Santa Ana 2016 General Election Voter Guide

The absentee ballots were sent to Santa Ana voters this week. So now it is time to vote! This is an important local election as the City Council majority is at stake. Our current City Council majority is trying to fool the voters into giving them a 700% raise via Measure PP. Needless to say we oppose Measure PP. If anything our City Council deserves less of our tax money, not more. Vote No on Measure PP!

Santa Ana City Council Election:

Ward 1 – Vince Sarmiento has accomplished nothing as a longtime City Councilman. He voted to fire our former SAPD Police Chief and City Manager Paul Walters. He voted to overpay our City Manager, David Cavazos. He voted to give bonuses to Cavazos and raises and bonuses to Cavazos’ top cronies at City Hall. He also praised Measure PP and voted to put it on the ballot. And, as we revealed yesterday, his law practice appears to be a sham. His real income seems to be derived from shady nightclubs that contribute to crime in our city. We urge voters to vote for Jessica Cha, one of only two women running for the Santa Ana City Council this year. Cha is a family law attorney who unlike Sarmiento actually does practice law, at an office in DTSA. She has the support of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association (SAPOA). Cha says she will vote to hire more police – and she will be tough on crime while Sarmiento is fostering crime in our city. Vote for Jessica Cha for Ward 1!

Ward 3 – A very crowded field of candidates is running for Santa Ana’s Ward 3, which is being vacated by one-term accidental City Councilwoman Angie Amezcua. You might recall that she spent nothing on her campaign four years ago and did not campaign but she won in a crowded field of male candidates, perhaps because of her ballot title, “school teacher” and voter familiarity with her last name. There is a woman running against a pile of male candidates for Ward 3 again this year, Ana Urzua Alacraz, but she is against hiring more police and while her ideas sound good, such as providing more housing for the poor, she has not explained how she will pay for all of this largess. We are already overtaxed! Several of the other candidates did not buy ballot statements or are not accepting campaign donations, which means do not have a legitimate chance of winning this year. If you are a Republican you should know that the OC GOP has endorsed Santa Ana Neighborhood Hero Josh Mauras for Ward 3. He is out there walking precincts every day. Patrick D. “Mr Patrick” Yrarrazaval-Correa is a counselor at a Santa Ana public school. He is out there walking precincts every day too. While he is a fringe candidate he has performed well at the Santa Ana City Council Candidates forums. He is also a former Santa Ana Planning Commissioner. One candidate we absolutely oppose is David De Leon. He is a known ally of current City Council Members David Benavides and Roman Reyna, who have consistently voted to make Santa Ana less safe. The only Ward 3 candidate to be endorsed by the Santa Ana Police Officers Association is former City Councilman and State Assemblyman Jose Solorio. He is also the only candidate who is demanding that the SAPD publish their crime logs so residents can see exactly what is happening in our city. Solorio has our support. Vote for Jose Solorio for Ward 3.

Ward 5 – The only Santa Ana City Councilman to vote AGAINST hiring more police this year is Ward 5 City Councilman Roman Reyna, a high school dropout who is the reason for Measure PP, as Reyna has not been able to hold a job outside of his part time work at City Hall. When Reyna ran for Mayor a couple years ago he posed with alleged members of the Mexican Mafia in a picture that cost him the election. He is also the laziest member of the City Council – known for not reading the materials prepared by City Staff for every City Council meeting. Fortunately Reyna has drawn a challenger this year – Juan Villegas, who has worked in law enforcement for over 25 years as a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Villegas is also a noted public speaker and author and he has volunteered for the OC Bar Foundation’s Project Shortstop for years – working to help troubled youth get their lives back in order. Vote for Juan Villegas for Ward 5!

Mayor of Santa Ana – Yes it is true that Santa Ana’s longtime Mayor, Miguel Pulido, has been in office for many years. It is also true that his challenger this year, Benjamin Vazquez, is an outrageous liberal who has said he will vote to hire less police – in a city awash with over 800 crimes a week. Pulido, on the other hand, has consistently pushed to hire more police. Fighting crime is the top issue in Santa Ana. That is why the Santa Ana Police Officers Association has endorsed Pulido. And it is for that reason we are endorsing Pulido yet again. And we will keep on doing so as long as he keeps drawing awful opponents. Vote for Miguel Pulido for Mayor of Santa Ana!

Santa Ana School Board Election:

There are three seats open on the Santa Ana (SAUSD) School Board this November. There are quite a few candidates running for this board. There are two groups of liberal candidates on the ballot. One group of liberals is supported by the Santa Ana Educators’ Association (the teachers’ union) and the other group of liberals is backed by SAUSD Trustees John Palacio and Valerie Amezcua.

The teacher’s slate includes Mark McLoughlin, Dr. Rigo Rodriguez (a teacher at CS Long Beach), and Dr. Alfonso Alvarez (a school counselor). Of the three we absolutely oppose McLoughlin, who has vigorously opposed finishing the Santiago Creek bike trail. He also got busted this year for trying to use the ballot designation of “teacher.” A judge forced McLoughlin to change his ballot designation. We like Rigo the best of the three. He sounded very reasonable at this year’s candidate forums – but he still agreed with all of the other liberal challengers. At times they all seemed like lemmings.

Palacio and Amezcua are backing SAUSD School Board candidates Bruce Bauer and Beatriz Mendoza. They are both Santa Ana Planning Commissioners. We like them both but have been disappointed to hear them agree with the teacher-backed candidates at every debate – taking ultra-liberal positions we disagree with. That said the teachers should have backed one of them instead of the atrocious McLoughlin!

Only one incumbent SAUSD Trustee is on the ballot – working mom Cecilia Iglesias, who represents a State Senator here in Orange County. The teachers hate her and her friend Angie Cano, who is also on the ballot. Why? Because Iglesias and Cano support school choice. Ironically most of the public school teachers we know in Santa Ana send their own kids either to parochial or charter schools – but they don’t want us to do the same. Both Iglesias and Cano have also made school safety a top issue in their campaigns while all of the other candidates support the highly questionable restorative justice scheme favored by Valerie Amezcua – whose father Alfredo Amezcua is a criminal defense attorney who makes a living defending the worst gangbangers and drug dealers in our city. For these reasons we are endorsing both Iglesias and Cano. Vote for Cecilia Iglesias and Angie Cano for the SAUSD School Board!

UPDATE – As we can vote for three SAUSD School Board candidates I also opted to vote for Bruce Bauer. I have worked with him for years to improve the bike trails in Santa Ana. He is more liberal than I am but he is more moderate than the other Democrats running for the School Board this year.

Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Education Election

Area 1 – Santa Ana City Commissioner Matthew Schauer has our endorsement. Please do not vote for career political hack Zeke Hernandez!

Area 3 – Please do not vote for the incumbent, Nelida Mendoza Yanez. She is part of the RSCCD Board majority that has blown millions of dollars on construction cost overruns and wasteful travel spending. She also supported the ridiculous RSCCD consulting program in Syria – a country that persecutes and mistreats women and minorities. There are two challengers for this seat – Thomas Gordon and Tony Tapia. Take your pick. Either one would be preferable to Mendoza Yanez.

Area 5 – Please do not vote for the incumbent, Claudia Alvarez. Like Mendoza Yanez she took part in blowing millions of dollars in construction cost overruns and she supports the district’s money-wasting venture in Saudi Arabia. Alvarez has two challengers. Steven Nguyen is a member of the OC GOP Central Committee and has been endorsed by the OC GOP. Cecilia Aguinaga has a long history of advocating for students in the area and is a former employee of the SAUSD. Vote for either one and you will be doing us all a big favor.

69th Assembly District – We have long despised incumbent Assemblyman Tom Daly who as a former Mayor of Anaheim was consistently anti-Latino. He is also known to be a huge pimp for Anaheim’s resort district – primarily the Disney company. We support his challenger in this year’s election, Ofelia Velarde-Garcia.

First Supervisorial District – The incumbent, Supervisor Andrew Do, is opposed by many of his fellow Republicans, including his former boss Janet Nguyen. He was once her bag man – and if he ever testifies as to what she asked him to do they might both end up in jail. We support his opponent, Santa Ana City Councilwoman Michele Martinez. She is the only Council Member who takes the time to study before each City Council meeting. She has come a long way – and we prefer having a County Supervisor from Santa Ana as Do seems to favor Little Saigon instead.

State Ballot Measures:

Proposition 51 – NO – School bonds
Proposition 52 – NO – State fees on hospitals
Proposition 53 – YES – Voting on revenue bonds
Proposition 54 – YES – Legislative transparency
Proposition 55 – NO – Income tax hike extension
Proposition 56 – NO – Cigarette tax increase
Proposition 57 – YES – Parole for non-violent felons
Proposition 58 – NO – Changes in bilingual education methods
Proposition 59 – No Position – Advisory vote on Citizens United repeal
Proposition 60 – NO – Condoms required for adult film actors
Proposition 61 – NO – State prescription drug purchases
Proposition 62 – YES – End the Death Penalty in California
Proposition 63 – NO – Extensive new gun control measures
Proposition 64 – NO – Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA)
Proposition 65 – NO – Directs grocery bag money to wildlife fund
Proposition 66 – NO – Makes death penalty easier
Proposition 67 – NO – Grocery stores can’t provide plastic bags (referendum)