The Santa Ana City Council candidate’s forum this evening, which was presented by Deborah Vasquez and her American Latino Voter Education fund, was well-attended, with a turnout of perhaps 80 residents. The forum was conducted in both English and Spanish, with a translator assisting.
There were two significant no-shows. Jennifer Villasenor was not there – and my sources tell me that she was in fact at a fundraiser in Orange for Dennis Bilodeaux, a GOP candidate for the Orange City Council. Apparently she attended that function with former Santa Ana Council Member and current OC GOP Central Committee member Brett Franklin.
Villasenor’s other Latino opponent for Ward 6 on the Santa Ana City Council, Sal Tinajero, was also absent from tonight’s forum. Apparently he called Villasenor in advance, found out she was skipping the forum, and so he decided to skip it too. However, another source told me that Tinajero worked late tonight at the school he teaches at.
The third candidate for Ward 6, George Collins, was there with his wife. She joined with my fellow blogger, Tim Whitacre, in videotaping the forum. The tape will run on the local cable access channel.
All the other council candidates were there. However, mayoral candidate Thomas Gordon was not allowed to participate, by Vasquez. She claimed there would not be enough time for Gordon to answer questions, but that seemed to be false, given that two council candidates were no-shows. Incumbent Mayor Miguel Pulido was also not there.
John Palacio and Cecilia Aguinaga were there as candidates for the Santa Ana School Board, but incumbent Audrey Noji arrived late and appeared to be quite flustered. Fellow incumbent Rosie Avila was in the audience, taking notes.
The candidates discussed a number of local issues, as Vasquez and her moderators posed the questions. I thought it was disingenous for David Benavides, candidate for Ward 4, and Tino Rivera, candidate for Ward 2, to talk about how they want to fix the streets, when their prime supporter, Pulido, has had twelve years to do so – and the results are pathetic.
Collins has a good answer regarding the streets. He said his wife came up with an idea to put motion detectors on the light poles, then they would be on only when needed, and the resulting savings in energy could be used to fix our potholes.
Rivera had a weird response – he said we need to fill up the Santa Ana jail with prisoners from other cities, and use that revenue to pay to fix our streets. Considering the fact that Santa Ana police are barely able to arrest taggers in our city, it would seen nuts to fill up our jail with outsiders. We need to fill it up with our own gang members, drug dealers, taggers, prostitutes and other criminals!
I wish that Tinajero had been there tonight, as he speaks great Spanish, and he would have been a considerable contrast to Pulido’s acolytes. But it was also nice to see Collins do so well, with his opponents missing in action. Collins picked up a lot of votes tonight.
Also, Garden Grove Councilwoman Janet Nguyen and 69th Assembly District GOP candidate Ryan Williams stopped by. Nguyen announced her endorsement of Thomas Gordon for Mayor of Santa Ana. Ironically, the Deputy Chair for the OC GOP in Santa Ana, Carlos Bustamante, is supporting Pulido, not Gordon. Considering that Gordon is endorsed by the OC GOP, and Pulido is a Democrat, Bustamante’s position is hard to understand. Nguyen is the Deputy Chair for the OC GOP in Garden Grove, and she is to be commended for backing her fellow Republican, Gordon, in Santa Ana. Perhaps Bustamante will follow suit. I won’t be holding my breath…
I look forward to the video
Thanks to Deborah Vasquez and the American Latino Voter Education Fund for last night’s forum. It was a well attended event and offered the voters another opportunity to hear the candidates.
That’s why it’s important to point out that the campaign literature distributed by candidate Noji is a must read. She does not list her 16 years as a SAUSD school board member. She has reduced her qualificatons to read ..”School board president for past 2 years.”
That statement is accurate, however her omission of 14 years of elected service is glaring. Her decision to distance herself as an elected SAUSD board member, 14 years worth, only begs more questions.
So, 2 of the Ward 6 candidates were AWOL?
That speaks volumes about their respect for the community.
Sal Tinajero is regularly late or not present for the closed sessions at SAUSD. He simply has other obligations and does not have the free time necessary to do his current elected job, much less that of a council member.
Jennifer Villasenor (who?) isn’t connected to this community so it’s no surprise she wasn’t there. Without the mayor present to pull her puppet strings, she would have had nothing to say anyway.
When can we expect this forum to air, and on what channel?
Hi,
I don’t know if this will reach you but I just wanted to say that Jennifer is my coach and she was helping our team last night. Originally, she wasn’t going to make practice she said that she had a couple of events and a debate or something. But we had to call her last night so she came to help us. Anyways, just thought you should know that and sorry if we made her miss the event.
“How many of you Santa Ana residents reading this would like to see the candidates in one more forum around October 20th, if possible?”
Will it include the people running for Mayor?
If not,don’t bother.
Janet is awesome. I saw her speak once at a charity event and I think she is really the “Rising Star” in the O.C. Republican Party not that RINO Bustamante who just wants to be somebody.
I’m so glad she endorsed Mr. Gordon but did she also endorse the other fine Republicans running for city council? If not, why not? Let’s get Janet on board with the whole GOP team in Santa Ana! Once she does endorse them all will you please let us know on this web site? Keep up the good work Janet and don’t let that bully Rosen push you around!
Tim, Thanks for filling in the blanks. I really appreciate and respect your perspective on things.
I think another forum would be a good thing because it is always good to make candidates answer as many questions as possible before an election. I would like to see it conducted in a more central location so that more people would consider coming.
When will this be run on the local cable access channel?
I called our local rep and she knows nothing about it.
I commend Collins, his wife and Whitacre for taping this and making it available for all to see.
Poster #9:
The tapping is being formatted to run on public access channels(95 to 98). Channel 3 is the “City Channel.” I am unaware of any plans for it to air there as well, but no one has been approached yet (as you found out from Kathy Bowers).
Poster #10:
Thank you, but the super bulk of the credit goes to George Collins. He is a master videographer who really knows his stuff. I’m basically in 3rd Grade at this time. It was his equipment and expertise that added an additional air of credibility to Deborah’s event.
George’s willingness to help out Deborah’s organization as well as all of the candidates, is both admirable and noteworthy.
Semper Fi,
Tim
Hi,
I don’t know if this will reach you but I just wanted to say that Sal is my teacher and he was tutoring our class last night. Originally, he wasn’t going to tutor our class as he said that he had a very important event / debate or something. But we had to call him last night so he came to help us. He also helped an old lady across the street and bought food for an elderly couple on our street.Anyways, just thought you should know that and sorry if we made him miss the event.
A vote for Sal is a vote for Claudia Alvarez!
Was it just me or did Fortino actually say he wanted to rent out Santa Ana City Jail to others cities criminals?How long till this guy thinks casinos in Santa Ana are a good idea.Or maybe condo’s next door to One Broadway Plaza.No thanks former b rate high school footbal star.
I would like to see another forum hopefully in English. I don’t think it’s a big deal wether or not the candidates for mayor are there because neither Mr. Gordon or Mr. Fiala have any money and can’t put together a credable campaign against Mr. Pulido. That’s just reality. I think Mr. Gordon has some good ideas but he doesn’t have any experience in helping run the city he should get on a commission first. Mr. Fiala is very funny and kind of wierd. I would not want him for a mayor. I agree that all of the city council candiates are nice people. It is going to be hard for me to decide who to vote for.
(I don’t think it’s a big deal wether or not the candidates for mayor are there because neither Mr. Gordon or Mr. Fiala have any money and can’t put together a credable campaign against Mr. Pulido.)
Gosh Mike Harrah,
Your going to vote for Mr Pulido just because you have given him lots of money?Please do tell us what Mr Pulido has done for you?
Credible candidates show up at community events,candidate forums,neighborhood meetings, etc.Mr Pulido does none of this.
Poster #16 brings up a good point. How much money does Thomas Gordon or the rest of the candidates have to run their campaigns? Because honestly even though I like some of the candidates, I can’t waste votes on those who can’t their message out. The two most important races for me are the Mayor’s seat and Ward 6. There is no way we can let Sal Tijanero bring failed SAUSD voting policies to the City Council.
Can anyone provide us information here regarding the financial situation of all of the candidates?
We have to vote with our heads not with our hearts.
If the logic goes, (I can’t waste votes) So that we always conveniently side early on with the money. Then Miguel Pulido will never leave as he is the winner by these standards. Is it not best to listen to the message, support the candidate who has your best interest in mind, and if they don’t win you at the least send a message of dissatisfaction with the status quo. We need to have the courage to say what we are all thinking. The city is self destructing due to poor leadership and we the community deserve better. As for the SAUSD, The recall of Nativo Lopez and the neutering of John Palacios was the turning point. And still the loyal followers of these two continue to deflect the blame hoping we have forgotten. Well we haven’t.
If you want casinos Lou Correa is your man. He’s got the full backing of the Indian Tribes who love to build urban casinos!
I don’t know if this will reach you but Mr. Pulido works on my muffler and it was making a terrible noise last night. I have a neighbor lady who is very sick with cancer I think and the noise was keeping her awake. Mr. Pulido said he had a debate or something to go to but since he know my neighbor was so sick he rolled up the sleeves on his white button down shirt and fixed my muffler right on the spot and even did a smog check for me for free! I just thought I should let you all know what a good guy he is and that he really wanted to make the very nice debate last night.
Sal Tinajero = Crazy Claudia!
That’s all well and good. But the REAL story is that Carol Rudat doesn’t live in Orange.
Does Fortino Rivera endorse the importation of criminals to populate our jail?
If so,I’d like him to share the stats that pencil out this as a financial win-win for the city.
First off,let me start by stating that the event was well attended and offered an opportunity to listen to those who have signed up to serve the community. Most everyone seems like they genuinely
care about our community.The decisions to be made are not only
huge, but vital.
Even though I was not allowed to join the forum last night, I appreciate all the hard work it takes to stage such an event.
The questions posed from the community are all issues that I agree are the cornerstone of a safe,vibrant community.
Questions such as what will be done about the poor streets and sidewalks and what will be done about graffiti appear to be concerns of every neighborhood in Santa Ana.
There were also questions about the large number of registered sex offenders in our city and gangs in our schools.
Our leadership have closed libraries,canceled book mobiles, curtailed parks and recreation services and cut nearly in half the number of patrol officers servicing our community.
They have neglected roads, sidewalks, graffiti removal and other basic services.They have taken for granted the people who should be the number one concern.
I have been honored and humbled by the amount of encouragement and support I have received.
I wish to thank Ms Janet Nguyen for her support and hope to make other big announcements soon.
To those who comment that I do not have a credible campaign because I do not have any money,I reply that I have been approached by those seeking to do business within our city and private citizens looking to contribute and I tell them both the same thing.
My vote is not for sale.
I will do what is best for the residents of Santa Ana regardless of where you live,how much you donate or what connection you may have. I believe in fair and equal access for all.
I am a part of this community and this community is a part of me.
I have not had much time to post here as often as I would like.
When I do it will always have my name attached to my postings.
I welcome your questions, comments and concerns.
Thomas Anthony Gordon
We the organisers(Art Lomeli and Deborah Vasquez) of Thursday’s forum appreciate the OJ for the exposure and fair discription and assesment of the forum By Art Pedroza , Tim Whitacre and Thomas Gordon.Tim and George Collin’s taping of the event is also very much appreciated. Art Lomeli
Another thread on the OJ reports that David Benavides is a pastor at a church in Irvine. Is that accurate?
Could Benavides be the George Allen of Santa Ana?
“Pastor/Director for Community Development at a large Irvine congregation”
This was snatched right from his website.
Thanks for the Benavides website tip. After a search on the internet I discovered the Irvine church he mentions in his bio is NewSong Community Church. He’s completed an intership at the Tapestry Covenant Church in Santa Ana and in 2001 expressed plans for starting up El Puente Covenant Church in Santa Ana. It appears Benavides’ day job is church affiliated. Voters should be made aware of the Hispanic Ministry/Kidworks connection and NewSong.