Ryan Gene Williams, the 20 year-old college student vying for the GOP nomination in the 69th Assembly District, is running uncontested in the primary – but apparently that does not matter to Alberta Christy and Carlos Bustamante, two of the Republicans serving on the Santa Ana City Council. Neither one has so much as given Williams the time of day, and Christy went as far as to tell him that she would not endorse him, due to his lack of political experience. Nice. The young man does us a favor by running for a district without a GOP candidate, and this is how Christy thanks him? Unbelievable.
Christy served for many years on the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee – and she was a prominent member of their Executive Committee. However, she has dialed back on Republican politics since getting elected to the City Council in Santa Ana, and now apparently she is loathe to support a Republican for the local Assembly District. Could her antagonism stem from the fact that two of her colleagues on the council are running for the Democrat nomination? Has she promised one of them her support? Jose Solorio is known for making deals with Republicans, and Claudia Alvarez is a favorite of the California Chamber of Commerce. It is certainly possible that Christy is backing one of them instead of Williams.
As for Bustamante, he is not doing anything to endear himself to local Republicans. Tim Whitacre, the noted GOP activist and Central Committee member has told me on more than one occassion that Bustamante needs to start backing GOP candidates – and he’s right. Brett Franklin made the same mistake, when he was on the Santa Ana City Council. He later ran for other offices and found it hard to get support from the local GOP establishment. Franklin may have learned his lesson, as he is now an elected member of the OC GOP Central Committee. Bustamante would do well to learn from his example.
Solorio, in the meantime, is struggling since he lost the local party endorsement to activist Armando De La Libertad. Alvarez didn’t even try to get endorsed. I smell an upset on the Dem side of the aisle. De La Libertad certainly has more personality and good looks than Solorio, and he is far more popular with the base than the mean-spirited Alvarez. This race could end up featuring De La Libertad and Williams in the general. They are both nice guys, and they have both promised to run clean campaigns. Wouldn’t that be nice for a change? (See Umberg vs. Correa for the alternative).
Art you are right on the money with our observations regarding Christy and Bustamonte. Neither one would be in office without Doy Henly, Dale Dykama, and the boys from the Lincoln club but once they got elected they said adios to the Republicans. If I had to guess, I’d say Alberta cut a deal with Jose to stay on the Sanitation District board (pays about $200 per meeting and she attends 10 a month). Alberta has gone from 8 years ago being a hard core Rep. to a Mega-RINO-Squish unwilling to do anything to help her fellow Rep.’s She votes for Emen. Domain and I hear is joining Bustamonte in Supporting the current plan to force everyone who sells a home in S.A. to a have a government inspection by code inforcement which will levy fines and force people to spend lots of money. So much for less Gov. is better. For Bustamonte and Christy it’s BIG Gov. is better.
Bustamonte has no core values either. He is afraid of the females on the council and when they tell him to jump he says how high. What possible reason would they have for not endorsing Ryan? Garcia, Alvarez, and Solorio have been endorsing the Dem. nominees for years. Shame on Bustamonte and Christy. I hope that some of the Republicans reading this Blog will remember this when Bustamonte calls asking for $$ when he runs for re-election. As for Christy, she is out of office forever in a few months and I say it is none to soon!!!!!
Hey Art,
I just wnated to clarify some things.
Christy never said she wouldn’t endorse me. When I called her during the petition drive, she told me that she wouldn’t sign my petition.
Last night at the Council meeting, I introduced myself to her but she was very passive. After the meeting, she wouldn’t even talk to me.
As for Bustamante, you, Tim, and Abie have told me to get in contact with him but he never returns my phone calls. I don’t want to annoy the guy, but after 7/8 phone calls you’d think he’d have the common courtesy to at least call me back after 4 months.
What impressed me the most about last night, Claudia and Jose were the only ones who actually spoke to me (Jose more so). We talked shop, agreed not to trash each other during the campaign (I made the same agreement with Armando) should he win the primary, and I talked to him about some city issues, most notably the beautification after the 22 Freeway construction.
However, it pains me to know that I’m putting my own time and what little money I personally have on this race, and some of the councilmembers in my own city… of my own party are basically writing it off. For what ever reason I don’t know.
Granted, I’ve never been elected into office before, but I enjoy getting involved in the community, meeting people, and I at least had the guts to stand up and run in this race. No one asked me to, but I’m being told my many people, including Miss Alvarez last night that she’s impressed with my determination to get involved at such a young age.
Win, lose, or draw this year I’m gaining a lot of experience out of this. I just wish many of the nay-sayers would look past the age factor. I’m not some college-aged frat dude who wants to party every night of the week. I’d like to think that I’m intelligent enough to run and be considered a strong candidate. This is a young city and we need youthful representation.
Perhaps if I win this year, I’ll court some good GOP candidate(s) to run against Bustamante in two years and offer my support to them. At least I can say that I back and support decent people.
— Ryan.
Hey Art,
How about starting a RINO/Squish of the month award on your Blog and making Bustamonte/Christy the first winners!!!
Hang in there Ryan and welcome to the world of GOP politics in the Central OC. Don’t get to excited about Solorio/Alvarez being nice to you though. It’s because they don’t see you as a threat. I like your attitude though and make sure you tell all the Republicans you meet how you were treated by Bustamonte and Christy. You deserve better. God bless you!!!
Art—why limit dirty campaigns to Correa-Umberg(pretty one-sided at present)? Why not add some of your Republican friends, like Harkey-Harmon, or Silva-McGill, or Daucher-Moreno?
As for the rest, Williams should quit whining. He sounds like the Democrats who whined when Jerry Patterson endorsed Brewer or when some elected Democrats endorsed Royce. Whining is for losers.
As for Bustamante, he got as much Dem support as GOP when he was elected. Recall his opponenet Sandy Nalle was a Republican. And Carlos was endorsed by the labor unions, their Central Labor Council. He owes the Republican Party nothing. He has all the leverage as he is the only A team player they have. In fact, Mr. Williams only claim to fame is simply because Bustamante refused numerous Republican requests to run for the 69th. Carlos had no intention of being some Democrats road kill so now young Ryan Williams gets that honor..and a chance of course to surprise everyone by running a decent campaign(which starts by dropping the whining).
AD 69 is not a Republican District, either.
I’m impressed with Ryan so far. He’s not the one whining, Art’s whining on his behalf. And, sadly, Art thinks he’s helping Ryan. But instead, the headline he wrote makes one wonder why these Republican electeds are ignoring a decent young candidate.
Ryan – stay positive, ignore Art, or at least ascertain what the win/loss record is on campaigns for which he was the primary decisionmaker.
Anon 12:31 –
Thanks for the encouragement.
As far as Bladerunner’s comments are concerned, I’m not whining about not getting attention from the party. If the GOP doesnt want to take back this district, that’s their choice and they’re going to have to live with the overall consequences.
Like I said, nobody asked me to run and Mr. Bustamante clearly refused to step into the race. As far as being the Democrat’s roadkill is concerned, I’m not losing anything by running in this district. I stepped up to the plate when nobody else wanted to and I think I made the right decision.
I believe that I am the best candidate for the 69 AD, regardless of party affiliation, and I can be a useful tool the district needs to get money and attention from Sacramento.
If I do win, which I admit is an uphill battle depending upon who I face off come June 7, I figure it’ll shock a lot of people and I will get countless attention by being the youngest member of the Assembly ever elected in state history.
If I lose, which will shock no one, I still would have gained name ID and recognition among community leaders and elected officials in the county. Besides, I can always look into trying out for another office afterwards.
My only concern with the party, as far as I’ve noticed, is that the California GOP plays a different political game than I’m used to.
Quite honestly, I think they like to pick and choose their candidates like free range animals. If no one decent looks good, they just recycle leftovers.
Obviously I’m being satirical, but I was born and raised in a Republican majority state, and the game I learned how to play is the game I’m playing.
Regarding Art, he’s a nice guy. I admit he may go overboard on various topics, but he only does so because he preaches what he believes in. Which is more than what I can say for many others I’ve come across in elected office.
Regarding the City Council members in question, if they decide to not support me and support one of my other opponents, then it’s not the end of the world. Although, at the end of the day, I feel their doing a disservice to the party but that’s their choice.
In order to win, I have to run a positive campaign like you said. I play nice with the other kids on the playground which is why I’d be honored to have cross-over support from them.
After all, They are my constituents too.
— Ryan.
It’s true that Bustamonte is not the first Rep. to get Labor union support when running for city council but it wasn’t a couple of weak slate pieces with the Union bug on them that got him into office,but rather it was the cash from the guys at the Lincoln club and a handful of Republicans running him around like some sideshow freak. (Look everyone, we found a Mexican Republican!) Sandy Nalle was an invention of Democrat Mayor Miguel Pulido and if Nalle is a Republican it is news to me and I live in S.A. He was such a weak candidate, who would know if he was R or D??
I would like to see a debate between these two youthful gentlemen – de la Libertad and Williams as it would be refreshing and surely enlightening.
It
and if Bustamonte is considered the only Republican “A team player” then Central O.C. is forever lost to the Democrats.
Art/Claudio,
Can you please comment on S.A. city council races? I’ve never seen such a late start for candidates running for office in Santa Ana. Who is running? What is their background. Who is supporting them? I believe Christy and Bist are going off the council but who else is running???
Art, I hope you are right about Armando. His fundraising numbers don’t look too good, but hopefully this endorsement will help with that.
MAny of us who are Santa Ana Republicans have simply lost faith in our local party.
When TW puts up a guy like Ryan who has no record of service to the community, didn’t grow up here and has no solid connection to the community, isn’t a college graduate or homeowner, what are we supposed to think?
This is lame.
Being a nice guy and the only Reep in the race is not a credible credential.
We have no choice but to vote for someone who will have the skills and connections to represent us in Sacto.
Our local electeds recognize that.
Anon S.A. Republican:
TW and the party had PLENTY of time to find a quote “credible” candidate to run in the 69th. Nobody wanted to.
Ryan stepped up when no one wanted to. It’s true that he doesn’t have a life-long bond with Santa Ana. However, he still lives there and I would consider him a pioneer.
Santa Ana was founded, built, and shaped by pioneers and Ryan is just another name on that list.
I strongly encourage people to get in contact with him and talk to him. He’s smart, knows what he’s doing, and win, lose, or draw he’s building credibility for a potential race down the line.
After the June 6 primaries, I would expect a lot of people like Tim and other electeds will come up to bat for Ryan. The big concern right now is who gets the 67th AD, 34th SD, and 47th CD nods.
“who has no record of service to the community, didn’t grow up here and has no solid connection to the community, isn’t a college graduate or homeowner”
Besides, doesn’t that describe half of Santa Ana anyway?
“has no record of service to the community, didn’t grow up here and has no solid connection to the community, isn’t a college graduate or homeowner, what are we supposed to think?
Being a nice guy and the only Reep in the race…”
I agree with Brock in Anahiem. We have to come up with some new concepts of what home grown means in S.A. today. The majority of the city council was BORN IN MEXICO and last time I checked, Santa Ana is not yet officially part of our great neighbor to the south. And yes, to many of us who are Republicans being a nice guy and the only Reep is most certainly enough. If someone does not know or care for the party system and what the Rep.s and Dem.’s stand for, then vote based on any number of other good and not so good reasons. And given the test scores and current conditions in our Santa Ana Public schools I’m looking to vote for someone who DID NOT grow up going to school here. I imagine a high school degree from Texas and two years at Orange Coast College puts Mr. Williams ahead of most of the teachers in SAUSD working with emergency credentials. One exception to that rule is School Board Member Robert Richardson. Rob was born and raised in S.A and has a higher I.Q than all the candidates running in the 69th combined.
Brock in Anaheim:
Comparatively speaking, it also describes half of Anaheim.
Anaheim Elementary has 84.4% Hispanic/Latino population with 61% English Learners and Anaheim Union HS has 56.9% Hispanic/Latino with 27% English Learners.
Santa Ana has 92.2% Hispanic/Latino with 59.7% English Learners.
Where the comparison ends is in 1 & 4 year drop out rates:
Anaheim: .5 for 1 year and 2.3 for 4 year
SAUSD 2.7 for 1 year and 12.0 for for year.
Can any one confirm that Alberta really get’s $2,000 per month on the San. District board? What about the Integraited Waste Board, Orange County Water Board, Toll Road Board, OCTA Board, etc. What do they pay and how much money are councilmembers making in addition to thier pay for city council??? Who in Santa Ana is on those boards?
I think you are looking at the wrong numbers. And, you’ll also note that the bulk of Armando’s cash is coming as a loan from himself.
Although Armando is no Steve Westly or Rob Reiner in terms of wealth, Wells Fargo has obviously paid him well so that he can self-fund his campaign.
Looks like that if Armando could get himself elected to the S.A. city council, and then get on one of those boards, he could self fund his campaign and have money left over to help others running for office. Not to mention the money he could raise from contract venders who do work for the OCTA, Orange County Water Board, or the Toll Road Boards. I hear Jose is famous for leaning on contractors from all three to put $$$ in his campaign coffers. Is that legal??
Anonymous 1 is waaaay off base!
What makes you think Alberta Christy cut a deal with Solorio for the San District post? The Sanitation District has nothing to do with Solorio.
Alberta Christy attends one Sanitation District meeting a month, and also attends one San District subcommittee meeting per month.
That’s two, not ten.
Anon post at 9:26 AM
Are you saying that being born in Mexico is enough reason to be forever disqualified from holding office? Maybe we should take citizenship away from all those who were born in Mexico and got naturalized. This whole immigrant bashing thing looks more and more like a “fear of a brown planet.” What does SA councilmembers being born in Mexico have anything to do with securing our borders. Maybe their parents should have aborted them, immigrate to the US and have them here, would that make you happy? You conservatives really are nothing more than filthy racist pigs. Just admit it, it is not about immigration, it is about the fact that you all hate Mexicans.
Can someone do a public records check and see if I’m off base? Let’s see exactly what Christy, Solario, Alvarez have made during the last 6 months on thier “extra” boards and commissions. All it would take is a public records request right? I’ve found you have to get an insider to help you ask the right questions to get at the truth. Maybe Alberta just has the two official meetings (and that’s $400 by the way) and then some more “briefings” with staff and pretty soon it is Ching, Ching, Ching! Can someone who has made these requests before help crack the code??? I wish the O.C. Register would shine some light on this whole world of shadow governments. I’d like to see what Solorio, Chirsty, and Alvarez got paid during the last 6 mo to a year from those boards. I’d be willing to bet it’s even More than the $400 you are suggesting. I bet it’s a lot closer to my figure of $2,000/mo. Check it out.
Anon 9:29 is totally inaccurate stating: “most of the teachers in SAUSD working with emergency credentials.”
There are 2,595 teachers in SAUSD with only 2.7% with emergency credentials.
The San. District board has EVERYTHING to do with Jose. Most of those boards are voted on by the city council. Jose can get 3 votes to keep Alberta on or kick her off the board. He also depends on the council to remain on the Water Distict board ($2000 per month). As you can see, both have a strong interest in cutting deals. Whether or not they cut one for on this endorsment may never be known.
Dear Just admit it:
You read something into my post that was not intended. My comment about the S.A. council members being born in Mex. was to counter those who say Mr. Williams is not qualified because he was not born or raised in S.A. I happen to think Miguel Pulido is the greatest Mayor in the History of Santa Ana and I like the honest style Ms. Alvarez brings to our city as well. Both born in Mex., both got my vote for council/Mayor.
P.S. I also LOVE Reggaeton Music. Chill brother.
“You conservatives really are nothing more than filthy racist pigs. Just admit it, it is not about immigration, it is about the fact that you all hate Mexicans.”
That’s a very blatent, opinanated statement. I have nothing against Mexicans — in fact a lot of my friends are from there.
Mexicans are cool, and they keep it real. My only concern about them coming here and getting jobs is that they do so within the legal ramifications in our country. Do that and I’m a satisfied neighbor.
I just would appreciate it if everyone played by the rules. Is that so hard?
But, I do believe that this argument is off topic. The topic at hand is the 69th AD. So, if we could continue the discussion regarding the blog post that’d be great.
“As for Bustamante, he never returns my phone calls. I don’t want to annoy the guy, but after 7/8 phone calls you’d think he’d have the common courtesy to at least call me back after 4 months.”
Now you know why our city looks like shit, crime is rampant, and our Council is corrupt.
The PIP program is not Alberta’s plan – it’s the Mayor’s and Tim Rush, Julie Stroud and Debbie McEwen have been charged to peddle this lousy program.
PIP is no different than the vendor issue, the moment the Council adopts PIP a lawsuit will be filed and the City will lose.
“Now you know why our city looks like shit, crime is rampant, and our Council is corrupt.”
run for city council. it’d be a welcome change.