This is, basically, the speech I gave last night at the Planning Commission’s first “workshop” on the Disneyland Forward proposal. For some reason, several people asked for a copy of my speech – unexpected people like hoteliers and general Disney boosters. And also when it’s Planning Commission, unlike Council, your speech isn’t videotaped or televised so not many people heard it, SO. I’m-a put it HERE on the damn blog.
[Map of proposed site, with female worker sleeping in car.]
Anaheim is married to the Disney Corporation, for better or worse, and this marriage should be built on mutual respect and caring for each other’s needs. Anaheim’s biggest problem is the lack of affordable housing, a problem we haven’t made headway on for decades, while under the leadership of Mayors and Councils elected with Disney (and developer) money. Disney is asking for a lot with their Disneyland Forward proposal, and we wish them success, but there should be some things we demand in return, the first of which is help addressing our housing crisis.
Out of the 17,000 pages of this EIR, there are really only TEN pages dealing with population growth and housing for all their proposed new employees, which you can find at chapter 5.12. Disney actually has the audacity to start this section off by quoting the housing promises they made to Anaheim in 1993, during their big California Adventure expansion, under Mayor Tom Daly. I quote:
“That the applicant [Disney] will build or preserve, or cause to be built or preserved, 500 affordable housing units in the City of Anaheim in connection with the development of the Project. The housing units shall be preserved, constructed or under construction prior to the opening of the Second Theme Park… [skipping a little] … A minimum of 40% of these units shall serve ‘very low income households.’ The remainder of the units will serve low income households.”
Why do I say “audacity?” Because what Disney doesn’t mention is they didn’t keep those promises at all. These 500 units were never built – after the EIR was approved it was quietly, mysteriously amended so that the City agreed to use $12 million of its federal HUD dollars to renovate the Jeffrey Lynn apartments which are now called Hermosa Village. Disney paid for NONE of that, OUR federal HUD dollars which could have gone elsewhere paid for it.
Well, if you read these ten pages (if I’m reading them right) Disney is now saying that yes, Disneyland Forward will bring 13,853 new employees to Anaheim (which might be an understatement), but housing them will be Anaheim’s problem, Disney’s not building ANYTHING this time. Maybe that’s progress from promising to build 500 units and then not doing it.
Disney spends most of these ten pages describing how Anaheim is failing at meeting its affordable housing goals as set by the state, and they’re right, and we have to do something about that. But we could use some damn help. Disney makes $5.7 BILLION a year off Disneyland, and Anaheim only sees a tiny fraction of that. At least until we’re done paying off the bond we took out in the 90’s to build their Mickey and Friends garage, from which Disney makes $90 million a year gross, maybe $70 million net, while leasing it from us for one dollar a year.
We can’t find any estimates of how much Disney’s profits will grow even further if we change the zoning rules for them so they can fulfill their Disneyland Forward vision. We assume billions more per year, over that $5.7 billion. For decades many of us have wanted to charge a gate tax or entertainment tax, for the city’s needs. Maybe what we need to insist on is for Disney to pay into an Anaheim affordable housing trust, an amount commensurate with the astronomical profits they make here, to help provide housing so that their hardworking cast members can afford to live in the town they work in.
Thank you.
Great job, It’s a nice metaphor, too, although it leaves me wondering who Arte Moreno is in the metaphor and then I felt a little sick.
Unless there’s something documented elsewhere than the EIR, this is an absolute scandal. Worse, I doubt that even deliver housing that is available only to their employees; any such new housing would just go into the general housing market and be up for grabs by renters. If Disney wants its employees to have a leg up, it can give them extra money to compete in the City’s housing market — but they should also be responsible for adding to that general stock to cover what it otherwise another city subsidy to it.
Another reason to want to see Disney add to the City’s housing stock is this: what happens if they were able to set aside housing only for their employees? Then, they would be able to threaten eviction — rather than just termination — for those employees if they had either a good reason or a plausible pretext for getting rid of them.
The ongoing problem that needs to be addressed is that Lucille Kring received money from SOAR & Michelle Lieberman hosted a SOAR Event, and they will be voting on this project then it goes to city council potentially there’s several members there that have received money from SOAR…
Gotta disagree, the “housing trust” is nothing more than an account for token, semi voluntary contributions from developers. In 10 years it hasn’t produced a single unit. The only acceptable option is an admission tax for the general fund. Every City with a significant entertainment venue collects one to offset costs and benefit its citizens. If Disney was complete control over the much larger resort district, which it does not own, it should start paying its fair share.
17,000 pages. Who read it? I can guarantee: absolutely nobody, not even the highly paid consultant who assembled the various sub-consultant’s paper chase. Staff didn’t read all of it either. “Expert” outsiders are hired, outsiders who, like staff, are essentially on Disney’s payroll via developer fees.
Who is responsible for monitoring the Mitigation Measures in the outyears? Nobody will remember or care.
I would love to hear the findings of overriding considerations, necessary to move this along. Jobs, economic engine development, tax revenue, etc., etc., no doubt.
And meanwhile all the negative externalities – like fireworks soot on their neighbors – will be whisked away with a few keyboard strokes.
Why did the new report reference the old (broken) promise to build housing? Also, Disney actually does house interns in the building above MUZEO (for six months at a time, is it)? Perhaps they could build worker housing for some of their “cast members?” Maybe they’ll compromise and include on-site underground tunnels with shared berths.
Your last sentence is facetious, right?
No, it’s a very real proposal for on site housing for Disney workers. The working name for the project is “The Catacombs at Katella.”
I have heard that those “interns” at the downtown development above MUZEO may be part of the Disney University program or some such thing, and I believe THEY PAY to be there…need to double-check, it’s been years since I looked at it. Anyone have info on that?
My grandson is in such a program at Disney World in Florida in connection with his studies at the University of Hawaii. They provide business college credits and he receives a salary while working . He is required to live in and pay rent for a Disney owned dorm. There is no difference from his work or work schedule from any other Disney “cast members”. He has heard that Disney is planning to do the same thing in Anaheim.