Santa Ana punts question of admonishing a councilman until after election
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With Election Day a week away, the Santa Ana City Council met to discuss but ultimately delayed taking any action, including censure, against Councilman Johnathan Ryan Hernandez.
Prompted by a complaint, an independent probe recently sustained a trio of city charter and ethics code allegations against him in relation to the special event planning of the Juneteenth Festival, Chicano Heritage Festival and Indigenous Peoples Day events.
At the same time, another probe into a complaint made against Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua by former City Manager Kristine Ridge did not sustain its discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims.
The outside investigations were ordered last year before City Atty. Sonia Carvalho reported the results during an Oct. 15 council meeting.
Amezcua called for Monday afternoon’s special meeting but denied its timing had anything to do with the election, as Hernandez is currently campaigning for another term against a Santa Ana police union-backed candidate.
“This is not political,” she said. “This [report] was conducted by an outside investigator. This was not done by the mayor’s office or the city manager’s office or the city attorney’s office.”
The city’s main branch is expected to reopen in 2026 after the completion of major renovation and restoration projects meant to modernize the library’s services.
Amezcua is also up for reelection.
The report was not made publicly available prior to the special meeting and, at least one council member claimed she did not have ample time to review before voting on taking action, if any, in response.
Hernandez defended himself as an advocate for the three events in question and blasted the probe as “retaliation” for a Brown Act complaint he made against Amezcua alleging that she conspired with other council members to sack Ridge as a means to fire former Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin.
“We are wasting the public’s time when my actions have not costed the city in lawsuits or settlement demands,” he said.
“Black, Native and Chicano people belong here in Santa Ana and I will do my due diligence to make sure you continue to have a seat at the table,” Hernandez added.
The report, obtained by TimesOC after Monday’s special meeting, found the most serious of all four allegations against Hernandez — that he solicited donations for the events that were not received by the city — was not sustained by investigator Alfonso Estrada, a partner of the Los Angeles-based Hanson and Bridget law firm.
Estrada did find a “preponderance of evidence” that Hernandez “directed or interfered” with city staff during the planning of the special events.
Hernandez counted Dwayne Shipp, who helped organize Juneteenth festivals in Santa Ana as president of the Orange County Heritage Council, among his supporters. Shipp moved this year’s festival away from Santa Ana to Anaheim after the city opened the celebration up for proposals.
“If it wasn’t for us reaching out to him, the very first Juneteenth would’ve never happened,” Shipp said. “He was the bridge that allowed us to have communication with the city staff when there was problems.”
“The only thing I can see Councilman Hernandez being guilty of is helping Black people,” he added.
Estrada’s investigation sustained the finding that Hernandez overstepped the city charter during a meeting with staff where he interjected that the event flier designed by Shipp’s group would be the one used to promote last year’s Juneteenth Festival.
From the dais, Hernandez claimed that a former city manager remarked the flier looked “too Pan African,” a comment not included in the report.
After a falling out with Santa Ana city officials, Orange County’s premiere Juneteenth Festival is coming to Anaheim’s Pearson Park on June 15.
Prior to the meeting, Councilman David Peñaloza wrote a letter to Carvalho urging her to prosecute the sustained allegations of city charter violations as a misdemeanor offense.
On Monday, he responded by reading from the report’s assessment of Hernandez’s credibility, which described his responses to allegations as “self-serving” and “sanctimonious” with an apparent bias against city staff.
“I’m sorry if he feels this is politically motivated,” Peñaloza said. “But guess what? Follow our city charter, follow the rules and this wouldn’t have happened.”
Estrada found the complainant, whose name was redacted, to have been “credible,” in part, but also prone to “overreaching” allegations not supported by the facts, especially in regards to speculation over any mishandling of special event donations from sponsors.
Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan didn’t agree with the timing of the special meeting and complained that she only received the redacted report during it.
“I have not had time to review it,” Phan said. “I’m not ready to make any such decision tonight, especially when it comes to something so high-profile and so important.”
A number of council members did review the report in person at the city attorney’s office ahead of the meeting.
The investigation also looked into the complaint made by former City Manager Kristine Ridge against the mayor that alleged Amezcua created a hostile work environment. Ridge “refused to participate in the investigation,” which did not sustain her discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims.
No discussion or action on the Amezcua investigation was put on the special meeting’s agenda.
Estrada interviewed Amezcua, who he found credible, and two witnesses while reviewing relevant documents. The mayor denied making any hostile remarks about Ridge being a white woman or her status as a non-Spanish speaker, including an allegation that she told Ridge “you don’t understand my community or culture.”
Amezcua surmised that Ridge was opposed to her as a Santa Ana police union-backed politician and claimed she called her “Gerry’s Girl,” in reference to former Santa Ana Police Officers Assn. President Gerry Serrano.
Ridge resigned last October with a majority of council members approving a $652,000 severance agreement in response to her legal claims of emotional distress.
The vote was taken behind closed doors and before an investigation commenced.
Regarding Hernandez’s Brown Act complaint, Carvalho previously reported that the Orange County’s district attorney’s office found “insufficient evidence.”
Now that it’s over, Amezcua said that if the outside investigation sustained allegations against her, she would have apologized.
“If the shoe had been on the other foot, do you think we would be sitting up here?” Amezcua said. “Of course, we would. They would all be screaming, ‘Hang the mayor.’”
The council voted 5-1, with Councilwoman Jesse Lopez absent, to continue the discussion after the elections during the scheduled Nov. 19 council meeting.
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