Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/los-angeles-angels-of-anaheim/)
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.
The Angels are talking to Long Beach about potentially moving the team there after the Anaheim City Council extended the stadium lease with the team until 2020.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim get a lease out clause extension to 2020 on a 5-2 vote from Anaheim city council members.
Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu is proposing this Tuesday to let the Los Angeles Angels out of a bad move this past November when owner Arte Moreno opted out of his stadium lease with nowhere to go. As a result, by this October, taxpayers will be sitting on a $1 billion asset with no restrictions on developing the 150-acre parking lot area around the stadium. Yet a proposal this Tuesday before the Anaheim city council would erase that potential and lock taxpayers into another lopsided, long-term negotiation with the Angels – who are probably leaving for Los Angeles anyway as their recent controversial renaming clearly implies.
The Angels, Anaheim’s baseball team may be looking to leave, but the city’s hockey team, the Anaheim Ducks, are negotiating a new 25-year lease and development project around the Honda Center.
Before the closed-door meeting Tuesday, public can offer its views on Tustin possibly hosting the Angels.
Tustin is in closed door property negotiation talks with the Angels.
The company that produced an economic impact report on the Angels for the city of Anaheim is related to another company that won the team’s food and beverage concession contract.
Mayor Tom Tait and other critics say the move gives the Angels negotiating leverage on a broader lease deal with the city. Meanwhile, a city-hired consultant says the extension is needed to prevent “impulsive” decisions by Angels owner Arte Moreno.
Here is what to look for as the Anaheim City Council cast the first in a series of votes that will determine the fate of the city’s deal with its Major League Baseball team.