Come hear OC Weekly writer Gustavo Arellano read from his new book: Orange County: A Personal History, a history of Orange County as seen through four generations of his family moving back and forth between Mexico and Anaheim. Book signing to follow.

Sponsored by: Libreria Martinez, Calacas, Centro Cultural de Mexico.  When Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 7:00PM to 9:00PM, at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana, located at 307 Spurgeon (on the corner of Spurgeon and 3rd St., in the Fiesta Marketplace) in Santa Ana.  Admission Ages: all ages. Price: Free!  Contact (714) 973-7900. Read more…

Would you expect a Chamber of Commerce to endorse City Council incumbent candidates who have:

• Driven their city into a $28 million deficit
• Handed out huge raises to the City Manager and City Clerk despite having a massive budget deficit
• Handed out a huge pension spike to the public employee’s union despite having a massive budget deficit
• Allowed crime to spiral out of control with daily shootings, knifings, graffiti and even carjackings
• Taken half the City Council meetings off T.V.
• Raised water rates twice in less than one year
• Taken pains to fix only major streets and those in key neighborhoods while ignoring some of the worst streets in the city
• Allowed the city to become the county “leader” in home foreclosures
• Allowed major businesses to locate elsewhere in the county, including La Curacao and Best Buy
• Built NO new libraries in 20 years - the City still has only one library and one little learning center
• Allowed the City to become overbuilt - with not enough parks and fields! Read more…

“With few people paying attention, both houses of the Legislature earlier this month passed a far-reaching and terribly disturbing bill that will reshape land-use patterns in this state. If signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Senate Bill 375 will basically mandate that all new development in California fit what activists call “Smart Growth,” according to the O.C. Register.

Here are a few excerpts about “Smart Growth” from the Register’s editorial:

Smart Growth is a highly controversial and authoritarian concept. Its goal is to use the government to battle what environmentalists call suburban sprawl. Most Californians live in single-family homes with yards in suburban neighborhoods. Smart Growthers argue that this development pattern is destructive to the planet and creates too big of a carbon footprint. Their goal is to force new development into “infill” locations, and SB375 is their latest and most potent vehicle to accomplish this social-engineering goal. Read more…

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido failed to get the endorsement of the Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) at their Central Committee meeting tonight. Neither did his Democratic opponent, Councilwoman Michele Martinez - but this is a victory for her. Pulido has always gotten this endorsement in the past.

Pulido has been slammed for his support of Prop. 187; for backing Republican Rosie Avila for the SAUSD School Board many times; and for putting a Minuteman, Lupe Moreno, on the Santa Ana Library Board, but none of that came up last night. Read more…

Desperation appears to be setting in on the 8th Floor, over at the Santa Ana City Hall.  Recently a fellow who works for a big bank donated to the Michele Martinez campaign for Mayor.  And then her opponent, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, allegedly called the bank in question and tried to have the donor investigated for embezzlement.  Hmmm….bad form.

And then one of my pajaritos overheard something at City Hall that was truly despicable.  Santa Ana merchant Teresa Saldivar, who owns a jewelry shop in downtown Santa Ana, has apparently been pressured by at least two City of Santa Ana employees, to stop supporting Martinez.  The chisme goes that her own landlord also called her and asker her to stop supporting Martinez. Read more…

Even when GOP blogger Jon Fleischman tries to be nice to Democrats, he misfires. Fleischman wrote a recent post regarding State Senator Lou Correa, in which he talked up his supposed friendship with Correa, who apparently promised not to vote to raise our taxes. So far Correa is holding firm, even though surely his Senate President, Don Perata, is making life hard for him.

That’s all well and good, but check out this excerpt from Fleischman’s article:

You can tell that Correa has a lot of cache in Orange County, because the table-talk amongst Republicans down here is that Correa won’t go up on any bill that includes the taxes. But I can tell you that there is a resolve here to “take care of business” if he does — meaning the recruiting and funding of a strong anti-tax candidate against Correa in his next run. Read more…

When the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) announced on August 12 that they had reached a tentative agreement for the 2007-08 school year with the California School Employees Association (CSEA) – Local Chapter 41, Board President Jose Hernandez couldn’t hide his glea. Here is what Hernandez had to say at the time, according to an SAUSD press release:

“We effectively collaborated with CSEA in being able to restore several key full-time positions and bringing back many valued classified employees with benefits.  Because of the cooperation and willingness to work together, we can now look forward to the opening of the school year.”

However, on August 23rd one of our readers posted this comment: Read more…

O.C. Register opinion writer Steven Greehut mused about worms in a new editorial today.  Apparently it has been proven that even worms, who haven’t got much in the brains department, can learn, if you poke them with sticks, to alter their course.  Greenhut compared the lowly worms to the City Council members in Santa Ana and Fullerton - who appear to be unable to learn from what has happened in the City of Vallejo, which filed for bankruptcy this year after raising public employee pensions to an unsustainable level over the last few years.

Here are a few excerpts from Greenhut’s editorial:

A 2004 USA Today article captured the problem succinctly: “The long-term economic health of the United States is threatened by $53 trillion in government debts and liabilities that start to come due in four years when baby boomers begin to retire.” Those four years are up, by the way. Read more…

Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, who is running for Mayor of Santa Ana, has issued a press release regarding the arrest of her brother, Pedro Franco, during the recent gang sweep conducted by the Santa Ana Police Department.  Here is Martinez’ press release in its entirety:

I want to make it clear that I will not tolerate gang violence regardless of who is involved. The city has been complacent and lethargic in responding to gang activity. I am driven to break this counterproductive culture. I have advocated significant investment in community policing to help curtail gang violence. By developing relationships with neighbors and identifying hot-spot areas, officers can cultivate strategies that address crime at its source. Commitment to this plan has proven to be one of the most effective ways to deter crime.

Furthermore, I will continue to support after school programs and community outreach that help divert young people away from gangs and unlawful activities. I have contributed much time and personal funds to several scholarships and non-profit organizations. Combating gangs through the enrichment of the youth will always be an impetus to my involvement in Santa Ana Politics. Read more…

I met yesterday with members of the Greater Santa Ana Business Alliance PAC (this organization used to be known as the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce PAC) and with members of the Santa Ana Firemen’s Association.  Both organizations spent the day interviewing candidates for local office in Santa Ana.  One of the questions posed by both organizations was how did I plan to fix the City of Santa Ana’s budget crisis - the City is currently in the hole some $17 to $28 million.

That is quite a big hole!  Deficits like that don’t happen overnight.  They point to deep-rooted problems at City Hall.  Consider that when the City Council first raised our water rates, about a year ago, I found out through research that the Moulton Niguel Water District, in south Orange County, has a similar-sized water budget.  But they spend 19% on administration of their water budget.  The City of Santa Ana spends 33% on administration of their water budget.  Houston, we have a problem!

Imagine how much waste exists throughout the City’s budget!  The problem is that our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, and our City Council are either unwilling or unable to challenge our City Manager, Dave Ream.  He has carte blanche to do as he pleases.  The results are not good - and yet he hasn’t changed a thing in over twenty years of civic failure! Read more…