Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/vincent-sarmiento/)
The city’s police union spent heavily to gain control of the council and union-backed candidates won three seats. But it failed to oust Councilman Vincent Sarmiento, who is now seen as a swing vote on police issues.
In 2012, the so-called “Santa Ana Spring” council members touted the revival of committees on key city issues as an example of a more transparent city government. Now the meetings are mostly cancelled.
The gathering featured some of Santa Ana’s most influential politicos and served as a window into how various factions in the city are battling for control of its most important institutions.
The “performance bonuses” have drawn the ire of the city’s rank-and-file workers, as well as Councilwoman Michele Martinez. Cavazos points out that lower-level workers have benefits – like overtime – that executives don’t.
Santa Ana City Council members are asking voters to approve a ballot measure during the Nov. 8 general election that would raise their salaries by 700 percent, to the maximum allowed by state law.
A majority of council members, led by Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilman Vincent Sarmiento, want to go beyond the 40-officer expansion of the police force this year.
The International City/County Management Association, the leading group for managers of public agencies, censured Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos for conduct related to his romantic relationship with a city employee, he informed council members in an email last week.
The Santa Ana City Council Tuesday night approved a $229 million 2016-17 budget that includes funding for hiring more police officers, park improvements and extended hours for community centers, among other things.
The Santa Ana City Council is, for the first time, publicly considering whether to shutter its controversial city jail. But a back-of-the-napkin analysis of the potential costs of such a decision shows why it’s a “tough nut to crack.”
Councilman Vincent Sarmiento last week unleashed a stinging rebuttal to criticism of city officials’ handling of the homeless problem by Supervisor Shawn Nelson.