Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/great-wolf-lodge-waterpark-hotel/)
Garden Grove officials are increasingly confident the city will reach a crucial milestone this year, with hotel bed taxes on track – for the first time in history — to surpass sales tax as the city’s single largest revenue source.
Stephanie Klopfenstein’s priorities include hiring more police and encouraging development, while Demian Garcia-Monroy is focused on improving youth programs.
The free night at the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark enjoyed by about 2,000 Garden Grove residents at the end of August amounted to a $58,000 donation to Councilman Steve Jones’ mayoral campaign, according to his most recent disclosures.
Garden Grove City Council candidates, including four first-timers, appeared at a community forum Saturday afternoon to discuss rising crime rates, the city’s budget problems and future development projects.
City Council members Tuesday approved a $218-million budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year that includes millions in new spending even though the city’s projected revenues are expected to fall more than $4 million short of its expenses.
While the state continues to suffer through an historic statewide drought, a $250 million indoor water park resort set to open in Garden Grove next year has raised some eyebrows. But officials insist the park won’t be a water-waster.
More than two dozen poor households displaced by the construction of the Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark Hotel in Garden Grove will finally receive relocation assistance, ending a six-year battle in county and state courts.