There has been a lot of chatter in town of late about the hybrud electric plug-in test car that the South Coast Air Quality Management District provides to their Board Member, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. As usual, the media hasn’t covered this story well at all. In fact they are acting like they broke a story, but I reported about this on the Orange Juice blog way back in July of 2008. It is old news.
The Voice of OC slammed Pulido, but even they had to acknowledge the facts, “Officials from the AQMD say the vehicle is test-grade and not up to production standards. They added that Pulido was issued the vehicle to test drive it and report any problems that need to be fixed, and also to demonstrate it to members of the media and other government officials.”
Pulido does in fact demonstrate the car to members of the media and to other government officials. He was driving the electric car recently when he attended a meeting that featured U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer. He told her about the car and she expressed a desire to see it, as she had not seen a car like it before. Pulido was happy to comply. And so they walked to the parking garage and Pulido showed her the car, opening up the trunk to show her the battery.
Moreover, Pulido has been on the hook this entire time for flat tires and mechanical problems, and he pays to recharge the car’s battery. He has also had to pay to have the car towed a number of times. But that is part of the testing process, and Pulido is a true believer in green energy consumption.
Why? Well, consider this report, which was issued yesterday, “Approximately 9,000 people in California are estimated to die prematurely each year as a result of exposure to fine particle pollution,” according to a report issued today by the California Air Resources Board.
Pulido is aware of this and he says that he believes in the mission of the AQMD and wants to do what he can to clean up the environment. He is also a green engineering consultant.
Pulido also explained that his family does have two cars, one which is his. And he does not always use the plug-in car. The Council Members are given a car allowance irresspective of what they drive. Theoretically a skateboarding Council Member would also get the full allowance. This is something that would have to be changed via a new city ordinance.
Remember that Pulido makes about $36K a year as a part-time Mayor. We are getting a lot for that money when you consider he generally puts in over 40 hours a week on city business.
The Voice of OC has yet to fess up to what most O.C. political insiders already know – their Chairman, Joe Dunn, hates Pulido because when Dunn tried to move the 4th Court of Appeals to Irvine, Pulido blocked him. And the union boss who funded the Voice of OC, Nick Berardino, has it in for Pulido because when Tom Umberg ran for Supervisor in the First District, as a carpetbagger, Pulido refused to support him. Berardino was an Umberg supporter.
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Pulido is a HORRIBLE mayor. We need a mayor to bring Santa Ana back to its glory days!
Chelsea,
What glory days?
Common, your argument for your man Pulido is very week. He has had a AQMD car continuously for over 5 years! It has already been reported that he does not drive any other car (regardless of how many his family owns). If this AQMD car is the only vehicle he drives, and is provided free of charge from the AQMD, then he should NOT be entitled to a car allowance, since he does not need it. Kind of like health care benefits - if he already has a policy from one entity, he certainly doesn't need any more insurance from another agency, nor should he be entitled to a cash benefit in lieu of another health insurance benefit, regardless of how many hours he works. He only sits on these other boards and commissions because he is the mayor, and as such, he makes a very nice living from the compensation he receives from these other boards and commissions (as an AQMD director, he makes more money by far than any other member; in some instances more than double other members PLUS he is only one of two members that get the car which basically doubles his cost to the agency). You make it sound like he ionly takes the car to make the planet a better place. Oh, and you really want to argue that he has to pay for flat tires and such! Please.
Outrageous,
"Common?" Not sure what you meant by that.
He has had several of the test cars, as different models have been tested over time.
He made it clear it is not the only car he drives, as did I in my post.
The car allowance is a Santa Ana city ordinance. It would have to be changed to omit Pulido from receiving it.
Pulido is the ONLY engineer on the Santa Ana City Council, thus he gets to work on the AQMD Board. Makes sense to me, particularly since he is a green engineering consultant. Perfect match.
I would like to know what make and model the other two cars are. Since Pulido does not want to be part of the “Approximately 9,000 people in California that die prematurely each year as a result of exposure to fine particle pollution,” .