Santa Ana residents are already filling out their ballots and voting in the current 2020 City Council and Mayoral election. One question often posed to us is which candidates are getting support from the Santa Ana Police Officers Association?

While most of us support law enforcement the Santa Ana Police Officers Association (SAPOA) is a union and their only interest is in packing the City Council with their handpicked candidates. That is how they got their huge raise and how they hope to keep raking in more pay and benefits.

The City of Santa Ana’s budget is already overwhelmingly committed to the police department so it is a terrible idea to elect Council Members who will serve SAPOA, not the people of Santa Ana.

In Ward 5 SAPOA has recruited Vic Mendez, a car salesman. He has no record of doing much in our city but will reliably do whatever SAPOA wants him to do.

Our pick in Ward 5 is the incumbent, Juan Villegas. He was one of two City Council Members who voted against the massive SAPD pay raise, but as a longtime member of law enforcement we know he is a crime fighter. He just doesn’t like to waste taxpayer money and we appreciate that. He has our full endorsement. Bonus – Villegas opened Santa Ana’s first Family Justice Center, for victims of domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking. He has a big heart and we need to keep him on the City Council!

In Ward 1 it appears that SAPOA is running with Thai Viet Phan, who is featured in the Santa Ana Republic website which is run by a guy named Emiliano Kotler. He claims that his website has no connection to SAPOA. However his website does not list any of the contributors or owners and their URL is privately registered. Thus any connection to SAPOA cannot be verified.

Our pick in Ward 1 is Cynthia Contreras. She is an Orange County Probation Coordinator and a mom. We feel Contreras will be an independent City Council Member, which is what Santa Ana needs.

In Ward 3 SAPOA is backing Mark McLoughlin, who has been Mayor Miguel Pulido’s top sidekick in north Santa Ana over the past 20 years.

Our pick in Ward 3 is attorney and neighborhood leader Jeffrey Katz. Katz has spent years working on the local homeless problem. He is the most likely to actually have good ideas on what is perhaps the biggest issue facing our city.

For Mayor SAPOA is mostly invested in Jose Solorio but they also like Claudia Alvarez.

We have been fans of Mayoral candidate Ceci Iglesias for years because she always opposes wasting taxpayer money and she stands up against Special Interests. She opposed the huge SAPOA pay raise and in return they recalled her. Well now she will get the last laugh as she is currently leading in the Mayor’s race and we expect her to win.

Whatever you do please vote! But remember your vote matters and you should not waste it on candidates who will serve only SAPOA, not you.