The week got off to an early start, as we considered Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s half-baked plan to install streetcars in the Civic Center area, at a cost of $15 million per mile. We found out at the end of the week that a dozen historical plaques in the Civic Center area have been pried off by thieves. Draw your own conclusions.
Perhaps the “graffiti covered” streetcars will be like the Wild Animal Safari in San Diego, you will be able to ride slowly through the city as you see thefts in action, hundreds of displaced homeless, taggers and their handiwork, and overpaid Santa Ana city managers arriving from Coto de Caza to begin their “work.”
Our Santa Ana coverage continued with the revelation that the Bowers Museum is giving us more peanuts. Then Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s “amiga,” Rosie Avila went “cuckoo for cocoa puffs,” as she wrote a ridiculous diatribe that appeared in the O.C. Register’s Opinion section. In short, she ripped her Latino constituents again.
Claudio Gallegos then compared Rosie to the “Crazy Cat Lady” on the Simpsons, and he called her “the cause of all our problems.” And he revisited the issue with a look at the people’s response to the Crazy Cat Lady. And I asked “When will the OC GOP ask Rosie to resign.”
Next we caught the Santa Ana City Council…and Pulido, resorting to their trusty bag of tricks as they took this week’s City Council meeting off the air and moved it out of Council Chambers to a comparatively tiny conference room. Then they packed the room with their overpaid managers so the public could not be accommodated, and they moved public comments to the start of the meeting, so folks could not comment on the night’s agenda. I hear that their next move will be to declare Pulido the “Emperor” of Santa Ana.
Thomas Gordon then wrote about the “secret” City Council meeting. And sure enough a guy that works for George Pla, the millionaire backer of the Santa Ana Business Bank, showed up to talk about transportation. I am sure that Councilman Carlos “Space Commander” Bustamante was thrilled, as he sits on the bank’s board. And I am sure Councilman Vince Sarmiento was equally ecstatic as he is an investor in that bank.
Thomas Gordon later revealed that Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream feels that “television cameras would be pretty awkward,” at the City Council “Study Session” meetings. Hey Ream…the First Amendment is not an inconvenience. And neither is the public’s “right to know.”
Then Sean Mill found out that the number one City Council priority in Santa Ana is NOT stopping gang violence, or paving our roads, or even building more libraries. No, their number one priority is to silence the OJ3. They held a “special meeting” and their number one item was developing a code of conduct meant to censor us. We’re number one!
We next shifted our aim to Santa Ana’s education crisis. Claudio then revisited the recall of Nativo Lopez, with “Wool pulled over our eyes,” part one. And Thomas considered “What does SAUSD have to hide?”
I then wondered why the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce is holding an expo in Orange? And I sent in our membership application for the Chamber board’s consideration. Now THAT should be interesting.
Sean Mill booed the Strouds again, and then Luis Rodriguez essentially said that we should work with them.
Our non-Santa Ana coverage spanned a wide range, starting off with Larry Gilbert’s review of the Western Conservative Political Action Conference, which was held in the Republican enclave that is Newport Beach. Larry also took another look at the Mission Viejo million dollar dog park.
Aria Ghafari wrote about the Middle Eastern American Democratic Project, which is based in Santa Ana.
The Winships told us “what the housing bust means.” Thomas wrote about a new museum in Anaheim. I reveled in the fall of the “Urell Amigos.” And we all laughed as Diane Harkey said that she really is not that unphotogenic.
Claudio wrote about the OCYD “Clinton Awards” and the DPOC “Truman Awards Dinner.” I had a different take on the Truman Awards Dinner, as I wondered if “John Edwards was talking about Santa Ana?”
We then broke new ground as we introduced our newest blogger, “Little Saigon Insider,” who will be exploring the mysterious world of Orange County’s Vietnamese-Americans. And we posted “Red’s Thread” where one of our readers pondered whether elected officials are sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution or the Holy Bible.
This week’s featured artwork is Robert Spencer’s classic “Seed of the Revolution.”
“Wild Animal Safari in San Diego”…. is an appropriate description for the Santa Ana Downtown, Art.
As you know the Downtown is 90% Hispanic.
So how do you change Wild Animal Safari to civilized land without reeducation, gentrification and in same time protect Hispanic cultural values?
FYI,
The point Stanley is that Pulido has spent 21 years keeping the people down. He should have been building libraries, helping to elect good people to the SAUSD board, instead of the disastrous troika of Noji, Richardson and Avila, and he should have been supporting more youth programs.
But he hasn’t. Instead he has pursued one tower after another…even though the market for real estate has dried up.
We will continue to be a third rate city as long as the Pulido/Ream cabal stays in power.
“He should have been building libraries”
Assuming that reading is a form of self education….. so you agree that reeducation is the essential element to change Wild Animal Safari to civilized land?
Please name 5 major literal artworks which should be must read for Hispanic youth.
How about vouchers?
How about gentrification?
Stanley,
You do it with sound social engeneering. This is done by investing in infrastructure , education , the labor market , housing and embracing all of your contituents , giving the sense of family . If you don’t then you provide a perception of beign the bastard child which results in anti-social behavior.
You are not about solutions . You are about spewing stereotypical garbage.Neglect , demonization and marginilization produces anti-social behavior no matter what part of the world you look at.
#2, #4, I do not understand why do you refer to me as Stanley but I digress.
#4 Please stay within the thread “Wild Animal Safari in San Diego” and SAUSD, libraries etc. etc. etc.
Excellent recap, Art. Thank you and good luck going forward.