.
.
.
The Anaheim CoVid Heist of 2020 is one of those multi-faceted, jewel-like outrages, whose audacity and absurdity one can admire from several different angles, as is reflected in the growing city-wide enthusiasm for recall of the Mayor and change on the Council:
- $6.5 million out of our dwindling reserves that we really cannot afford, after last month’s exorbitant police raises and the upcoming bond payments on our Convention Center expansion that’ll also eat into our reserves;
- $6.5 million out of our reserves that is much more dearly needed by Anaheim’s families and small businesses during this time;
- $6.5 million given for the benefit of businesses like Disney who sure don’t need the charity;
- $6.5 million given for the benefit of generous campaign contributors like Disney, the Chamber and resort interests;
- $6.5 million given to URGENTLY advertise businesses that probably won’t even be able to operate for a few more months at best;
- $6.5 million given as an “emergency” so that the public wouldn’t have to be notified till the last minute; and
- $6.5 million justified, obscenely, by the epically tragic coronavirus pandemic. [more below*]
Taken aback by predictable reactions of indignation by everyone from The Register to this blog, the kleptocracy has responded this week with butt-hurt howls including:
- Paid klepto-scribe (and husband of Anaheim Chamber VP) Matt Cunningham accusing yours truly of “race-baiting”;
- A bizarrely jovial Mayor Sidhu video which was immediately deluged with angry comments;
- and a defensive Facebook rant from heistmeister Trevor O’Neil memorialized on the kleptoblog.
But THIS is what I really wanted to share with you today: We have stumbled across this gem on LinkedIn, penned by Visit Anaheim’s “chief marketing director & executive vice president of public affairs” on March 13 – two weeks before the Heist – in which he ponders what the hell his “destination” (that’s how they categorize themselves rather than an “agency” or “bureau”) can do to justify its existence right now. It’s instructive and darkly amusing to get a glimpse at these Visit Anaheim folks puzzling to themselves about how to keep relevant during the coming months of quarantine. And I quote:
What Destinations Can Do Now
The author in question.
- Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park have closed through the end of March.
- Events at the Anaheim Convention Center have been deferred through the end of the month for rescheduling.
- Events at Honda Center through March 31st have been postponed.
- Major League Baseball has decided to suspend spring training and delay the start of the 2020 regular season.
So what does a destination such as Visit Anaheim do moving forward?
Here are some of the things we are doing as a destination marketing organization:
Gather internal teams and start planning — strategically, what we will do as an organization coming out of this setback.
Be visible and accessible to community stakeholders who are clearly struggling. Show up for them on tough days and be a resource.
Stay aware of key issues including industry related news, budget commitments and external messaging.
Be transparent and inform audiences, including staff, customers, board of directors and partners the latest news. Deliver information in a timely manner.
Answer media calls, especially on rough days. If you want media to receive your calls and act on your pitches, then you have to be there for the tough days. No excuses.
Create a custom email list for regional DMO marketing and CEO leaders to exchange information and best practices. For Visit Anaheim, it means collaborating with industry colleagues in Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Buena Park, Dana Point, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.
Devise an opt-in email list for all partners and key stakeholders in Anaheim and Garden Grove. The goal is to deliver positive daily news of what is happening in the destination and the industry for Partners.
Test a work from home program for the Visit Anaheim staff and move the entire team to a remote working platform for the next two weeks.
The travel and tourism industry will certainly recover from this. We have a role to play in that recovery, now and later.
(And all that for $6.5 million!)
You just heard the chief marketing director & executive vice president of public affairs at Visit Anaheim, trying to figure out what he and his colleagues can do during this crisis, to remain relevant. Let me help him out.
The right answer: Stay at home for a few months like the rest of us who are temporarily superfluous. Get to know your family. I’m sure you have savings that’ll last a few months.
The wrong answer: Bleed $6.5 million from a hurting town’s reserves.
Vern out.
Matt Cunningham Is a Piece of Shit!!!… There has to be more focus on the money that was given to the Visit Anaheim,Bunch!!
We may never know the real story but it’s worth it to investigate it none the less.
In other words, this zit throws out a tsunami of jargon to make himself seem relevant. The City is no position to hand out $6.5 million bucks to anybody, let alone a useless drone and his fellow log bumps.
But jeez, for a glimpse of the world he inhabits, follow my link and sample the 27 appreciative, worshipful comments!
“Vivisect Anaheim.”
“Note also that the money to be invested in Visit Anaheim comes from a Convention Center fund, not taken away from other general fund resources or reserves. Sure people will organically return to the resort over time, just like if you own a business you might organically capture customers here and there. But a proactive approach will yield a much better ROI – and that’s what we need to avoid future cuts to services or tax increases.”
What a goddamn idiot.
“Note also that the money to be invested in Visit Anaheim comes from a Convention Center fund, not taken away from other general fund resources or reserves.
Really ? Well humor me if you will – I had this recollection of an almost perpetual annual operating subsidy from the GF to the CSE fund of about $10 M, so I had to return to the current budget
http://www.anaheim.net/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/801
for instance pgs 26-31, 39, 43, 48, 49, 51 (oversize to post here) (most of “fund value” is non-spendable – buildings, equipment, depreciation) oh, and BTW a $665(000) distribution increase to Visit Anaheim from TID collections
and finally on pg 73, not only a table, but a bullet point-
● Transfer of $15,592(000’s) from the General Fund to the Convention,
Sports & Entertainment Venues Enterprise Fund for debt service
subsidy. So my $10K guess was LOW !
So WHAT “Convention Center Fund” can source this when they need A GF TRANSFER to COVER THEIR DEFICIT ?
More “3 cups on the table ” BS- which NEEDs investigation, analysis and reform from MORE THAN the current 2 continually suppressed advocates on the dias instead of selective mindless parroting from the other 5
So what else is new ?
Anyone know how to reach Henry Stern? I’d sure like his opinion of things.
No idea, but Is he the former Treasurer that half truths from Debbie Moreno helped Jordan Brandname sack with his fraudulent “just a technical correction” Ballot Measure ?
And BTW the bottom of pg. 48 shows, under “Deferred Inflows of Resources” that UNFUNDED Pension Liability FOR only THE Convention Sports & Ent segment ITSELF, is $2.276 MILLION out of the total City UNfunding of $583.846 MILLION (Pg 42)
The Anaheim budget is obviously a hairball of cross-relationships and sleight of hand, whose goal appears to be to bamboozle us roobs. I’ll bet five bucks that they get the usual “award” for this dumpster fire.
Sidhu is so stoopid he doesn’t know when to stop smiling like an assclown. What kind of idiot grins like a fool when he’s talking about a crisis?
I just noticed a possible reason for Clownshoes’ smirk – the video was posted on April 1 !!!
*Ryan points out, on Facebook, another facet to this multi-faceted outrage, the incestuous/nepotistic nature of this council pouring millions into Visit Anaheim, whose members are also members of the council-funded astroturf club “Anaheim First” and the council-campaign-funding Anaheim Chamber.
And that apologist Matt Cunningham is married to an Anaheim Chamber VP who also runs Anaheim First meetings. Too many interconnections here to process.
Duane Roberts on Mrs. Cunnngham: https://anaheiminvestigator.wordpress.com/2019/12/12/wife-of-anaheim-blog-publisher-is-involved-in-anaheim-first-senior-vp-of-chamber-of-commerce/
The Cunninghams are parasites. End of story.
*The fiscal impact to Orange County Cities from this crisis will be monumental. No operating budgets….and any Reserve cash will be quickly used up. No Sales Tax from Car Dealers, No tourist money for Sporting Events, Conventions and Restaurants. Digging out from this mess will take years. We can all look back on this and say: “Gee, how did that happen?” We can blame anyone or everyone…..but in the final analysis…..we will look to the countries that survived through their own efforts. The concept of putting a Mask on the issue….is so bizarre that it is incomprehensible. Every Virus has a Base Pair of DNA which supports LIFE! Kill the Base Pair or mitigate it through Stem Cells and just maybe there would be an Antidote…..not a transitory vaccine. When did Watson and Crick break the DNA module? Well over 50 years ago.
Frustrating to say the least. The good news is that the environmental pollution is way down around the world. They can breath the air in Beijing and Mumbai……and we are being de-populated through disease! The coolest thing was watching the ACM Memorial with Country Artists singing from home….and then watching Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood for the hour afterwards. Hope….springs eternal.
“Every Virus has a Base Pair of DNA”
False.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5221455/