Santa Ana council trying to quiet bloggers
Three city board members and commissioners who write for orangejuiceblog.com have been asked to be less critical of city officials.
Some Santa Ana council members have told three bloggers who sit on city boards and commissions to tone down their criticisms of city officials.
The bloggers, who write for www.orangejuiceblog.com, often use inflammatory language and innuendo. They have attacked the motives of city officials, questioned whether favoritism influenced the awarding of city contracts, and criticized officials who don't live in the city. The comments have led some readers to chime in with even greater rancor, including a woman who claimed to be the former wife of a city official.
"If there are board members that are attacking other board members or commissioners . . . that is a concern," said Councilman David Benavides. "It's no secret that these people were indirectly asked to tone it down. We don't have any right to tell anyone what they can and cannot say, but we can say what we think is reasonable."
Councilwoman Michele Martinez has asked the blog's founder, Art Pedroza, to stop his writing or resign from the Housing and Redevelopment Commission. Martinez appointed him to the commission.
The council, Martinez said, had asked her and Councilman Sal Tinajero "to tell our commissioners to shape up." Tinajero appointed the two other bloggers, Planning Commissioner Sean Mill and Thomas Gordon, who sits on the Early Prevention and Intervention Commission, which was established to combat gang violence.
Martinez fears that if Pedroza does not resign, the council could boot him from his position. City commissioners and board members serve at the council's pleasure.
Pedroza said he would not resign.
"They will have to dismiss me," he said. "Their complaints, for the most part, don't reflect my performance as a commissioner but their disagreement with my writings. They knew we were bloggers when they appointed us, and they knew Santa Ana was the focus on the blog."
Councilman Carlos Bustamante said Pedroza and the others were warned that as commissioners they should not make personal attacks on city officials in the blog.
Mill said Tinajero called him after a Sept. 21 council meeting and warned him "not to post anything that is a lie," but "I haven't done that," Mill said. "I haven't done anything wrong. Everything I've written is based on hard facts, and I don't intend to stop."
