I visited Alfredo Amezcua’s mayoral campaign website again yesterday- and as usual found nothing of substance. However, he did post a new statement on his Facebook page hinting at a glimmer of an issue:
It was depressing doing research today regarding the business climate in Santa Ana. Santa Ana’s business license fee is as much as six times what other cities charge. When we called other cities, we got someone on the phone right away. When we called Santa Ana, we were listening to music for a fair amount of time before getting help. I want to reduce work on the fees and the hold times as mayor.
This is old news, in fact I have researched this very subject and I wrote about it in February of this year. Click here to read that article.
As usual, Amezcua is blowing smoke. He didn’t offer any solutions to the perceived problem. Nor did he note that the City of Santa Ana, earlier this year, collected $500,000 in business tax revenues during an amnesty that the City offered. Click here to read about that.
Click here to read the rest of this post.
Old Al really knows how to fire up the troops doesn’t he! I’m sure this issue will help rally thousands of Santa Ana residents to walk door to door for him and toss the bums out!
As much as I’d like to see a bit of a contest I think we all know that Amezqua’s campaign is D.O.A.
Light My Fire,
He pulled his papers today, after we goaded him over the weekend for failing to do so. I guess he is all in. This ought to work out as well as his Santa Ana Business Bank turned out…
OK, so we have the leading candidates for Mayor…..the incumbent Mayor Pulido and the leading challenger Al Amezcua.
The Blog thread is about high business fees. The Mayor is responsible for the high business fees. The leading challenger aknowledges the high fees .The author of this blog piece acknowledges the high business fees.
The leading challenger for the Mayor seat says he will reduce the high business fees and gets beat up for it. No businessman I know has a problem with the solution – lower the fees.
Where is the logic…….none it is about challenger bashing.
“I visited Alfredo Amezcua’s mayoral campaign website again yesterday-”
I visited http://www.miguelpulido.com this morning. Under the issues flag it says none at this time. You should write a piece about this Art. This and you support the mayor but dedicule Alfredo because not enogh detail. The mayor’s website has no text at all in regards to issues.
Lomeli,
Pulido should have more info on his website. The difference however is he has a public record you can assess him by. He has taken positions this year you can use as a basis to determine if you want to vote for him.
The record, as it pertains to Amezcua, is blank. We don’t know what in the world he wants to do as Mayor. And even when he does lamely flail at an issue he offers no detail, no substance at all.
If Amezcua plans to somehow defeat Pulido he better get on his game now. This is getting ridiculous.
Now as for the business license fees, you cannot pin that all on Pulido. Dave Ream is the City Manager and ultimately he is the one making a lot of these decisions. And other Council Members over the years, such as Alberta Christy and Pat McGuigan, contributed to this high fees when they were on the Council.
If you read my entire post, over at the New Santa Ana blog, you will see that I offered actual ideas, unlike Amezcua. Does he lack vision? Is that why he cannot enunciate his positions?
Will there be any debates before November?
Gabriel,
Oh yes. I suspect there will be at least four debates. I look forward to listening to the candidates. Perhaps by then Amezcua will have developed some sort of platform to run on.
Art,
In this thread the issue is high business fees. He stated he would reduce the fees. What detail do you want besides a fee now is $100 and will be reduced to $50.
“Pulido should have more info on his website. The difference however is he has a public record you can assess him by. He has taken positions this year you can use as a basis to determine if you want to vote for him.
The record, as it pertains to Amezcua, is blank”
Exactly Art. Peolple will judge the incumbent on his record. Amezcua has no record as he is not the Mayor.
The challemger can only state what he/she intends to do. The incumbent in this case has 20 years of history to be judged on. If things have not been done in 20 years things will not change with another term.
“Dave Ream is the City Manager and ultimately he is the one making a lot of these decisions. And other Council Members over the years, such as Alberta Christy and Pat McGuigan, contributed to this high fees when they were on the Council. ”
The mayor is the leader of the council. If he can not lead the council then in any case the Mayor is responsible. The city manager is an emplyee. If the manager is ineffective then it is the duty of the Mayor-the leader to take action and correct the matter, by taking charge or leading the council to replace the manager.
The Mayor is elected to take charge. Here you are making excusues for him…no bueno.
Lomeli,
I do not make excuses for anyone. You however appear to be the designated excuse-maker for Amezcua.
Why can’t he tell us what his plans are? Why does he never offer any details? Why was I able to come up with a long list of proposals re this subject, in ten minutes no less, when Amezcua apparently cannot come up with even one concrete proposal? Why should anyone take this guy seriously?
The Mayor represents one vote on the Council. Pulido at least knows how to build coalitions. If Amezcua wins he will only be able to count on the support of Benavides, and perhaps Bustamante. You need four votes to get anything done. Amezcua will be hamstrung from day one. Not to worry though, at this rate he may come in third.
You are wrong. The council will work with those elected or else they violate the trust of the voters. They are elected to represent their wards if they become obstrctionist towards a elected member voters will revolt, as they would be nullifying their vote.
Excuses is exactly what you where doing. I have not done so.
Alfredo can tell you what his plans are. He doest it every day at his fundraisers and at the meet and greats. Call him or attend these gatherings to get the information you need.
His ability to communicate his ideas to those interested in hearing him is why the majority is not only taking him seriously but following him loyaly.
On a previous blog piece of yours you polled who should be mayor. Over %70 voted for Alfredo I think that is taking him seriously.
Lomeli,
Too funny! Chuck DeVore thought polls would help him win in the primary too. How did that work out for him?
So Amezcua only shares his plans at fundraisers. That’s great. I guess that tells you what he thinks of the rest of the voters. Pay or no play.
Does he know you are prattling on over here? You are not helping his cause.
Mr. Lomeli: I am honestly neutral in this debate for Mayor but I do agree with Art Pedroza when it comes to Amezcua coming across as a blank slate. He may be communicating his vision through meet and greets and fundraisers but many of us do not have the time to attend these events nor are there many sources providing the cliff notes version of his intentions. Therefore I would consider it extremely advantageous for him to utilize his website and FB more, in order to communicate a vision, a plan of action, and a rolling event calendar. He just comes across as mysterious right now and that is not a good thing at this stage of the game. if anything I look forward to his debates, as I expect a polished series of arguments considering his JD background!
“Too funny! Chuck DeVore thought polls would help him win in the primary too. How did that work out for him?”
Apparently you form your jokes on your blog. You wrote the blog and the poll. Why would you do that is “too funny”.
I did not say only at fundraisers. You have a comprehension problem?
“prattling ” only because I am anoying you. Others might not agree with you. I do not speak for Alfredo. I simply am stating my opinion. Do you answer to anyone?
Salzburg2013 ,
I understand that his campaign is making additions to his website to accommodate voters like you. Look him up on facebook and/or call him directly.
Lomeli,
I noticed you never replied to my post about Amezcua’s registration. Why is he registered to vote at his office and not at his home?
Art,
My understanding is that he is registered to vote at his home. In the reg. form there is another section asking if want to have mail delivered at different address than the registerd home address . He placed his office address in that section.
Lomeli,
That is not what I have seen. And he has not answered the allegations about his address being outside of the RSCCD Area he was supposed to represent.
Do you really think these issues won’t be coming up before November? This is not going to go well for him at all.
I do not know what you have . I am stating what I know. My understanding is that at least one newspaper has researched it and it is what they found.
I do not have inf. about RSCCD. I will find out for you.
Lomeli,
No worries. I imagine that the Secretary of State and the FPPC will be looking into this.
Art I think you have brought to light some troubling aspects of Mr. Amezqua’s campaign. Normally when someone is taking on an incumbant elected official they are busting their tail take advantage of blogs which can help them get free exposure and help them explain why they are running. In the case of Mr. Amezqua, he only has his people answer questions for him. Why should only a select few know his views? Could it be that he does not want us to know his views or is afraid to tough questions? Why won’t Mr. Amezqua allow himself to be interviewed by the number one blog in Orange County if not the State, Orange Juice blog?
Brook Street Ruka,
Good question. If he cannot handle us how is he going to handle Pulido in the debates?
Brook Street Ruka ,
“Normally when someone is taking on an incumbant elected official they are busting their tail take advantage of blogs which can help them get free exposure and help them explain why they are running.”
This just does not happen. Give examples. This blog has been online now for 7 years. not one candidate has blogged other than Art Pedroza….it is his blog he can control it.
It would not be responsible for a consultant to advice a candidate to have a conversation in a blog of this type especially a hostile one towards his candidate like this one is to Alfredo.
No one is answering questions for Alfredo. I do not speak for him.
Lomeli,
Lies, lies and more lies. In fact Jim Walker blogged here as an author in 2008 when he ran for the Santa Ana City Council. The stories are still in our archives. He got a lot of votes in part because we helped him reach out to the voters.
Duane Roberts is one of my writers. He is currently a Green party candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Irvine Reporter is one of my writers. He is currently a candidate for the Irvine City Council.
And many more of our former writers have run for office. Too many for me to bother naming here but all the past posts are in our archives.
We also get press releases from candidates running for all sort of offices all over the county. We run many of those here. In fact we have run most of Amezcua’s press releases.
I should also note that many past candidates have commented here, including Shawn Nelson, who is now an Orange County Supervisor. There are also numerous candidates and past electeds who comment on Larry Gilbert’s posts about politics in Mission Viejo.
So now you do not speak for Amezcua, and he certainly isn’t speaking either. What a joke. Maybe he can hire someone to speak for him since he obviously is not up to the task?
I seem to remember a nice young fellow who was running for School Board in Anaheim also coming on here and answering questions. George Collins did as well. So did Sal Tinajero I believe. The list goes on. Seems like Mr. Amezqua is one of the few who has not. It’s a bad sign when the candidates start letting their handlers tell them what to do. A very bad sign.
Show the archives where they were interviewed about on their campaigns in the same manner you want Alfredo to do.
Also criticise the mayor and the other Santa Ana council candidates to do the same. Maybe you want to organize debates? Fairness is the word. What you have here is Alfredo bashing…..no bueno.
Lomeli,
What we have here is a candidate who doesn’t want to go on the record…about anything. And not only have we interviewed a lot of candidates – as I stated earlier many of them have directly written posts here as well as comments. You are lying and if you had any honor you would admit it.
As for our archives, you can search them yourself right from our home page. I won’t do your homework for you.
“What we have here is a candidate who doesn’t want to go on the record…about anything”
Eso es! And we are not talking about some inexperienced soccer mom or dad running for office for the first time. This is a LAWYER who has held elected office before purposely avoiding question. Now that is what I call no bueno! If he’s hard to track down now when he needs our votes, how accessable do you think he would be IF he could get elected? His silence speaks volumes about his character.
OK just as I thought. I am not lying Art I ask for proff. You call me a liar. previously you scolded me for saying your were dishonest about a point. You told me you would ban me from the blog for doing so. You now call me a liar(dishonest).
Practice what you preach. Or is it do what I say not what I do??
Posts and comments are not campaign interviews. Keep spinning.
Also criticise the mayor and the other Santa Ana council candidates to do the same. Maybe you want to organize debates? Fairness is the word. What you have here is Alfredo bashing…..no bueno.
Lomeli,
Yes, you are a liar. You specifically said that we have never had any candidates post or comment here. That is, as I clearly proved, a big lie.
We have run MANY campaign interviews here. In fact Larry Gilbert personally has conducted at least a half dozen of them.
I have spent fifteen years criticizing Pulido and the Council. Now that they are finally doing the right thing, you are attacking them. That is idiotic. Your boy Amezcua was right there with Pulido all that time. He even went to Pulido’s campaign party in 2008, in a limo no less, abandoning Michele Martinez.
We have tried to be fair with Amezcua, while you have done nothing but insult me and attack me, here and on other blogs. How is that working out for your candidate?
Art,
Stop spinning, your are doing a poor job.
“Yes, you are a liar. You specifically said that we have never had any candidates post or comment here. That is, as I clearly proved, a big lie. ”
I have said campaign interviews not posts or comments. Be accurate. So is it OK for those of us to call you a liar when we percieve you to be?
“We have tried to be fair with Amezcua, while you have done nothing but insult me and attack me, here and on other blogs. How is that working out for your candidate?”
You really are thin skinned Art. Where have I attacked you. I differ in opinion. Because of this you bash candidates those that differ in opinion with you support??????
You have criticised the mayor for not doing enough for 20 years. Now according to you he is
with in the last 145 days in an election year and under pressure from a strong challenger and this is good enough for you???
NICE JOB.
Also criticise the mayor and the other Santa Ana council candidates to do the same. Maybe you want to organize debates? Fairness is the word. What you have here is Alfredo bashing…..no bueno.
Lomeli,
Here is exactly what you wrote, verbatim:
“This blog has been online now for 7 years. not one candidate has blogged other than Art Pedroza….it is his blog he can control it.”
Again, this is a big, fat lie. Jim Walker was a blogger here in 2008, as a Council candidate. Duane Roberts is a blogger here now, as a Senate candidate. We have had numerous comments from numerous electeds, candidates, etc. over the past seven years. And Larry Gilbert has in fact interviewed a number of candidates – as have I.
Are you ready yet to eat your words?
As for Pulido, I have already clearly explained the facts. The Council is not going to change, even though I suspect that Benavides might be gone in November if a serious challenger takes him on. But he and Bustamante are on the outside looking in. The majority is not going to change. They are a progressive, all-Latino majority and they, along with Pulido, have been doing a good job over the past two years. Have I agreed with them all the time? No, but I have found them to be very accessible and willing to listen.
What we have hear is a mayoral candidate in Alfredo Amezcua who won’t take a position on ANY issues and who insists on sending you hear to bash me instead of putting his proposals up on his website. Why don’t you stop coming here and spreading your lies and go help Amezcua come up with some damn ideas! He appears to be incapable of doing that on his own.
My response that you posted was to :
Brook Street Ruka
Posted July 26, 2010 at 8:06 PM
“Normally when someone is taking on an incumbant elected official they are busting their tail take advantage of blogs which can help them get free exposure and help them explain why they are running.”
This to me means explain their campaign not post and comment. My comment was addressing my understanding bloging about campaign interviews.
SO I AM NOT A LIAR,AND NEITHER ARE YOU ART, YOU JUST DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I WAS SAYING.
“They are a progressive, all-Latino majority and they, along with Pulido, have been doing a good job over the past two years. ”
Two years is when Michele Martinez exposed the Mayor’s weakness. After removing challengers it is back to the same old thing. The Mayor is ,has and will always be in control as long as he is Mayor.
Money and power stays with the office that has no term limits. Council members are irrelevant relative to the Mayor with no term limits.
The politics now is do what is necessary to eliminate the strong challenger. Afterwards we do what we please as before.
THIS IS THE REALITY ART YOU ARE TAKING A TRIP INTO FANTASY LAND.
Please calm down. Take care of your health. This is just a conversation.
Lomeli,
If I failed to understand what you were saying it was due to your difficulty in saying what you meant. I noted what you wrote. Verbatim. It was a lie.
As for the rest of your comment, I know for a fact that Amezcua used Martinez as a trial balloon. He said as much. Shame on Amezcua for using Martinez in such fashion. That episode did not expose her weakness at all. In fact it exposed her strength as she went on to become a key part of the Council majority. What it exposed was Amezcua’s proclivity to use people who he is supposed to be friendly with.
There is NOTHING strong about a challenger who refuses to take a stand on anything. When Amezcua is ready to stand and deliver then we will be able to figure out if he is worth the bother. Right now he is full of hot air.
I am by the way quite calm. You should be concerned about some of Amezcua’s supporters, who have spent the afternoon stalking me via email and text messages. They are losing their minds, as you too appear to be.
I am NOT going to shill for Amezcua, unlike you. Not when I still have no damn clue what the heck he intends to do as Mayor. Perhaps he will figure this out by Saturday. Then again he may just spend the day feeding his supporters – and not telling us what he believes in or what he plans to do…
Art,
You are a angry man, This impedes your ability to comprehend. You misunderstood my comment about blogging campaings and you misunderstood the comment about exposing the Mayor’s weakness.
Nothing was said about Martinez having a weakness exposed. No one used Michele in any form when she ran for Mayor.
Also criticise the mayor and the other Santa Ana council candidates to do the same. Maybe you want to organize debates? Fairness is the word. What you have here is Alfredo bashing…..no bueno.
Lomeli,
Then you do not know me well at all. I am not an angry person. In fact I tend to use humor, not anger. I did not misunderstand what you wrote. You were quite clear in what you wrote. Apparently you meant to say something else. If that is the case then the fault lies with you, not me.
My reading comprehension is quite suitable, thanks very much. However your communication ability is not up to par. There are courses you can take to improve your skills.
And yes, Amezcua did use Martinez. He said as much to an elected official that I know.
There is no need for me to organize debates. There are always about four or five debates. The need is for Amezcua to get off his butt and tell us what he intends to do as Mayor. Right now we simply have no clue. Nor does he apparently…
You certainly are entitled to your opinion. Opinions are just that, not necessarily facts.
I will take your advice and be more careful in how I communicate. I learn everyday and do so with a positive constructive attitude.
“And yes, Amezcua did use Martinez. He said as much to an elected official that I know. ”
He never said he used Martinez. She ran for Mayor of her own free will. I believe he has taken the opportunity when Martinez and Collins collected together 48% of the vote.thus exposing the Mayor as weak.
“The need is for Amezcua to get off his butt and tell us what he intends to do as Mayor.”
The Mayor’s website has no text in the issues page. It says none at this time. The council candidates do not either.Why do you give them a pass.
Also criticise the mayor and the other Santa Ana council candidates to do the same. Maybe you want to organize debates? Fairness is the word. What you have here is Alfredo bashing…..no bueno.
Lomeli,
I don’t know how many times I must tell you this. We are a blog. We deal in opinions. Sure, we break stories from time to time. But opinions are our main deal.
We are now going around in circles. You are beginning to repeat your tired arguments. You are too young to be exhibiting signs of dementia!
We are not going to agree. And I will be continue to watch Amezcua’s campaign very closely.
“You are beginning to repeat your tired arguments”
LOOK WHO IS TALKING.
“And I will be continue to watch Amezcua’s campaign very closely”
i WILL LOOK FOR YOUR OPINIONS.