Popular Santa Ana Council Member Sal Tinajero pulled papers today to run for Mayor of Santa Ana. Tinajero served on the SAUSD School Board before getting elected to the Santa Ana City Council in 2006, when he beat a candidate backed by Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. Tinajero won by just under a thousand votes against Jennifer Villasenor, according to Smart Voter.
Tinajero just missed being the top vote-getter when he won a seat on the SAUSD School Board in 2004. He was the top vote-getter when he first won a school board seat in 2000.
Tinajero is an award-winning public school teacher in Fullerton, where he also heads up a debate team that has made a real difference in hundreds of lives. Many of his students have gone on to succeed in college, often with Tinajero’s direct help.
I ran into Tinajero several times this year while I was serving on the board of the Northeast Santa Ana Little League. His son Vincent was a key part of a City championship team in the AAA division – the Valley Titans. Tinajero has also been involved in coaching for Pop Warner football for many years.
According to his official bio, Sal was “born and raised in Santa Ana. Tinajero is a product of the Santa Ana Unified School District and also attended Orange Coast College. A scholarship to Bradley University in Illinois resulted in a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. In addition, Sal holds a Master’s in Cross Cultural Education from the National University. Dedicated to education, Sal was named the 2006 National Hispanic Teacher of the Year for his exceptional achievements as a history, speech and debate teacher at Fullerton Union High School and was invited to the White House by first lady Laura Bush.”
Tinajero is a loyal Democrat – and he has many friends in his party, in D.C. and in Sacramento. Although he is true blue he also has friends in the GOP – but he has not been compromised, unlike his colleague, David Benavides, whose ongoing friendship with Council Member Carlos Bustamante has become a supreme embarrassment.
Tinajero is also loyal to organized labor – so loyal that when his own union asked him to endorse Julio Perez for the 69th Assembly District, he did it. In Santa Ana that is bound to help him.
Most importantly, Tinajero is a devoted husband and father. His wife Jennifer is a director of nursing at Hoag Hospital. They have three beautiful children – Salvador, Vincent, and Grace Natalia.
I know that running for Mayor was not an easy decision for Tinajero. And I know he had to be annoyed when Benavides pulled papers first – a move that is already being questioned throughout the city. My sources tell me that it is a matter of time before Benavides pulls out. If he stays in, he will not come in last, although I expect he will be next to last, as gadfly and past mayoral candidate Roy Alvarado pulled papers today as well.
You can friend Tinajero on Facebook here.
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"Tinajero is also loyal to organized labor – so loyal that when his own union asked him to endorse Julio Perez for the 69th Assembly District, he did it"....... Hmmmmmmm
So in other words he is like Greg Diamond.... Huh?
I wonder what is bigger embarrassment Bustamante or Diamond?
Man, that is a close tie.
4 men running. hmmm. something is missing from this picture.
LOL! The last thing we need is more candidates...
4 men?... Who are they?
Pulido,
Benavides
Tinajero
and who else?
Miguel Angel Briseno.
Where is his bio?.... is he a democrat as i the rest?
Working on it. Doesn't have a high profile. Could be a vote-splitter.
"Could be a vote-splitter"........ Hmmmmmmm
Forget the vote splitter and wary about the ass one.
Pulido will split their asses right in the middle.
There is only one way how to win this race, and I know how, but you can't teach old Mexican new trick.
"something is missing from this picture"....... Hmmmmmmm
Well I have advised Claudia not to run, TEO.
So lets see if she takes my advise.
Roy Alvarado is a fifth horse in the race.
Who or What the Hell is "TEO"?
You need less of the alcohol Fiala.
"Who or What the Hell is 'TEO'?"...... Hmmmmmm
You!
You should know all variants of "mateo"
It is like Stanley and Stan you moron mongoloid!
I know he was supported by the Lincoln Club when he first ran for office but how does Sal know Jeb Bush? I thought Sal was a Democrat? Also, I am hearing that a dude named George Collins is running for Mayor too. What do you know about him Art?
Sal has bipartisan support because he is so passionate about education. He is a progressive Democrat.
Collins may be running because there are so many Latino candidates. He Ian a self employed Republican documentary producer.
"He is a progressive Democrat"....... Hmmmmmm
That is what Vern "Gröfaz" Nelson and Greg "Golem" Diamond are. So now I know where Tinajero is coming from.
I ca't recall one single thing he accomplished on the council except firing Gordon from the commission and even that was undoing his mistake.
Progressives are the worse of the worse democrats. They are most radical and destructive for an economy.
As to his passion for education he is teaching some useless socialistically revised Latino history class about the Aztlan which provide his students only with another parasitic job opportunity, destroying corporate structure and making America looking more and more like dysfunctional and corrupt Mexico.
However, we need Tinajeros and Obamas so the people will finally learn about ugliness of socialism and base thereon USA disintegration like the old Soviet block.
Sad part is that Tinahero teaches history and has no clue about the socialistic failures.
Oh please Stanley. Tinajero is great on business matters. He is not a tax and spender. I certainly would not compare him to the crazy liberal bloggers in this county.
"Tinajero is great on business matters"....... Hmmmmmmm
Unless you disregard oxymoron, by a definition of Progressive Democrat he can't be great on business matters.
Prove me wrong and name one thing he put on the agenda in his 6 years tenure which was good for the business.
Please supply a link!
Oh I don't have time to do that. Let's wait for the candidate debates then you can ask him yourself.
"Oh I don’t have time to do that"....... Hmmmmmmm
Try something from top of your head to support your crapola about Tinajero the most lazy and phony councilmember in Santa Ana.
If you cant that you are not making truthful statements.
And if you believe in truth of the debates than you must believe in Santa Clause too.
We know Teo to be Theodore Hirsch in these parts of town. A.K.A. "Jesus Boyfriend". I was not sure why You fiala kept referring to him.
TEO is not synonymous with THEO.
Admin, to my knowledge Theo has not pulled his papers yet.
But if he did that would be awesome!
"But if he did that would be awesome!"........ Hmmmmmmm
I do not know what is awesome about him. I cant even quote his language since every second ford is "F" and as I recall you prohibit such language.
If you got in the race that would be awesome too Stanley. Chaos theory!
I no longer mud wrestle with the moron mongoloids.
This is why I support Pulido when all these Trojan Horse Candidates appear and I know that he will "kick their ass".
It is like Clint Eastwood's spaghetti western.
Did I said "kick their ass"?..... I must be careful because in 2006 debate I have post in your blog Art that I will "kick Gordon ass", in debate, and he call SAPD homicide detectives that I want to kill him...... Remember?
Gordon can be very high-strung. He tried to get me fired from a job last year.