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(Better, updated version of this story)
You can tell when a group of kleptocrats knows they’ve “gone too far this time” – the justifications, and consequences, just keep pouring in. Since March 26, when Sidhu’s Council Majority used the pandemic as an excuse to give their PR arm Visit Anaheim an “emergency” $6.5 million from our quickly-dwindling reserves to quickly advertise a closed-down resort district (including Disneyland), they’ve issued this justification, this justification, this justification, this justification, this justification, and this justification.
And Tuesday April 21, soon after decent, popular City Manager Chris Zapata offered a slightly critical opinion of that giveaway (when asked), they forced his resignation, costing us $475,000 in the middle of this crisis. And what a time to do it – Zapata was in charge of managing the city’s response to the COVID crisis, administering $8 million in emergency public aid, and co-ordinating with county, state and federal agencies. (While, conversely, we have caught wind of Visit Anaheim executives, shortly before receiving that $6.5 million windfall, discussing with each other how the hell they’re supposed to keep themselves occupied these days.)
Sidhu’s bland stated excuse for firing Zapata was that he “wanted to go in a different direction,” but that night of the “Covid Heist” is the only time ANYBODY can remember Chris being anything less than 100% supportive and helpful to any of the Mayor’s crooked plans. So I think it’s fair to add the cost of making Zapata go away to the original Heist amount, for an even SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS.
***********
If you know the movie Chinatown as well as I do, you’ll recall old Noah Cross questioning Jake whether his old acquaintance Lt. Escobar was “honest,” and Jake responding, “As far as it goes – he has to swim in the same dirty water as the rest of us.”
That sounds about right. Chris made the crooked plans of Harry Sidhu – most notably the Stadium Giveaway – happen as honestly and competently as he could. Last time Chris Zapata had a performance review, late last year, the Council and Mayor unanimously rated his performance EXCELLENT and gave him a 3% raise.
Over eighty e-mails poured in from all corners of Anaheim when word got out that he might be fired – and EVERY ONE WAS SUPPORTIVE OF CHRIS (except for ONE, which came in late!) But you weren’t still thinking this Mayor and majority actually gave a fuck about what you think, were you?
There are actually TWO times Jose can remember Zapata answering a question with something less obedient than “Yes sir” – March 26 when he opined that maybe the money to Visit Anaheim should be a little less at first, and tied to a strict performance review – and once at the Dec 20 Stadium meeting when he suggested it might still be possible to negotiate the word “Anaheim” in the Angels’ team name.
Both times when asked his opinion. Now, after the example made of Zapata, no city staff will dare to even go that far.
I liked Chris because when he got the job (in the waning days of Mayor Tait) he became the first Anaheim City Manager in recent memory to actually live in this town, renting a place in West Anaheim because he understood it was an area that needed attention and investment. And he used to walk the neighorhoods every night, speaking to homeowners and the homeless alike. (Stark contrast from his predecessor Paul Emery, whom nobody ever saw except for the big special interests, and I forget what fancy-ass place the fat bastard lived. But moving on…)
All this talk of our RESERVES…
I’m getting different answers about how much we actually have in our “reserves,” and since March 26 we’ve become aware that there are at least two “reserve” funds, one associated with the Convention Center. The best information I have right now is that our reserves were at around $34 million before this pandemic hit, but we were already going to have to “dip into them” to cover February’s staggeringly generous police union raise, as well as bond payments for the Convention Center expansion.
“Dipping into them” again to the tune of $7 million for something as non-essential as funding the advertising arm of the resort district – when not only could Disney EASILY cover that themselves, but also Disneyland is unlikely to open again before December – sounds like sheer irresponsibility – looting, even.
No doubt when we go totally broke, the Sidhu Majority will blame that on the virus, but they got that Train to Insolvency started down the tracks well before the California Quarantine began. I’ll write another piece about our reserves when I learn more.
Chris’ Thursday April 16 memo
Piecing together different sources and reports, it appears Chris was summoned in to meet with Mayor Sidhu and City Attorney Fabela Thursday morning the 16th, to give him notice that his termination would be agendized that afternoon. Apparently he’d already written but not yet sent a memo with ideas of how to save the city money during the pandemic crisis, which included salary cuts to Visit Anaheim officers, cuts to the Muzeo, and an offered 10% cut to his own salary.
And according to reports Chris “stormed out” of that meeting when he learned he was being fired, and immediately sent off that memo, POINTEDLY EXCLUDING the usual “for your eyes only” verbiage at the end – he apparently wanted the public to see his ideas.
I’ve had a copy of that memo for some time but have been asked not to reproduce but only paraphrase it, so here goes:
“…Staff has been reviewing economic information that model various scenarios… As these are not normal times and our budget and budget calendar have been impacted by COVID-19, I provide this information and will bring forth as recommendations:…”
CITY MANAGER CONTRACT: Chris offers to reduce his own salary by 10% for 12 months, to save the city $29,900 on his $299,000.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: He’s received a request FROM the CoC to amend the current $450K “based on COVID impacts to events and businesses.” As I don’t completely understand this paragraph I’ll quote: “There is tremendous need in the business community which I believe the Chamber of Commerce can help us address through the end of the contract in lieu of current state prohibited events involving gatherings of 10 or more. Reconfiguring the last 3 months of this agreement to create a coordinated use of City and Chamber resources is necessary.”
Can’t stand that messy “Z”. Plus this word doesn’t exist in any language. Plus the last great show they did was Matt Leslie’s “Garbage Art” in 2014.
MUZEO AGREEMENT: Chris proposes “deferring and extending” the current agreement which provides the Muzeo $250K per year thru 2023 and an additional $150K line of credit, and “negotiate a lesser amount of funding over the next 12 months.” (The Muzeo is Curt Pringle’s baby, could THIS be what got Chris in hot water?)
VISIT ANAHEIM: VA’s funding has been impacted by COVID (as was mentioned at length by Council kleptos March 26.) Chris recommends executive compensation be reduced. Annual compenstaion for CEO Jay Burress is $432,954 and Senior VP Christina Dawson is $318,154. (Actually those figures, which Chris got from our muckraking friend Duane Roberts, are from 2017 – who knows how high their pay was by 2020?) Ooh, now THAT’S the Third Rail – nobody knew how much VA execs were raking in till NOW!
Next day, Friday, when the Voice of OC reported on that memo, they also got a quote from klepto-friendly Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster (left), claiming defensively that Visit Anaheim already has made great cuts: “In March, staff was cut from 71 to 32 people.” We already knew that, from the March 26 meeting.
What we didn’t know, and apparently Chris didn’t know either, was this: “The remaining staff members have all taken pay cuts in the form of mandatory unpaid furloughs. [The well-heeled Burress and Dawson] are on two weeks’ unpaid furlough each month, a 50 percent reduction in salary…” Asked further questions about this surprising news, Lyster snapped, “We don’t have anything additional to share.”
NOTE: Lyster pointedly did NOT say WHEN the “remaining staff members” including the well-heeled Burress and Dawson were put on mandatory unpaid furlough. I think it’s reasonable for us to assume, given no denial or proof otherwise, that these “mandatory unpaid furloughs” were implemented Thursday or Friday, AFTER Chris let the world know what they were making, and as a result of that embarrassment.
Remember: the whopping salaries of Visit Anaheim brass may have hitherto been footed by the resort industry, but since they got an “emergency” $6.5 million injection from our city reserves, they are now de-facto PUBLIC EMPLOYEES.
Who’s Jay Burress?
The well-heeled Burress.
We know some things now that we didn’t know about the CEO/Secretary of Visit Anaheim. We know that he makes at least $433K a year, possibly closer to half a million by now, advertising for Disneyland and the surrounding hotels, and getting folks to hold conventions at our Convention Center. We know that he lives in San Clemente, a very nice town with lots of weather vanes on people’s porches.
If you go to Council meetings you see him up front a lot. From a distance he looks like me actually, same baldness and spectacles. More than once my wife Donna mistook him for me while searching for me. She calls him my doppelgänger, and he appears to hate that; he probably thinks I’m a troublesome lowlife. He does have very nice and fancy socks, which I wouldn’t have noticed. Her sense of competition aroused, Donna has endeavored to get me equally cool socks, but we do not have quite Jay’s sock budget.
I remember him two years ago, along with then-Councilwoman Kris Murray, and Teamsters thug Ernesto Medrano, attempting an improvised press conference at Maxwell Park, AGAINST Measure L, the resort workers’ successful attempt to get a living wage. I guess that’s part of the Visit Anaheim CEO’s job, to speak out against making Disneyland and their hotels pay their workers a little more.
Why was this presser being held at Maxwell Park, you ask, a place that was then infamous for the large number of homeless crashing there? Well, the kleptocracy’s inspiration was to show the homeless blight, and then try to make the case that, if Disney has to pay a living wage, their profits will suffer, leading to lower tax receipts for Anaheim, making it harder for Anaheim to build shelters or whatever it takes to get these homeless out of sight.
A difficult case to make, and a bunch of us homeless advocates and Measure L supporters made it even harder by showing up early and crashing their party. Kris Murray drove up, saw us, and turned right around. ROTFLMAO. (Once again, thanks to Duane Roberts for getting us that tip nice and early!)
It’s somehwat nauseating to know that the job requirements of this now-publicly-subsidized CEO include trying to protect Disney from having to pay its employees a little more. But back to the present. As I mentioned, we caught Visit Anaheim executives brainstorming on linked-in, shortly before their $6.5 million (and also long before any staff or salary cuts), trying to figure out what the hell to do with their time.
NOW, after that controversial windfall, they are reeking of desperation to show what good crucial work they’re doing – claiming to have brought HALF A BILLION in “convention biz” to Anaheim thanks to our largesse. You shouldn’t be surprised to learn it’s mostly smoke and mirrors – six of those eight conventions were already things that happen every year or every two years. No, that $6.5 million SEVEN MILLION was as big of a waste as it first smelt like.
Pinche Jordan Brandman.
“Democrat” Brandman at the Sidhus’ mansion, celebrating Republican Harry’s razor-thin victory over Democrat Ashleigh Aitken.
It doesn’t fail. Like clockwork. Once every three weeks, Mayor Sidhu give us ONE MORE COMPELLING REASON TO RECALL HIM. Now we can add to the bill of particulars: Fired a decent, competent, and well-liked City Manager for no cause, in the middle of a pandemic crisis, at the cost, TO US, of nearly half a million.
But don’t let Harry’s lockstep Council majority off the hook – he couldn’t ever do anything horrible if it weren’t for the connivance of Stephen Faessel, Trevor O’Neil, Lucille Kring, and Jordan Brandman.
Brandman especially rankles, a bad Democrat with increasingly staunch loyalty to bad Republican Sidhu. On March 26 he tried out his new go-to cop-out, for avoiding making any decisions for any of his own reasons: “I respect the Mayor’s wishes, because he was elected at-large and I wasn’t.” As though he weren’t elected by the voters of District 2 who have their own opinions about a City Manager who chose to live in West Anaheim and serve that underserved area faithfully.
And as though Jordan ever showed anything but contempt and resistance to former Mayor Tom Tait, who won election at-large with an ACTUAL MAJORITY (53%) as opposed to Harry Sidhu’s miserable 32% razor-thin victory over Ashleigh Aitken.
I’d better go now, I’m feeling nauseous. Meanwhile here’s Greg Diamond’s tribute to a decent city manager, gone before his time:
….So Whare Is The District Attorney Todd Spider in All This, I don’t think it would be very difficult to find wrongdoing here, I think if questioned the city staff would definitely have a story to tell.
Sidhu = Clownshoes Assclown. The End.
🙁 Laziest Zenger comment yet.
Just wait. I can do even lazier.
Thank you very much Vern for another insightful article about the looting of Anaheim. You have to admit Sidhu and his group of conspirators have balls. Previous thefts by kleptomaniac Councils have centered around tot (hotel tax.)
Harry and gang have gotten right to business, first is was $250,000 to Anaheim first then $450,000 to chamber of theft. Then selling the stadium $200 million under value and now 6.5 million to visit Anaheim. It kind of makes you wonder after he has extracted all the cash he can from the city of Anaheim he will just walk away from the smoking pile of rubble that was the city of Anaheim. Kind of like in the movies where a character destroys something and it shows him walking away with pile of rubble in the background.
As to the firing of Chris Zapata, it reminds me of Trump and the turnover of staff who might voice a different opinion then his. And yes Vern Anaheim is ripe for the recall of Sidhu. it’s kind of like Sidhu and the gang know it is coming and they are trying to steal all they can before it happens.
Let’s not forget Visit Anaheim, Anaheim First, and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce all use the same people, including campaign staffers. All three receive city funds under ambiguous contracts with little to no actual oversight concerning deliverables.
*”It’s a small world after all…..it’s a small, small world!” or “I’m goin wash that man right out of my hair….and send him on his way!” Also: “Bon Voyage Titanic!” Or
as Tip O’Neill said: “All politics is local…..and disgusting!”
Well, I guess I’ll just drop this here:
Thanks for doing that but I just didn’t think Chris’ very familiar face looked recognizable with a big mustache, and small like that. 🙁
Hence the big portrait of him sans mustache on the wall….
Guess we need to revise recall language again!
His misdeeds really bulge against that 200-word limit.
Great Post, Vern!
Too bad we did’nt have a real DA in 2010 to prosecute Mr. Clownshoes when Hairball stated under the penalty of perjury that he lived in the Calabria Apartments at 2250 W. Lincoln Ave.
Remember when the serial candidate for just about every office imaginable ran for OC Supervisor wanting so badly to represent the 4th District? Yes, that’s right folks, the District HE DID NOT LIVE IN.
A Private Investigator, Bill Hunt, was hired by me to proved the DA with evidence that Harry did’nt live in the Calabria Apartments. The PI interviewed many people who lived in the Calabria whom all stated they NEVER saw Sidhu there once. Heck, even the Calabria Manager signed an affidavit stating Harry did’nt live there.
In other words, Mayor Clownshoes perjured himself and everyone with half a brain new that!
Pretty sure DA Todd Spitzer would have prosecuted Mr. Hairball had he been our DA, and Sidhu would have lost his voting rights FOREVER.
Oh well, RECALL ! ! !
Here’s the post from the 4F blog:
https://www.fullertonsfuture.org/2010/criminal-complaint-filed-with-da-against-harry-sidhu/
Ah yes, a few years before he envisioned Satellite Offices in Outer Space, which was a few years before he Impersonated a Veteran at the Anaheim Hills July 4 Parade!
Well, Chris was fired, no stopping the juggernaut of Harry’s pissed-off wishes. The ONLY reason given, privately AND publicly, was Harry “wanting to go in a different direction.” So yeah, it was the impertinence of Chris offering a slightly contrary opinion during a public meeting about a resort-interest giveaway, WHEN ASKED.
And the vote was 5-2. Fucking Jordan. Mark my words: Jordan’s new go-to excuse is “this was the Mayor’s wish, and unlike me he was elected at-large, so I bow to his wishes.” As though Jordan wasn’t elected by his own West Anaheim district, where Zapata chose to live, and whose people he served diligently. AND as though Jordan had ever been as unquestioningly submissive to Mayor Tait, who was elected at large by a majority – 53.4% – of Anaheim, rather than the measly 32.5% Harry got!
And don’t forget to hold this against Stephen Faessel as well.
The interim City Manager, as I predicted, is, IMMEDIATELY and as I predicted, the obedient submissive Greg Garcia.
One thing Jose had mentioned on his Monday Facebook live pre-meeting “workshop” was that this firing is a warning shot for any other staff who dare to even give a slightly critical opinion about majority ideas, even if asked. It’s ALL BAD.
How do we fit this NEW outrage onto our 200-word “reasons to recall Sidhu” (and replace Faessel?) Please advise.
$450 K severance package. (Plus benefits / pension?) Half a million during this crisis, to go “a different direction.”
Well, sometimes ya gotta spend money to lose money.
“Firing whistleblowers” — two words.
Damn, I’m starting to think that we could have a drive-through petition-signing service and get all of the signatures in a week. Long line, though.
Chriz zapta was privi to multiple emails about noise variances in Anaheim Hills man aircraft were flying outside metroplex paths and did nothing about it…. meanwhile Zapata was pandering to the topic of the day vs real issues occurring within the city. Why were incoming aircraft flying outside the metroplex paths. A true shame of justice.
Why are all incoming aircraft now flying over Anaheim Hills and why is there no publicly available portal to view the sheer amount of vectored aircraft over Anaheim vs what was proposed over Irvine company properties. Unreal. We deserve answers Greg Garcia
Anaheim Hills wants to know!
I think the Airplane Gods just hate rich people. Same thing in Newport.
“Chriz zapta was privi [sic] to multiple emails…”
Lah-dee-dah. Do a public records request to see whether Sidhu or O’Neill ever directed him to do anything about this. Maybe your multiple emails directed to “Chriz Zapta” never reached him because it seemed like a joke.
Hang on a minute Vern….
Zapata lives in District 1 and is well-loved there?
Brandman represents District 1?
Ada Briceno promised that UNITE-HERE would recall Brandman if he misbehaved?
Hmmmm …
… With Zapata as the replacement candidate, if we could get the recall signatures within about two weeks, we could still make it!
I know Zapata lives in west Anaheim, not sure if district 1 or 2. Jordan represents district 2. But he does enjoy making decisions for district 1 as well without consulting Denise, in a pointed show of disrespect, so in his mind at least he’s councilman of all the west side.
I’ll find out exactly where Chris lives.
Oh, I thought that it was the reverse.
If he lives in 1, can we haz carpetbag pleez? This once?
First of all, I want to know how Anaheim Insider knew details of what I assume was a Closed Door session to discuss a personnel matter, when it sounds like only the Mayor, City Attorney, and Chris were in the room. I don’t imagine the City Attorney telling anyone. Chris may have shared that he lost his temper but if he shared with someone who put that out in the Internet he needs to reconsider his friends. That leaves one other likely source to have leaked info about a confidential meeting to discuss employee performance. Hmm…
To address your comments above:
I believe Chris Zapata lives in District 1. Jordan represents District 2. And no, I don’t see Chris chucking his career as a professional to run for office. Just my guess.
Please don’t run down Greg Garcia. He is a nice guy who has agreed to take on an impossible and thankless job. That nice guy persona makes him appear amenable to the Masters of the Universe but I think you read his motives into what I see as a simple passion to do his job. The people of Anaheim elected those leaders, who set the policy. Staff implements the policy, their support or dislike of those actions isn’t factored into their implementation. It isn’t the job of staff to object or get in the way of the desired outcome of the Council. They work through the City Manager, and if a policy has a clear negative impact they would discuss it with the CM, who communicates with the Council. Up to this point Garcia has not been in a position to say yay or nay to the Mayor/Council. It wasn’t his place.
Let Greg Garcia do his job without sniping and let’s see what happens. He has enough of a nightmare right now, not only stepping into the role with this contentious atmosphere, but staring down a City budget due in June, closing the gap of what was deficit spending before Covid beat us up for our lunch money, with professional staff who largely cannot meet face to face as usual to collaborate on how to close those budget gaps. Garcia needs our support and our prayers, no matter what your impression of him may be, right now his success is OUR success. Join me in rooting for him to do well or we are all hosed.
Thanks, I don’t know Greg well. The nature of this town tends to make one suspicious.
But “Up to this point Garcia has not been in a position to say yay or nay to the Mayor/Council. It wasn’t his place.”
What are the chances of that EVER happening, after the example made of Chris?
You are no fun, but that doesn’t mean you are wrong. OK, mom.
Zapata is leaving with over a million bucks in the bank after less than 2 years on the job. Not too shabby.. Hard to shed tears for him.
Dude never invested in the community, rented an apartment and walked around…. Suddenly he is the second coming. Hopefully the city does not make the same severance agreement, where if the next manager resigns, they will get a windfall severance package.
1. Nobody’s shedding tears for him. He was doing a fine job, and just for speaking up giving slightly different opinion from Harry he gets canned in the middle of a crisis, and costs us almost half a million for nothing. I’m shedding tears for Anaheim under Sidhu.
2. I’ve heard you make fun of him for renting instead of buying a place here. Events have shown him wise, wouldn’t you fucking say? Last CM to live here BOUGHT a place here (Wingenroth, 2013) and was then immediately fired by the Murray-Eastman-Brandman-Kring majority.
3. And did you just say that he “resigned?!”
Hey, Vern. Cunningham was snooping on my linkedin account. Think the kleptocracy is going to offer me a job?
Creepy. But he’s probably just looking for a new way to make fun of you, next time you write something impertinent.
Well, I’m not sure how that would work, especially since since he banned me from his shitty Pravda.
Hey Anaheim!
You know how, in the PR or “turd polishing” industry, they say, “The bigger it is, the worse it smells, and the more polishing it’s gonna need.” Well, that IS what they say, believe me. And this March 26 “emergency” $6.5 million giveaway to resort-advertising “Visit Anaheim” is requiring a RECORD amount of polishing. In fact it seems like a BIG chunk of that $6.5 million is being spent on a campaign to convince you and me that the $6.5 million is being well-spent!
Check out this video, but don’t just comment here, go to the original video and check out all the creepy worshipful zombie-like comments from the “Anaheim First” crowd. Don’t let those be the only comments either!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1135616243457322