City Council Recap: Feb. 3, 2026

Hernandez cleared after limited investigation; Amezcua calls for new probe after 'pressure' allegation

An investigation into three complaints from police officers against Ward 5 Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez found the allegations were not sustained—but investigations aren't done as Mayor Valerie Amezcua requested a new probe after Hernandez accused one Councilmember of allegedly pressuring a city employee to file a previous complaint against him tied to Chicano Heritage Festival planning.

Full article to be published Friday with special timeline graphic on our Instagram.

Council 'receives and files' East First Street progress report without hearing presentation

The Santa Ana City Council unanimously agreed to receive and file Item 7 during Tuesday's meeting without a staff presentation—which is not required unless a member on the dais pulled the item and requested the staff to present the progress on East First Street.

The Santanero confirmed a slideshow presentation and PDF printout was ready in the event the Council chose to hear the presentation, but since all chose to move on to other items in the agenda, the presentation was not heard.

However, the staff report for Item 7 did include some summary data as follows:

Council reviews costs for in-car cameras for Santa Ana Police

The Council voted unanimously, 7–0, to receive and file Item 8, a procedural action that did not authorize funding for in-car cameras. During the discussion, Santa Ana Police presented estimated costs ranging from $244,000 to $279,000.

Police Chief Robert Rodriguez and City Manager Alvaro Nuñez said the proposed in-car cameras would function similarly to the AXON body cameras currently used across the department. The vendor process however would still have to endure the City's bidding process.

Funding for the cameras will be revisited later this year as part of the budget process, attempting to locate potential funding sources. Ward 2 Councilmember Benjamin Vazquez supported the receive-and-file action and noted that police-related purchases should be reviewed by the Police Oversight Commission.

Council approves nearly $1 million in lobbying contracts

The Santa Ana City Council voted 7–0 on Tuesday to approve two lobbying contracts, authorizing up to $963,000 in General Fund spending for state and federal advocacy services.

The vote approved a federal lobbying contract with Manatt Government Strategies, costing $352,800 over three years and up to $588,000 with extensions. City staff said Manatt has previously helped Santa Ana secure millions in federal grants and earmarks, including funding for infrastructure, public safety, and water projects.

Councilmembers also approved a state lobbying contract with Townsend Public Affairs, totaling $175,000 over three years and up to $375,000 if fully extended. The firm has represented the city in Sacramento for years and has helped secure more than $80 million in state funding, including homelessness, youth facility, and transportation-related grants according to the staff report.

Both contracts include 30-day termination clauses and are funded through the city’s General Fund.

Council narrowly approves 4–3 vote to purchase five police drones

The Santa Ana City Council voted 4–3 to approve a police drone program after a tense and closely divided debate. The decision allows the police department to move forward with a "Drone as a First Responder program," despite concerns raised by Councilmembers and residents about privacy, surveillance, and the potential for immigration authorities such as ICE to access drone-related data.

Full article to be published Friday.

Council adopts Police Oversight Commission bylaws

The Santa Ana City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday adopting the initial bylaws for the city’s Police Oversight Commission, a key step in formalizing how the civilian oversight body operates.

The bylaws establish the commission’s governance structure, meeting procedures, voting rules and code of conduct, providing clarity on how Commissioners carry out their oversight and advisory role related to policing in Santa Ana. They also outline requirements for public meetings, quorum, officer elections, handling conflicts of interest and compliance with California’s Brown Act.

City staff said the bylaws were developed over multiple public meetings and were unanimously approved by the Police Oversight Commission in October 2025 before being sent to the City Council for final adoption. Under city law, the council is required to approve the commission’s rules of operation.

Council directs staff to gather information for public hearing in 60 days on June 2025 protest police actions

Santa Ana City Councilmember Benjamin Vazquez requested that the City Council direct the City Manager to prepare a public report and require the Police Oversight Commission to hold a public hearing on the Santa Ana Police Department’s use of force during June 2025 protests at the Civic Center.

The demonstrations followed federal immigration enforcement activity, including ICE raids, and involved police use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and other crowd-control weapons. Vazquez’s request called for transparency around the total cost of the response, weapons deployed, body-worn camera and surveillance footage, reported injuries, command decisions, and any coordination with outside agencies, including federal authorities—similar to public record requests made by The Santanero last summer and are still pending.

In July 2025, the police department presented its AB 481 military equipment report, outlining summaries of equipment use, including crowd-control tools, but the presentation did not provide a full incident-specific breakdown of the June protests—specifically during a peaceful protest reported live by The Santanero in the early hours of June 12, 2025 on Fourth and Main, where police fired rubber bullets into the crowd without declaring an unlawful assembly.

The discussion led to a cacophony of responses from the dais, diverse in their efforts to give direction to the City Manager. In Vazquez' ask to have the Police Oversight Commission to hold a hearing, Mayor Valerie Amezcua, Councilmember Jessie Lopez and Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez wanting to be present at the hearing could raise red flags about Brown Act laws.

In the end, the Council gave direction to the City staff to gather disclosable information on the June 2025 protests within 60 days from Tuesday and later hold a public hearing at a City Council meeting to receive testimonies from protestors affected by actions of the police department during those protests.

How Late Did The Meeting Begin?

The Council was 80 minutes late, achieving a second place rank for tardiness behind their 97 minute mark recorded on August 1, 2024. The average—now reset to begin for this calendar year as of Jan. 20, 2026's meeting—sits at 69 minutes per meeting.

Behavior Chart for Feb. 3, 2026

The Council was reminded by City Attorney Sonia Carvalho about quorum procedures as several members of the dais left without notifying the Chair or Clerk. Some members have left in previous meeting after giving their comments at the end of the meeting without officially declaring their departure for the minutes recorded by the City Clerk. Because of this, the Council as a whole got a yellow card.

In addition, exchanges on the dais between Mayor Valerie Amezcua, Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, Councilmember Benjamin Vazquez, Councilmember Phil Bacerra held undertones that could have been more mature in decorum nature. For this, they dropped to the orange tier.