It\u2019s a move some city commissioners and elected officials are condemning, arguing it will only serve to hinder civic participation and prevent public input while other leaders say it is a difficult but necessary action to balance the books and commissioners struggled to meet.<\/p>\n
The purge of the boards is a small sliver in a series of approved cuts this summer that include major reductions in park maintenance, significantly dialing back a police-run after school program and slashing millions in vacant positions so officials could balance their budget.<\/p>\n
Yet other cuts floated by elected leaders during the budget process this year were not implemented, including cutting council members\u2019 $420,000 budget for political aides or dialing back council members\u2019 nearly $80,000 travel budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3096.jpg\")
Councilmember David Penaloza at the Santa Ana City Council meeting on July 16, 2024. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n
Councilman David Penaloza publicly said dissolving the commissions was reflective of a decades-long pattern of elected officials trying to minimize public input, including a reduction in public comment speaking times at some meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always an effort to minimize public input and I think this is one of those ways where we could include the public as much as we can,\u201d he said at the June 16 city council meeting, adding they should look at other ways to save the money.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives an opportunity for our public to participate and be engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CityCouncil-SANTAANA-2025_May-Leopo-1-3.jpg\")
Councilmember Thai Viet Phan during her remarks at the May 20, 2025 Santa Ana City Council meeting Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n
Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan said there are other ways for residents to participate civically.<\/p>\n
\u201cMembers of the public can still attend public meetings, can still call in, can still email, and can still participate in order to give their opinions and make their voices heard on these issues,\u201d she said at the meeting.<\/p>\n
What is Getting Cut?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782408199_75_GroupProject_SantaAna_2026_Sawyers-4.jpg\")
Downtown Santa Ana on Sunday, April 19, 2026. Credit: SYDNEY SAWYERS, Voice of OC <\/p>\n
The cuts include the Youth Commission<\/a> made up of seven high school students that make suggestions on youth services and programs as well as the Arts and Culture Commission<\/a> that makes recommendations on public art and art funding.<\/p>\n It also includes the Parks and Recreation Commission<\/a> which makes recommendations on maintaining and acquiring park space, the Historic Resources Commission<\/a> which makes suggestions on historic landmarks and the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Commission<\/a> that advises the city council on public trees and landscaping.<\/p>\n Roberto Herrera, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, called dissolving the boards an attack on democracy, arguing that local activists had long advocated for a youth commission and the boards were an opportunity for civic engagement and oversight.<\/p>\n \u201cThese commissions are opportunities for the public to be involved and engaged,\u201d Herrera said in a Monday phone interview. \u201cFor folks that want to step up and serve their city, these commissions make great opportunities to understand the levers of government<\/p>\n Joese Hernandez, chair of the Arts and Culture Commission, called the decision a step in the wrong direction and hopes the dissolution is just a temporary pause until the city is in a better position financially.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat hurts the most is just that it\u2019s $38,000. It\u2019s such a nominal amount of money compared to other things,\u201d Hernandez said in a Tuesday phone interview, pointing to city payouts over lawsuits against the police department.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we just trained our officers better, perhaps we could save some money that way and not have to cut things like parks and rec and arts and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Santa Ana officials balanced the budget<\/a> by cutting nearly $11 million in spending \u2013 slashing $5 million in vacant positions \u2013 and increasing revenue by about $2 million, including a technology cost recovery fee expected to bring in $750,000.<\/p>\n Debra Russell, an Arts and Culture commissioner, said she was disappointed by the decision to slash the commissions but the city will still preserve funding for artist grants and there is an interest in setting up an artist trust fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n Russell said the youth commission was an opportunity for young people to learn about how local government works and the parks and recreation commission was an opportunity to provide input on greenspace, adding elected officials could have pulled funding from elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cThere could have been other places in the budget \u2013 use of military weapons would have been another interesting place to look,\u201d she said in a Monday phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t have a place like a youth commission, how are we going to expect our young people to understand the nuances of how policy gets developed and how the government operates?\u201d<\/p>\n Jesse Rodriguez, a youth commissioner, publicly called on elected officials in May not to dissolve the board he sits on or cut the police run after school program.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Youth Commission gives young people a voice in local government,\u201d he said at the May 19 city council meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThese programs would keep youth engaged, supported, and connected to their community. They also create positive spaces for leadership, growth, and trust between young people and the city. Investing in youth now builds a stronger and safer Santa Ana in the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What Isn\u2019t Getting Cut?<\/p>\n Despite cutting commissions, dialing back an after school program and slashing vacant positions, council members didn\u2019t cut their spending on council aides or travel expenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n In April, Councilwoman Jessie Lopez suggested officials cut the travel budget for elected officials.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that\u2019s not going to entirely fix a deficit of this level but I think it can contribute long term,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The cut wasn\u2019t made.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the next fiscal year, officials allocated over $78,000 for training, transportation and meetings in the city council budget \u2013 the same as this fiscal year. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, officials spent over $30,000 for the same purpose, according to the budget.<\/p>\n The seven council members also split $84,000 for their salaries before benefits, like health insurance and retirement.<\/p>\n The travel budget wasn\u2019t the only expense suggested to be reduced.<\/p>\n Penaloza suggested officials eliminate their contracted council aide program<\/a> for elected officials but faced push back from Phan who said her aide helps respond and engage with constituents as she juggles her full time job as an attorney.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, city council members voted to limit pay to $60 an hour for aides with a $5,000 maximum per month.<\/p>\n Officials are budgeted to spend $420,000 on \u201ccontracted vendor personnel services\u201d for the city council in 2026-27 fiscal year.<\/p>\n Ribbon Cuttings: How is Santa Ana Civically Engaging Residents?<\/p>\n Mayor Valerie Amezcua echoed Phan\u2019s comments at the June 16 meeting, saying the community is civically involved in other ways.<\/p>\n Penaloza, who often votes along the same lines as Amezcua, pushed back against the mayor saying she cut speaking times for public commenters at a recent city council meeting.<\/p>\n Amezcua said she only cuts public speaking times once in a while so they are not there for hours and it was agreed upon by the council through a vote.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want the community to be very involved and we love to hear the comments but for five and a half hours to hear shame, shame, shame, for five and a half hours. Yes, it\u2019s important, but I\u2019ll be the first one to say yes as mayor, I have cut down from three minutes to two minutes and they still come and speak,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Amezcua added there are many ways the public can participate, pointing to the city\u2019s budget survey that was filled out by 2,000 residents in a city with a population of over 316,000 people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe invite everybody to our ribbon cuttings, we invite people to community meetings,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not icing anybody out.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, city council members finalized their budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year last week and voted 5-2 on a first reading to disband the resident-run boards as a way to save tens of thousands of dollars in the face of a multi-million budget gap.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Penaloza and Councilwoman Jessie Lopez, who are expected to face off against each other in November for a state assembly seat, were the dissenting votes.<\/p>\n Lopez did not comment on her opposition at the meeting last week but had previously said in April some commissioners were not taking their jobs seriously<\/a> and she was open to cutting some of the commissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf these people that are being appointed are not going to take it seriously then what is the purpose of having commissions that are only costing our city money and are not being productive? \u201d she said at the April 7 meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have really brought me to the point now that I am open about the removal of some of these commissions and they need to understand that it has been their inaction, their inability to show up to these commissions, that are making me say the things that I am uplifting tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Did The Boards Fail to Meet?<\/p>\n The cuts come after city staff told officials earlier this year that many of their commissions are failing to meet due to a lack of quorum.<\/p>\n Russell acknowledged a lack of participation on the Arts and Culture Commission from some board members and local artists as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c\u200b\u200bWe had people who were on the commission and barely showed up to meetings. We had one person who showed up to meetings a couple times a year and so we were struggling to make quorum often, which is to be honest, embarrassing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Herrera said if commissioners weren\u2019t meeting, council members had a responsibility to ensure their appointees were engaging and could have widened the scope of their commissions.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/12.13.2022-Omar-Sanchez-Voice-of-OC-7.jpg\")
From left to right, Santa Ana council members David Penaloza, Thai Vet Phan, Phil Bacerra, Mayor Valerie Amezcua, Johnathan Ryan Hernandez, Jessie Lopez, and Benjamin Vazquez pose for a photo together for the first time in front of the dais before the council meeting on Dec. 13, 2022. (Omar Sanchez \/ Voice of OC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SantaAnaCityCouncil_July1_2025_Taylor-8-2-1.jpg\")
Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Councilmember David Penaloza at the Santa Ana City Council meeting on July 1, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DSC_5828.jpeg\")
City Hall in Santa Ana, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Credit: Zia Bella Blair<\/p>\n