SANTA ANA, Calif.—As election season draws to a close, candidates for local and state offices discussed Nov. 2 their campaigns and outlined what they said were the most pressing issues facing their respective areas.
Candidates for Santa Ana mayor and city council were in attendance at the two-hour long forum, which was sponsored by BASTA—founded in 2021 to encourage voter participation among minorities, especially Hispanics—as well as those for California Assembly District 68, California Treasurer, Orange County Superior Court and U.S. Representative for District 46.
Santa Ana Mayor
For mayor in Santa Ana, three of the four candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot were in attendance.Jesse Nestor, 20, who works as a server at The Original Pancake House in Orange, said he was running to bring new leadership into a city that he said hasn’t done enough in the last decade.
The top three issues in the city, he said according to residents, are rising costs, homelessness, and what he called “never-ending construction.”
According to Nestor, if elected he said he would advocate to pause all in-progress building projects from the city, conduct an audit, and stop any projects that are wasting taxpayers’ dollars.
He also advocated for companies that are for-profit to be allowed to help tackle the city’s homelessness, because nonprofits, he said, can be limited by funding.
“This would succeed massively. People could get jobs helping the homeless while making money which would be a greater incentive,” Nestor told The Epoch Times.
Jose Solorio, 52, is a current Santa Ana city councilman and a former California Assemblymember from 2006 to 2012, representing the 69th District, which included Santa Ana and parts of Garden Grove and Anaheim at the time. He also has worked in the private sector in community outreach and marketing.
Solorio said his main objective, if elected, would be to control the homeless problem in Santa Ana. He additionally said, as mayor he would not take a salary, and that he would oppose bonuses for city executives and salary increases for councilors until homelessness improved.
“I’m taking personal accountability and I have committed to not take a salary until we have homelessness under control,” he said during the forum.
He additionally said he will advocate for independent commissions with oversight from citizens regarding homeless reduction programs and will recommend enforcement of the city’s anti-camping laws.
Sal Tinajero served as a Santa Ana councilman from 2006 to 2018 and a Santa Ana school board member from 2000 to 2006 and was elected in 2020 to the Rancho Santiago Community College District board of trustees.
In 2018, he was awarded California Teacher of the Year. With a degree in speech communications, he is a communication specialist at the Santa Ana Unified School District. In 2016, he started a speech and debate program for the school district, which has been awarded three national titles under his leadership.
“I believe that I have the experience and the institutional memory to be able to serve our community and to bring people together,” Tinajero said during the forum.
Some of his objectives if elected as mayor, he said, are investing in more youth programs and services, improving public safety through funding more mental health programs, increasing affordable housing, and defending rent control.
Santa Ana City Council Ward 2
Nelida Mendoza is a former United States Army Sergeant, current Vice President for Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees, and incumbent city councilwoman for Ward 2, which encompasses the middle of the city.She immigrated to the U.S. and has lived in Santa Ana since 1965. According to Mendoza, one of her main objectives, if re-elected, is to bring higher education opportunities to the community, and to support and advocate for youth services.
“I’m a huge higher academic advocate because [my family] came to the United States to better ourselves, and I live by that example,” she told the audience.
In an interview, Mendoza said she has been very active, and will continue to be, in increasing housing accessibility for vulnerable populations. She also said she will continue to advocate for a mental health-focused approach to homelessness.
Santa Ana City Council Ward 6
Manny Escamilla, currently working remotely as a city planner for Oakland in Northern California, formerly served as a planning assistant for Santa Ana from 2016 to 2019 and was appointed to the city’s arts and culture commission in 2020. He now seeks election to Ward 6, representing parts of the city’s east-side neighborhoods.Escamilla said some of his priorities, if elected, include reducing homelessness. which he says is of concern in the area he is seeking to represent.
“We have one of the largest homeless encampments along the Union Pacific [railroad] … Our neighbors are constantly having to call, and no work is being done,” Escamilla said.
He suggested federal and state authorities buy that area, clean it up, and create bike trails.
“There are very specific investments in our community that we can make,” he said.
Some key platforms in his campaign are protecting renters from rising housing costs, building more housing, revitalizing public buildings, prioritizing violent crime, and sending non-violent calls to civilian staff.
California State Assembly District 68
Mike Tardif, a Republican, is seeking election for Assembly District 68, which encompasses Santa Ana, west Orange, and central Anaheim. He is a small business owner specializing in sheet metal and served on Santa Ana’s Historic Resources Commission from 2017 to 2019, as well as on the city’s Community Redevelopment and Housing Commission from 2016 to 2020.Tardif told The Epoch Times he seeks to bring a conservative voice into Sacramento’s “Democrat supermajority” and would oppose what he calls harmful laws that lead to more crime, inflation, and homelessness.
He said he supports the repeal of both Proposition 47 and 57, which made certain crimes less punishable. Tardif also said he is in favor of school choice.
“I am disappointed that my Democrat opponent in this race has not participated in forums or even media questionnaires. … This is not a respectful manner to treat voters,” Tardif said during the forum.
California Treasurer
Jack Guerrero, a Republican, earned his bachelor’s in economics from Stanford University and his MBA from Harvard University. He is a certified public accountant, government and municipality auditor, and has been a member of the Cudahy City Council since 2013.“I’m running for treasurer because the time has come for an independent watchdog who is free from the single party apparatus in Sacramento,” Guerrero told The Epoch Times.
He said the state’s debt and unfunded pension liabilities are two key concerns he would address if elected.
“No politician seems to be speaking out about [the problem of unfunded pensions], much less the media. This is an impending tsunami that is going to create a lot of stress on our budget,” he said.
Guerrero boasted his ability to get things done in Cudahy. He said during his time on the city council he has helped lower taxes and fees for working-class residents among other achievements.
United States Congress District 46
Republican Christopher Gonzales is a former U.S. Army lieutenant, UC Irvine and UCLA graduate, and lawyer with his own firm.He is running for the U.S. District 46 seat, which includes Santa Ana, Anaheim, portions of Orange, Fullerton, Garden Grove, and Stanton.
Gonzales said the district he seeks to represent faces more issues compared with other areas in Orange County.
“There’s a lot of homelessness, roads that need upkeep, [and] a high crime rate. It just feels like it’s been neglected for a long time,” he told The Epoch Times.
Gonzales said he has represented community members in the district for over 25 years as a lawyer. He said he espouses conservative Christian values in his personal and professional life—standing for limited government, military and police support, school choice, and adhering to the constitution and its principles.
As a general practice lawyer, Gonzales said he’s best suited for the position as he has experience tackling a wide range of issues.
Judge Office 30, Orange County Superior Court
Peggy Huang is a deputy attorney general in the California office of the Attorney General and an experienced criminal prosecutor. She also has served on the Yorba Linda City Council since 2014, and as mayor in 2017 and 2021.After some state laws were passed, such as Proposition 47, some criminal offenses were lowered from felonies to misdemeanors, which according to Huang, gave control over sentencing to judges. She said with judges gaining more authority in this regard, she hopes to use her authority fairly and wisely to promote justice in court.
“With a lot of these issues that we see now with dangerous criminals on the streets, more and more the judge has the discretion over sentencing,” Huang told The Epoch Times.
Huang said she has spent most of her life putting criminals away and will use her best discretion for sentencing violent criminals, as well as finding the best solutions for those committing less violent crimes.
She said her experience practicing law in district courts, in the court of appeal, and on the California Supreme Court makes her the superior choice.
“I am a fair- and open-minded person, and as a judicial officer I will listen carefully and consider issues looking at things from both sides,” she said.
‘Kelly Ernby Inspired’
The forum was called a “Kelly Ernby Inspired” event. Ernby previously served as an Orange County Deputy District Attorney and ran for California State Assembly in 2020. She was set to run again for Assembly in 2022, before dying due to complications from COVID-19 in early January.
Ron Flores, founder of Basta, told The Epoch Times Ernby was a close friend, local leader, and the main speaker at Basta’s unveiling to the public in April of 2021.
Her husband, Axel Ernby, spoke before the forum started.
“For whatever you are doing to honor my wife’s memory, I greatly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart,” he said.
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