We have been looking this week at the publicly posted official calendars of our City Council Members, for the month of June, 2013. So far we have determined that Council Members David Benavides and Angie Amezcua are barely present in their own Wards, while Council Member Michele Martinez is staying pretty active in her own Ward. And we were disappointed by Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero, who was only active on ten days in June, and by Roman Reyna, who was totally absent from his Ward in June. Now we turn to the calendar of Council Member Vincent Sarmiento, who represents Ward 1.
- On June 1, Sarmiento was at the SA Health & Fitness Fair, at Rosita Park, which lies on the boarder of Wards 3 and 5.
- On June 3, he was at the Triada Court at The Station District Grand Opening, in Ward 2.
- On June 4 he met with former Councilman Mike Garcia, who is some sort of consultant now, and a guy named Jon Reiser.
- On June 10, Sarmiento was at the Thelma Melendez Retirement Celebration, at Santa Ana High School, which is in Ward 5.
- On June 11, he was at the Alcohol & Entertainment Ordinance meeting where Benavides and Reyna were trying to figure out how to open more bars in Santa Ana.
- He also met with the So. SA Merchants’ Association on June 11. They do operate in Sarmiento’s ward.
- On June 13, he was at the El Sol Science and Arts Academy Groundbreaking Celebration, in Ward 2.
- On June 19, he was at Mayor Miguel Pulido’s State of the City address at the Bowers Museum, in Ward 3.
- On June 20, he met with Jose Solorio, a former Councilman and former Assemblyman, and Judy and Jay Ware, who operate a trash company.
- On June 25, he spoke with uber-developer Mike Harrah, of Caribou Industries.
- On June 26, he spoke with Jackie Barba, of the SA West & JV Basketball League and then he spoke to Jesus Nieto, of the ousted Pacific Baseball League on the same day.
- On June 27, he met with the Sandpointe Neighb. Assoc. Members, who are in his Ward.
- On June 28, he went to a “Senate Breakfast.” No details were provided.
- On June 30, he was at the 4th of July event at Centennial Park, in Ward 6.
So what is the verdict? Sarmiento is not very present in his own Ward but he is pretty darn active compared to several of his colleagues. And so far Sarmiento is the ONLY Council Member to attend a neighborhood association meeting, or meet with their members at any rate, of those whose calendars we have reviewed. But you have to wonder when this guy finds time to be a lawyer? He was active on 19 days in June, which means he was twice as busy as Reyna and Amezcua.
