Can’t let a rainy day go by without a new edition of Santa Ana Political Chismes, can we? Church doesn’t start for another hour, so here goes…
- The Voice of OC recently reported that “As the Santa Ana City Council goes about choosing a new city manager and city attorney — two decisions that will affect the city for years to come — it has become increasingly clear that Mayor Miguel Pulido is not controlling the process.” Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido has lost control of the Santa Ana City Council, however as it turns out he has actually regained control – in his usual fashion. He has a solid troika, with Councilmen David Benavides and Carlos Bustamante – and now he can add a fourth vote pretty easily. What changed? Well, Sarmiento is getting cold feet about running for the Assembly. One of the other Council Members is going to run for Solorio’s seat – who exactly is not yet known. What we do know however is that they will have to play ball with Pulido in order to get the support they will need to proceed to Sacramento.
- Pulido showed who was in control when he was able to stall the City’s search for a new City Manager. The other Council Members didn’t like it but his argument made some sense – the city is broke, why not roll with Walters for now? Pulido got his four votes from what I hear.
- I am also hearing that the Santa Ana City Council is in the final stages of negotiations with the Latina who is a public school district General Counsel, who has applied to be the next City Attorney. I hear that she absolutely kicked the tail of the Filipino lawyer from Los Angeles, who in his interviews came off as just another politician. The Latina knows her stuff and showed it in her interviews. The other guy was nowhere near as good.
- The O.C. Register’s watchdog ripped Pulido for missing a few meetings of the OC Great Park, but I liked that Irvine Councilwoman Beth Krom, who chairs the board of the Great Park, supported him, noting that he works very hard behind the scenes to support the Great Park. That is true. He can pick up the phone and call U.S. Senators, California Governor Jerry Brown, etc. and get through every time. I have no doubt that he has been instrumental in getting funding for the Great Park.
- Well, Santa Ana’s NIMBY’s cost ua a Buffalo Wild Wings, but the O.C. Register is reporting that a Wingstop is opening in Santa Ana next week. They already have a website up at this link. They are opening up at 2801 W. MacArthur Blvd., Suite C, at the corner of MacArthur and Fairview in The South Coast Marketplace. Wingstop offers premium wings in nine flavors. Can’t wait!
- The next Santa Ana City Council meeting is this Monday, at 6pm. I hear it is going to be a doozy. Click here to read the agenda, which notes that the PBID realignment is up for a vote (they pulled in its boundaries); a CUP for Karmina Restaurant; and a CUP for the gay bar, Velvet Lounge.
- In the agenda for Monday’s meeting note that Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez is really going after the PBID and Downtown Inc. The rest of the Council though appears to be in support of the PBID modifications.
good for him. Looking forward to Monday night.
Obviously, I was right and you were wrong about the new City Manager. It was clear from the beginning that Walters will be the permanent Manager and Chief of Police.
For your information Pulido did not regain any power!
Pulido is Walters puppet. Same as legendary John Edgar Hoover, Walters has file on every council member and Pulido and recently shown Pulido what is in it on him, and trojka.
Pulido must do what Walters orders.
Now pay attention again Zorro what I will say.
There is a third antagonist along with Walter and Pulido in this narrative who will spill the beans to become a protagonist.
Not so sure of that Stanley. Pulido and Walters have always had a good relationship, but Pulido is the boss, as far as pecking orders go.
It will be interesting though to see what becomes of the prognostication in your final sentence…
The good relationship or good politics?
Go to the very beginning of Carona’s scandal and see who spill the beans and [why]. Wasn’t it the best friend of Carona?
That may give you a clue.
“but Pulido is the boss”
Walters is a sworn officer of the law.
If as manager he find illegal activity in the council, he would not have a choice, his law enforcement oath comes first.
cook,
No one is arguing otherwise. There is nothing illegal going on in our Council so you have nothing to worry about.
Cook,
Have you fell from your tricycle without waring the helmet again?
Carona was a sworn officer of the law too!
So what!
Is this what you mean Fiala?
That is it.
Walters and Pulido are making so much money through extorting the medical marijuana dispensaries in Santa Ana 🙁
Easy,
That seems a bit far-fetched. How exactly did you come to this conclusion?
Art,
There are about 60 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in the City of Santa Ana. They are not allowed to conduct business without a business permit/license, obviously. Well, since there are operating without any permission through the city, they are fined excessive amounts of penalties and assessments every month.
I have spoken with many Marijuana Dispensary owners. Over a dozen of them have announced that in addition to the monthly fees they pay for operating an unlawful business,they are obliged to make an additional pledge/donation to the Santa Ana Police Department and The Santa Ana Fire Department of $1000 respectively.
The large number of Medical Marijuana dispensaries in Santa Ana is no coincidence. In Comparison to it’s surrounding cities, Santa Ana has about 40% more Store Front Marijuana Dispenaries.
Many of these dispensaries are within a few hundred feet of many public schools in all levels.
Well we know that in 1995 Chief Walters was freebasing cocaine in the SAPD lab allegedly to protect children against accidental poisoning during his cocaine sting operations.
He correctly believed that a pure cocaine is harmless.
Fiala,
Were you freebasing coke when you wrote that?
FYI, information cocaine is not hallucinatory.
As to factuality of my comment you should ask Chief/Manager and Santa Ana strong man Paul Walters directly.
Tell him Stanislav Fiala sent you.
Any explanation why Pulido or Walter will not take action on the problems Commander Ken Gominsky and Detective Michael Gibbon addressed?
check your email for original
Chief Paul M. Walters
Santa Ana Police Make Crack to Use in Busts
November 1994
The Santa Ana, California Police Department is defending its practice of manufacturing crack cocaine in police labs for use in drug sting operations, a practice that until recently has been kept a secret (Lee Romney and Kevin Johnson, “Police Crime Lab Making Cocaine for Drug Busts,” Los Angeles Times, Oct. 21, 1994, p. 1).
Defense attorneys in Orange County are attempting to stop these operations, which they and other law enforcement experts say are dangerous. Police are using the manufactured crack in “reverse sting” operations in which officers pose as drug dealers and arrest those that purchase drugs from them. The display of drugs by undercover police officers is a common tactic in reverse stings. However, departments rarely manufacture the drugs and introduce them into communities. Reverse stings typically use drugs seized in raids.
A similar operation was halted in Broward County, Florida after the state Supreme Court upheld a ruling that found the reverse stings there illegal. Hundreds of cases were reversed. “It is incredible that law enforcement’s manufacture of an inherently dangerous controlled substance, like crack cocaine, can ever be for the public’s safety,” the court said.
Santa Ana police take cocaine that has been seized in busts and cook it into crack cocaine. Lab technicians add a coating that rubs off on the skin of any person who touches the drug. That coating shows up only under a black light and helps police nab suspects who drop or swallow the drug.
Over the course of the operation, police have arrested about 350 people, a large portion of those within a few blocks of Willard Intermediate School in Santa Ana. “We’re not playing games here,” Police Chief Paul M. Walters said. “We’re trying to give the streets back to the residents and we’re making progress.”
Public Defender Dean Allen said that he knows of two juveniles who were arrested in the stings. “If they want to keep kinds away from drugs, I think there are probably a lot of better ways to do it than just to sell them the drugs,” he said.
Some police officials agree, and warn that the practice can be dangerous. “I’d hate to be the department that permits this to happen, and it turns out that somebody overdoses or has a heart attack,” said Gerald Arenberg, executive director of the National Association of Chiefs of Police in Washington, DC.
According to Santa Ana police officials, no one has been injured in the sting operations, but some buyers have taken the drugs before they were arrested.
NDSN’s newsletter NewsBriefs is no longer in print. However, hard copies of past issues of NewsBriefs are available by contacting the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, which oversees NDSN.
Also, please contact the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation for information about drug control policies.
Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-3914
ndsn@ndsn.org
Tel: (202) 312-2015
Fax: (202) 842-2620
I remember that,
Good Cook,
Apparently your tricycle concussion was not too serious and you are back to normal.
Even able to recover your long term memory.
On the other hand Zorro is in deep comatose state.
Coma can be comfortable.
Jerry Brown and Miguel Pulido are no longer friends. The governor had distanced himself from Pulido when he was given a three inch binder filled with Pulido alleged wrongdoings.
I’m afraid our Mayor has become a joke.
I am glad to hear the Latina Lawyer is still being considered for the City Attorney job.
If Claudia Alvarez goes to the Mainplace/Westfields Mall she can kill two birds with one stone. Get a makeover at the MAC counter and shop for shoes at Nordstroms.