New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: board of education

Alvarez to run against Chapel and McLoughlin for the Rancho Board’s Area 5

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Claudia Alvarez, Dave Chapel, Democratic Party, Mark McLoughlin, Santa Ana 23 Comments

As I have been predicting for some time, Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez is running for the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Area 5, which includes (as per the OC Political blog):

Fountain Valley north of Edinger Avenue
Garden Grove south of Garden Grove Boulevard between Harbor Boulevard and Euclid Street
Santa Ana north of 17th Street and west of Santiago Street
Santa Ana between Euclid Street and the Santa Ana River
Santa Ana north of Civic Center Drive between Bristol Street and Flower Street

McLoughlin and Chapel are of course toast. Area 5’s voters break down like this – 33% are Latino, 27% are Asian and presumably the balance are white (41%.) But Chapel and McLoughlin are going to split the white vote. That should put Alvarez in the catbird seat. Continue reading→

Floral Park neighbors battle over RSCCD’s Area 5

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Dave Chapel, Democratic Party, Education, Ken Nguyen, Mark McLoughlin, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Pictured: Rob Richardson, Mark McLoughlin, Carlos Bustamante and David Benavides

Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustees Mark McLoughlin and Dave Chapel both live in Santa Ana’s upscale Floral Park neighborhood and now, thanks to redistricting, they have to run against each other, in November, for the new Area 5. One of them will lose and face the end of his political career.

Chapel complained about the redistricting in an email that the OC Weekly got a hold of. But he could not stop progress. The neat thing about the redistricting is that the Rancho elections are now area-specific. Continue reading→

Solorio to run for the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s B.O.E.

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Democratic Party, Education, Elections, Jose Solorio, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Assemblyman Jose Solorio chose not to run against Supervisor Janet Nguyen in November, but he announced this afternoon, via email, that he is running for Area One of the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Education.

Solorio’s wife is a public school teacher, I believe at Santa Ana’s Valley High School. This would seem to be a good fit for him but it is a part-time job. He has not yet announced what his other employment plans will be.

One hangup for Solorio is that he voted in the past year to de-fund the County of Orange to the tune of about fifty million per year. He was promised by Assembly Speaker John Perez that the State Legislature would find a way to return that money to the County of Orange. That never happened and the County ended up in a lawsuit with the State of California. If the State prevails the money will have to come out of the County’s education budget. Continue reading→

O.C. BOE candidate Pedroza signs the Taxpayer Protection Pledge

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Art Pedroza, Bond Measures, California, Education, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Taxes 6 Comments

PRESS RELEASE, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 2, 2012
Contact: Art Pedroza, Candidate for the Orange County Board of Education, Area One
Phone#: (714) 606-7622, Email: artpedroza@votepedroza.org

SANTA ANA – Art Pedroza, a teacher at Cerritos College and the leading candidate for the Orange County Board of Education, has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

Pedroza said, “I have never ever supported a tax increase and I have steadfastly opposed every local and state bond measure.” Continue reading→

Did Nguyen and Baugh pull Hammond out of the race for the 69th A.D.?

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Anaheim, Art Pedroza, Democratic Party, Elections, Janet Nguyen, Julio Perez, Michele Martinez, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 2 Comments

An OC GOP insider gave me the scoop tonight on what really led to Republican Robert Hammond quitting the primary race for the 69th Assembly District – at the very last minute, last Friday, which was the filing deadline for that race. Hammond ended up pulling papers for the Orange County Board of Education’s Area One.

What my source told me was pretty much what I expected. Hammond did not come up with this scheme himself. Apparently Supervisor Janet Nguyen and OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh were the ones that advised him to leave the Republican Party of Orange County hanging, with no candidate in the 69th A.D. Continue reading→

Pedroza to run for Area One of the Orange County Board of Education

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Art Pedroza, Education, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Orange County, Santa Ana 11 Comments

I decided today to pull papers for Area One of the Orange County Board of Education. The only candidate who has thus far qualified for the ballot is Ken Nguyen, who is a member of the Santa Ana Parks And Recreation Commission. Nguyen appears to be a grandfather and I believe he is a businessman.

Papers have also been pulled by Anita Mathur, who is unknown in local politics, and Robert Hammond, who is also a candidate for the Republican Party of Orange County’s Central Committee.

Hammond is an extreme social conservative who recently dropped out of the running for the 69th Assembly District. His late departure from that race left the OC GOP without a candidate in that contest, although candidates can file for that seat through tomorrow, Wednesday, at 5 pm. Hammond appears to be a grandfather too. Continue reading→

Hammond enters the race for the O.C. Board of Education’s First Area

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Education, Elections, Orange County, Republican Party, Robert Hammond, Santa Ana, Tustin Leave a comment

As reported in an earlier post today, Republican Robert Hammond has withdrawn from the race for the 69th Assembly District, according to the OC Political Blog. He is running instead for the Orange County Board of Education, in the First Area, which is being vacated by the incumbent, Long Pham.

Hammond is an extremist social conservative. He is anti-immigrant and anti-gay. He would be very much like former O.C. BOE Trustee Alexandria Coronado, who got the boot the last time she ran, after she made anti-gay comments. Continue reading→

Santa Ana Parks Commissioner Nguyen running for the OC Board of Education

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Editor Posted in 2012 Elections, Democratic Party, Education, Elections, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Tustin, Vietnamese 1 Comment

I wrote a post recently bemoaning the lack of Latino candidates for the Orange County’s Board of Education, in the Latino-dominated First District, which is currently represented by Republican Long Pham. Now there are two other candidates in the race – Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Board Member Ken Nguyen, and an unknown candidate named Anita Mathur.

Nguyen has reportedly been making the rounds to get support for his campaign. I hear that he has met in recent weeks with State Senator Lou Correa and Assemblyman Jose Solorio. I thought Solorio might be interested in running for the First District, but perhaps not? Continue reading→

GGUSD Trustee Candidate Bao Nguyen kicking off his campaign in Santa Ana on Aug. 7

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Editor Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Entertainment, Garden Grove, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese, Youth Activities Leave a comment

Bao Quoc Nguyen is kicking off his campaign for the Garden Grove Unified School District’s Board of Education, at the home of Maria Alba, at 4022 West Fay Circle, in Santa Ana, on August 7, from 4 pm to 7 pm. Click here to RSVP on Facebook. Click here to read the event flyer.

Click here to see Nguyen’s campaign Facebook page. You will note that most of his friends appear to be Democrats, and he appears to support the Dream Act, so I don’t think we have to worry about whether he might be affiliated with Republicans such as Van Tran or Janet Nguyen.

Here is Nguyen’s bio, from his website:

Nguyen is a proud product of the Garden Grove Unified School District. He has served as a member of the school site council at Ralston Intermediate while a student. He graduated from Pacifica High School after transferring from Garden Grove High School during his sophomore year. At Pacifica, Bao was named “most spirited” in his graduating class and also in student body leadership. As a high school senior, Bao was selected to represent his congressional district in the Presidential Classroom program in Washington, D.C.

A commitment to public service has been demonstrated throughout Bao’s educational career – from serving pancake breakfast to registering voters at the annual Strawberry Festival. Bao has also volunteered at Saint Columban Church to assist the elderly and immobile with house chores.

While earning his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Irvine, Bao served in various leadership capacities for the Cross-Cultural Center and for the Political Science Student Association. He also served as the UCI student body representative to the Irvine City Council. Bao was a recipient of the Praxis Scholarship, which sent him to work in Washington, D.C. for the first Presidential Executive Order on Asian Americans since Japanese Internment. Bao is also a recipient of the Brett Baldwin Prize in Poetry, awarded by Poetry MFA and Humanities Associates of UCI’s Department of English and Comparative Literature. He has published poetry and other writings in both English and Vietnamese languages, locally and internationally, including Jossey-Bass’ New Directions for Student Services.

Bao has a master of arts in religious studies from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and holds a California State Certification in Mediation. He has been an invited guest speaker at different colleges and universities, as well as community organizations, including the local chapter of California School Employees Association.

Bao has taught as a substitute teacher in grades K-12, including special education for the Garden Grove Unified School District. In his recent capacity as community organizer, Bao helped Garden Grove United Methodist Church bring a campaign for senior transportation to successful completion in the City of Garden Grove. Bao is trilingual in English, Vietnamese and Spanish.