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January 9, 2020 - Volume 4 / Issue 1
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Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great holiday season with family and friends. I wish you and your loved ones good health, happiness and success with the start of a new decade. Happy New Year!
Once again, it is a pleasure to share with you my quarterly e-newsletter. In this edition, I provide details on the new ward boundaries, opportunity zones in Santa Ana and a video on the City's 150th anniversary celebration. I sincerely hope you enjoy this edition and encourage you to forward to family, friends and neighbors that reside within our great city of Santa Ana.
Feel free to contact me at jvillegas@santa-ana.org or (714) 647-5200 with any questions, comments or suggestions for future newsletters.
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WARD RE-BOUNDARY GOES INTO EFFECT
NOVEMBER 2020
The City of Santa Ana has changed the way that City Councilmembers are elected. Previously, all seven councilmembers (including the mayor) were elected at-large, meaning that all registered voters who reside in Santa Ana used to vote for all seven City Council positions. Under the new by-ward (also known as "by-district") election system that will begin in 2020, each of the six councilmembers will be elected by the voters of their respective ward. Under by-ward elections, councilmembers will be required to live in the ward they represent and will be directly elected by the registered voters who reside in that ward. The mayor will continue to be elected at-large. It's important to note that the by-ward elections will be phased in; elections for wards 1, 3, and 5 will take place in November 2020, and elections for wards 2, 4 and 6 will take place in November 2022.
Also in 2020, the City's
new ward boundaries
take effect. This means that the existing ward boundaries will change. But why? Ordinarily, City Council wards are redrawn every 10 years to correspond to demographic changes that are collected by the
U.S. Census Bureau as part of the Census (#SantaAnaCounts)
. However, in March 2018, the City's at-large election system was legally challenged. To make sure we're complying with the California Voting Rights Act, we went through a thorough process to redraw our existing six boundaries. The new boundaries will help us ensure equity in our elections.
What does this mean for you? Well, if you reside in the new Ward 1, 3 or 5, you will be eligible to vote in the Nov. 8, 2020, general election. If you haven't already, register to vote. For more information on elections, visit the
County of Orange Registrar of Voters website
.
MORE INFO:
https://www.santa-ana.org/cc/ward-map-re-boundary
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SANTA ANA OPPORTUNITY ZONE
As the dynamic center of Orange County, Santa Ana is a hot spot for economic development - and one way to spur economic development is through federally designated opportunity zones. An opportunity zone is an area created under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for tax incentives. Our opportunity zone encompasses 11 census tracts, approximately 22 percent of the city. With over 3,800 acres of qualified land designated as an opportunity zone in the city, Santa Ana is looking for future investment that will provide a substantial economic return for the community. Areas of interest in the opportunity zone include Downtown Santa Ana, the Civic Center, the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center, the 100-acre Willowick site and the OC Streetcar route.
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150th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION WAS A BLAST!
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Click Image to View Video
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It's hard to believe it, but Santa Ana is 150 years old! While natives have inhabited present-day Santa Ana for centuries, European settlers arrived in the 1800s, and present-day Santa Ana was officially founded in 1869 by the famed William H. Spurgeon. When the city was officially incorporated in 1886, there were only 2,000 inhabitants and much of the city was rural. Fast forward to 2019: Santa Ana is the county seat and represents the urban core of Orange County, with an estimated population of over 337,000 that spans 60 distinct neighborhoods. We have more than 30,000 businesses, which employ over 150,000 people. To mark the 150th anniversary of our founding, we hosted a
celebration at Centennial Park
, which included food, live music and entertainment, cultural performances, games, a time capsule ceremony, fun activities for the entire family, and a grand finale fireworks show.
The 150th anniversary celebration was presented by First American. Other sponsors included Waste Management, MainPlace Mall, McDonald's, Wells Fargo, Chevron, Ducks, NaphCare Inc., Northgate, Tetra Tech, Vista Heritage Global Academy, Curious Entertainment, StagePlus, Santa Ana Unified School District and Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.
I would like to express my gratitude to the more than 3,000 people who came out to celebrate the past 150 years.
I look forward to continuing to acknowledge the past, appreciate the present and prepare for what's in store for us in the future.
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FREE PARKING IN DTSA!
I want to remind you that the City of Santa Ana is now providing free parking for the first two hours in all City-owned parking structures located throughout the Downtown area, a change that began Dec. 1, 2019.
Parking structures are located as follows:
- 5th & Spurgeon, 300 E. 5th Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701
- 5th & Main, 420 N. Main St., Santa Ana, CA 92701
- 3rd & Birch, 310 N. Birch St., Santa Ana, CA 92701
- 3rd & Broadway, 201 W 3rd Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Note: The first two hours of free parking only applies to parking structures listed above and does not apply to street meters.
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SANTA ANA POLICE RECRUITS TAKE TOP HONORS
On November 21, 2019, SAPD police recruits graduated from the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) Academy. With 60 plus graduates from Orange and Los Angeles counties police departments represented, SAPD recruits were honored with several class recognitions; including four of the six top skills performance awards, Class President and the Top Recruit with an overall scoring in excess of 99%! As you may know, the OCSD Academy is one of the toughest basic police academies in the state. These new officers along with additional lateral officers recently hired were sworn in at the SAPD Community Room on December 12, 2019.
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Events Attended
7th Annual Plaza Navideña in Downtown Santa Ana
On Nov. 16, 2019, the City of Santa Ana hosted our seventh annual Plaza Navideña event and tree lighting ceremony at Plaza Calle Cuatro in Downtown Santa Ana. In addition to the annual holiday tree lighting ceremony, the event included live entertainment (including local music and dance groups), a piñata, and, of course, a special visit from Santa Claus! Fun fact: this year's tree was a 33-foot white fir. I hope you had a great holiday - and make sure to check out our
other City events that we host throughout the rest of the year.
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Washington Square Holiday Party
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Enjoying the holidays with members of the Washington Square Neighborhood Association
December 15 , 2019 |
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Hugo Sanchez Foundation
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| Hugo Sanchez Foundation sponsoring and mentoring young soccer talent from Santa AnaDecember 15, 2019 |
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Santa Anita Neighborhood Holiday Party
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Celebrating the Holidays with Councilmember Phil Bacerra,
Com-Link President Peter Katz, County of Orange Supervisor Andrew Do,
Santa Anita Neighborhood Association President Felipe Guerrero
December 14, 2019
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If you are interested in viewing a detailed list of all City-related events, appointments, and meetings that I've attended over the past month, please feel free to view my
calendar
, which is posted online and updated monthly.
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Upcoming Events
2020 Census Workshops
The Santa Ana Public Library and Newhope Library are hosting a series of workshops for our community to answer your questions and give you additional information regarding the U.S. Census.
Workshops will be held in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Upcoming dates, times and locations are:
English:
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 - 5 p.m., Newhope Library
Tuesday, February 4, 2020 - 6 p.m., Santa Ana Public Library
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - 5 p.m., Newhope Library
Spanish:
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 - 6 p.m., Newhope Library
Tuesday, February 4, 2020 - 5 p.m., Santa Ana Public Library
Tuesday , February 18, 2020 - 6 p.m., Newhope Library
Vietnamese:
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 - 5 p.m., Newhope Library
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 - 5 p.m., Santa Ana Public Library
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 - 6 p.m., Newhope Library
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March 28, 2020 - Day of Good Deeds, Community Graffiti Paint Out Day
The city's next graffiti paint out is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, with the Neighborhood Initiative 2020 Day of Good Deeds. Information regarding the event will be forthcoming.
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Click on the Community View - Maps & Information button for a visual display of general information data such as parcel details including neighborhood names, council wards and trash days.
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Is your non-profit organization or neighborhood association planning a special event in the City?
Learn more about the City Council Special Event Sponsorship Policy
on our website and click above to access our Donation Request Form for sponsorship.
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The City provides citywide graffiti removal on public property and on private property immediately adjacent to sidewalks or alleys at no cost to the property owner.
Graffiti removal staff patrol major streets seven days a week to identify and remove graffiti visible from the public right-of-way and provide color matching of the existing wall and perform upper level graffiti removal that is adjacent to the right-of-way. Click on the Graffiti Program button above to learn more.
Graffiti may be reported
online
, via the
MySantaAna
app or by calling the Graffiti Hotline at
(877) STOP TAG /
(877) 786-7824.
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Click on the News & Press Releases button to sign up to receive alerts from the City of Santa Ana.
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Contact Parking Enforcement to request the removal of abandoned vehicles on public streets, with questions about parking violations, expired meters, parking permit districts and street sweeping citations. Click on the button above for more information.
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The citizen police report system allows you to submit a report immediately and print a copy of the report for free; it is for NON-emergency situations.
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This link provides a list of contacts to help address a wide range of general inquiries, such as animal license, couch removal, trash pick-up and water bill. It is available in
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CSP Victim Assistance Programs provide comprehensive services for individuals who are victims of crime. CSP also offers
Youth Shelter Services
to runaway, homeless and at-risk youth.
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The OC Social Services Agency website contains many valuable resources such as the
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