Anaheim City Manager Jim Vanderpool – whose tenure was plagued by a city hall corruption scandal – resigned amid renewed scrutiny and questions over his close ties to resort interests investigated by FBI agents.
On Tuesday, City Attorney Robert Fabela announced city council members voted unanimously to accept Vanderpool’s resignation effective 5 p.m. subject to a resignation notice and agreement.
Deputy City Manager Greg Garcia will serve as the acting city manager.
Disney-backed Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava thanked Vanderpool during Tuesday’s open session meeting.
“Our city manager’s decision today to resign comes after years of extraordinary pressure, and I want to acknowledge the resilience and professionalism he demonstrated throughout the time. He served our city despite difficult circumstances,” she said at the meeting.
Recently, Vanderpool started facing questions on why he didn’t disclose he went on an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce paid trip to Lake Havasu on the verge of city officials voting to finalize the chamber-backed Angel Stadium deal in 2020 after a TimesOC article was published in January.
By Monday morning, City Spokesman Mike Lyster confirmed Vanderpool picked up his personal belongings from his office after requesting a closed door discussion to the city council meeting related to “public employee resignation.”
[Read: Is Anaheim’s Controversial City Manager Calling it Quits?]
Resignation
Vanderpool’s resignation comes on the heels of him facing official questioning from elected officials related to the corruption scandal that broke in 2022.
Last week, Mayor Ashleigh Aitken spearheaded the questioning of Vanderpool behind closed doors about why he didn’t disclose the 2020 Lake Havasu trip – a trip with Chamber of Commerce officials on the eve of selling Angel Stadium.
It marked the first time Vanderpool was officially questioned by council members about his ties with resort interests.
[Read: Is Anaheim’s City Manager on the Chopping Block?]
While the city attorney reported no action from the closed session meeting, a local Republican group seemingly leaked a failed attempt by Aitken to nix Vanderpool – sparking questions if California’s open meeting law was violated last week.
[Read: Who Leaked a Failed Closed Door Vote to Nix Anaheim’s City Manager?]
Last week, the Mayor also publicly called on her colleagues – some who voiced support for Vanderpool – to consider releasing a memo by the city’s ethics officer about gift reporting requirements and an analysis of the city manager’s trip to Havasu.
[Read: Where’s Anaheim’s Ethics Officer?]
That discussion is expected to take place during tonight’s city council meeting.
At the same time, the Fair Political Practices Commission, the state’s campaign finance watchdog, launched an investigation at the end of January into Vanderpool for potential violations to the economic interests disclosure clause of the Political Reform Act.
In a Jan. 11 email to city council members, Vanderpool said he didn’t need to disclose the trip.
In the email, he argued he didn’t know that the chamber paid for the rental unit he stayed in, he only stayed two nights and that the food and beverages he brought would have offset the need to report the stay.
Vanderpool also said the city’s ethics officer told him that he didn’t have to disclose the trip, but that he could amend his gift disclosure form from 2020 to include it.
He also sent an email responding to the TimesOC article to other Anaheim business interests – including the Angels.
“I am not running from any of this. I stand firm that the narrative in the article is baseless,” he wrote about the TimesOC article.
Yet by Saturday – less than a month after revelations of the Lake Havasu trip – Vanderpool had requested the closed session discussion on public employee resignation for Tuesday’s meeting.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Disney-backed Councilman Ryan Balius said Vanderpool was the longest serving city manager Anaheim had in the past 15 years and helped the city navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I know his tenure provided a level of consistency that was valued by many within the city and throughout the community,” he said. “I hope as we move forward and select the next city manager, we’ll focus on the qualifications, the experience and the capacities necessary to effectively lead our city.”
Councilman Carlos Leon said leadership transitions can cause uncertainty.
“Anaheim will keep moving forward,” he said.
Vanderpool’s Tenure
Vanderpool became the City Manager in September 2020 after former Mayor Harry Sidhu’s majority fired former City Manager Chris Zapata, who had publicly questioned plans to offer the city’s tourism bureau a $6.5 million bailout weeks after the pandemic began.
Two years later, FBI affidavits attached to a court filing revealed a shadowy group of consultants and Disneyland resort interests held undue influence over the inner workings of city hall.
At the time, the city was in the middle of settling a Surplus Land Act violation with state officials for selling Angel Stadium.
The deal fell apart at the 11th hour after the FBI corruption probe surfaced.
In the affidavits, the FBI described a phone call they intercepted between Todd Ament, the former CEO of the Chamber and an alleged ringleader of the group, and an unnamed consultant discussing who they should invite to a retreat on Dec. 2, 2020.
According to the affidavit, the consultant said the retreat should be “family members only” and include only people they could trust.
In May 2022, Vanderpool admitted to attending that meeting, but pushed back on it being characterized as a retreat.
During that December 2020 retreat, Vanderpool was on board with Ament’s proposal to keep more than $100 million in bond repayment money out of the general fund – with some of that money planned to go to the Chamber of Commerce, according to city-hired independent investigators.
[Read: How Disneyland Resort Interests Planned to Withhold Tax Money from Anaheim’s Working Class]
In a Dec. 23 email to council members, Vanderpool pushed back on calling the Lake Havasu trip a retreat, adding that he was invited by Ament.
Editor’s note: Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s board of directors.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.