It looks like they’re trying to bring some more Santa Ana to the City of Fullerton. Santa Ana’s Planning Manager, Karen Haluza (pictured above, to the left of Fullerton Mayor Sharon Quirk), is running for the Fullerton City Council. Her campaign is just the latest in a long line of connections between Fullerton and Santa Ana.
Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido moved from Fullerton to Santa Ana. He graduated from Troy High School, in Fullerton, and from Cal State Fullerton. He still serves on the board of the Fullerton Community Bank, which is involved in quite a few development deals in Santa Ana.
Santa Ana Clowncilman Sal Tinajero also works in Fullerton, where he teaches at Fullerton Union High School.
In 2006, Vivian “Kitty” Jaramillo, who worked in Santa Ana as a “Community Preservation Inspector, ran for the Fullerton City Council as well. She was endorsed by former Santa Ana Clowncilmen Jose Solorio and Mike Garcia. Current Clowncilman Tinajero also endorsed her. In a field of seven candidates, Kitty was declawed. She came in fifth, according to Smart Voter, with just over ten percent of the vote. It was not an impressive showing to say the least.
I am not sure why Jaramillo did so poorly. According to the City of Fullerton, the ethnic makeup of the city has shifted quite a bit since Pulido left town. Today Latinos make up just over 30% of the residents and Asians make up almost 16% of the residents. I can confirm this as I shopped at the Costco in Fullerton today – and a huge majority of the shoppers were indeed Asians and Latinos. The only white people there appeared to be the workers.
Haluza appears to be a Democrat. She is endorsed by her fellow Democrats – Fullerton Mayor Sharon Quirk and Fullerton Council Member Pam Keller. Jaramillo also has endorsed Haluza.
I wonder if Fullerton voters will want to elect another Democrat? According to the City of Fullerton’s website, there are 66,472 voters in Fullerton, as per the Orange County Voter Registrar’s July, 2007 report. Of those voters, 20,696 are Democrats. Decline to State voters total 12,348. And the Republicans are the majority in Fullerton with 30,607 voters. The rest of the parties have about 2,500 voters. Most of them call themselves “Independents” and just over 500 of them are Libertarians.
My own personal experience with Haluza stems from my year on the Santa Ana Redevelopment Commission. I found her to be arrogant, aloof and robotic. Those aren’t exactly good attributes for a politician.
Haluza is having a Wine Tasting Party to raise money for her campaign on Sunday, August 3, from 5:30-7:30pm, in Fullerton at The Twisted Vine. Contributors will “Enjoy an evening of wine tasting and gourmet hors d’ouevres at Downtown Fullerton’s own Twisted Vine Wine Bar. Your ticket entitles you to three pours from a selection of premium wines, as well as a sampling of select meats, cheeses and other hors d’ouevres all in the wonderful atmosphere of The Twisted Vine.” All that for $75 per person. The Twisted Vine is located at 127 W. Commonwealth Avenue. You can contact Karen via e-mail or by calling (714) 686-2787.
30,607 of 66,472 is a PLURALITY, not a MAJORITY.
“I found her to be arrogant, aloof and robotic.”
Art,
As a member of the Planning Commission I have had the opportunity to work very closely with Karen and she is anything but arrogant, aloof and robotic. Well maybe a little robotic, but heck she’s a planner.
I don’t think you had much of an opportunity to work with her because I am sure if you did you may have a different take on her. Karen is an asset to Santa Ana and the people of Fullerton will be lucky to have her on the city council.
Karen is an open-minded progressive thinker who has a lot of good ideas that I think will help our city and Fullerton.
Sean,
LOL! I think that the last thing the Fullerton voters want to do is elect a Santa Ana planner to their City Council. Santa Ana is hardly a good example of adequate planning. The aborted Renaissance Plan will hang around Haluza’s neck like a scarlet letter.
I fully expect Haluza to end up losing like Kitty Jaramillo did.
I really don’t wish her luck. The last thing we need is another Santa Ana government perspective.
I have a house in Santa Ana and in Fullerton. Santa Ana is terrible in just about anything. Bloated budgets, streets unpaved, pothole alleys, and trees that lift sidewalks 6″ above ground level. Santa Ana taxes taxes taxes anything and all it can, Utilities, etc. It has one of biggest bureaucracy’s in O.C.. Santa Ana makes me feel like I live in a prison without walls, where everything is dictated and requires a huge budget to implement. I don’t know where they spent the budget on ? [30 years later there are still potholes and filthy black oil 20 feet long puddles on the same street.] I sadly agree that Santa Ana’s elected officials (in general) and its heavy weighted departments appear arrogant.
If one needs any help you might as well climb a mountain.
I hope Fullerton will vote for one of its own kind. Fullerton is one of the last standing cities in O.C. where its residents are proud to live and be part of Fullerton – to balance modernization with quaintness and strives to keep a small town atmosphere with a reasonable budget.
And it doesn’t take Fullerton 30 years to fix anything that’s broken – or remove trees that lift sidewalks on a 30° slant. We don’t need a Santa Ana mentality in Fullerton.
And, thanks to Chris Norby’s (now a O.C. Supervisor) who kept Fullerton’s government and its taxes and its regulations in perspective.
de