Disneyland Resort-backed Anaheim City Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava is expected to face a recall election this summer — less than two years after she was elected.
She will be the first Anaheim city council member to face a recall election in over 40 years after a measure to recall two council members failed in 1980.
The expected recall comes in the wake of one of the largest corruption scandals in recent OC history in which federal agents and independent investigators allege Disneyland resort exert undue influence on Anaheim City Hall.
At their 5 p.m. meeting, city council members are scheduled to vote on certifying the recall petition that has almost twice as many signatures than were needed to spark a recall.
According to city officials, over 5,100 signatures were needed to spark a recall against Rubalcava who represents a district that has roughly 26,000 registered voters.
Proponents said they submitted 9,123 signatures.
Rubalcava was elected in 2022 to represent the city’s District 3 with 5,437 votes.
Officials may also order a $700,000 special election for the recall to be held sometime in June this year.
To watch the city council meeting, click here.
Rubalcava said in an emailed statement through political consultant Derek Humphrey Friday that she disagrees with the recall, but will respect the process
“Serving on my hometown City Council over the past year has been an honor,” reads the statement. “I’m looking forward to making my case to voters in the weeks and months ahead.”
Proponents of the recall sponsored by Unite Here Local 11, a labor union representing hotel workers, submitted over 9,000 signatures last month to recall Rubalcava after recall efforts kicked off last August.
They say the councilwoman can no longer be trusted to represent her district after city-hired investigators detailed alleged misconduct by the councilwoman in a 353-page corruption probe report last summer.
[Read: Will a Disney-Backed Anaheim City Councilwoman Face a Recall Election?]
The recall efforts also kicked off after the councilwoman, along with other officials, hoteliers and resort interests, criticized a Unite Here Local 11 ballot measure aimed at increasing protections for hotel maids and raising the minimum wage for hotel workers to $25 an hour.
The measure overwhelmingly failed in October and Rubalcava successfully proposed an ordinance that only focuses on hotel housekeepers protections and not greater pay for workers that went into effect this year.
Rubalcava won her 2022 election after receiving $380,000 in support from Disneyland’s political spending vehicle – Support Our Anaheim Resort political action committee – to pay for political mailers and advertising.
Rubalcava Named in Independent Corruption Probe Report
Less than a year in office, Rubalcava’s name landed in a 353-page corruption probe report released at the end of July.
In the report, investigators, with decades of law enforcement experience under their belt, alleged the councilwoman alleged Anaheim First – a chamber of commerce-created resident advisory group that got taxpayer funding – is a political data mining operation that helped Rubalcava’s campaign.
Investigators accused Anaheim First of giving Rubalcava a list of names and contact information they collected when the group was conducting community outreach meetings.
[Read: Was an Anaheim City Hall-Funded Nonprofit Used as a Political Data Mining Operation?]
Rubalcava publicly denied and pushed back against those allegations last year, arguing that the report had inaccuracies.
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, along with the councilwoman, went on to introduce a series of reform proposals last fall and the city has started to implement some of the changes already.
[Read: Anaheim Begins Implementing Changes From Fall of Reform Debates]
The independent investigation has sparked other probes as well.
State Assemblyman Avelino Valencia – a former city councilman – called on the state to launch an audit of the $6.5 million COVID bailout sent to Visit Anaheim – the city’s tourism bureau.
Investigators alleged about $1.5 million of the money was rerouted to a chamber of commerce controlled nonprofit as part of a conspiracy.
Auditors concluded in a report released at the end of January that Visit Anaheim did not need the bailout and that the local chamber of commerce improperly spent tourism dollars to lobby elected officials for around a decade due to a lack of oversight by the city.
Rubalcava served as Valencia’s district director before quietly leaving the position late last year.
She told Voice of OC in December she was stepping back to fight the recall effort.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
