On Nov. 14, voters in Santa Ana, California, will determine if their city continues to be controlled by the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, or by the people.
“Lopez and Phan provided the votes to enact a badly crafted rent control ordinance that goes far beyond existing state law. It is the most radical city rent control measure in California.
Or just wait for the normal election cycle, when Ms. Lopez will be up for re-election in 2024? The March 5 primary will be just four months later. Why waste the taxpayers’ money on an extra election? Because that’s what unions do: Waste the taxpayers’ money.
Mr. Rush gets to the real reason: “Public safety is one of residents’ top concerns. Lopez and Phan pay lip service to putting more cops on the street but then fail to support the funding necessary to make it happen.”
“It also forced [Gerry] Serrano, the union president, to spend half his time doing police work instead of solely working union duties.”
Ceci Iglesias Recall
Another case Mr. Serrano was involved with was the successful recall of Councilwoman Ceci Iglesias, one of the finest public servants I have known. She lost, 56 percent to 44 percent. Earlier, she had been a reform member of the Santa Ana Unified Board of Education, where she was a thorn in the side of the Santa Ana Educators’ Association Union. The unions also thwarted her runs for mayor in 2020 and the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2022.The unions pushed the recall even though her opposition to the tax increase did not stop it. It was pure revenge, intimidation, and a display of union power.
Expect a Vicious Campaign
I witnessed union viciousness firsthand when they attacked and defeated state Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) during his 2020 re-election bid, when I was his press secretary. The smears by the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs were beyond reprehensible. The did it again when he ran in 2020 for Orange County Supervisor. They outspent him 3-to-1.For unions whose members are tasked with upholding the law to commit such attacks on our democracy shows the critical need for curbing union power. The unions use our tax dollars against us. As I have written for years, they sit on both sides of the negotiating table. On one side sits the “employee”; on the other side sits the “employer,” who actually is voted into office by the “employee”! Anyone bucking the system is attacked and driven from office by union power.
Ms. Lopez will be receiving this treatment. But perhaps the tide has turned. Mr. Moorlach and Ms. Iglesias lost during the height of the COVID-19 hysteria, when government officials, especially the police and health authorities, insisted their lockdowns, masking, and mandatory vaccines were imposed to “protect” us. We know differently now.
A defeat of the Lopez recall will be a major blow to union power. Next must come reforms to stop the unions from using our tax money against us.