Will Santa Ana’s anti-police City Council Members get the boot in the Nov. 5 election?

Santa Ana City Council Members have to run for re-election every four years. This year three of them are up for re-election, and as luck would have it they are all anti-police. This means the voters can finally give them the boot and elect a City Council that supports law enforcement.

The anti-police Santa Ana City Council Members that are running in the Nov. 5 election include Thai Viet Phan, Johnathan Ryan Hernandez and Jessie Lopez. As a bonus their fellow anti-police City Council Member, Ben Vazquez, is running for Mayor this year against our pro law enforcment Mayor, Valerie Amezcua. A big loss by Vazquez will send the message that our residents are tired of having pro-criminal City Council Members run the show in Santa Ana.

Let’s take a look at each of these races:

Ward One: Julie Tran versus anti-police Thai Viet Phan

Julie Tran, a small business owner, is challenging Thai Viet Phan in Ward One.

When Phan was elected four years ago we all hoped she would be a reasonable, moderate City Council Member. Boy were we wrong about that!

Phan quickly went back on her word and backed rent control, which history shows does not work. In fact rent control usually results in LESS affordable housing as landlords convert apartments into condos and sell them. Rent control also produces dilapidated housing as landlords cut back on renovating properties they no longer can profit from. And rent control hurts housing availability as developers stop building new apartments and focus on building condos and houses instead.

Even worse, Phan’s decision to support rent control was a slap to the face of her Vietnamese-American supporters as many of them own rental properties!

Tran, as a business owner, wisely supports making home ownership more affordable instead of supporting failed rent control, according to her candidate statement.

Here is what Tran has to say about her background, on her campaign website, “I have deep roots in Santa Ana. I am a graduate of local schools and attended Santa Ana College. I am a small business owner in the beauty industry and licensed cosmetologist. After working for my family’s small business, I went out on my own and currently run a boutique beauty and spa with a few locations throughout Southern California.”

Phan is a lawyer who works for a law firm that assigns city attorney’s to various cities. You would think that as an attorney she would suport tougher laws against criminals but nope, she always joins her anti-police City Council colleagues in voting down any attempts to hold criminals accountable for their actions.

Tran, as a business owner, brings a perspective to our City Council that we really need as opening a business in Santa Ana is much more difficult and expensive than it ought to be. Our city is currently facing a financial cliff – if we cannot figure out how to bring more new businesses to our city we are doomed. Tran will be very helpful in that regard.

We strongly endorse Tran for Ward One.

Ward Three: Jeffrey Katz versus anti-police Jessie Lopez

Four years ago Jessie Lopez barely won the Ward Three City Council seat when two white men from Floral Park knocked each other out, allowing her to squeak in to victory by a margin of about 1,500 votes, according to Ballotpedia.

This year Lopez, who has consistently voted against law enforcement, is running against only one candidate, Jeffrey Katz, who garnered over 4,000 votes in the last Ward Three election. Mark McLaughlin got over 5,700 votes four years ago. Do the math. Katz ought to be able to get over 9,000 votes, which means Lopez is toast!

Lopez survived a recall election last November largely because many residents felt the police union had no good reason to launch the recall when all we had to do was wait a year to oust her in this year’s General Election.

This year however the residents in Ward Three are fed up with the street takeovers, home and commercial burglaries, vandalism, drug users and transients. Lopez is in trouble now as she always votes for the criminals, not the residents.

Even worse for Lopez, a story broke earlier this month that is deeply embarrasing for her. The Orange County Superior Court ordered Lopez to pay her former landlord $35,000 in response to a civil complaint as recompense for legal fees, delayed escrow fees and “continued, nonstop, unacceptable harassment and neglect” by Lopez, stemming from her refusal to vacate the room she was renting, according to the OC Independent.

Lopez also attempted to enlist her fellow tenants in her efforts to sabotage the sale of the house where she was renting a bedroom, according to the OC Independent.

“As an excuse for Jessie Lopez to delay the payment of rent, she began to create plumbing issues when there were none existing before,” Lopez’ landord stated in court.

Of course Lopez supports failed rent control!

Lopez allegdly works as a community health worker, according to her city bio. She also allegedly works part time for anti-law enforcement Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, who along with his now dead sister made a living suing police departments before he barely won his Supervisorial race a few years ago. His family also owns seedy bars that sell liquor in bad neighborhoods all over our city, contributing to crime and domestic violence. Of course Sarmiento has endorsed Lopez, per her candidate’s statement.

Katz is an attorney and a moderate Democrat. Here are excerpts from his bio:

Katz graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School. Following high school, Katz attended U.C.L.A. then he matriculated to Yeshiva, a liberal arts college in New York City, where he earned three degrees (B.A. in English Literature, B.S. in Life Sciences, and A.A. in Judaic Studies).

Following graduation, Katz worked in an accounting practiceand was later accepted to Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco – the Class of 1988.

Following his graduation, Katz has had an accomplished career in government relations and complex business litigation including serving as the General Counsel for Western Dental, which is located just outside Ward 3 in Orange.

Katz is the President of the Floral Park Neighborhood Association (“FPNA”). He has also served FPNA on its Beautification, Membership and Social Committees.

We strongly endorse Katz for Ward Three. Click here to check out his campaign website.

Ward Five: Mario Alvarado versus anti-police Johnathan Ryan Hernandez

The diminutive anti-police Santa Ana City Councilman, Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, had to be rescued by SAPD police officers after he was attacked outside his home by his former City Council aide and another suspect, in August of 2023, according to the OC Independent.

Vernon Carter, 33-years-old, and his friend Danilo Delvalle, 30-years-old, both skinny LGBTG rappers, showed up in the morning at the home of Councilman Hernandez’ mom, Maria Hernandez, at around 10:00 a.m. on the morning of August 2, demanding to see her son, Councilman Hernandez, who apparently still lives with his mom.

Carter and Delvalle got Hernandez in a headlock and kicked him several times, according to the SAPD and other sources. Hernandez often brags about having a black belt but on this day he just ended up with black eyes!

Hernandez hates the cops but he was probably grateful when they saved him from his butt-whooping – however reportedly the first thing he told the responding police officers was “turn off your cameras!” Hilariously Hernandez did not want the body camera footage to get released showing the embarrassing situation.

While Hernandez is himself the victim of a crime he consistently votes for the criminals, not the residents. He even advocates for the Palestinians instead of their victims in Israel. He voted against an effort to punish the criminals who do street takeovers, he voted against efforts to do something about drug users who pass out and poop on public and private properties, and he is opposed to Prop. 36, the ballot measure that will finally hold criminals accountable in California.

Hernandez has no college degree, and he works, allegedly, as a Community Health Worker and Youth Partner for a mental health program, according to his city bio.

Ward Five voters finally have the chance to elect a better City Councilman as Mario Alvarado is challenging Hernandez.

Alvarado is a lifelong Santa Ana resident, father, small business owner, and served a decade as a trusted City Commissioner. He is a son of immigrant parents who are career union members, according to his campaign website.

Alvarado has a Bachelor’s Degree from CSUF, according to his Linkedin page. He is a Commercial & Residential Lender for LoanStream Commercial. What a great background for a city that needs to encourage more home ownership and new businesses!

Alvarado is endorsed by Santa Ana Firefighters, Paramedics, First Responders, and Teamsters Local 396.

Four years ago Hernandez got elected by less than a thousand votes in a field of four candidates. This year his only opponent is Alvarado. Do the math – if Alvarado gets the votes those other candidates got he will have over 5,000 votes, which means he will beat the anti-police Hernandez.

Alvarado has our overwhelming endorsement – we hope he wins on Nov. 5. He will bring class and professionalism to our City Council.

Needless to say we also endorse Mayor Valerie Amezcua over anti-police Ben Vazquez.