Santa Ana politicians show up for Fiestas Patrias parade

There was a huge crowd this afternoon at the Fiestas Patrias parade in Downtown Santa Ana.  Predictably, the politicians showed up en masse.  Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido led the charge, as seen in the picture above, perched above a Wells Fargo stagecoach.  But shortly after he made it to the end of the parade he jumped in a black limo and got the heck out of there.  God forbid he should actually shake any hands with his paisanos!

Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez was there too – and she, like Pulido, was not observed actually talking to the people.  She zoomed by in her BMW and sped away as soon as she could.

And Councilman Carlos Bustamante was there too, speeding by in a red convertible.  He looked quite enthused.  Not.  I had fun passing out fliers, in Spanish, to the crowd and introducing myself as Bustamante’s opponent.  I picked up quite a few votes.  I didn’t see Bustamante working the crowd.  He disappeared as soon as he was done with the parade, as far as I could tell.

SAUSD School Board chums Rob Richardson, who is running for re-election, and Rosie Avila, who is running for Congress (against Loretta Sanchez!) were in a car driven by SAUSD Superintendent Jane Russo.  Way to keep their carbon footprint low by sharing a ride!  But not sure this helped either one of them in their respective campaigns.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen was also there.  I am hearing that she has endorsed Bustamante.  It was wise of her not to announce this BEFORE the parade as it might have merited her a few rotten tomatoes in her general direction…  I knew she was probably going to be pressured into backing Bustamante, but this move, like her recent affection for Judy Ware, doesn’t help her in Santa Ana.  Oh well.  At least she just started a four year term.  Maybe four years hence folks will forget about these dumb moves.

I also ran into my friend Irene Ibarra, who is running for the SAUSD School Board.  And I heard that fellow candidate Mike Gonzalez was there too.  Apparently he rode in the parade, but he supposedly had a banner on his vehicle announcing his campaign for the school board.  Bad form!  As an organizer of the parade Gonzalez should have know that the event rules prohibited campaigning while riding in the parade.

SAUSD School Board President Jose Hernandez was also in the parade, along with his family.  I am told that fellow candidate Cecilia Aguinaga was there too, but I didn’t see her.

Councilwoman Michele Martinez walked quite a bit but got tired towards the end and got back in her vehicle.  I heard a lot of nice comments about her outfit.  She also was very well received by the crowd.

Rancho Santiago Community College District School Board Candidate Lynette Verino, who also serves on the Santa Ana Housing and Redevelopment Commission, was also there, with her little doggie, who seemed tuckered out.  I hear that she is getting a lot of help with her campaign from RSCCD Trustee John Hanna.  Way to go John – thank you!

Assemblyman Jose Solorio was there too.  I am sure this brought back memories for Jose as he used to be a Santa Ana Councilman before going to Sacramento.

And there were a lot of great marchers in the parade too!  I always enjoy the Fiestas Patrias parade and encourage you to visit next year’s parade, particularly if you have not been there before.