Santa Ana Mayor Vince Sarmiento abruptly left a special city council meeting to consider new council district maps in order to attend a campaign fundraiser in the City of Orange.
The fundraiser was for Nina Turner, a progressive Left state Senator from Cleveland, Ohio who is running for Congress. It was held at the hillside home of Betty Valencia, a progressive-Left activist and former candidate for Orange City Council.
Sarmiento is listed as a guest speaker on the invite, along with Mike Ortega, the self-described socialist who is challenging Democrat Rep. Lou Correa in the June primary.
Turner is on a fundraising swing through Southern California, with a fundraiser in Irvine earlier today and campaign events in Los Angeles this evening. Sher is a darling of the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, who supports abolishing private health insurance and supports defunding the police and thinks the criminal justice system is systemically racist and oppressive to people of color.
Although the event was billed as requiring attendees to wear masks, that was not the case according to this Facebook video posted by event organizers. At the :37 second mark, for example, Anaheim Elementary School District Board of Education member Jackie Filbeck can be seen not wearing a mask.
Sarmiento is on the campaign trail himself: last month he announced his candidacy for the open 2nd Supervisor District seat. Sarmiento has assiduously courted the progressive activist base of the OC Democratic Party.
READ: Santa Ana Mayor Vince Sarmiento Jumps Into 2nd District Supervisor Race
The February 16 council meeting was called for the express purpose of considering various council district maps as part of the decennial exercise of drawing council district lines following the U.S. Census.
An hour into the meeting, while members of the public were still testifying as to which map they want the council to adopt, Sarmiento abruptly stated that he was leaving due to a “previous engagement” and turned the gavel over to Mayor Pro Tem Phil Bacerra.
Sarmiento did not disclose the “previous engagement” was a campaign event for an Ohio politician in town to raise money for her congressional campaign.
The council meeting continued for another hour and a half. Sarmiento never returned, missing out on the remainder of public comments and absent from the council discussion of the map submissions.
Sarmiento’s absence did not go unremarked upon by his council colleagues. Councilmember Jessie Lopez noted that “we are missing a member of the council” and stated she would support bringing back all the maps discussed by the council s’ they could “have a true tally of where every single person on this council stands or what map they’re supporting.”
READ: Editorial: Santa Ana Mayor Sarmiento Isn’t Serious About Serious Crime
Councilman David Penaloza made a motion that the council narrow their choices down to four maps, and make their choice from those four at a future council meeting.
Councilman Johnathan Hernandez made a substitute motion to re-hear all of the maps when “we have the entirety of the council here” – a clear reference to Sarmiento’s decision to attend the Turner fundraiser rather than particpoate in the council deluberations.
The sub-motion failed, with Hernandez, Lopez and Thai Phan voting “yes.” Penaloza’s motion then passed with the support of Penaloza, Phan, Bacerra and Councilmember Nelida Mendoza.
At least five of the seven members must agree on a map, according to the city charter. If they fail to do so by the deadline, a superior court judge will be charged with creating a map.
OC Independent reached out to Mayor Sarmiento via e-mail ask why he did not inform the public that he was leaving the council meeting to attend a campaign fundraiser, and if he believed it was appropriate to skip out on such an important meeting in order participate in a campaign event. We had received no response at time of publication, and will update the article when and if Mayor Sarmiento responds.
