2014 General Election voter guide for Santa Ana voters

This voter guide addresses the Orange County local and legislative races as well as the State and Local ballot measures.

General Election, November, 2014:

Local Elections

Santa Ana City Council

Mayor:

Endorsed Candidate: Mayor Miguel Pulido

Other Candidates: Roman Reyna, Mark I. Lopez

Note: Even Reyna’s friends and allies admit that he is not a capable candidate for Mayor of Santa Ana.  This will be Pulido’s final term and in the next two years we need to recruit better candidates than the likes of Reyna, who has only served two years on the Santa Ana City Council.

Ward 2:

Endorsed Candidate: Mirna Velasquez

Other Candidates: Michele Martinez, Rene Gomez, Gilad Salmon

Note: Martinez, the incumbent, has been in office for years but what do we have to show for that?  Crime is on the rise and we have no confidence in Martinez, who has previously admitted to selling drugs in our city.  Velasquez is a breath of fresh air.  She is a businesswoman who also works with a local ministry and unlike Martinez, Velasquez is a mom.  The other challengers, Gomez and Salmon, are barely running much of  a campaign.

Ward 4:

Endorsed Candidate: Alex Padilla

Other Candidates: David Benavides

Note: Benavides unwisely ran for Mayor in 2012.  He has not served Ward 4 much at all – spending most of his time in Downtown Santa Ana, which is part of Michele Martinez’ Ward 2.  Benavides has changed since he came to this city as a youth minister.  He is now a realtor and he has scrubbed his wife and family from his city bio.  It is time for us to dump him now.  Padilla is a young man but he is a professional in the legal services industry and he already has garnered support from many key activists in our city including Alex Flores.

Ward 6:

Endorsed Candidate: Miguel “Mike” Gonzalez

Other Candidates: Sal Tinajero

Note: Tinajero is a good man but he is part of a City Council that fired our previous City Manager, Paul Walters and then overpaid our new City Manger, David Cavazos.  I can’t justify those actions.  Gonzalez is a local business owner who has been involved in many charitable organizations over the years.

Santa Ana Unified School District School Board

Endorsed Candidates: Shuntele Andrews, Angie Rosario Cano and Dr. Rigo Rodriguez

Other Candidates: Mike Dalati, Everlena Oliver, Valerie Amezcua, John Palacio, Cecilia Aguinaga

Note: No matter what you do we urge you not to vote for the sole incumbent in the race, John Palacio.  He has been in office for over 15 years, overseeing a worsening of the SAUSD.  We also believe that his sidekick, Valerie Amezcua, would be a terrible Trustee.  Please do not vote for Palacio or Amezcua!

We had some hesitations about backing Dr. Rigo Rodriguez but met with him recently and liked what he had to say.  But we also look kindly upon Shuntele Andrews and Angie Rosario Cano.  There are however only two seats open on the SAUSD School Board so vote for who you think will best represent our families.  Rigo has kids in the school district.  Shuntele is a retired SAUSD high school teacher and Cano is a recent grad of Segerstrom High School who is now attending UCI.  

We had previously endorsed Cecilia Aguinaga but were not impressed by her handling of the Mosquito Gate scandal as our Trustee on the OC Vector Control District’s Board.  We have withdrawn our endorsement of her campaign.  We don’t wish her ill but we need Trustees who are going to take tough stands on behalf or our community!

Local Ballot Measures:

Measure AA – Utility User’s Tax Increase – The Santa Ana City Council is trying to fool us by alleging that this measure will lower our taxes for telephone, electricity, gas and water services from six (6) percent to five and one-half (5 1/2) percent – but the truth is that this measure will expand the current Utility User’s Tax to include more emerging cellular technologies.  Don’t be fooled by this!  We recommend a No Vote.

Measure BB – The City of Santa Ana’s flawed Medical Marijuana Dispensary Measure.  We recommend a No Vote.

Measure CC – Medical Cannabis (Marijuana) Restriction and Limitation Initiative.  The Santa Ana City Council has failed to develop a Conditional Use Permit for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries.  This measure will correct that oversight.  We recommend a Yes Vote.

The Santa Ana City Council’s Medical Marijuana Initiative – a flawed response to Measure CC this initiative will make things worse, not better.  We recommend a No Vote.

State Elections:

Attorney General:

Endorsement: Ron Gold

Other candidate: Kamala Harris

Editor’s Note: There is no way anyone should vote to re-elect Kamala Harris, the Democratic incumbent. She is far too cozy with the police unions. Ron Gold is a Republican former Deputy Attorney General who says he will fight corruption.  That sounds good to us!

Insurance Commissioner:

Endorsement: Ted Gaines

Other candidate: Dave Jones

Editor’s Note: All you need to know about Ted Gaines is that he is opposed to ObamaCare. Dave Jones, the incumbent Democrat, loves ObamaCare.

Lieutenant Governor:

Endorsement: None

Candidates: Gavin Newsom and Ron Nehring

Editor’s Note: We can’t stomach the Democratic incumbent, Gavin Newsom but the Republican alternative, Ron Nehring, has doubled down on the drug war.  We are sitting this one out.

Governor:

Endorsement: Neel Kashkari

Other candidate: Jerry Brown Editor’s Note: Jerry Brown has done a good job in some respects but we cannot support his crazy High Speed Rail plan. Neel Kashkari is a reasonable alternative.

Secretary of State:

Endorsement: Pete Peterson

Other candidate: Alex Padilla

Editor’s Note: Padilla can be expected to answer to the unions.  Pete Peterson became the first Executive Director of Common Sense California, a bipartisan, nonprofit “think-and-do tank” devoted to improving civic participation throughout the state. In 2010 Common Sense California joined with the Davenport Institute at the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University to become the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership, where Peterson serves as Executive Director.

Superintendent of Public Instruction:

Endorsement: Marshall Tuck

Other candidate: Tom Torlakson

Editor’s Note: Torlakson is the teacher’s union candidate.  That alone is reason enough to vote for Tuck instead!

State Board of Equalization, District 4:

Endorsement: Nader Shahatit

Candidates: Diane Harkey

Editor’s Note: There is NO WAY we can get behind Diane Harkey. In fact we really want to see her lose so we are endorsing her opponent, Shahatit.

State Controller:

Endorsement: Betty Yee

Other candidate: Ashley Swearengin

Editor’s Note: Swearingin is a High Speed Rail supporter and she has tried to raise taxes in Fresno, where she is the Mayor.  No bueno!

State Treasurer:

Endorsement: Greg Conlon

Other candidate: John Chiang

Orange County Legislative Races:

46th Congressional District:

OC Politics Blog Endorsement: None

Candidates: Loretta Sanchez, Adam Nick

Editor’s Note: There is no way we can support the Lake Forest carpetbagger, Adam Nick.  But we are not fans of the incumbent, Loretta Sanchez, either.  Pass.

69th Assembly District:

OC Politics Blog Endorsements: None

Candidates: Tom Daly, Sherry Walker

Editor’s Note: Daly is a total hack for special interests, but Walker is a carpetbagger from Lake Forest.  We’re taking a pass on this one.

72nd Assembly District:

OC Politics Blog Endorsements: Travis Allen

Other candidate: Joel Block

Editor’s Note: We are huge fans of the incumbent, Travis Allen. He has done a great job and is reliably conservative but able to work with Democrats when he has to.

34th State Senate District:

OC Politics Blog Endorsements: Jose Solorio

Candidates include: Janet Nguyen

Editor’s Note: We had every intention of staying neutral in this race but changed our minds after one of Janet Nguyen’s consultants, Peter DeMarco, launched a very person attack against us and our blog.  He was upset apparently about an online survey we ran awhile ago where our readers decided that Nguyen was the most corrupt OC Supervisor.  Well Peter congratulations we already thought Nguyen was hopelessly corrupt now we are endorsing Solorio.  He is a moderate Democrat and has at times voted for bills we didn’t like but he is honest and ethical while the record shows that Nguyen has earned her status as the Queen of OC political corruption.

Orange County Races:

Orange County Assessor Election:

OC Politics Blog Endorsement: Claude Parrish

Other Candidate: Webster Guillory

Editor’s Note: The OCDA has charged Guillory with turning in fraudulent nomination papers.

Voter Resources:

Orange County Voter Registrar Smart Voter, by the League of Women Voters Project Vote Smart