And it\u2019s all playing out in a town where the local police union is one of the biggest spenders on local elections and where police union-backed officials and police critics often clash on the dais.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[Read: Santa Ana Launches Probe into Police Union Critic After Cops\u2019 Complaints<\/a>]<\/p>\n After a two hours and half closed door meeting Tuesday, Carvalho reported back the investigator\u2019s findings after a probe was called into the complaints against Hernandez in October.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on the interviews and the research conducted by the investigator, it was reported to the council that the complaints were not sustained,\u201d Carvalho said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Council consensus is that while all of them have personal rights and can speak their minds, they would like everyone to be mindful that they represent the city, and what they say and do reflects on the city, especially their actions while they\u2019re up here on the dais.\u201d<\/p>\n Hernandez, a vocal police union critic, said people employed by the city deserve respect.<\/p>\n \u201cI love this city, and I love our employees, and I want every one of our employees to feel respected here, and the same applies to our residents,\u201d he said Tuesday, adding that he was glad the city publicly announced the results.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe in harassing police. I don\u2019t believe in harassing employees.\u201d<\/p>\n The police union spent over $50,000 against Hernandez\u2019s reelection campaign in 2024.<\/p>\n In a prepared statement, John Kachirisky, Santa Ana Police Officers Association President, stated union leaders were disappointed by the outcome and questioned why Hernandez didn\u2019t participate in the investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do find it interesting that Councilmember Hernandez refused to cooperate with the investigation and refused to be interviewed. What does he have to hide? If he is so innocent, clear your name,\u201d reads his statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we look forward to moving on and hope his behavior changes in the future, the fact that this is the second city department to have employees complain about his behavior is telling.\u201d<\/p>\n Hernandez said in a Wednesday phone interview he always knew what the outcome would be of the probe and that he didn\u2019t participate in the investigation because city staff already looked into it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason I didn\u2019t participate in the second investigation was because I felt the second investigation violated my rights, given that I had just went through one with the city,\u201d he said, adding that the investigation was politically motivated.<\/p>\n \u201cI was not going to participate in their show.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the outside probe, city staff said the complaints about Hernandez had already been investigated by the city\u2019s human resources department, but officials refused to publicly say what that internal probe found.<\/p>\n Hernandez said investigations are being used to intimidate those who vote against the union\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n Police union officials did not respond to questions on why one of the police officers didn\u2019t participate in the investigation.<\/p>\n City Spokesman Paul Eakins said in a Wednesday email the city did not have a written report to release on the findings of the outside probe.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear the costs of these investigations as city officials project an estimated $30 million budget deficit in a few years<\/a> when a sales tax measure starts to sunset in 2029<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another Investigation on The Horizon?<\/p>\n It is not the first time Hernandez has received a complaint from a city employee that has been investigated at the request of his colleagues.<\/p>\n Investigators in 2024 found enough evidence to sustain allegations that he violated the city charter <\/a>and interfered with city staff\u2019s planning of cultural celebrations like Chicano Heritage Festival. Hernandez said he was just advocating for the events to be culturally competent.<\/p>\n [Read: Why Did Santa Ana Pay A Former City Manager\u2019s $600K Claim Before an Investigation? City Releases Findings<\/a>]<\/p>\n Hernandez publicly alleged from the dais Tuesday that a council member forced an employee to file the previous complaint against him alleging he interfered with the planning of community events.<\/p>\n \u201cThe complainant then told me, after a council meeting, a sitting elected up here forced them to file that complaint so I want to also send a message to my colleagues that we should respect each other\u2019s differences of opinion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Amezcua fired back saying she wanted Hernandez\u2019s allegation investigated and that she didn\u2019t believe it was true.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe anybody up here forced any employee to file that initial complaint,\u201d she said, adding that Hernandez walked off after he made the accusation. \u201cI don\u2019t know who forced that person but I want to know if that did occur because nobody that I recall in that investigation was forced to do anything and I take that very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n Amezcua also said she wanted the city manager to speak to the employee if they did in fact tell Hernandez they were forced to make the complaint.<\/p>\n \u201cIf an employee stated to Councilman Hernandez, that he or she was forced to file that investigation, I want to know. I think we should all know because we end up in these big old investigations and conversations when we shouldn\u2019t,\u201d she said to the city manager.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know who the employee is and I don\u2019t need to know but I\u2019m sure you will look into it and investigate it and then address it,\u201d Amezcua continued. \u201cBecause we all can not sit up here and just throw out lies and hope they stick to the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate 2024 probe<\/a>, investigators seemingly could not sustain allegations that Amezcua violated the city charter or code of ethics or harassed former City Manager Kristine Ridge \u2013 something Ridge alleged in a claim before leaving the city.<\/p>\n The findings came after a majority of officials, including Amezcua, voted to pay Ridge over $600,000 to settle the claim that also alleged a pressure campaign by elected officials on behalf of the police union to get her to boost former union president Gerry Serrano\u2019s pay and pension.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ridge did not participate in the 2024 probe.<\/p>\n The police union spent over $98,000 in support of Amezcua\u2019s mayoral reelection campaign in 2024.<\/p>\n Police Complaints Against Hernandez Unsustained\u00a0<\/p>\n The most recent probe stems from three police officers filing separate back to back complaints in July against Hernandez alleging he created a hostile workplace for them and jeopardized their safety by criticizing them on social media and referring to them online as murderers.<\/p>\n Hernandez has denied the allegations \u2013 even speaking out at the public comment podium last fall against a possible censure over the complaints.<\/p>\n [Read: Is a Santa Ana Official\u2019s Criticism of Police Freedom of Speech or Harassment?<\/a>]<\/p>\n Last year, he publicly criticized the police\u2019s use of force against anti-ICE protestors<\/a>, lambasted proposed changes to the police oversight commission<\/a> that could dial back its power and scrutinized the department\u2019s failure to disclose their military arsenal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hernandez also has said there are \u201ckiller cops\u201d in the Santa Ana Police Department \u2013 referring to relatively recent police shootings.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Hernandez said he was elected to speak out against police killing residents and that being in favor of accountability does not mean being anti-police.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to send a message to our police department, I want you to make it home. I don\u2019t want you to feel afraid when you\u2019re patrolling our streets, but the same also applies to our residents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan said Hernandez was exonerated and she supported the additional investigation because issues like this need to be taken seriously.<\/p>\n She also called on her colleagues to keep their composure when discussing \u201cheated topics\u201d and respect city staff.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I also like to say that even if I don\u2019t agree with what you say or how you say it, each of us were elected by our constituents for exactly who we are,\u201d she said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that as we push these policies and we are passionate and we are vocal, we also remember that on the other side of it, there are employees, people and whole beings who may disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Santa Ana city leaders have launched at least three different investigations against each other in the past few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,4221,19504,4223,5043,2267],"class_list":{"0":"post-164205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-john-kachirisky","12":"tag-johnathan-ryan-hernandez","13":"tag-santa-ana-police-officers-association","14":"tag-valerie-amezcua","15":"tag-voice-of-oc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SantaAnaCityCouncil_Oct7_2025_Taylor-17.jpg\")
Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, center, sits with other attendees during discussion of his censure at the Santa Ana City Council meeting on Oct. 7, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SantaAnaCityCouncil_Oct7_2025_Taylor-2.jpg\")
Mayor Valerie Amezcua at the Santa Ana City Council meeting on Oct. 7, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SantaAnaCityCouncil_Oct7_2025_Taylor-6.jpg\")
Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, center, addresses the Santa Ana City Council during the Oct. 7, 2025 meeting. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n