When Santa Ana Ward 5 City Councilman Roman Reyna first ran for the Santa Ana City Council, way back in 2004, he was thoroughly spanked by City Council Member Claudia Alvarez, whose ballot title included “Deputy D.A.”
Alvarez trounced Reyna in that election by almost sixteen thousand votes, according to Smart Voter.
Now Reyna is once more staring down the barrel of a gun as a law enforcement officer with 26 years experience at the O.C. Sheriff’s Department, Juan Villegas, is running against him in the upcoming November Primary Election. Will Villegas’s title result in another lopsided loss for Reyna?
Reyna’s only hope is the city’s small population of FTP (F*ck the Police) and pro-gang activists. But there were not enough of them in 2004 to make a difference and I truly doubt that they will be able to save Reyna this time either.
The reality is that most of the families in Santa Ana hate the gangs that infest our city and endanger the public with their endless gun violence. Why would Santa Ana’s moms and dads vote for Reyna when he is very clearly the most pro-gang City Council Member? He even voted against hiring more cops when our police department is badly undermanned.
Reyna may well have painted himself into a corner by allying with the lowest common denominators in our city.
The irony for Reyna is that he helped to place a measure on the November ballot to give the City Council members a raise. I doubt it will pass but even if it does he won’t be there to enjoy it. Even worse for Reyna a loss means that he will have to get a real job. Good luck with that. He didn’t finish high school or go to college. How many jobs is he even qualified to do? He might be the first washed up politician in our city to end up on welfare.
Dear Editor,
I’ve known Roman Reyna for years! I actually met him while I was employed by the City’s Parks and Rec department (prior to all the cutbacks). I’ve worked with him, even did some partying with him.
As a person, he’s actually a pretty chill guy, but I too can’t stand his political views. I read some of these articles you post, and I both laugh and cringe. I feel bad for him, but at the same time he leaves himself open to these attacks. I’ll be the first to admit that I did vote for him in 04 (mind you I knew him, and I was only 19) but I haven’t voted for him since (that includes this tenure as a school board member).
I still have a ton of respect for him as a person, but I can not support his political views. As a current member of the L.E. community, the fact that he has voted against the hiring of more police shocked me! I agree with you when you say that SAPD is understaffed, but what can they do? 20-30 years ago, they hired a bunch of cops, when the requirements were a lot less strict, and the academy was about 2-3 months. Now, it takes about 2-2 1/2 years to hire and train one officer!
Another person I wish you would expose a little more is Michelle Martinez. She’s one person who’ve I’ve never voted for. Even when she ran uncontested last time, I left that part of my ballot blank. She’s another pro-gang counsel member. Isn’t her brother currently doing some time?
Anyways, back to Reyna, I almost feel bad for the guy after these attacks, but when he let’s himself have photos taken with documented gang members and they refer to him as a “old homie from the hood”, what does he expect? Now a days, people need to realize that the internet doesn’t forget.
Keep it up Art! Just wish you’d put more positive stories out there so people can see that Santa Ana is an amazing and beautiful city.
Thanks! You know I do post a lot of good news stories, here and on my blog’s Facebook page, but folks only seem to focus on the crime stories. See the Heirarchy of Basic Needs.