Longtime Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream has at long last decided to retire, according to the O.C. Register. He will remain as a consultant through May – and make another $25K in the process, but then he will be, at last, gone – without a severance check.
Ream told the Register that his “proudest achievements included the redevelopment of Fashion Square into MainPlace Mall, the construction of more than a dozen public schools, the creation of a network of neighborhood associations to foster communication between residents and city departments, the building of a new police facility and the continuing Bristol Street widening.”
I wonder if the current City Council majority will continue to fund the neighborhood associations, given the red ink at city hall?
What else has Ream accomplished over the years? His “accomplishments” include:
- Medians along 17th St. that we did not want and did not need. These medians will keep costing our city, and our taxpayers, a fortune, in perpetuity, to maintain. However, they do serve as a moat for the folks who live in Floral Park, so I guess there is an upside for them.
- A widened Bristol St. that primarily serves Mater Dei High School. It is not done yet. It may not be done in Ream’s lifetime. A whole lot of money has been spent here. Most definitely questionable!
- The Artists Village. Ream, along with the City Council and Mayor Miguel Pulido, made this happen. It has worked to a great extent, to change our downtown, but now many of the artists are feeling the squeeze. This chapter is far from over.
- A very nice city yard – that cost a bundle. Some say the costs for this yard were buried in our public works budget.
- New developments that focused on fairly high-cost townhomes, lofts and towers, such as the CityPlace and the Santiago Lofts.
- A nice soccer complex at Centennial Park.
- Repaved streets – but that too took awhile.
- The highest water prices in Orange County.
- We kept the U.S. Court of Appeals.
- We lost a lot of big retailers to other nearby cities.
Our City Council majority surely needs to get a lot of credit for moving Ream along – as well as most of his crew. The only one left is Jill Arthur.
I am hoping that our Public Works Director, Raoul Godinez, will be tabbed to replace Ream. Godinez worked for Jerry Brown, in Oakland. He brings a lot of experience as both a former elected official and a city administrator to the table.
The Liberal OC blog reported tonight that Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante “has volunteered to put together a ”Roast” to recognize Ream’s 32 years of service to Santa Ana.” If that comes to pass we will be sure to pass that information along to our readers.
is there something going on in city hall that we’re not aware of? Why is everyone jumping ship? Is there a scandal brewing or is this just coincidence? Anyone know the story?
curious,
There has been a lot of talk about how Ream’s associates were spending money without Council approval. I also heard that Ream quit when the Council majority told him they were going to take over the city budget and he would have nothing left to do…
I believe Police Chief Paul Walters will assume Ream’s position. I’ve heard this from several high-ranking public officials. I think this would be a BIG mistake for the citizens of Santa Ana, but great news to the rank and file at the SAPD. He’s washed up.
32 years of ripping off the city…not to mention he lives in coto de caza in a million dollar home making over 200 thousand a year on our tax money ..hes the city manager but why dont you live here?? your dam write im happy to see him go hes a crook plain and simple
I bet a few of these people leaving the cities payroll will resurface at those real-estate companies that were given millions of dollars of real property for nothing.
And after many months, not a single project has started.
Another failure of term limits. Fresh blood amateurs, never see the scam coming.
Stop getting down on this guy! Of course he is not perfect, but he took the job when Santa Ana was at its lowest. He signed up for a hard job at the outset. He really cared and tried to make it better. The truth is, he is just ready for retirement. There was no “force out”. His heart and soul were for the betterment of the city whether you agree what came of it or not. He DID make a difference. The city is much better off because of his efforts. Do any of you remember how it was in the 80’s?? It is BETTER. Walters and Godinez are good guys, but they are not City Management material – city management requires a lot of accounting and public adminstration education and experience – to think otherwise is naive. There is no “jumping ship”. The state budget has wreaked havoc on local governments, and people are just electing to retire than face something worse. You would do the same. The council cannot take over the budget. They are elected officials and not accountants. Just stop the ridiculous rumors and innuendo. It is childish at best, and malignant gossip at worse.
ocgrrl,
Ream did do some good things, but you did not address the points I raised in my post. He failed many, many times and we will be stuck with the outcome of those failures for a long time.
BTW, there was no gossip in my post. The Council majority DID take away his budget oversight. That was why he finally left.
It is time for change at our City Hall, at long last.
It’s so funny. I go around town, and I hear the white folks acting like the hispanic council is corrupt. I hear that hispanic folks talk like the “Reamers are corrupt.” I think in all likely hood, both camps have operated a city with little public over sight until recently. That’s probably why there is so much havoc going on. Thank you, all of the O.C. internet media sources for keeping us posted.