Peter Grant, Sultan of Cypress, 2014-25

By
Vern Nelson
– September 16, 2025Posted in: "The OC", Corruption, cypress, district elections, Frances Marquez, Fresh Juice, Waste


Weighing in at 320 pounds and over 6 feet, usually raging high on cocaine and gin, PETER GRANT managed the band Led Zeppelin with fabled ferocity, shrewdness, and often violence. When his 11-year old son was scolded for taking down a sign, by one of Bill Graham’s security team in Oakland 1977, Grant along with drummer John Bonham and two other thugs beat the hell out of the guy, sending him to the hospital. The four were later arrested, pled no contest, and paid unspecified fines.

But this story is about a DIFFERENT Peter Grant, the Peter Grant who was the Sultan of Cypress until his surprise resignation last month. There are “strong mayor” and “strong city manager” cities, but it’s hard to think of any city run more autocratically by the unelected City Manager than Grant has run Cypress since 2014.

That was the year that three USC buddies, a “bro-ligarchy,” took over the town, as elected Mayor Doug Bailey brought in CM Grant along with money guy, Valley Vista trash consultant George Briggeman Jr., who’s funded the candidacies of every Grant-approved council candidate since then, laundering Valley Vista money thru fake PACs with names like “Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods,” sometimes getting fined for this campaign corruption.

What Valley Vista Services got out of this arrangement:

Thru Grant and his hand-picked Council, Valley Vista runs Cypress as surely as Disney runs Anaheim. Watch:


And what Peter Grant got out of the arrangement was a lot – a completely obedient Council that eventually made him the second-highest paid CM in all OC, with signing authority as high as $98 million (you read that right) to reward his favored contractors and developers, and even (now that he’s suddenly resigned) a $313k severance package. Wait, the second-highest paid CM in all OC? In such a small town, #23 in population? Yes, Peter Grant was

The Half-Million Dollar Man!

To be precise, Grant’s compensation has been $477,000 a year, in a town of only 49,286 people. The only City Manager in Orange County who makes more than him is Anaheim’s Jim Vanderpool, and only a bit more – $495,000, in a city SEVEN TIMES BIGGER THAN CYPRESS. You could put it this way – Vanderpool makes $1.43 per each resident of Anaheim, while Grant makes $9.73 per Cypriot (is that the word?) The guy’s resignation should save the town some money at least.

But – and in this Burgh of Secrecy where so much is decided in Closed Session we must read the tea leaves – the pampered Sultan didn’t WANT to leave. He had just GOTTEN himself that $98 million signing authority in July, and his last big raise also around that time. It had-to-a been a shift, in that LAST, August 11 closed session, of a 3-2 Council majority that’d back Grant to the bitter end, to a 3-2 majority that has lost faith in him. Meaning, the defection of swing-vote Leo Medrano.

Which probably means that, in that final closed session, new-ish councilmen Medrano (and Chang) were finally briefed on THE DANCS MATTER®.


But wait, before we tell you about the Dancs Matter® that brought down Peter Grant, we need to prepare, we need to paint a picture of Cypress in Transition. First let’s meet the folks, backed by Valley Vista money and Peter Grant, who surely won’t mind being called

The Old Guard.

Minikus & the Peats – jealous guardians of the status quo

Meet Scott Minikus, elected to Council in ’21 and now in his second term. Meet Jon Peat, elected to Council in 2014; and when he was termed out in ’22, he handed the seat over to his wife Bonnie the way they do in these cozy little towns. (At least Cypress has term limits.) All three groomed by, approved by, and obedient to Peter Grant, and funded by Valley Vista’s Briggeman.

Past few years though, as the city begins to change and grow, and folks are elected who are NOT beholden to Peter Grant and Valley Vista, these three have become angry “Get off my lawn” caricatures resisting anything new. Startlingly but comically, Minikus rails against the upstarts from the dais, while Jon Peat rails at them from the audience. Stephanie Wade’s wonderful May 20 report quotes Minikus crying out that Cypress was a “nice quiet city until you people got here.” And Bonnie in court papers inveighs against “CHANGE” as though it were some Satanic, Communist expletive. There are not many cinematic equivalents to these politicians’ allergy to change, but this one does come to mind:

I must include former Mayor Paulo Morales in this Old Guard overview even though he’s out of office, because:

  1. He personally insulted me in 2022;
  2. he’s a Democrat who votes right along with these Valley Vista shills (who happen to be Republicans), showing that sometimes there’s no difference between Parties,
  3. he’s a Democratic elected who campaigned for Michelle Steel if you can wrap your head around that; and
  4. he did turn up recently to heap praise upon his old boss Peter Grant.

And the place where he insulted me was at a Michelle Steel rally that HE WAS EMCEEING, where he repeatedly not only said, “I’m a Democrat and I support Michelle Steel,” but also repeated Steel’s slander that her Taiwanese-American Navy-veteran opponent JAY CHEN was a “COMMUNIST.” You can’t get much lower than that. Now I’m told the guy was breaking the Hatch Act when he did that, since he is also a US Marshall – I wish I still had that video of him.

I mean, how could anyone with a brain and a conscience, no matter your Party, back the Steels? Okay, moving on…

Along Came Dr. Marquez…

Where do people like Dr. Frances Marquez or Anaheim’s Dr. Jose Moreno come from? They are just built so differently from the vast majority of politicians, of both Parties, who are more or less transactional, answering to one or another “special interest.” They don’t seem to mind rubbing their colleagues the wrong way if they have to, doesn’t bother them at all. Their baffled colleagues can’t understand them and search in vain, mystified, for their ulterior motives. It almost seems like they come from a different planet.

¡Pero No! Dr Frances Marquez came from CYPRESS, hard as her colleagues tried to paint her as an outsider. (You can see below, she was head cheerleader as a little girl!) She did go off and get degrees in history, public policy, and political science, but that just made her that much more prepared to come back and serve her beloved home town, running for Council in 2018 and losing, then winning in 2020.

What frightening development was this, a stranger in their midst, an educated stranger, unapproved by Peter Grant, not funded by Valley Vista? First thing they did was open all her congratulation mail, noting with trepidation that one effusive letter was from Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Valley Vista’s Briggeman, testing the waters, left her a box of chocolates in the shape of a garbage truck, which she refused. OK, this woman was going to be a problem.

And the Cypress establishment began its four years of isolating Dr. Marquez like a foreign body, which I don’t want to get into because the literature is already extensive and the lawsuits are ongoing. By the end of her term she was under strict orders to communicate with nobody in the city but Peter Grant, and that only by e-mail. (How was that possible?) Because she was on Council to bring CHANGE, unwelcome change, which included:

  • A Cypress not under the thumb of Valley Vista trash, a city that would maybe even put out bids sometimes;
  • Transparency about who funds what candidates;
  • Prioritizing the town’s parks and underserved communities at least as much as Grant’s cronies;
  • and WORST of all, she SUPPORTED DISTRICT ELECTIONS.

Which brings up one of Peter Grant’s biggest failures (aside from the Dancs Matter®) :

Grant’s $2 Million Districting Faceplant

It’s been fascinating to watch (starting with Anaheim) the different ways OC cities deal with the inevitable transition to district elections – the more corrupt and insular the city council, the harder they fight, and the more public taxpayer money they inevitably end up squandering when they finally lose. And right now, as the final South OC holdouts soldier on hopelessly, Cypress has become a cautionary tale: “Do you want to end up wasting over $2 million like CYPRESS?”

It’s funny, the bogus arguments against districting are always the same. As are the delay tactics, the overall goal of buying just a FEW more years, a couple more terms for the dependable incumbents. In 2012 Anaheim, Disney which controlled the Council majority put out a press release talking about how great the reform would be for democracy and diversity, BUT it should first be studied AT LENGTH, by a committee appointed by its majority which (surprise) was adamantly OPPOSED to it. Thus Disney and its puppets bought another four years of control, wasting $2-3 million of money from taxpayers 70% of whom WANTED the reform! (Sorry, I’m still mad.)

That’s roughly as much as Cypress wasted waging a losing battle against districts, and once again we have to remind you Anaheim is seven times bigger than Cypress. So that’s like if Anaheim wasted $14-20 million. They hired an extra law firm to help fight the doomed battle, and as a delay tactic they hired Arianna Barrios’ Communications Lab to do some public workshops which they kind of forgot about without telling her. And what they got out of their delay was putting off the reform past the 2022 election so Jon Peat’s wife Bonnie would have an easy time taking his place. And they had to pay $835k to districting attorney Kevin Shenkman alone. I call that a faceplant.

New Faces: Burke, Chang, Medrano

But before we regale you with tales of the Dancs Matter®, we’ve got to introduce you to the three newest Councilmembers, or none of it will make sense.

Burke, Chang. Nice guys.

David Burke was elected in ’22, before district elections went into effect, and now Dr. Marquez had an ally on most votes. Checks out, he’s a lawyer who worked for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and “currently runs a nonprofit focused on supporting campaign finance reform and advocating for more transparency in government.” And this year the new, NON-Valley Vista-backed majority chose him as Mayor.

And now that Dr. Marquez is gone (she ran for Supervisor last year and lost to Janet Nguyen, with notably half-hearted support from the DPOC which doesn’t trust boat-rockers) Mayor Burke has been the focus of the Old Guard’s wrath and abuse. Especially after the revelation of the Dancs Matter®, which they think was some secret plot of Burke’s to embarrass Dear Leader Grant.

Cypress’ first district election last year resulted in a new Korean-American and a new Mexican-American – causing the Cypress Council to look a lot more like the town’s population. Dr. Kyle Chang is interesting, with degrees in Social Psychology, Literary Criticism, and Quantitative Methods. This article, from when Council granted Peter Grant carte blanche with $98 million in Capital Improvements Projects last July, does a good job getting across Kyle’s baffled exasperation with the Council’s subservience to the domineering City Manager.

Then there is the swing vote, newly elected (by district) Leo Medrano (no relation to notorious Klepto-Teamster Ernesto), who’s been a little hard to figure out. One thing’s for sure, he didn’t want to be sidelined and harassed like his fellow Latino Democrat Frances Marquez. Sultan Peter Grant, wanting to make sure he was getting a Morales Latino and not a Marquez, quickly took Leo under his wing. But not quite willing to go FULL VENDIDO, Leo has had a mixed record this year – joining his fellow Dems to make the worthy Burke Mayor, but then joining Minikus and Peat on several shitty votes. But it appears that the Dancs Matter®, from which he ran away for four months, was finally too much for Leo, and he cut bait from the Sultan in August.

So now you are finally ready…

“…Prince Prospero bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. There was a sharp cry—and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero. 

Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave-cerements and corpse-like mask which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form….”

– Poe, The Masque of the Red Death.

Doug Dancs, former Public Works Director, Cypress.

Much like Prince Prospero’s great ball, Cypress’ April 28 meeting was intended as a celebration of Peter Grant’s glorious decade running the town, beginning with Bonnie Peat’s “glowing account” of his tenure, and the reading of a long series of “supportive letters and testimonials from local officials praising his work.” And then, much like the sudden appearance of the Red Death, the festivities were dashed by the unexpected gaunt countenance of former Public Works Director Doug Dancs announcing to the world that, far from being celebrated, Peter Grant should be “fired for cause” due to “alleged unlawful acts of misconduct.”

The City Attorney quickly made Dancs shut up reminding him of his “confidentiality agreement.” It was too late, and yet everyone was left (to this day) wanting to know the details!

Yes, as it turns out, some time last year the City agreed to pay the 32-year city employee $183,000 – that on top of having spent $100k fighting this in court (having hired, just for that purpose, the firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore with which Anaheim is all too familiar.) $283k. What could Grant have done to Dancs, for the City to owe him that much? We still don’t know. Cypriots don’t even know where all that money CAME from, so much secrecy! Dr. Marquez had a cow – SHE WAS ON COUNCIL AT THE TIME, AND ALL THE OTHERS KEPT THIS HIDDEN FROM HER! They must have had a feeling she wouldn’t keep this quiet.

On the credibility of Doug Dancs, a friend of ours writes, “As a former Cypress employee who worked for Doug, I can say that … he was a good engineer and ethical public employee. I do know that Doug would not have come out of the woodwork to attend a City Council meeting unless he knew something egregious had occurred. He is not the kind of guy to be used as a pawn by either side of the Council.”

Throughout May and then for some reason not again till August, special meetings on the topic were called by Mayor Burke, backed by Dr. Chang. Burke and Chang called for openness with the public, and outside investigations into Peter Grant’s behavior. Peat and Minikus furiously reminded Burke that he already knew and had voted for the settlement last year (true) and accused him of some (undefined and unproven) political vendetta against Grant.

Poor Leo Medrano didn’t know what to say, speaking out both sides of his mouth. He skipped one special meeting on the topic, claiming that Grant and the city attorney told him not to come. Instead, he was seen at a “Hubert Humphrey Democratic Club” meeting at a Cerritos IHOP, to marvel at the perpetually precocious politician Connor Traut. (LOL, Jeff Pearlman was there too.)

Finally in early August one last special meeting on the Dancs Matter® was called and Medrano made it. This time it was Minikus’ turn to boycott the meeting, and Bonnie Peat left early. It seems the Council was finally briefed on the matter, and next thing you know Peter Grant had resigned, with one hell of a golden parachute.

But the people of Cypress want to know too, what could have cost them so much, and why such secrecy? It’s become like the Epstein Files of this little town – the imagination searches! Grant is still protected by the non-disclosure agreement, and a “non-disparagement” agreement signed upon his termination.

But this is what City Managers do, what’s done in the little world of City Managers: They play musical chairs, and find a new city when they leave the last one. The worse their behavior was in the previous city, the farther they have to go, yes, but they usually find another city. Well, whatever city this Peter Grant decides to shack up with next, I think they had better demand a full briefing on The Dancs Matter®.

And then there’s this…

Partial Bibliography

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About Vern Nelson

Greatest pianist/composer in Orange County, and official political troubadour of Anaheim and most other OC towns. Regularly makes solo performances, sometimes with his savage-jazz band The Vern Nelson Problem. Reach at vernpnelson@gmail.com, or 714-235-VERN.