I had a long talk this afernoon with a Santa Ana insider who had some amazing chismes for me. I was expecting that perhaps Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido would run for the Orange County Supervisorial seat that is currently held by Janet Nguyen, but apparently Councilman Vincent Sarmiento has decided to run, and Pulido is not going to oppose him.
But the biggest shocker was that Measure D may be in trouble – and that it could be reversed if it is challenged in court. That was the measure that extended the term limits of the Santa Ana Council Members by four years, from 8 years to 12. That measure was on the ballot in a special election but apparently it should have been put in front of the voters in a general election. What this means, if it does get wiped out, is that several Santa Ana Council Members will be termed out – including Michele Martinez and Sal Tinajero.
Tinajero by the way won’t be challenging Tom Daly, over in the 69th Assembly District. Tinajero is hampered by his full time job as a public school teacher in Fullerton. He just can’t find the time to run for a legislative seat. Nor will former Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez be challenging Daly as she seems to be waiting for Pulido to retire so she can run for Mayor of Santa Ana. That may be awhile yet.
I don’t think that Martinez can beat Daly. Having flip-flopped from being against Pulido, then for him, then against him again, she has burned too many bridges. Could Daly get a free pass in 2014?
So what about Pulido? He will be running for re-election in 2014. And who will challenge him this time? I am hearing that it will be Valerie Amezcua, the daughter of his former opponent Alfredo Amezcua. Valerie has already lost two school board races but apparently she thinks that because the non-related Angelica Amezcua won a Council seat in 2012, then she has a shot against Pulido. I think not. Angelica won because she ran as a schoolteacher, in a city full of voters who respect teachers. Valerie has already been rejected twice and if she does challenge Pulido he will easily beat her, just like he thrashed her dad back in 2010. Bring it on Valerie!
I think Art Lomeli just JAMMED a sharp instrument into a patients cheek!
“But the biggest shocker was that Measure D may be in trouble – and that it could be reversed if it is challenged in court.”
That is great news! I’ll contribute to the cause.
Interesting story?
I can not see Vince Sarmiento winning in a special election for the BOS against either a GGs Chris Pham or Westminster Tyler Diep. Even though democrats have a 10% voter registration advantage, its not going to happen. It was rumored that even the popular Lou Correa, who represented the 1st, was not up to challenging Janet with strong Viet vote base.
That is probably the only sure thing, Janet wins her Assembly seat, as long as that FBI inquiry on Campaign shakedowns gets no legs.
The only one I see benefitting from overthrowing Mesure D is the Mayor, as a leverage to get michelle and Sal ear. otherwise I will find someone to challenge the measure. Will the legality of Mesure D be discussed or can any resident ask the city attorney to review the legality of Mesure D.
I think if democrats were smart they would put Tom Daly up for the the Senate seat vacated by Lou and run Vince for the 69th AD. Who knows, they are probably planning this all along?
Jose S cant beat Janet but he could raise money for the Assembly seat and then pull out and run against Janets vacate supervisor seat or her termed out seat a few years later.
Great insight. Yes, I think that Janet’s seat would go to another Vietnamese American candidate. I would prefer Diep or Westminster Mayor Tri Ta over Sarmiento, who appears to stand for nothing.
Pulido does clearly benefit if D is overturned. He will quickly take the Council back and that will be a relief in my opinion as this has to be the most inept council in Orange County.
Can Daly switch or is he bound by the new law that should keep him in the Assembly for up to 12 years?
Solorio is in a bind. I agree that he probably cannot beat Janet, particularly as he has angered a lot of folks with his Santa Ana College PLA vote and he put the County in a bind a few years ago by voting to give car tax money back to the state. His pals in Sacramento never gave it back to the OC.
Solorio should run for Janet’s Supervisorial seat. But of course he and Sarmiento would just split the Latino vote…
oh Valerie, i forgot about her like all the voters. Another overweight union/socialist hack, like Julio (what;s his name, 300 thousand dollar union-funds man) Perez
Joe Carpetbagger?
Not me but, I like the way he thinks.
Speaking of failure. Did you see the joke of a turnout at the health and fitness fair? What a WASTE of resources. I am sure it will be touted a s a HUGE success, but there were approximately 250 people there including staff and organizers. That means there were about 200 people out of a city of 400,000 or .0005% of the population (roughly equal to the number of kids who eat lunch everyday at Wallace Davis ES.
Please don’t make fun of peoples Mothers, leave that to the commenters at the VOC.
or Joe Mama?
Michele Martinez and other councilmembers are WELL aware of this and are scrambling to leverage positions to keep this ILLEGAL change to the city charter from being exposed/overturned.
But they know it is inevitable, hence your recent post about Michele considering a job in Sacramento. Her current position as director of OC HEALTH alliance pays little, but was intended as springboard for her.
In reality Antonio Villagrosa will never become Governor, Michele Martinez, no matter how hard she aspires will never be more than a poor spoken councilwoman.
I am told she has personally reached out to former detractors (READ: LOC) in an attempt to begin to clear the “airwaves” of negative press. Remove some of the negative stuff and she could land a plum lobbyist position.
The fact is, she struggles in interviews, especially at high levels and comes across as an idiot. You can already see interm City Manager Kevin “McCarthy” O’Rourke distancing himself, as she repeatedly calls him “Kevin” in meetings, while others address him properly as “City Manager O’Rourke”
I suspect Michele is conniving enough to weasel her way into a $50K per year job someplace locally, or with a FLYBYNIGHT organization in Sacramento, but to be considered in a policy position, I don’t think so. UNLESS: PAYAN X is nominated fitness king and needs a jester.
In simple terms: GAME OVER.