There is bad news for Santa Ana Clowncilman Carlos Bustamante. A fantastic candidate has emerged to face off against him in November for Ward 3 on the Santa Ana City Council. Her name is Ana Rebecca “Becky” Valencia-Verdin. She lives in Floral Park, which is even more bad news for Bustamante. Floral Park is where Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido lives – it is the most affluent neighborhood in Santa Ana. It offers a natural power base for Valencia-Verdin.
Her website states that she has “an interest in global social justice, national healthcare, increased awareness in issues of public health affecting women, children, and the elderly,” and that she” has been a key decision-maker and influential latina-woman business leader within numerous wellness organizations and government funded initiatives.”
You have to love the irony of such an accomplished Latina taking on Bustamante, who recently had to resign from two state commissions after he made an outrageous sexist remark at a public meeting, where new Sheriff Sandra Hutchens was appointed. Bustamante is also the only Republican left on the Santa Ana City Council.
Bustamante told her competitor, Santa Ana Police Chief Walters, that he should have worn a “water bra,” which was Busty’s way of saying that the appointment was made because of Hutchens’ gender, not her qualifications.
You can find out more about Valencia-Verdin at her Linkedin page. She also stars in a Yahoo video clip, shot at an SAUSD meeting where she advocated for support services and Special Ed programs and services. You can watch the video above.
I am very excited to welcome Valencia-Verdin to the race for Ward 3! You can contact her at this email.
Carlos is sooo toast! Murphy’s Law strikes him again!
SMS
It’s great she’s running, but her website is subpar at best.
Hopefully she can raise enough money to hire a decent web designer.
Becky comes on in the video at -01:24:32, if you can wrestle your player up to that point. (I saw one of our favorite commenters on this video too but I won’t say where!) I like how Becky builds up to a rousing populist climax AFTER her time is up. I think she’ll give old Busty a run for his money and worse.
Hey Art or someone, can you give us non-Santa Ana readers a little primer: How many of your seven councilmembers are up for re-election this year? And someone gets to run for mayor every two years? And what if nobody gets a majority in the mayor race – is there a runoff?
Hey Art, perhaps you should host a fundraiser for Becky for her council race.
#2
I’ll operate her website at a discount. All she has to do is say the word.
SMS
She seems like an interesting candidate. But don’t underestimate the entrenched, connected candidates in this city…it’s very difficult to unseat them.
vern,
Santa ana has council elections every two years.
The mayor is required to run every two years, while council members run every four. This year,wards 1,3 and 5 are up for
Re-election, and in Nov 2010 wards 2, 4 and 6, along with the mayor.
#5,
Actually, Ms. Valencia-Verdin would be wise to think twice about having Mr. Pedroza associated with her campaign.
post 9 you and i know this poor girl has no chance of winning . and he odds sink lower if pedroza joins her campaign .. see mesure d
The mayor is required to run every two years, while council members run every four. This year,wards 1,3 and 5 are up for
Re-election, and in Nov 2010 wards 2, 4 and 6, along with the mayor.
OK. There are six wards.
Up for re-election are:
Sarmiento in 1 (who’s running against him?)
Busty in 3, challenged by BECKY and Rocco!
and “Crazy Clownia” in 5 (who’s running against her?)
MAYOR RACE.
Is there a runoff if Thomas and Michele both do well and nobody gets over 50%?
AND I guess if Michele won, there would be a special election for her seat? Or someone would get appointed? Appointed by the Mayor? Appointed by Michele that is? Could Michele and Thomas agree to appoint each other? Theoretically I mean…
oh never mind that last part, I just realized if Thomas won there would be no need to replace Michele. duh…
#10,
“and he (sic) odds sink lower if pedroza joins her campaign”
Yeah, that’s basically what I was saying…just re-read my comment #9.
I would agree that she has a slim chance of winning. I hinted as much in my comment #7. But saying she has “no” chance of winning is going overboard.
#10 sounds like Michelle Martinez.
Unfortunately, Measure D passed because Martinez failed to backup her own position on the issue by making sure the measure failed. She dropped the ball and continues to blame others for her own political mistakes without take responsibility for her own actions.
Imagine that kind of leadership in the mayor’s office.
I wonder if Busty the Boob will take his own advice and wear a water bra to try and clinch the deal 😉
#13,
Actually, I agree. I am a divisive figure in Santa Ana. I will do my part by writing about Ms. Valencia-Verdin. And you bet that we will continue to take aim at Busty!
I do look forward to walking precincts and doing whatever else I can to help this candidate – but aside from that I don’t think I should play a prominent role in her campaign, or any other campaigns.
We have had almost 500 hits today already, so that many people now know about Ms. Valencia-Verdin. The cat is out of the bag and I am guessing that Busty is having an awful day today…
I wonder how much money Sheriff Hutchens and her massive network of supporters will be sending to Ms. Valencia-Verdin’s campaign?
#15, I was actually hoping Rocco would try that instead.
Busty Al in a water bra and Claudia dancing the can-can. Now, that’s entertainment.
Hold the election night party plans Art.
Ward 3 would not seem to be good territory for a liberal or progressive. “It is the most affluent neighborhood in Santa Ana” – it probably has a majority, or at least a plurality, of conservative to center right Republican registration.
Seems more like “Busty” territory.
Yeah a real serious candidate with pictures she took of herself holding the camera herself – lmao. They look like my sons myspace pics. Andwhats up the the stretched photo – who’s the guy at the desk lol.
Aren’t women suppose to stick together?
It smells and sounds like jealous woman syndrome. Post your picture and lets compare.Yes they are bad pictures.Can’t you read, the website states it is under construction. Now that i got that out of my system, lets stick to politics.
junior,
As you know, elections in our city are conducted “at large.” According to the Orange County Voter Registrar’s office, 47,890 voters in Santa Ana are Democrats. Only 30,894 of the voters are Republicans. And 17,279 of the voters are decline to state.
Busty would have to get ALL the GOP votes and ALL the DTS voters in order to prevail over a Democratic opponent, which I believe Ms. Valencia-Verdin is.
Consider that half the electorate is female. And the Democrats are going to turn out en masse in November. I have a feeling that many Republicans won’t bother to vote as McCain is not someone you can get excited about.
And don’t forget that Rocco will take some votes from Busty.
It all adds up to a loss for Busty in November.
Flowerszzz,
Yes. Busty will have glossy mailers featuring his rosy cheeks. But the other side will simply remind the voters that he is a Bush Republican.
Busty and his few supporters won’t be laughing in November. Do you remember how it felt when he got blown away by Janet Nguyen? This time it will hurt even worse as he will be out of politics altogether. Thank God for that!
Art you suffer from CRS, I did not support Busamante. Blunt – better to have no pics up while under construction then those…they are juvenile and not professional. And no I do not support candidates based on their sex….that would be sexist!
Flowerszzz: “Yeah a real serious candidate with pictures she took of herself holding the camera herself – lmao. They look like my sons myspace pics. Andwhats up the the stretched photo – who’s the guy at the desk lol.”
I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything as shallow and catty from Flowerszzz before. What’s up with that, pussycat? Meow, meow.
We were watching the video that she had posted at her site of the July board of ed meeting. It was quite lengthy and sad in many ways as a number of employees, students, parents and community members addressed the board to try and persuade the board to spare the jobs of the classified.
Different speakers came up to address Ms. Russo and the seated board. There was a woman who came up and spoke very well and quite clearly. She was scolding the board for their lack of planning and critical analysis that lead them to cut the budget closest to the students. It immediately got all of our attentions and someone said”My god, who IS that?”
The new opponent against Busty in the 3rd Ward.
It’s a shame that she could not use just her particular portion of the video to let people see her in action. As I’ve said, the board video was quite lengthy and most people would not bother to view the length of it in order to see Ms V-V speak up on behalf of all those people there.
I would not make any predictions until prominent members of FPNA endorse any particular candidate. I would expect FPNA to not be happy with Carlos as a representative. Only a real jerk would make those comments stupidly out-loud. He’s starting to stink up the place and I am sure they’ll want him out. But do they all want Ana instead?
Red –
She needs a Communications Director and/or Campaign Manager. I wonder who she could hire who has a lot of experience with local campaigns and online media to help her get the professional image she requires. *ponder*
SMS
Sarah,
Contact her directly? I know I left a request for her to put me on her email list and have not heard back yet. I know that if you were in charge, that that little feature would already be functioning 😉
Red – I was not trying to be katty – I just thought it was funny that the pics reminded me of the ones my son takes of himself to post on his myspace. It does not cost much to go and have a good photo takes or even it is free to have a friends od it….that is what I was trying to say. Perhaps I sounded cranky…been working alot and tired.
Well said flowerszzz.
No big deal Flowerszzzz,
Just noting that your comments cast a petty shadow on your otherwise pretty good posting style around here.
She looked attractive and she looked put-together in the SAUSD meeting video. She clearly stood out in her comments and expectations. Most everyone else was too-polite, imo, she really was a challenging voice before those idiots who have slashed and burned the classified jobs. Later in the video, they were looking over the hundreds of thousands of dollars for “consultants” who were basically doing the jobs of much of the SAUSD Superintendent’s cabinet. It was astounding to hear that the assist. supers don’t have the skill sets need to do their jobs. Well, then maybe their jobs should be given a 30% slash and they can take it or leave it until they learn how to do their own jobs without all the expensive hand-holding. Another crazy moment was when $11k is going to be spent on just 20 kids to attend a two day conference. One of the new Asst. Superintenent’s idea. IF the cabinet cut their own salaries first, maybe they wouldn’t have such a “let them eat cake!” attitude towards educational staff that the district needs to meet its educational goals.
One insight was clear: Juan Lopez is a BIG part of what is wrong with the district.
Oh and Flowerszzz,
I bet most everyone would give you a pass on this one. I know I do b/c I usually enjoy your spicy insights.
I hope your workload lessens up a bit 😉
LOL not lookin for a pass. Just didn’t want anyone to think I said what I said because of jealousy. I guess I am old skool….do it right or dont do it. I just have to chuckle sometimes…the gal Art wrote about last week running and still using her gang name “shorty”…is this the best Santa Ana has to offer? Very sad…
Flowerszzz,
Well, in all fairness “Shorty” doesn’t have a website up yet, does she? And she STILL has not denounced Asian gangs and Van Tran, has she?
I admit, Valencia-Verdin’s website needs some work. I also know she is already picking up some great support. She will improve and Busty will be toast!
Be sure to check out Valencia-Verdin’s education and work experience. She is top-notch. Busty won’t know what hit him…
I dunno Art if “Shorty” has a website up…I was just refering to your story and wait yes she does – she has her myspace. 🙂 I don’t know what denouncing asian gangs or van tran has to do with it…dont see the connection sorry.
I never said the VV was not qualified, and yet with all those qualifications lets hope I certainly hope she puts together a better “image” and website.
This person is a Joke! she has bad character and needs to paint her black house on the corner of broadway and 19th a different color. Poor representation of the neighborhood having a vacant home for 2 years while buying up property on the same street painting the homes the same color (ugly burgandy) and not up keeping. Gross I certainly do not want the ward run like this. FORGET IT!!
Is that the chick that looks like Casper the Friendly Ghost? Too bad for her that kids can’t vote! She’s just TOO weird! Is she like, goth or something? She always wears white face with black lipstick (to match her houses I guess) like some kind of dark marionette. Is she afraid of people knowing that she’s Latina? So much has changed since July. GO ART!