Full Notification

AUGUST 13, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jorge Garcia (714) 586-6321

SANTA ANA, CA –

The nomination period for obtaining and submitting candidacy documents for Mayor and the City Council positions in Wards 2, 4, and 6 closed on August 10, 2018. On Tuesday, July 17, the Santa Ana City Council gave notice of a general municipal election to be held on November 6, 2018 and requested that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Orange consolidate a general municipal election with the statewide general election. There will be several items of interest to the Santa Ana community on the November ballot, namely: a charter amendment to switch to by-ward elections, a sales & use tax, and a cannabis business license tax.

Ward boundaries and potentially shifting to by-ward elections has been a recurring topic of discussion for several months during Council meetings.

"The City Council recognizes that Santa Ana is a diverse community, and that our residents have a range of priorities and interests," said Councilmember Vicente Sarmiento. "Regardless of whether the charter amendment passes, we will continue efforts to empower larger portions of our community to play a more active role in discussing public policy and setting priorities, which is one of the Council's key strategic goals."

At the July 17 Council meeting, City Council adopted a position to place a 1.5-cent add-on sales and use tax measure on the ballot. Additionally, City Council requested that staff provide options for a "Shop Local" program. Staff will be presenting options for a Shop Local program for Council consideration at a future City Council meeting.

"Our goal is to keep delivering critical city services, such as addressing a growing homelessness challenge, and maintaining upkeep on our roads and infrastructure. If we want to eventually enhance the high level of services and programs this community has come to expect and deserve, we need to make some changes," said Councilmember Juan Villegas. "I think it also needs to be said: raising taxes is not the only solution the City is looking at--we are evaluating how we can further reduce our expenses at the same time."

City Council has also proposed a measure to modernize and remove some outdated language in the City's Charter. The new language would: reflect changes or conflicts in the City or State law concerning gifts and campaign contributions and designated City funds; create consistency in the Municipal Code regarding boards or commissions; and move the qualifications for the Finance Director to the Municipal Code, where all other Department Directors are listed.

About the By-Ward Elections City Charter Amendment
The City of Santa Ana currently utilizes an at-large election system, which allows electors from the entire City to elect each of the six (6) Councilmembers and the Mayor; the councilmembers must be nominated by electors in their respective ward. The proposed Charter Amendment proposes a Ward-Based Election System in which councilmembers are both nominated and elected by electors in their respective Ward. In addition, a minor revision is proposed to ensure that ward boundaries are drawn and redrawn to comply with state and federal law, as well as to equalize population representation. At the next City election on November 6, 2018, Wards 2, 4, 6, and the Mayor's seat will be up for election. The Charter Amendment requires approval of a majority of the Santa Ana voters that vote in the election on November 6, 2018 to become law.

About the "Santa Ana Neighborhood Safety, Homeless Prevention and Essential City Services Enhancement" Measure
The "Santa Ana Neighborhood Safety, Homeless Prevention and Essential City Services Enhancement" measure proposes a 1.5-cent sales and use tax until 2029. 100% of the revenue generated would remain locally for Santa Ana and not go to the State or County to provide critical programs and services for the community, such as: public safety needs, combatting homelessness, deferred maintenance at parks and other City facilities, youth programming and library services. The 1.5-cent add-on sales and use tax will be imposed through the year 2029 and reduced to 1.0-cent in 2030 through the year 2039. If approved, the Measure would generate an annual estimated revenue of $60 million to maintain (and enhance) programs and services to the community. This Measure requires approval of a majority of the Santa Ana voters that vote in the election on November 6, 2018 to become law.

About the Cannabis Business License Tax Measure
The Cannabis Business License Tax Measure sets forth a business license tax resulting from a gross square footage tax of between 25 cents to $35.00, and a gross receipts tax rate of up to 10% for cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, selling or testing of commercial cannabis and related products. This Measure does not include medicinal cannabis (also known as medical marijuana), which has a separate business license tax. If approved, this Measure is expected to generate $11 to $14 million dollars a year to fund general city services, such as public safety, parks, and youth and senior services. The Measure requires approval of a majority of the Santa Ana voters that vote in the election on November 6, 2018 to become law. If approved, the tax will be imposed beginning on December 6, 2018.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a General Municipal Election will be held in the City of Santa Ana, on Tuesday, the 6th day of November 2018.

The following is the list of qualified candidates on the ballot; listed in alphabetical order.

MAYOR
Name - Ballot Designation - Candidate Statement
Miguel A. Pulido* - Mayor, City of Santa Ana - Yes
Sal Tinajero - Teacher / Santa Ana Councilmember - Yes

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER (Ward 2)
Name - Ballot Designation - Candidate Statement
Alfonso Ceja-Villa - Affordable Housing Coordinator - No
Paul Gonzales - Financial Services Manager - Yes
Miguel “Mike” Gonzalez - Public Safety Consultant - Yes
Irma Macias - Community Volunteer - Yes
Sandra Peña Sarmiento - Teacher / Arts Commissioner - Yes
David Penaloza - Engineer / Educator - Yes

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER (Ward 4)
Name - Ballot Designation - Candidate Statement
Phil Bacerra - Small Business Owner - Yes
Roman Reyna - Planning Commissioner - Yes

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER (Ward 6)
Name - Ballot Designation - Candidate Statement
Cecilia “Ceci” Iglesias - Governing Board Member, Santa Ana Unified School District - Yes
Nelida Mendoza - College Boardmember / Teacher - Yes
Mirna Velasquez - Businesswoman / Educator - Yes

*Incumbent

Also, four (4) Measures will be included in the Voter’s Guide, as follow:

MEASURE X: SANTA ANA NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY, HOMELESS PREVENTION AND ESSENTIAL CITY SERVICES ENHANCEMENT MEASURE
To maintain effective 9-1-1 response; retaining firefighters and police officers; addressing homelessness; fixing streets; maintaining parks, youth and senior services, and unrestricted general revenue purposes; shall the sales tax be increased one and one half (1.5) cents until 2029 providing approximately $60 million dollars annually, then reduced to one (1) cent providing approximately $40 million dollars annually, until 2039, requiring annual audits, citizens oversight and for Santa Ana use only? (YES/NO)

MEASURE Y: APPROVE ORDINANCE REGARDING A MARIJUANA/COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESS LICENSE TAX
Shall Chapter 21 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code be amended to enact both a gross square footage tax of between 25 cents to $35.00 and a gross receipts tax rate up to 10% for cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, selling or testing cannabis and related products to raise between $8 to $12 million to fund public safety, parks, youth and senior services, among other general City services? (YES/NO)

MEASURE Z: CITY CHARTER MODERNIZATION AND UPDATE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
Shall the Charter be amended to: modernize and remove outdated language to reflect changes or conflicts in the City or State law concerning gifts and campaign contributions and designated City funds; create consistency in the Municipal Code regarding boards or commissions; and move the qualifications for the Finance Director to the Municipal Code? (YES/NO)

MEASURE AA: REQUIRE BY-WARD NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF COUNCILMEMBERS, AND REDRAWING OF WARD BOUNDARIES TO COMPLY WITH STATE AND FEDERAL LAW
Shall City of Santa Ana Charter sections 101.2 and 400 be amended requiring City Councilmember election from his or her residency ward and only by registered voters of that ward, instead of City Councilmember elections by registered voters of the entire City, with ward boundaries to be drawn as required by law? (YES/NO)

Election related information including Nomination Papers filed, text of Measures and Arguments have been posted to the City’s Website located at http://www.santa-ana.org/elections/ or you may contact the Clerk of the Council Office at 714 647-6520 during regular business hours and copies will be provided to you.

Register to vote by October 22, 2018 at www.OCVote.com. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.


About City of Santa Ana
Santa Ana is downtown for the world-famous Orange County, California. As the County Seat, home to a vibrant evening scene and one of the most diverse communities in California, Santa Ana is gaining national attention for its efforts to innovate and address a changing County. Over 1,200 City employees work hard every day to deliver efficient public services in partnership with our community to ensure public safety, a prosperous economic environment, opportunities for our youth, and a high quality of life for residents. Learn more at http://www.santa-ana.org.