Resort unions are ratcheting up their effort to elect their political allies to the Anaheim City Council, pouring at least $125,000 into independent expenditure committees. On September 22, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324 contributed $125,000 to an IE committee called “Helping Working Families Get Ahead in Support of Aitken for Mayor and Leon for Council 2022, Sponsored ...

Just as athletes are supposed to leave it all on the field, political candidates (leastways, competent ones) aren’t supposed to finish the election with full campaign treasuries. Unspent campaign funds are useless once the voting stops. Yet, according to her end-of-the-year campaign report, District 4 council candidate Annemarie Randle-Trejo still had $6,185 cash-on-hand after Election Day.  Keep in mind, she ...

Remarks delivered by new Anaheim Councilman Avelino Valencia following his swearing in as representative of District 4: Good evening Anaheim. It is an honor to stand here before you. I would like to thank God, my wife Monica, my parents – Avelino, Olivia –  and my brother, Alejandro, for accompany me this evening, as well as expressed my appreciation to ...

We have just come through a test — and triumph — of our local democracy. As coronavirus challenged voting this year, Orange County’s democracy emerged stronger, with a smooth election and nearly 90% turnout, the highest in half a century. In Anaheim, Orange County’s largest and most prominent city, voters sent a clear message of support for our city’s ongoing ...

The Anaheim City Council elections are over, and as noted earlier, candidates supporting of economic growth and law enforcement swept the races in council districts 1, 4 and 5: Jose Diaz defeated Councilwoman Denise Barnes in District 1 by 42% to 37%; Avelino Valencia dispatched his opponents with 50% of the vote; Councilman Steve Faessel won re-election with 52% of ...

The Anaheim City Council elections were swept by candidates supportive of economic development, law enforcement, neighborhood investment and re-opening the local economy. Council seats in Districts 1, 4 and 5 were on the ballot. In Districts 1 and 5, incumbents Denise Barnes and Steve Faessel, respectively, were seeking re-election to a second four-year term.  District 4 was open, as term ...

Annemarie Randle-Trejo is running for Anaheim City Council in District 4. She works part-time for the Anaheim Elementary School District and sits on the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Education.  She’s also adamantly in favor of Proposition 15, which would enact the largest property tax increase in state history. Prop. 15 partially repeals the landmark Proposition 13 (passed ...

This morning, the Voice of OC published a story by Brandon Pho bemoaning the volume of ballots already cast before more voters have had  a chance to read the latest round of candidate campaign finance disclosures. The article’s premise illustrates the VOC’s view that these reports are Rosetta Stones for deciphering candidates, while simultaneously overlooking the reality that – outside ...

Councilman Jose F. Moreno posted this meme on Facebook on Monday. It is less a statement that Black lives matter – on that we can all agree – so much as claiming the American Founding was racist, and the signers of the Declaration of Independence did not believe its principles applied to all people, particularly Black people. Moreno’s claim is ...

The Avelino Valencia for Anaheim City Council campaign announced the Democratic Party of Orange County has endorsed his candidacy for the District 4 council seat in the November 2020 election. District 4 is currently represented by Councilwoman Lucille Kring, who is termed out. “Our campaign received overwhelming support to secure a big endorsement. Now it’s official — the Democratic Party ...