The plaintiff in a lawsuit aiming to halt setting an election date for the recall of Santa Ana Councilmember Jessie Lopez – who represents Ward 3 – has been filed by a long-time Chicano political activist – who also happens to be Lopez’s landlord in addition to being a key political supporter.
The lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court seeks to halt any further action toward holding the recall election – and was filed on behalf of Albert Castillo. Castillo is represented by the Sutton Law Firm, a prominent Democrat election law firm from San Francisco.
Castillo’s lawyers claim the recall proponents made false arguments to voters who signed the petition, and therefore the court should put a stop to it.
However, state law prescribes a 10-day window during the recall process – before petitioners can gather signatures – during which the targeted official has recourse to legal challenge the allegations in a recall petition. Lopez failed to take advantage of that provision to make her case during the statutorily prescribed time frame.
While the Voice of OC describes Castillo as merely a “resident” of Santa Ana, he is in fact a long-time progressive Chicano political activist in Santa Ana and a founder of Chicanos Unidos. Castillo was also a leader of the progressive coalition that successfully pushed in 2021 for the city council to adopt the most draconian rent control ordinance in California. He lives in a four-bedroom home he owns in Ward 3, where Lopez has lived since April 2022, according to multiple affidavits of residency filed with the city.
Lopez moved into Castillo’s house after being evicted from the bedroom she was renting from previous landlord, Hector Orellana.
Orellana had sold the house and was desperately appealing to the city for help in evicting Lopez for fear the sale of the house would fall through due to Lopez’s refusal to move out.
It is unknown what rent Castillo is charging Lopez, or whether the Ward 3 councilmember is paying any rent at all. As an elected official, she would have to pay market rate rent – any discount would be considered a reportable gift. Rent for a bedroom in a private home in Ward 3 ranges from $700 to $900 a month.
It is also unclear if Lopez has an income. According to the annual financial disclosures Lopez has been filing since assuming office in December 2020, the only income she has reported is between $500 and $1000 for contract work for Orange County United Way sometime in 2021.
That income was omitted from her original Form 700 filing covering 2021 filed on January 24, 2022. It was disclosed more than a year later in an amendment she filed on March 30, 2023 – after the recall against her had been launched.
READ: Santa Ana: Recall Campaigns Launched Against Councilmembers Phan, Lopez
In her campaign disclosure filings for both 2021 and 2022, Lopez states her occupation as a “promotora” for Latino Health Access, an ostensibly health-focused non-profit that has long been engaged in political and policy advocacy.
However, Lopez does not list Latino Health Access as an employer or source of income in her Form 700 financial disclosure covering 2021.
On June 22, 2022, Lopez donated $1,000 to the Santa Ana City Council campaign of her political ally, Manny Escamilla. Lopez listed her occupation as “consultant” to Close The Gap, a progressive 527 political advocacy group committed to electing left-leaning women candidates.
However, Lopez has not disclosed any income from Close The Gap on her Form 700 financial disclosure forms.
