Ward 4 Santa Ana City Council candidate responds to allegations made by an ex-girlfriend

By: Phil Bacerra, Candidate for Ward 4 of the Santa Ana City Council

I want to address the serious claims that have been made against me by a former girlfriend. Griselda and I were in a consensual relationship for about four years. Unfortunately, our relationship was unhealthy for the both of us, and we went our separate ways. While our relationship was unhealthy, I was never physically abusive. I have never in my life laid my hand on a woman in violence. I was far from the perfect boyfriend and I regret and apologize for the harsh words said during emotionally-charged arguments.

The accusations that have been made about me and my conduct are totally and completely FALSE. It has been suggested that there are glaring examples of these claims in emails between us. Although I consider the emails about my past relationship to be deeply personal and somewhat embarrassing to share, I want to act in the spirit of transparency. As such, I am willing to share these emails in person. I am not proud of some of the things that I said in these emails, but sharing these emails is the best way to demonstrate that our past relationship has been completely mischaracterized and that the claims are simply not true.

When we parted ways, I had hoped that she would find happiness, as I have found with my wife. To hear these accusations was surprising to me. I am thankful for my wife, Wendy, whom I have known since elementary school and have been married to for over two years. Relationships are challenging and she has taught me what it means to be in a loving, supportive, and healthy one. It is still my hope that Griselda finds a healthy and loving relationship.

Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.
Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

View Comments

  • Unhealthy relationships can certainly take their toll. I think that many of us have had the experience of showing irrational behavior toward an ill-suited lover at some point in our life. That's pretty typical, but I do not believe it is normal to be so vindictive and try to ruin the other person;s life. Especially if it's been years after the break-up and the parties have each supposedly moved on. Her motive is to "save the city" from her mean ex-boyfriend? Sheer nonsense. I definitely smell sour grapes.

    • Wow..vindictive is how you choose to characterize years of domestic violence . He beat her.

      “I have never in my life laid my hand on a woman in violence.”

      This is most obtuse sentence and leaves Phil a lot of wiggle room.

      He should withdraw and seek professional help

  • We all try to excuse our behavior, even though we are what we say, our political arena is full of people lying just to get a seat at the table; there are not more honest people and we blame society for this but the problem is ourselves for not behaving. look at the new suprime court judge; He is an abuser.

    • Yet, he got confirmed to the Supreme Court. In that case, there was tons of evidence. Not so here.

  • I don't understand why Griselda all of a sudden wants to save the city from Phil,why didn't she do it when he was on the planning commission? I worked at a bar in the artist district and over the years I got to know him and talk to him extensively. I have never seen him act inappropriately he has never been rude or anything besides a kind engaging guy. I just can't imagine him being violent towards Griselda whom I know also. She is very attractive but she has that emotionally disturbed look in her eyes.I think it was just typical couple drama. I think it's appalling that they would pull his endorsement without any real hard evidence. I think he will win anyway because this in my opinion is a smear campaign by some powerful people that don't want him elected and he truly is a hell of a nice guy. Again my opinion I don't even vote in Santa Ana. I just saw this and had to say something.

  • More important (in my opinion) than Phil being "a nice guy" is that he has a good head on his shoulders and knows how to get things done. Many residents in my neighborhood (Ward 4) consider him a "go to" person if something needs to be handled. He's always been there for us and this is considered paramount in our book.

    • I was just commenting on his personality. I don't see him as a gf beating maniac. In all the years I've known him he's always been a gentleman and I've never seen any anger in him. He is more than comptent and if he wasn't I wouldn't bother leaving a comment. Hopefully this smear job is in vain and he gets elected.

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