Sun. Nov 24th, 2024

St. Barbara’s Catholic Church, in Santa Ana, has been caught promoting the political campaign of Ken Nguyen, a Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Commissioner, who is running for the Orange County Board of Education, in Area One, which includes the City of Santa Ana.

Repeated phone calls have been made to the church officials and to the Orange County Catholic Dioscese, but to date the signs are still all over the church’s property.  This is illegal and puts the church at risk of losing their tax exempt status, according to the IRS:

The Prohibition on Political Campaign Intervention

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.  The prohibition applies to all campaigns including campaigns at the federal, state and local level.  Violation of this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.  Those section 501(c)(3) organizations that are private foundations are subject to additional restrictions that are not described in this fact sheet.

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Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

By Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

9 thoughts on “Santa Ana Church caught promoting Nguyen’s O.C. Board of Education campaign”
  1. Pedroza if those were your signs you wouldn’t say a thing. Then again if they were your signs I would have pulled my truck over and ripped them out just like I used to rip the tan nguyen signs out.

    1. I have never placed campaign signs on church property.

      That said, if I ever catch you destroying legally placed signs I will be very happy to call the SAPD.

  2. Do you think signs really have any impact on election results? I know candidates and their supporters like to see them but I wonder if it’s worth it?

    1. I don’t think Elizondo has put up signs, though I could be wrong. Hammond signs are all over the place, but at least he has had the sense not to jeopardize the tax exempt status of any churches…

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