Thai Viet Phan, Tim Rush. Face of Santa Ana, face of Serrano’s recall.
- Good morning, Santa Ana! You who live in Wards 1 & 3 are lucky to be represented by Councilwomen Thai Viet Phan and Jessie Lopez, and you should NOT sign any Recall Petitions no matter what lies the paid signature gatherers tell you. Unless you write Mickey Mouse or Cantinflas.
- Santa Ana police and POA members are NOT so fortunate to be represented by Gerry Serrano, and THEY are the ones who should be launching a recall!
Two weeks ago, the Register printed a piece by Tim Rush, longtime Santa Ana gadfly and face of Gerry Serrano’s recall, entitled “Here’s Why Councilmembers Lopez and Phan Should be Recalled.” Since we are the very spirit of fairness, we link to it here, despite all its falsehoods.
Well, yesterday they printed Ms Phan’s expert rebuttal to those lies, and given how many dozens of times the Register has failed to credit the Orange Juice Blog when we’ve broken stories, we feel entitled to reprint most of Thai’s piece, minus just a few words:
I’ve Fought to Make Santa Ana Affordable, and Now I’m a Target.
The sham recall by Santa Ana Police Officers Association President Gerry Serrano and his corporate landlord allies is another brazen attempt to take money from hard-working Santa Ana residents to line their own pockets.
We know this scheme is based on lies because their first notice of intent to recall was quickly disqualified by the City Clerk. Why? Because they lied to voters about the law.
Recently, the chair of the recall committee Tim Rush penned a disinformation-ladened op-ed “explaining” why I deserve to be recalled.
The problem? Not one thing in his article warrants a recall. His op-ed does not point to any egregious abuse of power, ethical violations, or illegal behavior. Instead, it is a list of straw-man arguments and bald-faced lies.
His most blatant lie occurs when he claims I “voted to essentially kill future hotel development by supporting mandatory unionization requirements for new hotels.”
FACT: Hotel unionization has not been discussed in Santa Ana.
He also falsely alleges that I do not support public safety. For every vote he cites as a basis for recall, I voted the same way as other council members who were endorsed by public safety.
Here’s my record:
FACT: I voted to support enforcement against street racing spectators.
FACT: I voted not to repeal the anti-cruising ordinance and directed staff to find ways to establish a permitted event to allow safe cruising.
FACT: I voted to fund more police officers, expand the PAAL program, and pay for the equipment necessary to keep our officers and residents safe.
FACT: I voted with all my council colleagues to support a Police Oversight Commission with an independent director who has investigative authority. I specifically fought to ensure former law enforcement personnel and their family members can also serve on the commission. I support public safety, transparency, and accountability.
If my positions on public safety were the reason for the recall, what does it say when my record is the same as other public safety-endorsed council members?
But Mr. Rush doesn’t stop there. He continues with deliberate misinformation regarding rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections in Santa Ana. Here’s some basic fact-checking.
FACT: Not paying rent is a valid basis for eviction, full stop.
FACT: Rent stabilization does not apply to affordable housing units, and affordable housing developers have continued to build in Santa Ana.
FACT: Studies show that rent stabilization keeps families in their homes and is a powerful tool to help prevent homelessness.
Here’s our economic reality: Santa Ana residents are struggling, and 60% of those who live here are renters. I’m proud to stand with our residents and help make it easier for families to afford housing and stay in their homes. Why would Mr. Rush want to exacerbate the homelessness crisis?
If this recall were truly about public safety or renter protections, Mr. Rush and Mr. Serrano would be pursuing a recall against everyone who supported the policies with which they disagree. But they’re not. When confronted by journalists about this obvious contradiction, Mr. Rush said that other councilmembers weren’t as vulnerable and “there’s only so much room on the plate.”
His statement proves that this sham recall is nothing but dirty politics, targeting the only Vietnamese American councilmember in Santa Ana.
Ultimately, a recall election could cost Santa Ana residents over $1 million.
If Mr. Rush, Mr. Serrano, and their special interest backers are so concerned about the economic well-being of the city and truly care about taxpayers, they should wait until the next election or agree to cover the costs of this election themselves.
Santa Ana taxpayers are smart enough to see through this sham recall for what it is: a money-grab by Gerry Serrano and corporate landlords at the expense of working families.
The Orange Juice Blog adds:
DO NOT SIGN THE RECALL PETITIONS, Wards 1 & 3!
Note: I asked Thai why Jessie is not mentioned in this piece; it is because the two women’s records are different, especially on “public safety votes.” We assume Jessie will write her own piece, and we will publish that too.
I am not going to sign the recall petiiton and at this point vote “No”.
Thai has a better than even chance of beating the recall, but there is a lot of anti-Jessie sentiment in my ward. She has not delivered to many people and even last week voted against regulating the pop up Taco Stands that are in her district and around the City.
I am willing to give her 2 years to get it together, but I would vote against her if the General election were held today.
She is a very nice woman, but she needs to amp up her performance.
Thai had the common sense to vote for the removal of the trucks and saved herself unnecessary backlash.
That said, I have about 2500 voters I communicate with in the District and although there have been some instances I have experienced that may lead me to rethink my recall position, I have advised everyone to look at the facts and vote what you think is right for you.
I do know a blistering discussion on funding the Police Benefit Package is coming up on Tuesday. Tune in if interested.
“Do what Thai Viet does” would be pretty good advice for her to follow for now.
Not sure but Jessie’s vote against the regulation of the food trucks, which were operating illegally and without permits and licenses and hurting legal small businesses probably lost even some progressive votes.
Jessie’s Ward is much more moderate than Thai’s. Look at the 2020 election and the numbers are telling.
I think the basis for the recall is flat amongst the majority of voters but current sentiments about the two are a big factor.
Vic –
Right on about Jessie. Not a good fit for the Ward she represents. The reason why she voted against the enforcement of pop-ups is because she believes everything should be handed to illegals and those financially struggling. Not the actual tax paying residents.
All of her posts are about free benefits for all. She herself refused to pay rent and essentially became a squatter.
I really do feel that she’s a detriment to Santa Ana. Although I don’t agree with the recall because it’s to benefit Serrano’s pocketbook I do believe she should be recalled before she does more damage to the Ward.
She’s also mentioned that she doesn’t want “white affluent people” in her Ward. Doesn’t sit well with me that she is openly racist.
Jessie supported the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and Police Oversight Committee. I rely on her as a council member particularly so that I am able to afford my rent at the moment. If you are working class or know anyone living in an apartment in Santa Ana that is low-income you should think twice about kicking Jessie out.
I am grateful for Jessie, Thai, Johnathan, and Benjamin on this council. They are the slim majority that protect the poor against monied interests and individuals like Tim Rush, Gerry Serrano, the Police Officer’s Association, and the California Apartment Association to name a few frequent offenders.
You must not be involved the Ward 3 community. Jessie is very popular and voters respect her commitment to bettering the city. Ward 3 doesn’t want candidates owned by the POA which got us lapdogs like Becerra & Peñaloza. I’m with Jessie 100%. We shouldn’t pay taxes just so that our $$ can go paying cops lavish/compensation/benefits or pad pensions.
Perhaps Greg Dimond, Vern Nelson and Dave Zenger should spend some time in Santa Ana. Might give them a unique perspective.
No, thanks. Done my time.
If it gave us all the same perspective, then would it really be “unique”?
Look, Goldy — when someone tells a white guy that “you would feel differently if you spent more time there” — which I think is a fair interpretation of the point of your comment — they’re usually suggesting that we have no idea what it’s like to live in a community with minorities and gangs and a high crime rate and underregulated taco stands. You’d be right about the taco stands, but it’s a pretty ludicrous charge to make against Vern, who has spent years now on Anna Drive. I lived in West Long Beach during college, and we had drugs, gangs, and shootings there. They were not pleasant. (Well, some of the drugs were pretty good, but they were ones that we and my five white roommates imported from the campus area.) We had shootings and such when I lived in southwest Brea; I owned a home for most of a decade a mile or so from a Homewood, a major poverty-stricken Black area in Pittsburgh (of which John Edgar Wideman is the lionized laureate), where, again, there was plenty of violence. So I’m not naive about these difficulties, but neither am I naive about the relatively low odds of being personally affected to a substantial degree. (I’ve endured more property crime here in suburban-seeming northwest Brea than anywhere else.)
When you do this, you’re doing one of three things.
You could be saying that we need to take steps to lift these people out of poverty with jobs and affordable housing and alternatives to the carceral pathway in life. Maybe that’s what you’re trying to say — which I doubt — and if so you’d find me and Vern strongly on your side.
You could be favoring a cockroach approach of moving the people you think are causing problems out of the area. (Or, if you’re not old-school like that, exterminating them.) Nothing I would learn from living in Santa Ana would make me support that, unless I turned into a developer.
Or, you could be calling for greater repression of the population by the police and city regulators. No, not even if I lived there. I’m all for good policing, as I’ve said, but I’m not for trying to terrorize the population into submission — both because it’s immoral and it doesn’t work.
I felt this way even before I married into a family with brown children and, stateside, with three grandkids who variously present as white, brown, and black — but that welcome change if my life gives me some more fear of gangs but much mor feel of bad cops. So let me know which scenario you think your education would lead me to adapt and we can talk more. (And you might want to think about why you are SO scared that you can’t use your real name here.)
[Ed. Note: our rule here is that anonymous commenters don’t get to make attacks against named people unless an editor “sponsors” the comment, which usually requires know who the commenter is, because it’s too easy to be an asshole when hiding one’s identity. That applies to editors and writers here as well. So there used to be a comment here, and if the anonymous asshole wants to take me on under its own name, the same comment could be back here again.]
Just as well. The same IP address tried to post today, using my e-mail and Gravatar pic again, and expressing the wish that “DELLUSIONAL Donna” would jump off the Mickey & Friends Garage roof.
We got some real trash out there, obsessed with us, illiterate and all choked-up with hatred. But then so do Ilhan Omar and Eric Swalwell, so ¡ándale!
I see cigars. Mmm. Must have cigars. And if I get thirsty? Whiskey!
Wonder if he shops at Maxamar’s?