Why isn’t Sarmiento running for Mayor instead of Reyna?

With the promise of a grass-roots campaign, Councilman Roman A. Reyna has announced he is running for mayor to unseat Miguel Pulido, who he said has grown out of touch with the city’s needs, according to the O.C. Register.

It is true that Pulido is a bit out of sorts nowadays.  He has no allies on the Santa Ana City Council.  The Council took away all of his appointments.  And the Governor, his friend Jerry Brown, got rid of redevelopment, a tool Pulido used many times over the years to reshape the City.

But is Reyna really an improvement over Pulido?  I don’t think so.  He is running because he has two years left on his Council term, so he can lose the mayoral race and remain on the City Council.  But so can Councilman Vince Sarmiento.  So why isn’t Sarmiento running for Mayor instead?

Reyna has no college degree – Sarmiento has two including a juris doctorate.  Reyna has spent his entire life working at the Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Agency, the Santa Ana Boys and Girls Club and the local YMCA.  Now he doesn’t seem to have a real job at all.  Sarmiento is a lawyer and he runs a successful family business.  Reyna doesn’t measure up to Sarmiento at all!

But perhaps Sarmiento was humbled by what happened to him in 2012, when he beat an unknown candidate, Estela Amezcua, by only 4% of the vote, according to Smart Voter, even though Sarmiento spent six figures on his campaign and Amezcua didn’t campaign at all?

Sarmiento almost lost to a nobody and perhaps he lost his nerve in the process.  So we are stuck with Reyna.  And we already know that he, like his colleagues, has totally sold out to the special interests, particularly apartment developers and the local police union.

The office of Santa Ana Mayor is a part time job and the reality is that the Mayor still needs a majority of votes on the Council in order to pass new ordinances.  The real power in our town is the City Manager, David Cavazos, who the Council, including Reyna, overpaid to the tune of millions of dollars.  He really won’t care who wins in November.  Cavazos will be calling the shots either way.

The real question right now is whether or not Pulido will even run for re-election in November.  If he doesn’t you can bet that Reyna won’t be the only challenger. Better candidates are bound to arise.

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.

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