Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/santa-ana-city-council/)
Two recall movements in two neighboring cities are on the move against elected officials this year – one in Westminster that’s guaranteed a recall election and another in Santa Ana that has gathered the signatures but won’t find out until next month from county officials whether it can move forward.
City and school district officials say the grant cuts are payback for their public concerns about a proposed county homeless shelter, which county officials dispute. A final decision on the grants is scheduled for next Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Bacerra won the Ward 4 seat he lost last year to Roman Reyna, who later resigned and pled guilty to election fraud after Bacerra pursued legal action against him.
The real estate consultant and former city planning commissioner was leading former city planner Manny Escamilla by 150 votes in Tuesday’s update, and there appeared to be too few left in play to change Bacerra’s winning position.
Manny Escamilla narrowed his gap behind Phil Bacerra from 6 percentage points on election night 1.1 points Friday. Vote counting continues Tuesday.
Phil Bacerra, a real estate consultant and former city planning commissioner, held on to his lead for a City Council seat in the third day of election results Thursday, as former city planner Manny Escamilla closed in slightly, from 2.4 percentage points to 2.0 points behind Bacerra.
Vote counting will continue through at least Friday.
It’s still early; in last year’s primary election, almost half of all ballots in Orange County were not yet counted at of the end of election night.
Voters are deciding on a council member who will potentially impact key decisions on local issues like the ongoing homelessness crisis and complaints about slow 9-1-1 response times.
Roman Reyna agreed to pay $578,053 in restitution to the city for the cost of an upcoming special election to fill his seat on the council, and will have a lifetime ban against holding elected office, according to prosecutors.