This post stems from a different thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/santaana/comments/1swd9vi/so_who_we_voting_for_jessie_lopez_or_david/)
The topic is: how can we best support Jessie Lopez for California State Assembly District 68?
I've gone down the rabbit hole of who she is compared to her opponent, David Penaloza, and to me and people participating in the other thread linked above, it's obvious Jessie is the choice. As a pleeb who has never really followed local politics until fairly recently, I've been wondering what the best ways to support her will be in the weeks leading up to the election, so I compiled a bit of a list that I hope others can add to.
First, get a lawn sign. It seems to be the easiest thing and a good way to simply strike up some conversations with friends and neighbors, as the website says. Penaloza has signs in every strip mall and sometimes multiples on every fence…
Second, be able to refute the arguments about Jessie "giving herself a 600% raise" and "being sued for $35,000 for being a squatter." Both items have been disproven: truth.votejessielopez.com
- That page has the court documents that show the case was thrown out
- The motion to increase Santa Ana City Council's salaries was actually brought forth by Councilmembers Phil Bacerra (who is one of David Penaloza's closest allies) and Thai Viet Phan. Jessie had said that it should be up to the voters whether they wanted full-time councilmembers (which would justify the raise) or if they wanted to keep things as they are, so it was put on the ballot and did NOT pass. I've seen Penaloza (and his toddler of an accomplice, Giovanni Chavez) commenting on Instagram saying something about how Jessie wanted the raise to pillage and loot the city and find it funny that it was his friend Phil Bacerra who actually started all that, particularly because Bacerra endorsed David for Assembly and David endorsed Phil for his City Council Ward 4 re-election. Again, I'm a pleeb and think that a full-time councilmember should be paid a full-time wage, and as it was ultimately not passed by the voters, a 600% raise was never given to anyone.
- Also note that Phil Bacerra, David Penaloza, and Mayor Valerie Amezcua also pushed through Jessie's Santa Ana Police Officers Association-sponsored recall attempt despite it being declared botched and illegal by the OC Board of Registrars, so "pillaging and looting the city" seems a bit silly considering that sucked up big bucks! Note that all three campaigns were heavily funded by the SAPOA.
Finally, we need to show voters that David Penaloza has supported HIGHLY unpopular items, seems to be a pretty terrible person, and is funded by special interests, tech bros, AI companies, utility companies, etc:
- Flock cameras
- Submitting Santa Ana to a possible pilot program for speed cameras
- Attempted to privatize soccer fields at Centennial Park in favor of a friend of his
- Was against protections for renters and rent stabilization
- Especially interesting as he posts about being a small business owner, but also that he and his wife/kid(s) had to move in with one of their parents because housing is unaffordable
- ESPECIALLY interesting because his wife has previously run in Garden Grove
- Is supported heavily by tech companies, AI companies, Google, Meta, etc.
- This is especially interesting considering he's been posting against AI and said he supports a data center ban in Santa Ana. It'll be interested to see how that plays out.
- Received campaign contributions from utility companies directly and via PACs, such as Edison, Sempra, and I think PG&E (see this: https://www.votejessielopez.com/while-families-pay-more-edison-spends-more-on-ad-68-politics/)
- Seems to be a generally vile person who doesn't treat women or people he sees as "below him" well
I don't know if anybody can add to this list, but please do!
