Central County Progressives’ Statements (Ortega, Boomer & more…)

Vern here… in anticipation of the Great June 7 Election, I thought I’d share the ballot statements of some of the candidates I’m supporting here in Anaheim and Central OC…

Mike Ortega, Congress District 46

Biomedical Engineer AGE: 36

As the child of immigrants who worked hard to provide for our family, I know the challenges that families face, not just to get by but to try to get ahead. With skyrocketing prices for food, housing, medicine, gas and just about everything else, too many people rightly feel like they are on a treadmill.

In Congress, my focus will be to change that by raising wages, stopping the price gouging that big companies are engaging in, and creating opportunity by making higher education, including vocational training, available as we do with elementary and high school. We need Medicare for All, paid family leave, and a tax system that makes the super rich pay their fair share of taxes.

We need to revamp our broken immigration system that is cruelly separating families and creating fear among so many hard-working people. We cannot give in to the fear-mongering and hate that is all too common today.

We can do these things if we take on the corporate interests who run Washington. Congress must lower the cost of prescription drugs, stop big food processors who are hurting consumers and farmers, and get corporate money out of politics. We cannot allow megacorporations to dodge their taxes by hiding profits overseas while leaving working families and small businesses footing the bill.

It has been very humbling to work with so many fantastic people in CA-46 and I would be honored to earn your vote for real change in Washington.

Bulmaro “Boomer” Vicente for Assembly District 68

I am running for State Assembly because I believe I can bring a fresh new perspective and voice to the legislature. This district needs a representative who will fight for equity and justice in Sacramento. The residents of Santa, Anaheim, and Orange need a voice on issues like healthcare, affordable housing, and public safety.

I was born and raised in this district, and am the proud son of Mexican immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico. I attended local public schools and became the first person in my family to graduate from high school and college. I graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 2017. Higher education provided me the opportunity to learn as much about the world in order to come back and help my community.

After graduating from UC Berkeley, I came back to Orange County and got involved in local and state efforts to protect tenants from being evicted amidst the pandemic, to pass rent control in the City of Santa Ana, and worked to get vaccines for COVID in central Orange County. I currently serve as the policy director for CHISPA, a political home for Latino youth in Orange County.

My experience with community safety, housing, and labor issues make me an excellent candidate for Assembly District 68. My deep roots in the community, and relationships with community leaders, bring the experience necessary to truly advocate for the people of Orange county.

I humbly ask for your vote.

You can learn more at vicenteforassembly.com or email campaign@vicenteforassebly.com

Vicente Sarmiento for Supervisor district 2

Santa Ana Mayor/Businessowner

Mayor Vicente Sarmiento has the values, experience, and vision to be our next Orange County Supervisor. He will work to improve the quality of life for all residents. Vicente was raised in central Orange County, attended local public schools, and returned to his hometown, Santa Ana, to start a business and raise his family after college. As a father, Mayor Sarmiento believes everyone deserves to feel safe in their neighborhoods.

Mayor Sarmiento has implemented strategies that keep our schools, parks, and sidewalks safe, while getting people experiencing homelessness the mental health services they need.

As a Councilmember, Vicente led Orange County’s second biggest city through the great recession, while protecting homeowners and local businesses. As Mayor, he balanced the city’s budget, increased the fiscal reserve, and created a one-time surplus of approximately $42 million. Most importantly, Santa Ana now has some of the lowest rates of Covid-19 positivity in the entire County, after having been the most impacted.

As Supervisor, Vicente will make affordable housing and the rising cost of living a priority. At a time when many are struggling to pay their bills, Mayor Sarmiento led the COVID economic recovery, helping small businesses and renters get the support they needed, and secured hazard/hero pay for our essential frontline workers.

Vicente will always stand with working families because people deserve a paycheck they can raise a family on, and a safe workplace.

As Mayor, Vicente also created a universal legal defense fund to help families stay together.

As Supervisor, Vicente will usher in a fresh start for Orange County by delivering on the issues most important to residents, including:

  • Tackling Homelessness
  • Protecting Our Neighborhoods
  • Increasing Affordable Housing
  • Improving Public Health Care
  • Expanding Our Parks & Green Space
  • Increasing Government Transparency and Accountability

Mayor Sarmiento earned a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley, and his law degree from UCLA. He proudly returned home to Santa Ana with his wife Eva to raise their three kids & dog “Magic”, start his own Santa Ana-based law practice, and enter public service to improve his hometown.

Please join the Democratic Party of Orange County, the Orange County Labor Federation, United States Senator Alex Padilla, and elected officials, organizations, and residents in supporting Mayor Sarmiento’s campaign for a brighter and more prosperous future for all in Orange County.

www.sarmientoforsupervisor.com

Vicente Sarmiento

Jay Chen, Congress, District 45

AGE: 44

Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen is a Navy Reserve Intelligence Officer, small businessowner, and a father of two. Jay is running for Congress to help working families in Orange County get ahead.

He is tired of career politicians who care more about their partisan agenda and serving special interests, instead of serving the people.

Jay will tackle rising costs and invest back in our communities.

Jay Chen is the son of Taiwanese immigrants who came to America for a chance to live the American Dream. Jay learned the value of hard work by helping his parents’ small business. As a small businessowner himself, Jay knows firsthand the challenges facing local businesses. In Congress, he will ensure American small businesses get the help they need to stay open and provide good paying jobs.

Every child deserves a quality education. Jay Chen went to public schools, worked hard, and earned a scholarship to attend Harvard.

He served on the School Board and is a Community College Trustee helping students afford college and obtain skills training to get a good job. Local teachers support Jay Chen because they trust him to strengthen local schools.

Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen joined the Navy to serve his country. Jay has defended our freedoms, leading an intelligence team in the counterterrorism fight against ISIS in the Middle East and countering communist North Korean threats in Asia. Veterans groups back Jay because they know he will always put America first.

Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen: Ready to Work, Prepared to Lead.

www.chenforcongress.com
Jay Chen

Sunny Park, Supervisor District 4

Mayor of Buena Park

The time for change in Orange County is now.

I’m Buena Park Mayor Sunny Park and I’m running to bring the change we need.

In the midst of COVID-19 — the Board of Supervisors repeatedly rejected calls for more government transparency. They rejected mask mandates at the onset of the Delta surge and then refused to allow access to public health officials when we needed them most.

Now, our county is grappling with a homelessness emergency, an affordable housing shortage and a public safety crisis. It’s clear the status quo isn’t working. Orange County deserves a forward-thinking, post pandemic community leader who can embrace the change the pandemic has brought on and move the county to the right direction. That’s why the stakes couldn’t be higher.

As a mother and an immigrant, I understand the struggles that so many people in communities throughout Orange County face on a daily basis. It’s why I got into public service — to lift up marginalized communities, protect our planet, and ensure that our neighborhoods are safe, healthy and thriving.

From serving as Mayor of Buena Park and on the Orange County Fire Authority Board, to earning the Presidential Gold Medal for Volunteerism from President Barack Obama — my life’s work has been centered around public service and giving back.

As your Supervisor, I will:

  • Urgently address homelessness, helping to provide mental health services to the unhoused and get them into permanent housing;
  • Increase transparency at the county, especially on public health;
  • Hold all elected officials, including myself, accountable;
  • Strengthen our economy by helping small businesses;
  • Stand with working families, creating more good paying middle class jobs, while protecting workers’ rights;
  • Combat climate change by safeguarding our environment, preserving clean air and water, and getting the county to 100% clean energy;
  • Expand healthcare access and improve our county’s health department;
  • Keep communities safe by investing in public safety, like firefighters and paramedic emergency response, while enacting commonsense criminal justice reforms.

That is why I am endorsed by:

  • Democratic Party of Orange County
  • Hotel Workers
  • Senator Bob Archuleta
  • Senator Dave Min
  • Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva
  • California Treasurer Fiona Ma
  • Former California Treasurer John Chiang
  • Working Families

Let’s create change by electing an energetic local Mayor to take the OC Board of Supervisors in a new direction. I would be deeply honored to have your support — and your vote — on June 7th.

With gratitude,
Sunny Park
SunnyPark4OC.com

Peter Hardin, District Attorney

AGE: 43
Attorney/Business Owner

Crime and Homelessness In Orange County Are Skyrocketing.

Putting career politicians in charge of public safety has proven disastrous.

Homicides reached a 22-year high last year:

  • Homelessness (+41%)
  • Aggravated Assaults with Firearms (+51%)
  • Violent Crime (+10%)
  • Burglary (+11%)
  • Vehicle thefts (+35%)
  • Arson (+33%)
  • Anti-Asian Hate Incidents (+1800%)

(Source: Department of Justice and County Data)

Orange County used to be one of the safest places in America. The District Attorney’s office is plagued with scandals, from rampant sexual harassment and racism that has undermined the prosecution of dangerous offenders, to pay-for-play political corruption and criminal misconduct. Furthermore, a man that sexually harassed multiple women was promoted after allegations of his misconduct were reported.

We need a new District Attorney.

Pete Hardin is a Marine Corps combat veteran, a former Deputy District Attorney, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. He has spent his life fighting for our country on the battlefield and fighting for Orange County in the courtroom.

Hardin is not a politician, he led Marines at war. As a Marine Corps officer, he served in Afghanistan as a member of 1st
Reconnaissance Battalion. Hardin achieved the rank of Captain, led the prosecution office for the largest command in the Marine Corps, and was honorably discharged in 2013. He is endorsed by VoteVets.

As a prosecutor, Hardin led law enforcement officers and federal agents in prosecuting over 100 cases and taking down violent criminals, drug dealers, and fraudsters. He worked closely with law enforcement officers from all over Orange County and federal agents from the FBI, ATF, NCIS, Secret Service, Homeland Security, and State Department.
Orange County deserves real leadership. Criminals need to face real consequences. Victims deserve justice. Taxpayers and law-abiding citizens need reforms that will fix our revolving door criminal justice system and clean up our streets.

Hardin will focus prosecutorial resources on violent crime and invest in drug treatment programs, mental health services, job training, gang intervention, and other programs proven to reduce crime. He’ll collaborate with law enforcement to break cycles of incarceration and homelessness. He’ll hold offenders accountable, expand victims’ services to support crime survivors, and eliminate gross fiscal irresponsibility and waste in our justice system.

To reverse Orange County’s horrific crime rates and restore integrity to the District Attorney’s office we must elect a new, energetic, and experienced District Attorney. Pete Hardin would be honored to have your vote.

www.PeteHardin.com
Pete Hardin

About Admin

"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.