I have been taking a lot of flak for not attacking Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, even when her actions are disappointing. I have indeed withheld my ire, because I know that Martinez truly cares about the people of Santa Ana. But she has indeed cast many, many horrible votes.
We forget sometimes that Martinez started out as a city insider. She worked for a company that was heavily involved in the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce. She later worked for crooked developer Mike Harrah. She pimped the odious One Broadway Plaza, even as so many of us tried to stop it.
But when Martinez ran for the City Council, her insider friends dumped her. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido decided she was overly ambitious, so he recruited the friendly but lame Tino Rivera to run for Ward 3. However, Tino turned out to be a lazy candidate and Martinez out-worked him. It certainly helped that Evangeline Gawronski was on the ballot as well. Gawronski split the white vote, and Rivera went down in flames.
Martinez tried, at first, to work with the other Council Members. But it did not take long for Council Members Sal Tinajero and Claudia Alvarez to attack her. They both, at the same time, joined forces with Pulido. Eventually the lot of them came up with the fraudulent Measure D.
The passage of Measure D was a huge blow to a lot of us, and certainly to Martinez. We were outspent ten to one, but we made it close. Still, we lost. And Martinez, in the wake of that bitter defeat, actually praised Dave Ream, our horrible City Manager, even as she joined Pulido and his cabal in voting to give Ream a massive 15% raise.
I think however I was more upset when Martinez voted to increase our water rates, even though I showed her empirical data that indicated our city overspends on the administration of the water department.
I believe that Martinez is trying to play ball with the other Council Members, because she feels she has to. That is an erroneous conclusion, in my opinion. She would be better served to stand for the people of Santa Ana, even if that makes her the only no vote every single time.
Yet I don’t see a reason to bash Martinez. She did not create the disaster that is our City Council. In fact, we would today have enough votes to stop Pulido, if all the Council Members who ran but were not supported by him stuck together. I am speaking of Alvarez, Tinajero, Carlos “Space Commander” Bustamante, and Martinez. That would be a Council majority. But every last one of them sold out to the Pulido cabal.
For awhile folks were talking about running Martinez against Pulido in November. But her comments to a local magazine about how she used to sell drugs when she was a teenager did not help. I understand what she was trying to do. She was presenting herself as a great example to young people that you can leave troubles behind and become a responsible adult. But her comments only provided fodder for the Pulido cabal to use against her.
Recently Martinez was also quite vocal about supporting graffiti artists who are having their work exhibited at Santa Ana College. Again, many of her comments were a horrid idea. I could see Pulido and company gleefully excerpting her comments about graffiti and using them against her.
But brutal honesty is what Martinez is all about. If you tried to repress that side of her, you would fail. I think in time she will figure out that there are some things you just cannot say, as an elected official in Santa Ana. But that may well take a few more years.
It is a sad state of affairs. At this point I am not even sure we can take any of our disgraceful Council Members out. Not without reforming our election laws. We need mayoral term limits. We need to undo Measure D and limit our Council Members to two four year terms. We need campaign finance reform, to stop the developers and the unions from controlling our City Council. But more than anything else, we need hope. And we need leaders who are willing to stand up to Pulido and company.
I thought Tinajero and Martinez would fit that role. It looks like I was wrong. There is no one on the City Council who is either brave or foolhardy enough to stand up to Pulido. What a shame. I will say this however, there is hope for Martinez. She is young and her intuitions are good. But there is no hope for Tinajero. None whatsoever. He truly is a vendido.
Tinajero’s support for Measure D really was the last straw for me. He said nothing when the Measure D campaign took money from Judy Ware. He signed his name to the lies that were the Measure D ballot statement. He is a fraud through and through. He fits right in with Bustamante, Alvarez, Sarmiento and Benavides.
We truly do have the worst City Council in Orange County. And there is no hope in sight…no wonder so many of my neighbors are selling their houses. I can’t blame them one bit.
Michele is immature and very self serving. She and the other city councilmembers are an embarrassment. They all don’t have the hearts to stand up and lead. Michele has shown us in the past that she is a sell out. We shouldn’t be surprised by this. Michele just follows wherever she thinks there is power and money to serve her. I’m dissappointed in what a disaster she has made of her time so far as a councilmember.
I don’t see how a self hating latino Republican who supported a minuteman can overnight become a viva la Raza man. It gives you no credibility. You like Michele change with the wind. Makes me have no faith because there is no solid ideology there. If I can’t know where you come from and I you can change like a chameoleon then I have no trust in you. I don’t have to agree with you. I have lots of respect for others I don’t agree with on every issue but I can’t stand with you if you are going to be moving around. Art and Michele deserve each other, they are both from the same mold. Ridiculous
Not excusing Michelle Martinez, but I think that her being young and having a more progressive/change oriented point of view is problematic for her when she’s working with these yahoos who have been entrenched in Santa Ana politics for years. Of course, sometimes she’s going to have to go along with the status quo to gain favor for the policies that she’s promoting. She almost has to tap dance around Pulido and his team.
Another woman you can’t control. Boo hoo.
While Michelle is quite energetic and preaches progressiveness, she doesn’t seem to let go of her past. Perhaps it’s immaturity and ignorance, or just outright stupidity. Regardless, she has now managed to upset many business owners and long time SA residents and disappoint others.
Anon 750 said:
“I don’t see how a self hating latino Republican who supported a minuteman can overnight become a viva la Raza man.”
Then you don’t know former Santa Ana Councilman John Acosta! John did exactly what Art did in the 1990’s. After getting elected as the Republican’s Mexican John tried to make residents forget his Latino heritage. Then as term limits were closing in on him, and he saw he could not get elected to higher office, he tried to re-invent himself and a “la raza” Chicano, like Art is trying to do. Things got worse for John as he left his wife for a secretary on the 8th floor of city hall (he’s now left her for his 3rd esposa) and he found that the new brown John Acosta could not defeat the powerful and well liked Mayor, Dan Young. Just a little history to prove that history really does repeat itself and Art is not the first to “discover his roots” when it becomes fashionable.
Michele is proof that you should not elect a kid to do an adult job.
The problem with Michelle is that she has flip/flopped. Now she wants to be a part of the status quo, but it’s too late.
Just like it’s too late to take back her words about being a drug dealer and earning $2,000 a week and her past and present association with the F Troop gang in Santa Ana.
Michele Martinez for MAYOR!!
Not an easy job to do, these council jobs.
Well, Art, you have shown us how naive and immature you are with regard to seeing elected people resist the temptations and trappings of the power that elected office bestows on them. Next, you’ll be proposing a candlelight vigil of some kind —
Get real — Ms. Martinez is indeed immature, has yet to demonstrate the kind of personal values that most of us would view as positive as well as necessary to be a leader, has engaged in a lot of self-promotion (with you helping by your numerous Martinez-promoting posts on this blog) and you are surprised that she is playing ball with the power structure? The “prestige and power” of elected office produces very predictable results with regard to going with the flow in order to fit in and perpetuate office holder status. Ms. Martinez is just another of those who succumb to that pattern, and it was very very predictable.
Poster 11,
I did not support Martinez when she ran for Council. But when she won I hoped she would stand firm against Pulido. She has done so on some occasions. But she has been inconsistent. I just wish she would stand for what is right even if that means voting “no” every single time.
Cook,
Sure. It is not easy standing for what is right. What the ding dongs on our Council do however is sell out, every single time. That IS easy. Doing the right thing, consistently, is much harder.
How consistent have you been Pedroza since Martinez got elected?
From the right wing republican to the left wing Mexican socialist?… in that, Martinez done much better job.
I’m ashame to have her as “my community Representative” what has she really done?
all of her efforts go “down in flames…” Youth oriented? as far as i’m concern starting a meeting with “what up dog?” is NOT appropiate for a town-hall meeting with students, parents, and teachers!!!