Santa Ana Councilman Roman Reyna, looking to unseat ten-term Mayor Miguel Pulido in the November election, will kick off his mayoral campaign Saturday pledging to stamp out “backroom deals” and increase City Hall transparency, according to the Voice of OC.
Reyna’s fundraiser features most, but not all, of his Council colleagues and will be held at Original Mike’s, at 100 South Main St., in Santa Ana, at 11 am today, Saturday, June 7. Be careful. Original Mike’s received three health violations in April, including “Lack of/Unsanitary/Condition Walls/Floors/Ceilings.” And they received six health violations in March, including “Evidence of Vermin Activity/Presence of Animals/Insects.” Yum!
He is holding the fundraiser on Garage Sale weekend so most of his supporters likely won’t be there.
Reyna is running against Pulido because he is halfway through his first Council term and can lose in November while retaining his Council seat. If Pulido opts not to run in November you can expect a stampede of candidates to file for the seat.
Reyna’s Facebook page mentions that he went to Santa Ana High School but there is no record of any college degree. He has worked at the Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Agency, the Santa Ana Boys and Girls Club and the Santa Ana YMCA. How any of that qualifies Reyna to be our Mayor is a very good question but should we need someone to organize a volleyball game we can go to Reyna in full confidence.
Reyna’s city bio says he is a Case Manager at the Orange County Department of Education but that was a temp job that he has not held now for some time. The Voice of OC reports that he is an outreach specialist for the Orange-based mental health services organization The Wellness Center.
Since Reyna became a Councilman he and his friends voted to get rid of the SAPD’s strike force and crime has shot up all over the city with gang shootings in particular becoming an epidemic. Santa Ana continues to be one of the only large cities in Orange County that does not publish their police logs. Both Anaheim and Irvine do as does the OC Sheriff. So much for transparency in Santa Ana!
Reyna voted to fire our former City Manager, Paul Walters, who was also our Chief of Police. He then voted to overpay the new City Manager who has convinced the City Council to put a measure on the November ballot to increase our cell phone taxes. Reyna and his colleagues also want us to give them a raise. That they would do this in an election year is simply amazing.
And Reyna has had nothing to say about Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra, who was appointed by Reyna’s friend and colleague Councilman David Benavides. Bacerra has refused to turn in disclosure forms about who he is talking to about city developments. All of the other Planning Commissioners are turning this in. Transparency fail!
Look for a repeat of the Benavidez campaign with the same mailers and the same exact campaign contributor. Yes, one contributor. Expect the same result too. Why can’t Lou Correa run. Yes, he’s not had a real job in many years, but he’d be a much better replacement.
At least I really live in Santana unlike Vince Sarmiento.
The event was as poorly attended as predicted, filled with the same crowd: John Palacios, Benavides girlfriend Marlene Guzman was GUSHING about how Roman was her “mentor” (How old is this chick?, talk about robbing the cradle Pablo). Who I didn’t see was Art “Papicito” Lomeli who is rumored to be chewing the worm of a tequilia bottle in Rosarito, and Gang Lawyer Alfredo Amezcua, the laters daughter Valerie was there, I think based on the empty trays of food left in her wake.
One akward thing were the diners there for a saturday brunch interminged in with the Reyna supporters, apparently, he didn’t have the cash to rent/reserve the patio, so if a little league team wanted to have it’s team party there, they would have competed for space! It was weird, because the poor waitresses were hustling to make a buck.
I want tp try and give Roman a wide berth, but, he has fallen victim to the BS spewed by his benchmates. I wish he would take a good look at who he wants to be.
Has anyone donated to the pulido criminal fund every penny counts