Ex-Councilman Acosta Joining Santa Ana Race

John Acosta, a former vice mayor who served on the Santa Ana City Council for 12 years, declared his candidacy for a council seat on Wednesday, vowing to run on a “business-friendly” ticket with mayoral hopeful Randell Young.

Acosta, 59, a mason, and Young, 39, a restaurateur and blues guitarist, have dubbed their ticket PEACE Corps, an acronym for Providing Economic Alternatives to Criminal Enterprise.

Young had earlier put out the call for three other like-minded candidates to run with him as a slate in November, raising the prospect of a new majority on the seven-member council.

“When I read that he declared and I read his platform and what he stood for, I got so motivated,” Acosta said of Young. “I said, ‘This is what I always wanted when I was on the council, but I couldn’t get majority council support.’ ”

Acosta said stringent city parking standards and sign requirements are some of the burdens small businesses face.

“Take the muzzle off that small-business owner who wants to open a business, and the whole free enterprise system will work,” he said, adding that those businesses would then hire youths who would otherwise turn to crime.

Acosta served on the council for 12 years and had to step down in November, 1992, because of term limits. He ran unsuccessfully in that election for the mayor’s seat, which is not subject to limits.

During his years as a city official, he said, he saw the city become “cold and indifferent” to constituent needs.

The city needs more Spanish-speaking staff, and needs to more seriously address the issue of the skyrocketing homicide rate, he said. An exodus of car dealerships from the city while he was on the council also indicated that the city was not doing enough to keep business happy, Acosta said.

Acosta said he is hopeful that two more candidates will come forward to run with him and Young.

One question remains, however: where Acosta will run.

“I’m going to run in the ward that fills the need. I’ll evaluate where I would best fit, relocate to that ward and change my registration to that address,” he said. “I’m single. I can move anywhere I want.”

Young also must move back to Santa Ana from San Clemente to run.

Community activist John Raya, 40, declared his candidacy for mayor earlier this month on a pro-business platform that encourages education and assistance to the city’s youth.