The nomination period for Ward 4 on the Santa Ana City Council closed on August 9. We now know who the candidates will be – and it is a crowded filed. They are vying to replace Roman Reyna, the Councilman who had to resign when he was sued for issues related to his campaign paperwork (essentially he fudged his voting address and got caught).

The candidates include:

• Phil Bacerra – A former Santa Ana Planning Commissioner who barely lost to Reyna last time around. Check out his website here.
• Beatriz Mendoza – A former staffer to U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Mendoza has previously run for the SAUSD School Board too.
• Brandon Sisco – His website claims that  at 15 assisted the FBI. He owns a company called Android Genius. Their Yelp reviews are very entertaining! Another website claims he is a real estate developer.
• Bishop Oliver Gale, Jr. – He heads up the Greater Light Family Church, located at 1600 W. 3rd St. in Santa Ana.
• Manuel Escamilla – His website notes that Escamilla “grew up at the McFadden Public Library and Jerome Recreation Center in central Santa Ana.” He is a graduate of SAUSD, SAC, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. He served as a City representative on the Santa Ana Arts & Cultural Master Plan and remained on staff in the City of Santa Ana’s Planning Department until he left to run for Ward 4.
• Jennifer Oliva – She is an Arts and Culture Commissioner in Santa Ana.

Where were all these candidates last time around? I am glad to see that there is so much interest now in the Ward 4 seat. This is a crowded race with a lot of high quality candidates.

The election is set for November 5, 2019.