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It is now – let’s see – 5 or 6 hours until the Anaheim City Council vote on whether to give away $550 million of future Anaheim income — $27.5 million a year for 20 years, and that’s before Kris Murray possibly amends it to make it worse — to Disney Corporation and two Chinese corporations to build supposedly four-star luxury hotels … that they would apparently build ANYWAY even without the subsidy.
Kris’ two dependable allies on issues like this – adding up to what we call the “Klepto Majority” – are Jordan Brandman and Lucille Kring. They are both up for re-election this year, which could cut either way – if they vote to steal half a billion dollars from you and your children, that could be used against them. On the other hand, they may be expecting to lose, since this is the first time the playing field will be slightly leveled by district elections – so that may be precisely why they’re stealing all the money they can now – a sort of last-minute looting. We have to point out to Jordan and Lucille tonight: Even if you lose your elections, you’re still going to have to live with yourselves, look at your neighbors, look at yourselves in the mirror.
Anyway here, taken from the back of a flyer created by STOP DISNEY, is all the basics you need to know to fashion your speech tonight:
Don’t believe the lies. Here’s what you’ll hear today.
LIE #1: The resort funds 50% of the city’s budget.
TRUTH: The resort also consumes a tremendous amount of resources. After paying for what Disneyland and its surroundings use, only a small percentage of revenue is left to benefit the rest of the city.
WHY Lie? Because SOAR and Disney want you to think you owe them something. You don’t.
* * * *
LIE #2: Four Diamond Hotels give back three times the tax as Three Diamond Hotels
TRUTH: What they really mean is: larger hotels give back more in taxes than smaller hotels.
WHY Lie? Because if they told you we needed to build bigger hotels, you’d laugh in their face. They have to make it sound like resorts in Newport Beach are stealing our guests to make this thing work. It’s a lie. A large 3 diamond hotel without a tax break returns much, much, much more revenue to the city than the same sized 4 diamond hotel with a tax break.
* * * *
LIE #3: This deal creates jobs!
TRUTH: This uses your tax dollars to create at or below poverty rate jobs.
WHY Lie? Because everyone loves creating jobs. Why are we celebrating creating more minimum wage work at Disneyland? Can’t we do better?
* * * *
LIE #4: This deal creates more revenue for Anaheim!
TRUTH: This deal isn’t necessary to create more revenue from Anaheim. These hotels will be built anyway.
WHY Lie? Because these folks think you can’t do math. Make no mistake, because these hotels WILL BE BUILT ANYWAY, the only thing these deals do is GIVE AWAY OVER A HALF BILLION OF YOUR DOLLARS FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.
* * * *
What’s happening TONIGHT?
You will have FIVE opportunities to say something.
This will be a long meeting. Speak as often as you can. Be respectful, but be real.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENTS: You’re allowed to talk about anything you want and will probably have two minutes to do so. You’re not supposed to talk about the hotel deals at this time, but you CAN talk about the council putting PROFITS OVER PEOPLE. Talk about how this impacts you, your family, and your neighbors.
“My name is Susan and I live in Anaheim. This council has put profits over people for too long. I want you to stop. I want you to focus on policy and change that improves my community for the people who live there and not corporate profits. Put people over profits.”
SHORT TERM RENTAL BAN: There are many people here today upset about this issue. Join them. Short term rentals (STRs) destroy our communities and create problems for the people who live there. This is yet another example of the council putting profits over people. Banning STRs is the first step in putting broken communities back together.
“My name is Marcus and I live in Anaheim. The council should have never allowed STR’s to come to our neighborhoods without taking time to understand how bad things would get for people who live near them. I want you to stop STRs. I want you to focus on policy and change that improves my community for the people who live there and not the profits of those who don’t. Put people over profits and ban STRs.”
INDIVIDUAL HOTEL DEALS: You have three bites at the apple. This is why we’re here. Be honest, be real, but be respectful.
The council led by Kris Murray, Jordan Brandman, and Lucille Kring will vote to give away $560,000,000 of your money if you don’t stop them. You’ll likely have two minutes to make your point.
“My name is Anna and I live in Anaheim. The council should reject this insane deal that provides absolutely no benefit to anyone who lives in Anaheim. You are stealing OUR money because you value this company’s profits over the people who actually live here. This is wrong. I want you to focus on policy and change the improves my community and the people who live here. Do not believe the lies of SOAR. This deal takes. It does not give. Put people over profits and vote NO.”
Stand up for Anaheim. Good luck, and may the Force be with you.
I doubt that you are going to get the three council members who germinated this idea to change their minds and do the right thing. If they wanted to do the right thing there wouldn’t be any discussion of this issue, it just simply wouldn’t be offered.
That trifecta of a brain trust never germinated anything, they follow orders.
We can but do our best. I have some ideas to try and pry the right vote out of Jordan and/or Lucille.
I hope you can. This is a do or die situation. If they vote it on the voters slay them if they do not disney kills them.
A large 3 diamond hotel without a tax break returns much, much, much more revenue to the city than the same sized 4 diamond hotel with a tax break.
This is something that deserves to be repeated. Assume that you have two hotels, a 3-diamond that charges $150 a night (small change for the Disney-adjacent area), and a 600 room, 4-diamond that charges $450 a night. The 3-diamond pays the full 15% TOT; while the 4-diamond has the 70% TOT subsidy. How much larger does the 3-diamond have to be to equal the revenue of the 4-diamond? Let’s do the math (and let’s assume full occupancy for both, just to make things easy):
(x)($150)(15%) = (600 rooms)($450)(15%)(30%)
x = (600 rooms)($450)(15%)(30%) / ($150)(15%)
x = 12,150 / 22.5
x = 540 rooms
Oh, wait. The 3-diamond hotel doesn’t have to be ANY LARGER. In fact, it can be SMALLER than the 4-diamond hotel and still bring in as much or MORE TOT money over the lifetime of the 20-year subsidy.
… but just you wait until 2040 rolls around! SOAR/Todd Ament/Kris Murray shout! We’ll be raking in the dough hand over fist! No, I’m sure by then you’ll have the descendants of Bill O’Connell and Bob Iger asking the descendants of Kris Murray and Jordan Brandman for a new round of subsidies. You see, these hotels USED to be luxurious, twenty years ago, but now they’re clapped out and we could sure use some help in refurbishing them…
Another point deserving a mention-
These deals tonight require NO PROOF OF NEED, they are just a giveaway (Yeah, I know, “How much “proof” do you want, we sell it by the yard “, but)
The prior GardenWalk deal at least claimed to NEED the handout to make the deal work – THESE DO NOT – just build a 4-star, get a check (for 20 YEARS).
Santa Ana , with LESS of a Hotel Market, LESS (11% vs our 15%) of a TOT Tax, and a SHORTER Rebate period, (10 years) , REQUIRES submission of an INDEPENDENT study to demonstrate NEED ! WHY did the “experts” in Anaheim never even think about that ? How much to they care (or know) about future budget needs for “their” City?
Clearly you people have NO VESTED interest in Anaheim and our jobs.
As a leader for 15 years in youth sports, these kind of projects make Anaheim great. I take exception to the OUTSIDERS who are trying to manipulate policy.
The motion WILL pass, please move on to something else.
Vern Nelson. Anna Drive. District 5. Sitting outside City Hall right now writing my second speech, as the Black Lives Matter kids march and chant.
I live here. And I posted this.
Oh, you mean the OUTSIDE developers? Sorry I forgot that 15 years of “sports leadership” makes you an expert on everything. Yes, it WILL pass, because 3 votes were in the bag for MONTHS. From your first line, it’s probably too late to suggest wearing a helmet more often.
“From your first line, it’s probably too late to suggest wearing a helmet more often.”
First smile of the day!
Dude, that is really an ignorant thing to say – on several levels.
“… the outsiders who are trying to manipulate policy.”
Are you talking about the Disney people from Burbank or the investors from China?
Or maybe one of the hundreds of knuckle head hardhats imported to shamelessly pitch their “vested” self-interest.
They aren’t knuckle-headed. I prefer to think of them as desperate thralls hoping to look good in front of their bosses and trying to suppress any compunction about stealing from their own children and grandchildren.
Oh some of them are knuckle-headed all right.
Murray is something else – pushing inane talking points that Tait had already demolished before she spoke, without even bothering to acknowledge any of the points Tait made. I’ll give her this much, though: I would also not call this hotel tax scheme a subsidy.
Kickback is more accurate.
Yeah, she snoozes when Tom speaks, marshaling her energy for the inevitable Murray filibuster.
I am sadly stuck at home. If there ARE any more comment opportunities, can SOMEONE please mention that ALL the “revenue” data Murray and Moreno are flogging, are based on LINEAR INCREASING over time. REAL data wiggles ALL OVER THE PLACE, and as a speaker mentioned, the last 4 years were the BEST IN HISTORY, so they are building a bridge with SMOKE. The developers get a (contract) guaranteed revenue stream, WE get “expectations”. Again.
That was going to be my point in the third round, but I had spent enough time there for one day.
That chart will become famous. Their studies suck.
“That chart will become famous.”
I predict intense (unintended) “fame” for Anaheim-
1) as a Case Study in classes on Municipal Governance (and its prostitution)
2) Videos of these hearings will forever be lunch break comedy relief at conventions of Developers and Lobbyists, as sarcastic examples of the “opposition” to overcome, and the “intense scrutiny” they must endure.
I can envision the (well spoken) Chinese developer having the ” Maintain your Studies and Stay in School” speech with his kids over these videos, “What ? Do you want to wind up like THESE FOOLS ? LOOK what we cleverly got, just by ASKING for it ! ” In a downturn, Anaheim may well have to be trying to get the future budget shortfall loans, these developers NOW DON’T NEED, that we gave them an INTEREST FREE 20 YEAR revenue stream.
The Mayor’s demonstration of coincidence amounts between this GIFT and our Unfunded Pension Liability left me COLD, and thus GOB-SMACKED to see Public Service Union Reps CHEERING the project !
On a lighter note, how about one of my favorite movie intro segments ?
(touch of irony – a Disney Touchstone effort)
“..thus GOB-SMACKED to see Public Service Union Reps CHEERING the project !”
You shouldn’t be BBORW. The unioneers’ pensions are also guaranteed by the taxpayers so they don’t give a shit about annoying little things like unfunded liabilities.
Anaheim’s public safety unions have bee reliable storm troopers for PringleCorp for many years now. They are sort of like the Kleptocracy’s Praetorian Guard. Symbiosis.
If so it’ll be Chapter 3 of “Anaheim as Object Lesson”
1. Our greedy abuse of Enterprise Zones, which led to that program’s demise;
2. And the Asset-Forfeiture-on-Steroids of APD’s attempt to seize Tony Jalali’s $1.5 million office building because of his renting out to a law-abiding pot dispensary, which is generally used as Exhibit 1 by foes of Civil Forfeiture who will probably prevail soon.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2013/09/tony-jalali-and-anaheims-avaricious-hypocritical-war-on-medical-pot/
Follow the money.
REVENUE WILL ALWAYS INCREASE MONOTONICALLY IN EQUALLY-SIZED INCREMENTS YEAR AFTER YEAR
OCCUPANCY WILL ALWAYS BE IN THE RANGE OF 78 TO 85 PERCENT
TO SUGGEST OTHERWISE WOULD BE AN AFFRONT TO ANAHEIM’S COMBAT-VETERAN UNION STEELWORKERS
STOP YOUR STRUGGLE AND EMBRACE THE WIN-WIN COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP, CITIZEN!
Anaheim has seven more parks than Fullerton! Garden Grove has a utility tax! Therefore, we should subsidize three hotels to the tune of half a billion dollars. Q.E.D., baby!
It is by now painfully familiar to watch Murray grab unrelated factoids out of context and assemble them like someone cutting out newspaper headline letters for a ransom note, blissfully oblivious that, for example, fully-built out Stanton can fit INSIDE the Resort Area, and has lived in and out of financial peril for DECADES. One could waste HUNDREDS of hours explaining to her vacant eyes about differences in demographics, industrial base and a host of other explanatory DIFFERENCES between the confetti shreds of her “examples”, all to no avail. (IF you could get a word in edgewise.)
The sad thing is you just perfectly summed up Murray’s underpants gnomes-style logical reasoning. She really did claim that because Anaheim (a city with 350,000 residents) has 57 parks where Fullerton (a city with less than 140,000 residents) has only 50, we should give half a billion dollars to Disney. The hell?
If anybody needs a summary of the classic South Park Underpants Gnomes episode, inquire here.
Step one: Kick back $500 million in tax revenue to Disney and other cronies.
Step two: ???
Step three: Profit!
Come to think of it, that basically sums up the City staff presentation as well.
Besides the “seven more parks” issue (wow, we have SEVEN more parks than a city that’s physically half our size??!?), my overarching thought during Murray’s presentation was “how about she compares us to a city that DOESN’T suck?” Santa Ana, Stanton, Garden Grove — basket cases all. Talk about your soft bigotry of low expectations.
(Ironically, today my wife and kids are over playing at Fullerton’s splash park, because ANAHEIM DOESN’T HAVE ONE, Kris.)
Perhaps one REASON for that is the blanket PASS given to the Resort Area in its EIR, which is SUPPOSED to highlight aftereffects and mandate solutions to them. The RESORT was supposed to include a PUBLIC RECREATION Element, and clever maneuvering (by the same crowd that gave away the Angels Name Rights, TITLE to and ALL REVENUE FROM the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure, etc.) designated the landscaped sidewalk setbacks as SATISFYING this element! Imagine the ‘escort’ you’d get from “Anaheim’s Finest” if you tried to spread out a blanket, on “Your” public Recreation Area, eh ? Funny, the same Tom Daly who led the charge for THAT handover, had an ASSISTANT deliver a Project Support Letter last night. He must like the AIR in Sacramento, or be AFRAID TO SHOW HIS FACE around HERE.
Also, things like “Noise” “Traffic” and “fugitive Dust Emissions” were waved away due to the “offsetting economic impact to the area” . “We’re fighting for You !” – Yeah, right.
Well hey, who was asking Anaheim residents to pay for a utility tax in 2014? Lucille Kring.
Who’s asking residents to pay the bill again? Lucille Kring.
We really could use a Lucy pulling the football meme here. Nice job, Republicans. You really picked two folks dedicated to conservative ethos.
Actually give the OC reeps credit here for once: they endorsed Tait and savaged Murray and Kring.
You COULD say the Republicans come out looking better on this than the Dems, I hate to say.
Once again I feel like kicking Jordan in the nuts, this time for his smart-ass justification for not giving the Mayor (who had to catch a plane to meet with Obama) till the next meeting to finish discussing and voting on the Heist: “President Obama didn’t wait two weeks to save the auto industry.”
You could see he thought that was so clever. After Tom had already pointed out that these hotels won’t get built for three years anyway.
Good luck finding the target for that kick.
“President Obama didn’t wait two weeks to save the auto industry.”
Possibly nobody in the room (Tait had left) thought to remind this smug imbecilic twit that said “saving” brought the US taxpayers a $9.3 Billion to $16.6 Billion (Google it) LOSS. Perhaps two weeks, as with the “crisis” bailouts to the BANKS WHO CAUSED IT, MIGHT HAVE HELPED.
Almost midday, and still MEDIA SILENCE about last night’s “Grand Theft Anaheim” – does the ‘dead tree press’ REALLY give us ‘Yesterday’s News…Tommorrow !”, or ???
The White house event calling Tait away last night DOES appear on Whitehouse.gov. Last night I momentarily entertained the idea of a prank call from ?? , and then also Realized that Disney Management are big Obama supporters. No dots yet, no connections.
11:50 AHHH. Finally-
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/obama-722325-police-biden.html
excerpt-
“Going forward, I want to hear ideas from even more Americans about how we can address these challenges together as one nation. That means you,” Obama said.
He is calling on people to submit their stories and ideas to go.wh.gov/VDPvKz. ……
Well,
Do you think he’d like to hear my suggestion to dismantle the Militarized -Police Surveillance State ?
And the one to restore Rule of Law, Respect for Law, and Equal Treatment Under Law to, oh, I don’t know, perhaps the AG and FBI ?
Perhaps the one to replace the goal of “National Defense” with the budget-busting, law-ignoring, freedom-shredding one of “World Domination” that seems to have replaced it ?
It was mentioned that Joe Biden is now out on a travel quest to fight Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. To start, do they remember Don Rumsfeld’s press conference THE DAY BEFORE 9/11, who was going to find the BILLIONS unaccounted for in the Pentagon ?
Maybe THAT might give him a head start! Or will he take OJ Simpson along to look for ‘the real killer’ while they’re at it ?
Oh, gotta go now to get the door – some Suit-and-Sunglasses guy from a Black SUV at the curb. Probably lost, well let’s see what he wants …….
With deafening silence from the local media, and a few fruitless Googles, this finally fell out-
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/us/politics/tensions-between-police-and-blacks-are-likely-to-worsen-obama-says.html
Most of the quotes were FROM Obama, so my cynical initial thought that the “urgency” was for a photo backdrop more than input grows stronger. If any local articles appear later on, perhaps someone will interview Tait ?
Although the vote outcome was predictable, Anaheim residents paid a high price on Tuesday night for a backdrop.
Only the difference between a 3-2 defeat and a 3-1 defeat.
And missing out on more intelligent dissection by Tait, that only those who feel like it would even pay attention to.
If none of the other “information gatekeepers” in town feel up to it, Would a Tait interview about his DC trip be something OJB might consider ?
Good idea. I’ll call him.
My 60-second speech, not that it helped:
Do you know what this looks like?
Do you know what giving away half a billion dollars to build hotels that were going to get built anyway looks like, dooming this city to crippling debt for decades, turning us into a giant Stanton?
Do you know what it looks like, Jordan and Lucille, to do this against all sense, mathematics and logic, right before the first election conducted under the new districts system?
It looks like you’re pretty sure one or both of you is going to lose in November, and lose your majority, and no longer be able to give away huge chunks of money to your friends. And also that you don’t care if you lose BECAUSE of this, because you’ll be taken care of somehow.
It looks like a gang of burglars grabbing everything they can get their hands on right before the cops come.
It looks like Saddam’s army in 1990, looting and destroying Kuwait as the allies chased them out.
Jordan and Lucille, whatever you have planned when your political careers are over, you’re still going to have to face your neighbors. You are still going to have to look at yourselves in the mirror.
Please say no to this Heist. Thank you.
Mahatma Gandhi — ‘Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
Thank you.
I thought that that was quite a powerful point. Yes, they do look like looters.
And I had forgotten how impressively rehearsed those Kris-Murray-questioning-Debbie-Moreno dog and pony shows are. That “finance director” really does leap for her biscuit, doesn’t she?
I only saw her in action once – on the Convention center fraud – I think. Rota Moreno would make a better Finance Director. Or Debbie Reynolds.
Or Rita Moreno. Or the fake Jose Moreno.
Totally outrageous what the three kleptocrats did last night. This is absolute insanity and a great example of graft run amok.
I got to the meeting at 5 PM. There was a line about 200 people long JUST TRYING TO GET IN TO THE LOBBY.
Intentionally holding an allegedly public meeting in the way-to-small space is just plain wrong. Jesus, they could have held that meeting at the HS auditorium. They could have held it at ARTIC (except that would remind everybody of PringleCorp’s biggest rip-off.)
For WOT – Hey! – It’s SATURDAY NIGHT ! Let’s DANCE !
In case you missed it, another heaping helping of obvious, but too late for the oblivious.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hotel-722597-luxury-tax.html