Santa Ana City Council members are facing scrutiny after gripes about loose rules and complicated contracts for political aides have led to disarray within the city and objections from city staff.
The situation got so out of hand that the City Manager’s office and City Attorney decided to step in last month.
“The bumper rails came off,” City Attorney Sonia Carvahlo said during a May 7 regular meeting, highlighting complaints about political aides roaming the floors of City Hall after hours, undermining city employees and scattered contracts all on the dime of taxpayers.
It’s a challenge of municipalities without a full-time City Council – balancing tax dollars to hire personal assistants for city leaders while they hold outside employment, as is the case for Santa Ana City Council.
It also comes as the city stares down a tax cliff that could cut into essential services like emergency response, street repairs and graffiti removal, among other things.
[Read: Facing Budget Woes, Santa Ana Officials Form Spending Priorities for Next Year]
City officials are expected to consider streamlining the contracting process at Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. meeting.
The political aide program began two years ago under former City Manager Kristine Ridge, who left her position amid controversy about ethical complaints that involved the current make-up of City Council.
[Read: ‘Emotional Distress’: Santa Ana Pays $625k to City Manager Who Abruptly Resigned]
Steven Mendoza, assistant city manager, said the city manager’s office is struggling to oversee the varying contracts of political aides, adding “we thought it would be real easy.”
“We have various agreements with various amounts, various pay structures – and it’s offering a lot of confusion and not a lot of clarity or simplicity in managing this program,” he said at the May 7 meeting.
Some city leaders went to bat for their personal assistants, including Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan, who both said they prefer having aides to help with scheduling, hosting community events and attending sit-ins with residents.
“It’s basic things such as that,” Phan said defending the political aide program,”that we do not have here in the city of Santa Ana that cities like Irvine, Anaheim and others do have.”
Phan added “Frankly, I don’t want a $100,000 management analyst to be attending my ‘Tea with Thai’ where I talk to high schoolers at Magnolia Science Academy about civic engagement.”
Councilman Phil Bacerra said that creating a standard contract and setting aside $60,000 for each Council member should be simple enough for staff to handle.
This would align with the $420,000 allocated on the budget for the seven-member City Council.
But Carvahlo reminded members of the dais about the need for “consistency” – a phrase repeated by City Manager Alvaro Nuñez during the regular meeting.
It stemmed from the vastly different obligations and compensation granted by the City Council for their political aides, which is funded by tax dollars.
In contrast, Councilman David Penaloza bashed the program since the city is facing financial concerns, particularly when Measure X ends – a temporary city sales tax increase – and will decrease sales tax by 1% beginning in 2029.
He said city officials ought to consider abolishing the political aide program entirely.
“As this fiscal cliff approaches and Measure X sunsets,” Penaloza added. “We should reconsider this program and the amount that is being shelled out.”
Prior to the council aide program, city staff was responsible for assisting Santa Ana officials, planning out their days and attending city events.
Other city leaders like Councilwoman Jesse Lopez and Councilman Jonathan Hernandez called for adding campaign prohibitions in the contracts of political aides.
“There’s a difference between having a volunteer – someone who is volunteering on their own time – and somebody who is the campaign filer,” Hernandez said at the May 7 meeting.
“If you are a campaign staff member, I think there’s a conflict of interest if you are being paid on public dollars,” he later said.
In agreement with needing restrictions on campaigning and standardized contracts, Councilman Benjamin Vazquez said he lost track of his invoices due to seeing high turnover of aides during the program’s inception.
“I would be invoiced for those hours for the people that have come in and I’d be ok with it,” Vasquez said. “I should be getting quality people to stay.”
How much do political aides in Santa Ana make?
While Santa Ana city leaders lack a standardized contract, each political aide provides services based on the needs of individual Council members.
This can include collecting data and policy analysis, helping with scheduling and personal needs, or helping with community outreach by attending events with council members.
Under the current fiscal year, Vazquez is the only city official to contract over the $60,000 threshold for council members.
According to the staff report, Vazquez has a total contracted amount of $85,000 for his three policy aides, all being paid hourly at different rates: one makes $30 per hour, another at $35 an hour and one more at $50 per hour.
Some city leaders stick to one policy aide each, including Mayor Amezcua and Councilman Bacerra who both contracted $50,000 for services.
Mayor Amezcua contracts her aide at an hourly rate of $50, while Bacerra pays his aide $57.69 per hour.
Council members Hernandez and Penaloza each have two aides and contract for the full $60,000 that is allotted in the budget.
Hernandez pays his staffers at an hourly rate at $22 and $27, splitting the amount to $30,000 for each contract.
Penaloza also pays his aides at different rates – with one earning $38 an hour totalling to a $40,000 contract, and the other aid earning $59 an hour on a $20,000 deal.
Tied for the most contracts with Vazquez is Council member Thai Viet Phan, who has 3 individuals under contract for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
All of her aides make an hourly rate of $30, with one aide also being compensated for travel fees. The three aides total to $50,000 under this year’s budget.
Hugo Rios is a Voice of OC intern. Contact him at hugo.toni.rios@gmail.com or on Twitter @hugoriosss