming that Planning Commissioners Eric Alderete and Sean Mill have not turned in proper financial disclosure forms. However the City Attorney and the City Clerk quickly shut him up by asserting that Mill and Alderete are, and have been, in compliance. Continue reading
Veterans Day will be even more special this year in Orange County as a group of real estate professionals has stepped up to help a pair of Veterans who happen to be married – and who suffered an unbelievable calamity.
Chris Winterton has served our Country is the United States Army for 11 years as a Staff Sargent with the 1/211 Out of Utah and with the 116th Secor while deployed in Iraq. His wife Sarah, who also served, is currently with the National Guard.
Chris and Sarah met while serving and they were married in 2011. During his 11 years of service, Chris helped build schools in Nicaragua, helped here at home with Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts and deployed to Iraq in 2007. It was during this time tragedy stuck. Chris was injured suffering a traumatic brain injury (tbi) and was hospitalized. But he did not give up! In 2012 he deployed to Afghanistan, just 6 days after his son was born, to serve another tour. Unfortunately, his injuries sustained in Iraq caught up to him and he had to take a medical discharge from his career serving our country. He now deals on a daily basis with supporting his family, PTSD and TBI. Continue reading
Partners for Santa Ana presents Orange County Tax Assessor Webster Guillory and Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen
The Partners for Santa Ana are hosting their next meeting on Wednesday, August 13, 2014, at 10 am, with registration at 9:45 am, at the offices of the Orange County Register, located at 625 N. Grand Avenue, in Santa Ana. The guest speakers will be Orange County Tax Assessor Webster Guillory and Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen, who were both reelected in the June Primary Election.
This is an excellent opportunity to come meet and hear from two of the people who play such an important role in all of our transactions and find out what their offices are doing and how that may effect you and your clients.
This event is FREE to Realtors. Continue reading
The next “Partners for Santa Ana Live Event is set for this Thursday, July 31, 2014 from 9:45 am – 11:30 am at the Orange County Register, located at 625 N Grand Ave., in Santa Ana.
This event is hosted by Charles’ Armijo and Sean Mill. The event will feature speakers Robert Gragoso of Anchor Loans and Ruben Mata, a Mindset Coach.
The event is free for realtors. There is a small fee for others who may want to attend. The proceeds will be donated to the Santa Ana Boys and Girls Club. Continue reading
Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra
Why would two Santa Ana Planning Commissioners vote against transparency? That is what happened at tonight’s Santa Ana Planning Commission meeting when Planning Commissioners Phil Bacerra and Bruce Bauer voted against disclosure of communications by Planning Commissioners regarding agendized projects with third parties such as business owners and residents
Now why in the world would Bacerra and Bauer opt to hide in the shadows? This is particularly disturbing when you consider that Bacerra was appointed to the Santa Ana Planning Commission by Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides. You may recall that when Benavides ran for Mayor in 2012 he made transparency the cornerstone of his campaign. What happened? Continue reading
A “State of the City” presentation for Realtors, local business owners and residents is set for July 17, 2014, at 9:45am at the Orange County Register, located at 625 N. Grand Ave., in Santa Ana.
Speakers include Santa Ana City Manager, David Cavazos, Shelly Landry-Bayle, the Santa Ana Housing & Neighborhood Development Manager and Ruben Mata of Mindset and Community Thinking.
Realtors can get in for free with a business card. The cost for others is only $5. All money collected at the door will be donated to the Santa Ana Boys and Girls Club. Continue reading
Santa Ana’s Planning Commissioners were tasked this year with filling out disclosure forms when they talk to stakeholders about pending development projects. That is a reasonable request given how easy it would be for the Planning Commissioners to engage in monkey business.
The good news is almost all of the Planning Commissioners have acquiesced to this mandate. The bad news is that Phil Bacerra, the Planning Commissioner appointed by Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides, has reportedly refused to fill out the disclosure forms.
This came to light recently when Bacerra apparently worked both sides of the debate with regard to the upcoming Depot Affordable Housing units that will be located across from the Santa Ana Train Depot. Continue reading
A fundraising reception for OC Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen will be hosted by Sean Mill and Tina M. Estrada on May 1, 2014, from 6 to 8 pm, at the home of Carlos Velasquez, at 2335 Portrait Way in Tustin.
The event will feature special guests OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and OCDA Tony Rackauckas. Continue reading
As has been our tradition, it is time to vote for the Santa Ana Man and Woman of the Year, for 2012. And we have quite a few great choices to choose from, in our poll below. You can vote for up to three nominees. Voting will close on January 8, 2013.
This year’s mayoral race produced three of our nominees – Mayor Miguel Pulido, and candidates David Benavides and George Collins. But we also delved into our city’s non-profit sector to find stellar nominees Dwight Smith, of the OC Catholic Worker; Armando De La Libertad, the Director of the Delhi Center; Scott Overpeck, of the awesome community project Laundry Love; Scott Glaab, the head of the Santa Ana Athletic Foundation and a local high school wrestling coach; and Benjamín Vázquez, of El Centro Cultural de Mexico.
Please let us know if we missed anyone and we can add them to our poll right away. Here is the poll – note that you may vote for up to three candidates at once: Continue reading