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Public safety unions and real estate interests are spending tens of thousands of dollars on their preferred candidates in Santa Ana’s city council races this year – amid allegations that the police union has outsized influence on city hall.
It also comes as a rent control measure on the ballot in November – something real estate interests are heavily spending against and pushing back on.
[Read: OC Landlord Group Moves to Sue Santa Ana to Overturn Rent Control]
Meanwhile, progressive groups like OC Action are also spending thousands of dollars on their preferred candidates, but in significantly smaller amounts, according to city campaign finance disclosures.
It comes about a year after a majority of Santa Ana officials voted to pay out the former City Manager Kristine Ridge $600,000 to settle a claim alleging a pressure campaign by elected officials on behalf of the police union to get her to boost former union president Gerry Serrano’s pay and pension.
[Read: What Are Santa Ana Officials Hiding in a Claim Alleging The Police Union Runs City Hall?]
Ridge’s departure came weeks after former Police Chief David Valetin announced his retirement citing “corrupt and compromised politicians” and “compromised staff.”
The departures and the legal claim took center stage at a mayoral candidate debate last month.
[Read: The Race for Santa Ana Mayor Heats Up]
Ridge also alleged in her claim Mayor Valerie Amezcua created a workplace harassment environment for her.
On Tuesday, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho announced publicly that private investigators hired by the city found that a preponderance of evidence did not sustain allegations that Amezcua harassed or retaliated against Ridge.
Carvalho added allegations that Amezcua violated the city charter by interfering with administrative matters were also not sustained by the investigators.
Public Safety Campaign Spending
So far, the police union has spent over $130,000 between Mayor Valerie Amezcua’s reelection campaign, City Commissioner Mario Alvarado’s Ward 5 campaign and lawyer Jeffery Katz’s Ward 3 campaign – with a greater portion of the money going to Alvarado.
The police union has spent over $96,000 in support of Alvarado through mailers, door hangers and digital ads.
They also spent $37,000 on Amezcua through mailers and over $6,000 on Katz on mailers as of Oct. 15.
The spending comes after the city council narrowly approved a $27 million police contract in June.
[Read: Can Santa Ana Afford a $27 Million Police Contract?]
The police union has also spent over $9,000 on mailers against a ballot measure, dubbed DD, that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.
Meanwhile, the OC firefighters union has spent $67,000 on TV advertisements in support of Amezcua as of Oct.15.
Real Estate Campaign Spending
Real estate interests are also spending significantly on local races in Santa Ana – the only city in Orange County to adopt a citywide rent control ordinance.
The California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee, funded primarily by the National Association of Realtors, has spent over $93,000 on text messages, digital ads, polling, phone calls and mailers against Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan – a proponent of rent control.
Meanwhile, the California Apartment Association has spent over $21,000 in support of Phan’s opponent – Julie Tran, who owns beauty boutiques and spas, as of Oct. 15.
Voters in Santa Ana will also decide on a ballot measure dubbed CC in November that if approved would enshrine rent control in their city’s charter.
Another committee, funded by real estate interests, is also spending big against three local measures on the November ballot including rent control, noncitizen voting and a measure, dubbed FF, that if approved would increase city council member pay.
As of Sept. 21, the committee has spent over $179,000 on things like mailers, polling and consulting against the measures.
A California Association of Realtors political action committee has donated an additional $385,000 to the committee since then and the National Association of Realtors donated $500,000 to the committee on Sept. 25, according to campaign finance disclosures.
Other Contributions
One committee dubbed “A Better Orange County,” spent $61,000 supporting Amezcua’s campaign, and was entirely funded by the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses, an advocacy group aimed at helping family owned businesses.
The alliance is made up of various business interests, including business consulting firms and companies that run a string of McDonald’s franchises.
They received no donations from Santa Ana based businesses in the past year, according to their campaign finance disclosures.
Other advocacy groups like Chispa, OC Action and Democratic campaign donor Quinn Delaney are also throwing cash toward candidates in Santa Ana through political action committees.
The Orange County Political Action Committee, which was primarily funded by OC Action and Chispa, spent over $18,000 on Councilman Johnathan Hernandez’s reelection campaign on things like mailers and $4,000 in support of Councilman Ben Vazquez’s mayoral campaign on canvassing as of Oct. 15.
The California Working Families Party, who reported Delaney as the source of over half its funding, spent $5,000 on digital advertisements in support of Hernandez and another $5,000 in support of Councilwoman Jessie Lopez’s reelection campaign.
A committee named Santa Ana Citizens for Voting, funded primarily by the Policy Issues Institute, has spent over $31,000 on things like campaign literature against the noncitizen voting measure.
Noah Biesiada contributed to the reporting in this article.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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