Santa Ana Election Propositions Stir Controversy : Suit Accuses Officials of Racism in Ballot Arguments

Two Santa Ana officials made false and racist statements in ballot arguments against a measure designed to alter the way city officials are chosen, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by backers of the November ballot measure.

One of those officials, Councilman Wilson Hart, said Tuesday that he believes the statements are all accurate and that there is nothing “racially motivated in any of it. . . . Those are their own fears being played out.”

Members of the Santa Ana Merged Society of Neighbors, the citizens group that authored the measure, filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court seeking to have the statements deleted from the ballot. Councilman Hart and Sara Broadbent, a member of the Charter Review Commission, wrote arguments against the proposition and in favor of an alternative proposal put on the ballot by the City Council.

Hart’s argument stated that the SAMSON proposition--which would impose ward elections for council members and provide that the mayor be elected by popular vote instead of being chosen by the City Council--was authored by people from outside Santa Ana and “immigrants’ rights groups.” That is a reference to activist Nativo Lopez, who represents hundreds of undocumented residents in his organization, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional (Mexican National Brotherhood).

“The fact of the matter is that Hermandad Mexicana Nacional is a focal part of SAMSON,” Hart said.

SAMSON spokesman Jim Lowman said he believes the statement is designed to make Caucasian residents believe that undocumented residents are trying to take over the city, a tactic that was used in a last-minute mailer when a similar proposition came up last June. It was defeated by only 257 votes, and SAMSON members later collected enough signatures to give the issue another try in November.

“They’re getting back to that same tactic,” Lowman said. Fred Munoz, an attorney representing the citizens group, said the statement is an attempt to “cloud the issue. . . . It connotes that the people behind this are in this country illegally.” Actually, Munoz said, Lopez’s group is only one of several in SAMSON, which also includes city firefighters, opponents of a city traffic-reduction plan and members of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Lowman also contended that Hart made false statements in saying that the City Council proposition is supported “exclusively by Santa Ana citizens and businesses” and that SAMSON is bent on the destruction of city government with no proposals for how to improve it. “They have a secret agenda,” Hart wrote.

Broadbent’s argument, written in support of the City Council proposition, also included falsehoods, Lowman said.

Those alleged lies included accusations that SAMSON members want the city to “build more low-income housing” and ease up on its aggressive housing code enforcement policy. Lowman argued that those are statements made by Lopez and do not reflect the intentions of the citizens group.

Broadbent also wrote that the SAMSON proposal would mean that council members would owe allegiances only to their wards. Thus, Broadbent wrote, it would be possible for the council to put “rock concert facilities, a jail, a toxic chemical plant or a rescue mission in one ward” without fearing voter retaliation.

All those statements will be the subject of a hearing in Superior Court next Monday, Munoz said. He said Hart, Broadbent and City Clerk Janice Guy have all been subpoenaed as potential witnesses.

Munoz said Guy is required to submit the ballot arguments to the county registrar of voters by Monday and a court ruling Monday morning would allow just enough time to get the amended versions to the printer.