On the November ballot in the neighboring city of Santa Ana, there is a controversial issue that, if approved, would leave a national mark.
This is a local measure that seeks to allow non-citizens, whether undocumented immigrants, refugees, permanent residents, DACA or TPS beneficiaries, or those with a work permit, to vote in local elections, starting in 2028.
We’re talking about voting in the elections for city council and school board members in the city of Santa Ana in conservative Orange County.
As you can imagine, opponents argue that voting should be a privilege only for citizens, but those in favor ask why not, if these people live here, work here and pay taxes here.
Some cities on the East Coast have passed similar measures but have not been acted upon because of legal challenges, while San Francisco passed Proposition N in 2016, allowing parents to vote in school board elections; Oakland did the same in 2022, but the law has not yet gone into effect.
We must pay close attention to what happens in Santa Ana, because it could be the fuse that lights the flame; while in the House of Representatives a measure promoted by the Republicans was just approved to require proof of citizenship when voting.
It seems unlikely that it will advance in the Senate.
The first veto
Karen Bass has executed her first veto as mayor of Los Angeles, blocking a proposed ballot measure expected to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot that seeks to give the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department the power to fire officers accused of misconduct.
The measure would create a two-track disciplinary system, the mayor said, with some offenses handled by the chief and others by a disciplinary panel. The mayor said she has spoken to hundreds of police officers who support a fairer, more defined system of punishment.
What remains to be seen is that the Council, which is on vacation for three weeks until July 30, will not override the mayor’s veto, which we do not believe will happen.
Babysitter and spy
Former Carson City employee Justin Battle is suing the city for being fired after he said his job as an aide to City Councilwoman Arleen Bocatija Rojas included being her babysitter, personal spy, travel agent and even her private gardener, all of which violated the state Labor Code.
Bocatija Rojas, in addition to being a Carson councilwoman, is a Filipino-American officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.
The plaintiff was his assistant, and is now seeking compensation and attorney fees from the City of Carson.
The duties assigned to Battle by Councilwoman Bocatija, the subject of the lawsuit, consisted of being available at all times to run her personal errands, pick up her daughter from school, keep an eye on her whereabouts and use an LAPD tool to view the minor’s emails as well as monitor her phone calls.
She also had to go to the dry cleaners to pick up the councilwoman’s clothes, take her car to the shop for maintenance, prepare her vacation plans, mow her lawn, pick up her food, take her to events and transport her sister wherever she needed help.
But that wasn’t all. He was asked to keep his personal errands out of the office, to spy on Councilman Jim Dear’s arrivals and departures, to keep an eye on his colleague’s girlfriend, and to inform him when she left. According to the plaintiff, he refused to do that, and filed a complaint with the deputy city manager. As a result, he was “throttled.” In other words, he was fired.
If everything the plaintiff argues is true, as we say in Spanish, the councilwoman “did not measure herself.” Although I am afraid to say that many assistants to elected officials go through the same thing. I remember a Latina senator who sent her employees to clean her house.