Santa Ana Mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua is screeching about free speech on his Facebook account. He is upset that his uncouth supporter, Albert Castillo, was silenced at the last Santa Ana City Council meeting after the Council voted unanimously to turn off his microphone. Castillo had been blathering incoherently about something that happened ten years ago, back when he used to run around town in a beret.
Castillo, as it turns out, had a right to make a fool of himself at that meeting. The Brown Act is clear about this. Residents can make asses of themselves during public comments. That is not illegal.
That said, Amezcua has been as silent as a lamb about his supporter, rogue bully Commissioner Tish Leon, who joined with her fellow Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Julie Stroud, in terrorizing a sixteen year old honor student who was a student commissioner on their board.
What did the young man do to deserve this? He stood up for my right to make a presentation to the Parks and Recreation Board about building a dog park in Santa Ana.
Leon and Stroud showed up to that meeting, during which Parks and Rec Agency Director Gerardo Mouet was going to introduce his feasibility study into my dog park proposal, with their minds already made up. They had with them a letter from Thomas Gordon, a Republican who recently failed in an attempt to get onto the November ballot, as a candidate against Councilman Sal Tinajero.
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If Pulido is really down for la raza, let’s see him make Santa Ana a sanctuary city. Anyone can criticize SB1070. Even a Panista like Felipe Calderon!
~this post comes from a NOTA perspective ~
gabriel,
I love your disclaimer! I wonder if Amezcua is advocating for this too? It would surely make his Usual Suspect supporters most unhappy…
He’s very active on Facebook these days, but that hasn’t included becoming a “fan” of the page calling for Santa Ana to be made a sanctuary city. Nor is there anything else to point to in his campaign that would suggest that to be the case.
SB1070 is in effect and there are odious elements of the law that were not struck down. For example, sanctuary cities are now banned in Arizona. No Clinton appointed judge took issue with that. If Pulido y los Dinos really want to strut their progressive politics – now that they are all in line (sans Benavides) – they can do more than criticize SB 1070. They can become a sanctuary city in direct opposition to it.
~ From a NOTA/VOTO EN BLANCO perspective ~
gabriel,
It is an idea worthy of consideration. Realistically I think it will be easier to get that done after the election, but I will talk to them and at least see where they stand on this. Martinez, in the past, has in fact introduced such motions.
If Pulido has been pulled to the left as you say he has, and the dynamic has shifted as such, then Martinez’s 2008 attempt should be resurrected and passed. Let’s see…