I spoke with Councilman Vincent Sarmiento earlier this afternoon after receiving his cell phone number. He admitted he spent the morning trying to get a hold of mine as well, which he did. He was eager to explain his side of the story and answer the allegations made by Alex Vega.
He stated that the Vega’s accusations are false and he has no clue as to why Vega would make up such a lie. He did admit that Vega approached him regarding his grievance with Amezcua. The Councilman sought to talk Vega out of going to the media with this kind of an issue and informed Vega there was a proper system to go through if he had a grievance, the California Bar Association and that Vega should use the proper system, not engage in character assassination nor make his grievance a political issue.Â
Sarmiento clarified that as a fellow member of the bar with Amezcua, it would be irresponsible and unethical for any attorney to try and ruin a fellow attorney’s career over a political race. Sarmiento admitted he does his best to keep Alex Vega at arms length Sarmiento went on to even shoot down some of Vega’s assertions of getting a powerful law firm to take a class action lawsuit.
Sarmiento said NO LAW FIRM, powerful or otherwise would take a case regarding attorney misconduct because the court has no jurisdiction over attorney misconduct, that is always handled by the California Bar Association. In other words, he clarified, there is no way to file a class action lawsuit against Amezcua. Sarmiento said any knowledgeable attorney should know this, so if there was ANY attorney giving Vega this advice, they are being irresponsible.
As far as the Mayor’s race goes, Sarmiento stated he is backing Mayor Pulido for re-election because he believes Pulido to be the better person for the job. He stated it was a tough decision to make since he considers both Pulido and Amezcua to be friends and stated he wishes he did not have to choose between the two.
He asked to be notified if there were any similar allegations in the future and stated that any calls to him would be returned as quickly as possible in the future. He mentioned he is interested in following future Santa Ana related stories for the Liberal OC in the future and then invited myself and The Liberal OC to be his personal guest at two upcoming community events.
He went on to say that this Saturday there will be a dedication for new playground equipment for the Lyon Manor neighborhood, which is in his ward. He mentioned what a truly needy and working class area that is and working with some non-profits, he helped get a new playground for this area where there are many children who had no place to play. The second event is Tuesday March 16th, it is the groundbreaking for the new YMCA near Segerstrom High School. Sarmiento mentioned that it is a joint venture with the YMCA, the SAUSD and the City of Santa Ana to provide more activities for Santa Ana’s youth. I told him that I would be at one if not both of these events. I thanked him for the invitation.
This definitely now leaves more questions to be asked particularly to Alex Vega. The two stories definitely are very different. So Alex, care to give your explanation as to why you said Vince Sarmiento was so involved? Care to put forward your real motives? This is definitely far from over.
Claudio, you know I love you, but are you going to call Alex for his side of this or are we going to continue playing “he said” on the blogs? It’s an interesting soap opera, but let’s get to the bottom of it once and for all.
I wonder how Vega likes being thrown under the bus?
Being the sycophant that he is, he will probably just take it and shut the hell up.
Shame on Rumores as well for participating in this ordeal. I am voting for Amezcua regardless!
Pobrecito . . Alex . . at the end of all this Mr. Pulido will have his hands clean and the sacrificial lamb will have been given to the slaughter house with a bow tie around his neck . . Save yourself!
You want to distinguish yourselves from the characters at the Orange Juice blog? Post an apology to Sarmiento for suspecting him before talking to him. It’s the right thing to do.
“Post an apology to Sarmiento for suspecting him before talking to him. It’s the right thing to do.”
I say Sarmiento hands over his city cell phone bill for the last 3 or 4 months, and then we’ll see if he’s telling the truth. He’s got no national security matters to hide behind, and if, and only if, alex vegas’ telephono number is not on any of them would an apology be acceptable.
Art Pederasty,
Last time I checked, it’s not illegal to talk to someone or receive a call from someone on your cell phone.
So all you have left is trying to generate probable cause…and you have none. At least none that would stand up in a court of law.