Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/anaheim-chamber-of-commerce/)
Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu paid off his 2016 Assembly campaign debt and a portion of his 2018 mayor campaign debt by fundraising for both campaign committees beginning in December. It’s a move some local politics experts said is an example of loopholes in campaign finance regulations.
The private advisory group Anaheim First, which got $250,000 from the city to study neighborhoods, is facing criticism for being a hidden business organization and is set to begin its study to make spending recommendations on $250 million in spending over the next 10 years.
The Anaheim Chamber of Commerce got a $425,000 no-bid contract from the city, but it isn’t a gift of public funds, according to a government ethics expert. Mayor Harry Sidhu, who pushed the contract, answered no questions about it from Councilwoman Denise Barnes.
Anaheim First, a private group that’s going to make spending recommendations to the city on $250 million over the next decade, is facing heavy criticism for a lack of transparency and close business ties.
Anaheim City Council members voted to give $250,000 to a nonprofit group, Anaheim First, to study neighborhoods and make spending recommendations on the planned $250 million neighborhood investment over the next 10 years, but questions about study specifics, funding and a delay proposal led to a fight.
The Disneyland Resort is asking Anaheim officials to cancel two major tax subsidy deals, saying the deals have become “a flashpoint for controversy and dissention [sic] in our community.”
At a city council meeting packed with union leaders and Disneyland Resort employees, Anaheim leaders discussed a recent survey that found many of the resort’s workers struggle to buy food, pay rent and afford other basic necessities. Critics say the union-funded report was commissioned to bolster an upcoming ballot initiative.
At their first official meeting, Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait and his new city council majority worked through a laundry list of actions aimed at reversing major policies and actions taken by the previous majority.
After more than six years of holding the powerful accountable in Orange County, Adam Elmahrek is leaving for the Los Angeles Times.
Mayor Tom Tait argued it’s time for the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce to be “weened” off government subsidies. But he lost a 3-2 vote to give the Chamber a new $167,000 city contract.
