Miguel Pulido, mayor of Santa Ana for the past 20 years, this week moved a step closer to ending speculation about his political future when he picked up the paperwork to run for another term, according to city records, according to the Voice of OC.
I verified this by requesting a list of candidates who have pulled papers, from City Clerk Maria Huizar.
State Senator Lou Correa has been hotly rumored to be running but he has not yet filed any papers with Huizar.
Santa Ana Councilman Roman Reyna, who has only been on the Council since 2012 and previously served only one term on the SAUSD School board, has also pulled papers to run for Mayor.
Somebody named Mark I. Lopez also pulled papers to run for Mayor. I have never heard of him but I did find an online record for a Mark Inez Lopez, age 46, in Santa Ana.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and Fair Political Practices Commission launched investigations following a Voice of OC investigative report on a series of transactions, which ethics experts have said could be a bribery scheme. Meanwhile, Pulido has started a legal defense fund and hired prominent criminal defense attorney Al Stokke, according to several sources, according to the Voice of OC.
Pulido will be tough to beat if he can put the investigation behind him. His only serious opponent would be Correa, if he runs. Reyna would have no chance of victory and would likely lose badly as did Councilman David Benavides last year and Alfredo Amezcua two years before that.
Roman Reyna had fewer than 30 people attend his recent fundraiser at Bistro 400. Some of hem were children. I am told the total “take” as less than $1,000. !
Benavides looked nice, Amezcua looked pregnant and the rest of the group looked scrappy.
I listened as the bartender moaned about what was promised to be a “big night” but was a F-L-O-P. As far as the bar goes, maybe Phil and C****** couldn’t make it or Roman’s supporters are just BAD tippers.
Code enforcement should cruise the Riverview neighborhood. I am certain Roman’s falling down banner is a violation, in addition to being an outright embarrassment to the city. The house has sheets for curtains and a blue TARP on the roof. How Santa Ana is that?
Wow. Mirna Velasquez had a great fundraiser tonight and raked in quite a few donations. And there were no scrappy people there!
I like that place she had the fundraiser. God food, GREAT staff. I wish I could have gone!
Looks like the crook mayor pulido is running again hopefully the city will realize he’s a crook and not vote for him he’s garbage in my eyes….and can’t forget his phony defense fund to help escape his charges the state has against him…and it’s in the hundreds of thousands of dollars….
Everyone has a right to a defense. That isn’t escaping charges. Now when Alfredo Amezcua resigned from the Rancho College Board because he got caught running for a district he didn’t live in THAT was escaping charges…
Almost sounds like ream when he lived in coto and was city manger here in Santa Ana but he wouldn’t reside here in the city
Wonder why ?
Even worse Ream was paid to live here and he did one year then he got the heck out of town and moved to Coto.
The worst part is that the current City Council gave our current overpaid city manager, Cavazos, the same evergreen contract that Ream had. So in essence they cannot fire him. Idiots.