First Bob Dornan, then Mike Carona, now it seems R. Scott Moxley has done it again by exposing Santa Ana Mayor-For-Life Miguel Pulido and his connections to the vending truck industry in Santa Ana. Apparently the Mayor forgot to disclose lot’s of details about his connection to Abel Foods, which is the main provider to vending trucks in Santa Ana. He forgot to mention his father has a stake in the business. He forgot to disclose that Abel Foods owner Abel Salazar was given loans from Fullerton COmmunity Bank, a bank Pulido sits on the board of. He forgot to disclose that Abel Salazar’s lawyer, Ronald Rus, is a Pulido appointee to a Commissioner. He forgot to mention his personal business consultant is Abel Foods’ accountant. I guess you all get the picture now.
Pulido’s attorney is apparently claiming he had no financial interest in Abel Foods, or the operation. Alright, lets say that is true, take a look at the other connections listed above and those R. Scott mentions in the article, and it is obvious the Mayor has a clear conflict of interest and would be unable to make a impartial decision regarding the vending truck issue. How could he? His father stood to gain financially, the bank he is on the board of stood to gain financially, ultimately he could gain financially, just not necessarily directly. Sounds like money laundering to me.
What is interesting is the attempts in the past to put restrictions on vending trucks in Santa Ana that took place in the middle part of the decade. Some residents sought to put serious restrictions. Personally, they are serving some sort of purpose and instead of banning them, the city and those who dislike the trucks need to listen to the residents to find out what they want as an alternative. Instead, the city and the Com-Link crowd did treat the residents in inner-city areas with contempt, as evidenced in my own debates on the Santa Ana Citizens list serv. Nonetheless, the attempts to regulate vending trucks all mysteriously went away. Reading this article, those questions are answered. One has to wonder, did Miguel Pulido use the anti-vending trucks issue as a way to shake down the vending trucks into getting their food from Abel Foods? Were these attempts one big shakedown? R. Scott left many questions to be answered.
R. Scott points out the inaccessability of the Mayor. It took me four years to finally have a sit down meeting with the guy. I noticed he was not very passionate about the issues, but when he was adamant about an issue, he really applied himself to getting that done. Case in point, One Broadway Plaza, or the towers he wanted at 4th St. and Cabrillo, or the Station District or most of all his quest to stop Lorin Griset Elementary School  from being built. Remember, he only stepped into the recall of Nativo Lopez when the Lorin Griset issue came up. One has to wonder, does his adamant stance come from an honest to God belief he is doing the right thing, or does he and his family have a direct or indirect money stream coming to them from the issues listed above.
The story by R. Scott Moxley truly throws all that into question. It is time the Mayor owe us some answers. As I have said before, I am not going to give the guy a free pass simply because he is in the same political party as me and happens to be Al Gore’s friend. As I have said in the past, us sharing the same party is precisely why I am harder on Pulido. I expect a Republican to screw up and be this way, I don’t expect it and don’t want it from people in the Democratic Party. We are the party of FDR and need to behave as such. Now is the time Mayor Pulido. Explain your actions, tell us everything, disclose how a co-owner of a muffler shop and a freelance journalist wife own a million dollar estate in Floral Park. We eagerly await your answers.
Let’s see who can find the most Pulido breaches of the SA Code of Ethics. Here is the link to the Code:
http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/coc/documents/CODEOFCONDUCTFORWEB.pdf
Curious, I didn’t see a single legal conflict of interest in this entire post. Did he violate any law?
Nothing like being paid $5,000 or more from the guy to turn on the conflict of interest blinders, right? Don’t you spend your days and nights railing against Larry Agran for doing the same thing? I guess it is ok if they hire you right.
First, he voted on the items and did not disclose his or his family interests. What else is out there he is not telling us? What else does he have a financial stake in that he is voting on?
Claudio, I don’t remember. It was probably more. But that had nothing to do with my comment. Thanks to Mike Tardif for the info.
What is the penatly for violating the “Code of Ethics”?
Adam,
The penalty for violating the Code of Ethics is that you are branded as unethical – period, that’s it.
That is why I opposed SA Measure D – because it was a lie and a fraud, just like your client.
I assume by your query that you admit that Miguel violated the Santa Ana Code of Ethics and Conduct.
As a humorous side note – Miguel recently attempted to Facebook Friend me. I told him that if he would renounce Measure D that I would consider it.
I would be pleased to be invited to Miguel’s resignation event.
Of course you would spin for your client, Adam—maybe you should disclose that?
Adam – I can answer you concerning Pulido’s breaches of the “SA Code of Ethics†– which he championed in his promotion of phony term limits for SA City Council members.
From the SA Code of Ethics and Conduct:
INTEGRITY/ HONESTY
I safeguard the ability to make independent, objective, fair and impartial judgments by scrupulously avoiding financial and social relationships and transactions that may compromise, or give the appearance of compromising, objectivity, independence, and honesty.
RESPONSIBILITY/PROTECTING THE PUBLIC’S INTERESTS
I excuse myself from participating in decisions when my or my immediate family’s financial interests may be affected by my agency’s actions.
FAIRNESS/ACCOUNTABILITY
I work to contribute to a strong organization that exemplifies transparency and open communication.
Three Pulido breaches of the Santa Ana Code of Ethics and Conduct are quite obvious, there are additional breaches.
As Claudio said: “What Happens Now?â€
I have to wonder if Pulido cleared his vote with the city’s legal counsel first? What sort of advice did the city’s attny provide? And shouldn’t the city’s counsel speak up as the vote is about to be taken?
Well lets see what happens now,
1. The OC Weekly can pursue this case and more cases of malfeasance ultimately result in corruption or more serious criminal charges being filed… Never by OC agencies but State or Federal.
2. The OC Weekly may find a more interesting story and this one get forgotten.
3. Blue Dog Democrats in OC will be replaced with REAL democrats. I would have said Honest Democrats, but the term Honest being followed by any political Party would be an oxymoron.