Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/angel-stadium/)
Despite the LA Angels of Anaheim spending nearly $30 million on Anaheim’s municipal stadium since 2012, very little of that money was used on regular maintenance, records show.
Despite Anaheim’s efforts to keep the stadium appraisal secret, there are mounting questions about whether the value of the stadium has already been leaked.
Despite calls from residents, two Councilmembers and a vote by the previous Council to make the Angel Stadium appraisal public, city officials now say they won’t release the appraisal public until “the right time.”
Despite the previous City Council’s November 2018 vote to conduct an Angel Stadium appraisal and release it to the public, the current Council has denied — for the second time — to release the appraisal.
Mayor Harry Sidhu originally said the reinstatement of the Angels lease was a “one-year extension,” but then said Aug. 27 he knew, along with a majority of the Council, that the January vote was a reinstatement of the 1996 lease and the extension of the team’s termination window.
Anaheim City Council members talked about what they’d like to see in the upcoming Angel stadium lease negotiations over eight months after it voted to reinstate the lease.
Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu and Angels Baseball said the city won’t be put back into the team name within a day of Councilman Jose Moreno hosting a community meeting, where he and some residents expressed a desire to have Anaheim back in the team name.
The Angels, along with sports teams across the country, are given too much of the revenue sports stadiums generate and taxpayers fail to reap benefits because cities don’t negotiate hard enough, according to experts.
An Anaheim city council action last month endeavoring to keep stadium deliberations with the Angels confidential is not only sad and ineffective for building public support it’s also likely illegal. This week, council members also consider even limiting their own ability speak from the dais.
Anaheim City Council members, after learning Mayor Harry Sidhu met with Angels President John Carpino earlier this week, voted to axe their monthly public update on negotiations and instead directed City Manager Chris Zapata to update when there’s only “relevant information” — effectively leaving the negotiations process in the dark.