Alfonso Alvarez, a two-term member of the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education, was arrested by the SAPD for drunk driving this past Saturday, July 29, according to the OC Independent.
The downfall of Alvarez began at 8:00 p.m. near the intersection of Grand Street and Edinger Avenue in Santa Ana, according to the SAPD.
The SAPD had responded to a call from an individual asking them to come to the scene of an auto accident. Their vehicle had been struck by a driver who appeared to be intoxicated.
The SAPD sent a patrol car and their DUI unit to the accident scene. They then figured out that the intoxicated driver was Alvarez.
Alvarez was first elected in 2016 to the SAUSD Board of Education. His politics are very much left of center.
Alvarez apparently admitted to the police officers that he was at fault. He was then arrested and taken to the Santa Ana Jail for booking.
How did Alvarez get so wasted? It turns out that earlier in the day, Alvarez went on a “Mystery Bus” trip organized by the Santa Ana Elks Lodge, in which Santa Ana Lodge members embarked on a tour of the Elk Lodges in the Inland Empire. Apparently the bus they rode was a “wet bus” and drinks were offered to the bus riders while they drove to each Elks Lodge.
What goes on at these lodges? Well they each have a full bar…
Santa Ana City Councilman recently called out the SAUSD for paying for Alvarez’s Elks Lodge membership at a time when they cannot even pay for sufficient crossing guards.
Alvarez has been a member of the Santa Ana Elks Lodge for 13 years. But the SAUSD has been paying his lodge dues since the spring of 2022, contending Alvarez is serving as the school district’s “official representative” to the lodge.
Why exactly would a school district need a representative at the Elks Lodge?
Alvarez has has also worked for the County of Orange’s Social Services Agency since 2001. He is currently a senior social services supervisor, as well as a union steward for the Orange County Employee Association.
If the person that Alvarez crashed into sues him you can bet they will sue the SAUSD and the Santa Ana Elks Lodge too. This will be an expensive mess.
At this point Alvarez should resign from his seat on the SAUSD School Board ASAP.
