Santa Ana will hold special election in November to fill vacant council seat

Residents in Santa Ana’s Ward 4 must wait until this fall to be represented on the City Council, after its six current members couldn’t agree on an appointment to the empty seat and instead called for a special election.

Roman Reyna won the seat in November, but he agreed to quit March 1 to settle a lawsuit by ballot opponent Phil Bacerra that challenged his eligibility for the office.

The city charter allows the council to appoint someone to fill the vacancy, but at a special meeting Friday, March 22, the most votes any of the six people who applied could muster from the council was two.

The special election will be held Nov. 5, the same date the Santa Ana Unified School District will ask voters to fill the school board seat left open when Cecilia Iglesias won the city’s Ward 6 council seat.

Councilman Vicente Sarmiento worried having only six members could “paralyze” the council – it has still been unable to agree on a budget increase to pay for the first year of a new police contract – but others wanted Ward 4 voters to have a say.

“I want it to be fair for all the voters,” Councilman Juan Villegas said, adding, “You’ve gotta go out there and earn it” by campaigning for the seat.

Also on Tuesday, the council filled the vacant city manager’s job, hiring Kristine Ridge under a three-year contract worth an estimated $388,616 annually including pay and benefits.

Ridge’s 30 years in the public sector include working as assistant city manager in Anaheim and as city manager of Laguna Niguel, a job she’s held for a little more than a year.