Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/anaheim-gardenwalk/)
The Anaheim City Council is set to approve a plan to borrow $200 million against its general fund for a convention center expansion. Economists say predicted revenue to pay the debt won’t materialize.
Despite objections from a packed council chambers, the 4-1 council majority approved a subsidy that could be worth as much as $158 million to a politically connected hotel developer.
This time the money is for the owners of the GardenWalk mall.
Bob Wingenroth, who headed the city bureaucracy during a tumultuous period, said he wants to be closer to family in Arizona.
A successful Brown Act lawsuit against the City Council’s approval of a $158-million taxpayer subsidy for a hotel project might mean that the identities of investors in the project will remain secret for longer.
The endorsement of a union-friendly candidate from a fiscal conservative Republican is an interesting twist in the council race.
Riot prevented the Anaheim City Council from doing business, which included considering initiatives for the November ballot.
City Hall watchers say the move was part of a series of retaliations against Mayor Tom Tait over his position on hotel tax subsidies.
The 3-2 vote for a tax subsidy worth up to $44 million to the developer of a four-star hotel in the city’s resort district mirrors an earlier vote on a controversial hotelier subsidy granted earlier in the year.
Tonight’s City Council agenda includes a subsidy extension for the developer of a four-star hotel in the city’s resort district.