Santa Ana Refuses to Answer Pertinent Questions about Downtown Issues Posed by Artists

​I might've written this before, but if not, here it goes: the government of SanTana operates like the Catholic Diocese of Orange, save the pedophile-protecting. Everything is shrouded in secrecy, opponents are treated as heretics, the folks with the money get their will done, and the questions of the faithful get perfunctory treatment, if not outright dismissal.

Consider the recent answer that Cindy Nelson, the deputy city manager for development services in SanTana recently gave AVASA (Artist Village Alliance of Santa Ana), who successfully got the city to drop a widely ridiculed valet service for people who visited the city's arts district.

Earlier this month, AVASA sent Nelson a letter with many questions pertaining to the valet program--who authorized it, how much the program cost, and other pertinent questions regarding safety and handicapped-parking issues. In a response to AVASA obtained by the Weekly, Nelson answered none of them.

"After implementing for two weekends, the staff determined the number of patrons served did not warrant continued service," she wrote. "If the demand or interest for valet parking is requested again from any constituents in the Downtown, please be assured we will convene a working group of key affected parties, including yourselves, to thoroughly discuss all potential issues and determine an outcome that will have the support of owners and merchants."

And then, the best part. My italics, to highlight the insanity of the comment:

Since the program has been suspended, we chose not to get into detailed answers to your questions as they are now mute.

¿Que que? How Don Papi Pulido of Nelson to not answer the questions AVASA posed because they're no longer doing the very program that raised them! Since when did Bishop Tod D. Brown give advice to SanTana?