Why should Santa Ana Occupy care about affordable housing?  

Their leader is a wealthy lawyer who lives in Brea!

About 40 members of Santa Ana Occupy showed up at Santa Ana’s City Council last night.  Thanks to them the meeting went on until midnight.  In the end the City Council rejected their demand to camp out at night on city property.

That much you know by now – but did you know that the Occupy members also completely failed last night – when they were given an opportunity to help the “99%?”

That’s right.  The City Council finally voted on an ordinance that would force developers to include affordable housing in their residential developments.

My friend Sean Mill was asked by the Santa Ana Planning Agency to speak on behalf of the affordable housing measure.  Unlike the Occupiers, who sat on their hands, Mill got up and gave an impassioned speech – pointing out how far the City Council has come since the old days, when Republicans dominated the Council and you weren’t allowed to say “affordable housing” at City Hall.

Mill then pointed out the obvious – that the building industry must be OK with the measure since no one from the BIA – the Building Industry Association – was there to oppose the proposed ordinance.

At NO TIME did the Occupiers speak up even when Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez went nuts and denounced the ordinance, saying that since the BIA was not there, the Council could not proceed.  Luckily Council Members Vince Sarmiento, David Benavides and Sal Tinajero, as well as Michele Martinez, all pounced on Alvarez.  Sarmiento in particular completely destroyed her lame argument.

In the end the only ding dong who voted against the ordinance was disgraced Councilman Carlos Bustamante – who apparently will continue to stick to his Republican playbook as he finishes what will surely be his final term on the City Council.

The Occupiers had a chance to stand up for working families.  They had a chance to say that they too support affordable housing.  They had a chance to rip the developers.  Instead they sat on their hands and SAID NOTHING.

As I have said from the start, these folks might have their hearts in the right place, but they don’t know the issues in my city, they have no clue about much of anything, and their revolution is actually pretty lame.

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

  • Diamond is bound to stop by to say he isn't wealthy. So how about some facts:

    Median household income in Brea in 2009:

    Brea: $77,253
    State: $58,931

    Read more: http://www.city-data.com/income/income-Brea-California.html#ixzz1dBDxBEwc

    And here is Santa Ana's income data:

    Estimated median household income in 2009: $53,211 (it was $43,412 in 2000)

    Santa Ana: $53,211
    California: $58,931

    Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Santa-Ana-California.html#ixzz1dBEFrhA2

  • This post is retarded. not that there is anything wrong with admin being Retarded. Dude, you are making up phooey like somebody caught in a bunch of sexual harassment charges. Stop bashing the Occupiers because of your tiff with Greg Diamond.

    • You guys failed to speak up for affordable housing. You let down the 99%. Why are you stooping to maligning the mentally disabled when you ought to be apologizing for dropping the ball last night?

      As for Diamond, he is your problem, not mine.

  • I said, there is nothing wrong with you being Retarded! The Occupiers did support Sarmiento and Mill on that issue. In the crowd with cheers and hand signs,(the official language of the Occupy General Assembly.) They were saving their speech moments for their agenda item because that is all that they had time to prepare for.

    • http://goinswriter.com/stop-using-retard/

      Glad you are admitting what really happened. Instead of weighing in on an issue you could make a real difference on, you waited so you could kick and scream about an issue that I had already predicted was DEAD ON ARRIVAL. You need four votes Mateo and at most you had two going in.

      Fail.

  • We did not have two votes going in. And you know it! We had two politicians acting like politicians. Stop playing dumb. Is that word taboo? Dummy?

    • Then you had NO votes going in - which makes the attempt all the more lame.

      And yes, using the word "retard" is akin to using the "n" word or calling someone a "fag." It only serves to weaken whatever point it is you are trying to make.

      I am not playing dumb. If you people want to be political activists try reading the City Council agenda BEFORE you show up to a meeting. I also wrote an entire post about the affordable housing ordinance - before the meeting. Occupy had no excuse.

      BTW, hooting and hollering and waving around your upper extremities is what I would expect from the monkeys at the Santa Ana Zoo. Failing to speak up in defense of the affordable housing ordinance was inexcusably pathetic.

      You may as well give up on your ridiculous camping bid. It isn't going to happen. We all know that allowing Occupy campouts only leads to more crime and vandalism, and that is something we can ill afford here in Santa Ana.

  • I think they should have postponed the vote.

    The mayor pro tem had an issue with it, I did not understand the problem she was talking about and I could tell the other council members could/t either. Waiting a week for her to hash out her concerns shouldn’t have been a problem.

  • So now you are calling us monkeys? that is more fun than you saying that somebody is "lame" like you just did on the other article. Hypocrite Retard.

    • Your revolution appears to be rude, angry and poorly informed. I can only imagine what mischief you people would have unleashed at night. Thank God our City Council rejected your camping demand.

  • The Affordable Housing Opportunity Ordinance in Santa Ana is a scam designed to allow developers the "opportunity" to place there redevelopment required affordable housing outside of their upscale developments in Santa Ana. That is why the BIA did not oppose this ordinance.

  • The Affordable Housing Opportunity Ordinance in Santa Ana is misleading!

    In 2006 Mayoral debate the question of affordable housing was presented to me. (See 2006 video tape)

    At that time I have stated that if the house price is $400K and city will sell it for $200K what will keep the owner not to resale it for full value on the spot?

    If there are restrictions then you are not an owner but a partner with the City.

    I have also stated that property value is cyclical and that soon price will drop like lead ball. I have urged people to try save as much as possible for down payment and wait for down cycle.

    Two years later bubble burst and $400K house went down to less than $200K.

    So why do you need affordable housing?

    Stupid people will never own house and stupid people will never listen to smart peoples advise or will vote for smart people.

    Stupid people love to hear lies from the government. It does reinforce stupid people's dream.

    Not the American dream.

  • LOL, now Diamond is Occupy Santa Ana's "leader?" Better tell them that. Indeed, he is the new Emanuel Goldstein! (see 1984)

  • "Why did Santa Ana Occupy fail to support affordable housing last night?"

    Possibly because the Council has the public speakers format rigged so that you may speak on only one item. If the campers had spoken on Afffordable Housing they would not have been able to speak on their item.

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