What would you do to improve your town if YOU were the Mayor?
Imagine if you woke up tomorrow and you were the Mayor of your town. What would you do to improve things?
That is the question a friend of mine asked me today, over lunch.
To see what my answer was, click here. Now Santa Ana has a lot of issues, but what about your town?
It is easy to be a critic. But what if you had to make the hard calls and provide the vision for your City Council?
Fire away…
Art,
I like your suggestion, on the term limits I’d allow a maximum of 8 years (2-4 year or 4-2 year terms) per office and a staggered implementation to ensure a smooth transition.
On a smaller and more immediate note, I would modify the ban on garage sales, we went from 52 possible weekends to 4, wouldn’t the first full week-end of every month have made more sense? Especially in light of the economy, with foreclosures and job losses our 4 garage sale policy is OUT-OF-TOUCH with reality. Garage sales are a good source for people who are struggling to buy clothes, toys, appliances etc. It’s also an extra hardship on those who have to move, if they miss the “approved week-end” they are forced to give their stuff away.
It’s a small thing but I think it typifies the lack of compassion, understanding and anti-poor bias emanating from the city council.
anonster,
Great idea! You inspired me to write a post about it: http://newsantaana.com/2009/09/02/should-we-allow-more-garage-sales-in-santa-ana/.
We need to contact our city leaders and make this happen!!!
I am not opposed to having more garage sales, but I wonder if limiting the weekends that garage sales occur actually helps those interested in holding a sale by creating “buzz” and attracting more concentrated traffic.
#3,
I think we need to look at the garage sales policies of our surrounding cities.
Anaheim allows you to conduct 1 to 3 garage sales, but on dates of YOUR choosing.
Orange allows up to 4 sales, on dates of YOUR choosing. Tustin has the same policy, as does Garden Grove.
I could not find info on garage sales on Costa Mesa’s website.
Irvine allows up to four garage sales per year and does not issue permits.
That said, allowing folks to choose when they have garage sales appears to the standard in Orange County, as does limiting them to four. I think that is an extreme limit. I would go with at least six.
Why shouldn’t Santa Ana have a more compassionate policy than our neighbors?
Art,
What, exactly, are the benefits to ward-specific Council elections? If one looks at the race you just ran, presumably you would have been hurt by such elections, given that you are not highly thought of by many in your Ward. This city doesn’t seem so big that a concerned citizen can’t keep track of the players in 6 Wards.
As a liberterian I would say lets do away with garage sale laws. Santa Ana has turned into too much of a Nanny State with laws for everything. I also think we should do away with laws regarding push carts. If I want to a popcicle or a tamale or corn on the cob from a guy selling them out of a shopping cart then why shouldn’t I be able to? If I don’t think it looks healthy I won’t buy it. Let the market decide and the competition will help only the best sellers survive. I miss the old days when i could find antiques at garage sales in Santa Ana each and every weekend. Now I know some of my neighbors like garage sales when it’s white people putting them on and NOT when the Mexicans have them but that’s racist don’t you think? They don’t complain when Floral Park has it’s fancy little “antique” market during their home show but let a few Mexican families want to sell some things from their home or at Santa Ana college and they will have holy hell to pay from Code Enforcement. Why not a swap meet at Santa Ana college? Most Community College’s have them including Irvine Valley college. Why can’t we have one in Santa Ana? Again…When Mexicans want to do some things they are bad…and when white people want to do the same things it is bad. Speaking of that, Why is it ok for Floral Park to hold a big outdoor dinner concert with a live band in Morrison park each summber but if Mexican’s try to have a concert with live Spanish Music in a park it’s a Federal offense? (Go check out that Morrison park concert and see how many people are drining wine/bear openly in the park! Try doing that at El Salvador park and you will spend the night in jail!) Try getting the ok from the city to hold a big Spanish Rock concert in a park near Sandpointe and see how far you get! We have one set of rules for Mexicans in Santa Ana and another for Gringos. That’s not right!
Code Enforcement has to keep tabs on “your people.” Otherwise theyll be running drugs through their garage sale fronts. And they cant let meximoochers throw concerts because all those illegals in one place will ultimately turn into a riot and hard working, tax paying, white people will be the victims of their violence. I’m so sick of “latinos” (as if their all different, instead of just being the same smelly ass mexicans) complaining about how badly their treated. Youre here illegally! If you dont like it… go the fuck home. You invade our neighborhoods, hit on our women, drain our economy, and have the gaul to bitch about how youre treated. Did you know a “family” of browns moved in around the corner… now the lawn is burnt out, theres about 20 people in that house, theres half naked barefoot tacitos running in the street at all hours of the night and day, and my house value has dropped because of it. So thats why theres a double standard. Because most of you are here illegally so you dont deserve the same rights anyway. And the legal ones should stand up for the rights of citizens instead of championing your “brothers.”
When Mexicans want to do some things they are bad…and when white people want to do the same things it is bad.
I meant to say that when white people want to do the same things it is “good”…
Sorry..I’m just so tired of the racist neighborhood association and the usual suspects who lead them!
Interesting fact:
Former S.A. Councilwoman Alberta Christy (lives near Valley High School in a very, very bad and dangerous part of Santa Ana)got elected twice to the city council and did not have the majority of the votes in her Ward either time. Now that’s not right!
#5,
The beauty of ward-specific elections is that anyone can run and have a chance to win. Yes, if one is not popular in their own ward, they won’t win.
Right now special interests run this city – as their money funds the Council Members’ campaigns. Ward specific elections would put the power in the hands of the voters.
You don’t need to be rich to run a ward specific campaign. It is feasible to walk a ward – it is impossible to walk the entire city – without using a small army of volunteers or paid campaign workers.
A Council member elected in this fashion will be more likely to know his ward and the issues therein. He or she will be more accountable and more accessible. Mission accomplished!
Why do you limit garage sales at all? Really? There is nothing better to regulate than if you want to sell out of your garage? I don’t know if my city has a limit, or requires a permit or not, and I don’t care! If I want to sell MY Stuff in MY Yard I will…and so should everybody else, White, Black, Mexican or Other!
The bigger point is the equal enforcement and application of laws, if you give permits for concerts, to one group you must do it for everybody…..exactly the same!!! If beer and wine are allowed they should be allowed for EVERYBODY! If you let the ACLU Use the Library meeting rooms, you must allow all of the same types of groups use the rooms. Period!
Art:
Garage Sales “MUST BE” regulated, an example in downtown Santa Ana, we have to many, sometimes we have two per months or a total of 10 per year, this doesn’t look good for the Downtown?
Is time to set rules that benefit the residents and merchant.
Ese mi bigmarkod, viva bigmarkod. Now you’re talkin’!
that is really sad– I’ve always wondered about those open container violations and the drinking in public scene-that really just sucks. Some ppl are above the law.
it is sad to see such inequality… and how about the three individuals in Floral Park that have the audacity to hang confederate flags on their front yards. that really hurts ppl’s feelings.
Did you know?-that on the Floral Park Newsletter, the home and garden tour director made a statement– “THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN!” how inviting—HUH-like George Lopez would put it
“ESTA CABRON!”-they are not nice!
Doctor Lomeli– what do you think about this?
Please lift our spirits here!!
George Lopez sucks! And the fact that his Brown Late Night Show was cancelled was a gift from God. They have to regulate Mexicans or before we know it there would be dirty old broken down cars parked on their lawns and their barefooted Anchor Babies would be running out in traffic while their neglectful parents waited for their welfare checks. And we don’t need anymore MexiMelt pride concerts blasting music in public. Before you know it our ENGLISH SPEAKING children will be picking up spanish words instead of latinos learning OUR LANGUAGE like they should be. I’m so sick of latin parasites sucking the life-blood from our system. So here’s what should happen: 1. Learn english 2. Pay taxes 3. Invest the money from your illegal jobs in OUR economy instead of your poor families south of the border 4. Get a god damn Green Card
respond to #13
Brown pride, You can’t just yell about the inequality, you must act…Everybody Must Act!!! I don’t care what the reason, or what the fight is, and you must gather those together and fight! You must know how the System works, and follow it to the letter, go to the Council (Regardless of the issue) and ask to exactly explain who, what, where, when and how. MAKE THEM ANSWER!
The NRA Wanted to rent the public Meeting room at the Librat for our monthly meetings, we applied, paid the money, and were later denied the room. We found out, they ran it past the Sheriff, and decided it was “unsafe” because, somebody “may” bring a gun, and it “may” be loaded, so they were concerned about “safety” Forget that the person in charge was a rabid anti-gun person. So we forced them to put it in writing, spelled out EXACTLY. Then we asked if any other group was held to this standard…the answer NO. Based on that and a quick e-mail from an attorney, we had the room, no more problems.
The point is, these bastards love to push people around, and are little more than bullies, that want to run their own little kingdom. But like most bullies, when you force them to put it in writing, they fold like a deck opf cards. STAND UP AND FIGHT!!!
Toss term limits and toss the manager council form of city government.
Lower the speed limits for cars and increase enforcement of same.
Complete bike trails and restyle some roads to encourage biking and safety.
For the last 20 years the city of Santa Ana has been mismanaged for political and economic manipulation.
The city has isolated pockets of prosperity while the majority of the city is in disrepair and facing possible bankruptcy.
A forum for presenting ideas,suggestions,opinions and solutions is great – http://www.newsantaana.com
The truth is that it would only have very little effect on a government that for the last 20 years has mismanaged the city. They will continue to do what has kept them in power till now.
The forum will work as visioned only if a receptive government to the people is in place.
For this to occur Mayor Pulido and his supportive staff must be replaced by a receptive Mayor and staff come next elections.
In the mean time this forum can function as a source of what the people want for future candidates looking to champion the best interests of the residents and not outside special interest groups championed currently and in the past by the current Mayor and his supportive staff.
The current Mayor might get on the band wagon but the history is clear and would not change. It would be campaign rhetoric only.
The actions for improvement posted so far are great. One suggestion of mine , another will follow, is the equal economic and educational development of all communities along with equal access to city services and public spaces for all.
The most important action for the improvement of Santa Ana is to REPLACE MAYOR PULIDO AND THE STAFF THAT SUPPORTS THE MISMANAGEMENT OF SANTA ANA. Without this very few to no suggestions by the residents and businesses will be carried out.
In the case of Sants Ana, call INS in and let them do there job and 50% pluse of your problems will be solved.
OCGATOR,
How do you figure? Do the undocumented residents make the budget and development decisions?
Please explain.
Huntington Beach strikes me as a really well run city. Good balance between various land uses, good attention to public infrastructure. I’d make sure that the water rates are supporting appropriate attention to infrastructure, health and safety, see that we’re doing all we can to protect our principal public works infrastucture (cleanliness and access to the beaches) and otherwise leave all the staff in place and let them continue doing a good job while I made plans for picking a car to ride in for the 4th of July parade.
My one change would be to put up some measuring sticks at the pier with markers for the current global warming sea level predictions, so we could be a tourist attraction in the coming years for how absurd the alarmist groups’ predictions prove to be.
As mayor I would scrap plans/$$$ for the proposed rail line to Garden Grove and must any funds I could to fix the streets, parks and clean up the grafitti. Few places have what we have here in Santa Ana; there’s a freeway named for us, there’s a river named for us, there are mountains named for us and the the wind carries our brand. When you get a ticket at the train station of the airport, it says SNA, Santa Ana. Until we can turn things around where people don’t give the, ” eeeew, you live in Santa Ana”, nose wrinkle we’re not going to turn things around. When the rest of the city is as well looked after as is the area around the mayor’s house, we will be less than what we could be, less thatn we should be. And for god’s sake, find some green space.
i agree.lol
all of these are good but we have to think about the little things happening but also the big ones too!
I’ve had lots of experience helping various groups raise money thru garage sales. In my experiences, many customers prefer to go to neighborhoods where there are more expensive homes. They think they finder more valuable items hopefully for a very low price. Sales I’ve had in Huntington Beach often do extremely well on Saturdays. In contrast, sales I’ve done in Midway City & central Garden Grove did very poorly. Customers on Saturdays tend to drive to their favorite areas & look for signs. I helped friends sell in Santa Ana twice & both times there were hardly any customers at all. Customers already have their favorite places they can go regularly – why would they interrupt their schedule to go to Santa Ana quarterly unless it was very much worth their while to do so? My e-mail is kcdude719@yahoo.com & I’ve had over 180 sales at different locations over the last 7 years.
You need to somehow control sales because there’s alway people who will cross the line devaluing their neighborhood, but you can do it in ways that are fairest to everyone.