Well, the Santa Ana City Council got their way – and not even their own supporters can figure out why they fired City Manager Paul Walters.  But here’s the kicker – from now on whatever happens in this city is going to be blamed on the Council.

Remember that at the last Council meeting the entire cabal begged for respect, in their closing comments.  But what they are now going to get is the blame – if crime goes up, if tax revenue goes down, if businesses close it will all get placed at the Council Members’ doorsteps.

And you can forget about blaming Mayor Miguel Pulido.  He no longer appoints Council Members to Council commissions and the Council rejected his request to serve on just one committee – transportation and development.  Pulido has the support of the people but this Council has cornered him.

Ironically what the Council has really done is protect Pulido from the consequences of their own actions.  In two short years several of the Council Members are going to have to face the voters, including Michele Martinez, David Benavides and Sal Tinajero.  Two years ago no one challenged Martinez and Benavides.  This time they will have opponents – guaranteed.  And Tinajero won’t get to run against two unknown chumps either.

Pulido can put a real dent in this Council in 2014, and if they stumble in the interim, as I expect them to, then his task will be an even easier one.

The reality is that Benavides, Martinez and Tinajero have been on the Council since 2006.  They sat there and did nothing when former City Manager Dave Ream was wrecking our city.  They applauded him when he retired.  Now that they control the Council the first thing they did was whack the guy who corrected Ream’s final mistakes.  Sorry Council Members – you are not absolved of your past laziness and mistakes!

The stark reality is that the Council has run out of people to blame and now the blame is going to be on them.  Will they beg for respect again when it hits the fan?  Will anyone care?

As for Pulido he has a golden opportunity now to sit back and let these inept Council members wreck themselves.  He’ll be ready when the time comes to put an end to this fraudulent Santa Ana Spring.

If you really want a revolution in this town don’t expect it from this compromised Council.  You want change?  Go write a ballot measure to change our Council elections to a Ward Specific system.  Then anyone will be able to run for Council, and win.  And we will have a truly diverse Council – most likely with a Vietnamese Council member and quite possibly a white one too.  Even better, under such a system the special interests won’t be able to buy the Council elections.  Candidates will be able to walk their wards instead of worrying about raising tens of thousands of dollars.

Vince Sarmiento almost lost in November.  Under a ward specific system he would have lost.  And an unknown candidate, Angelica Amezcua, won in Ward 3.  In a ward specific system she would have lost, and lost badly, most likely to former Council Member Brett Franklin.  Who do you think would be serving us better now?  Amezcua has already skipped what, three meetings?  And when she finally shows up she votes to fire Walters?  Worthless!

Would Tinajero win if he could only garner votes from his ward?  Not likely.  Nor would Martinez – although Benavides might survive.  Then again, in a ward specific election he might have to explain to the voters in his ward why it is that his wife and kids are no longer mentioned on any of his Facebook pages or his campaign website.  That could get a bit awkward…

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

  • Hey SundayFunny, You have every right to be a racist apologist for incompetent opportunists like Downtown Inc.

    The Santa Ana Artists are a multi-cultural bunch and committed to diversity in programming. We are committed to bridging communities regardless of race or sexual orientation for the economic success of Santa Ana as a whole.

    It's laughable that you accuse the artists of seeking handouts when its been Downtown Inc that has lead the greatest charge for milking Santa Ana merchants & taxpayers dry to serve the interests of a handful of property owners.

    Since it's inception, DTI has brought one epic failure after another to downtown Santa Ana by:

    -- appropriating the work of others (event plagerism)
    -- misrepresenting the scope of their programming
    -- starting vicious email wars with countless local groups
    -- trash-talking our Mayor publicly (in writing and at public meetings)
    -- lied to its constituents
    -- dismissed numerous written & verbal complaints
    -- had its staffers & board members threaten community members

    ...and they've taken NO responsibility for ANY of these destructive actions.

    Instead of being a unifying presence in our City, DTI has promoted division and disinformation -- pitting ethnic groups against each other and perpetuating a hostile community environment throughout Santa Ana.

    Someone should ask for an INDEPENDENT AUDIT of Downtown Inc. We would especially love to see an ITEMIZED accounting for each "event" and "marketing" project claimed in DTI's annual reports.

    The results would be quite illuminating.

    • You're so wrong that it's pointless and a waste of time to continue the conversation. You are nothing but a sheep. Bitter. Bitter that DTI was found to have done nothing wrong. Grand Jury report was a bunch of bs. Reaching much? Racist? Yeah, your 100% correct on that point. White power. Brown Pride. Blah, blah. The only people that sheik, "racist", are actually outing who they really are. Projecting, I believe. Racist. That's so funny, can't wait to tell everyone else that you figured it out. Genius! Wow. You're a sad case. Not nice chatting with you. Racist. That's rich. Keep blaming you're problems on DTI. Don't forget, the city brought them into the already established PBID. Talk to your city leaders. They are the corrupt ones that are dividing up the city. They are playing both sides and they have done it for so long now, they do it in public, right in front of the camera, the residents and each other. Baaaaa. Be a good sheep, keep following the sheep butt in front of you. Dumb.

      • You're so funny Sunday.

        I think all the hair bleach is affecting your brain.

        Sheepish imp, trying to fly with that DTI banner loud, crass & proud. Knock yourself out.

        Happy landing! ;)

        • Awww, you sound butt-hurt. I know who you are and I actually like you better via the blog. Stop by the office tomorrow and let's hug it out. You really can't let it go. It's gotta get old. Boo hoo. Seriously, swing on by the office, let me show you what's happening. So glad I got my hair done!!!

    • I am glad that you are asking Art,

      I have submitted my resume when they were looking first time and as you can see they made grave mistake not to take it.

      I have even proposed that I will do the first year pro-bono.

  • Fiala,

    Wrong again. What is it with you, Lomeli, Chmiliewinski and my favorite Mike Tardif (AKA junior and Skalleywag) accusing EVERYONE of being Pedroza?

    I enjoy your crazy rants, it riminds me of the fliers Rocco used to drop around my neighborhood in West Floral Park. But seriously, I think you would be a great addition to the staff, just leave the piano (and Vern) behind, that one made my balls hurt.

  • Carpetbagger aka Pedroza,

    Take extra Prozak maybe it will help you to refresh your memory.

    FYI, there is a "malware" like infection virtually in every computer, undetectable because it is mostly dormant, which can detect "you".

    You can buy a list from the Russian Jewish Hackers, please google it.

  • Looking like a La Eme shot caller Alfred Azumeca is here tonight, dressed to the nines, shaking hands and slapping backs.

    Clearly the Sureno's (Benavides, Martinez and Renya) are ready to take the orders from the boss.

    How disgusting! A criminal in a suit

    • There is an expression that says something to effect that you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Just today, I was accused of being an attorney because I wore a suit to court. Not that all attorney's are bad, the good ones work as District Attorneys and other such honorable fields of law.

  • She can not even speak english!

    She is rambling. "Gone with the punches"??? What does that mean?

    She does not have command that a twelth grader has!

    This is an embarrassment to Santa Ana.

    • True, Michelle is not a good public speaker but at least I don't need a translator like I did when Claudia Alvarez spoke. I think she spoke with such a heavy accent just to appeal to the voters and hispanic community of Santa Ana. I honestly had a hard time understanding her when she spoke.

        • But she started the Santa Ana revolution and rest of the men, having freed their balls from the Claudia's jar, were following Michele.

          After all she took the heat like true leader.

          • Wow. It was Claudia who helped get rid of Ream and his associates. The rest of this lame Council sat on their hands!

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