The Brief

A whistleblower is alleging wide-ranging misconduct by Anaheim’s top finance official — including enabling fraud that wastes millions of taxpayers dollars, lying to the city council and protecting a known sexual harasser.

In a tort claim filed in early July, former purchasing agent Kari Bouffard alleges she was wrongfully terminated for “engaging in protected whistleblower activity, reporting sexual assault and harassment, exposing procurement fraud, refusing to participate in unlawful contracting practices and addressing severe deficiencies that resulted in costly delays and exposed the city to continuous and significant risk.”

She alleges that Debbie Moreno, Anaheim’s finance director and city treasurer, “violated the public trust, abused her authority, disregarded City Council policies.”

The tort claim, obtained by LAist via a public records request, alleges that Moreno:

• Refused to audit the city’s credit card purchases, which amount to around $800,000 a month
• Covered up that the Fire & Rescue Department bought new ambulances and went to the Council after to seek approval
• Does not follow standard best practices for procurement — no member of the purchasing department had ever written a contract — and instead creates additional, unnecessary processes 
• Uses a policy from 1999 to lease computer hardware at inflated prices, bypassing Council approval 

All together, the tort claim paints a picture of a city’s procurement department that lacks processes or oversight controls — run totally ad hoc — resulting in the mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. And Bouffard alleges in the tort claim her repeated attempts to address issues were met with retaliation. She wrote that she felt like she was “being punished for simply trying to protect the city and ensure its actions complied with the law.”

LAist requested an interview with Moreno through Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster, who did not respond to that request.

As the city's top financial official, Moreno is tasked with administering a $2.4 billion budget. Anaheim, the most populous city in Orange County and home to Disneyland, Angels Stadium and Honda Center, has a history of financial scandals.

Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu at the Orange County Black History Parade, Feb. 5, 2022. Sidhu resigned in May 2022, a week after FBI documents revealed he was under federal investigation for an alleged quid pro quo scheme involving the now-canceled sale of Angel Stadium.

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Daniel Knighton

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Three years ago, a federal probe revealed a “cabal” of business and political leaders worked behind the scenes to exert influence over City Hall. Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu just served two months in federal prison for his role in the corruption scandal.

Bouffard’s tort claim comes at a time the city is contending with a $60 million budget shortfall.

LAist reached out to the city about the allegations in the tort claim, as well as discrepancies we found in records obtained via a public records request. LAist also asked the city about its oversight practices.

City spokesperson Lyster told LAist he would not comment on the specific allegations in Bouffard’s tort claim because they are part of an ongoing personnel matter.

“We take all workplace concerns seriously and adhere to high ethical and professional standards. The claims made are being evaluated and are from a former employee whose work with the city did not extend past probation,” Lyster said in a written statement. “But, in this case, the issues being raised are part of a personnel matter, with all the considerations that come with that. We want to be respectful of all involved, and discussion of personnel matters in the media would be inappropriate.”

Lyster did not dispute Bouffard’s claims. Instead, he wrote that the city welcomes a review of contracts and policies. LAist requested purchase orders, agreements, contracts and process documents related to the claims and found discrepancies that seem to back up Bouffard’s claims.

Lyster did not comment on the discrepancies LAist found in the purchase orders, agreements, contracts and processes obtained independent of the tort claim.

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said in a text message that complaints like Bouffard's are taken seriously and investigated.

"If findings are made that can help up improve our processes and procedures, I welcome them," Aitken said.

When did the problems start?

Bouffard, a public servant of 28 years, whose experience includes a long stint at the County of Orange, started at the city of Anaheim in the summer of 2024.

Very soon, she began to notice a lack of processes and little oversight in how the department was run, she told LAist in an interview.

Formal contracts were not written, with neither the city nor vendor agreeing to terms and conditions or scopes of work. That was a “red flag,” she said. Contracts are commonplace in government as they help create a record trail to keep the city — and taxpayers — from being overcharged or billed by unscrupulous contractors.

Bouffard said conversations with other city departments convinced her the purchasing division at the city was in disarray and had been mismanaged for years.

Kari Bouffard, the whistleblower, alleging widespread mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.

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Courtesy Kari Bouffard

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“ I saw all of this, though, as an opportunity to put better systems in place to restore accountability and support both the purchasing team and the departments that we serve,” Bouffard said.

In the tort claim, Bouffard alleges Moreno also created a “hostile work environment” by allowing sexual harassment and retaliation “to continue unchecked.” That section of the tort claim is heavily redacted, with details about the assault, names of employees and details of the investigation blacked out.

Bouffard was terminated in July, two days before her one-year probation period ended.

At her six-month performance review in June 2025 (six months after it was due), she wrote in the tort claim she was “awarded a 'Distinguished' rating and a 2% salary increase in recognition of my contributions” despite “an excessive and unsustainable workload” where she could not even take accrued time off.

Bouffard alleges in her tort claim that she was fired not because of poor performance but because her efforts to improve the procurement department bristled Moreno.

Urgent contract for ambulances already in hand 

A few months after she started at the city in 2024, Bouffard alleges in the tort claim Moreno asked her to draft an “urgent” contract to purchase ambulances for the city’s Fire & Rescue Department.

While working on the contract, Bouffard claims she discovered an email showing the ambulances already were procured and delivered.

Bouffard alleges Moreno prepared a staff report for the City Council that requested Council approval for the purchase.

Bouffard wrote: “Ms. Moreno not only misled me regarding the situation but also knowingly falsified the staff report presented to City Council, intentionally concealing the fire department’s unauthorized procurement and colluding to cover up the procurement violations.”

Bouffard alleges Moreno has a personal relationship with Fire Chief Patrick Russell and has shown favoritism toward his department.

Russell did not respond to a request for comment.

LAist asked the city in a public records request for all executed contracts, invoices, order forms and emails pertaining to the order of ambulances. The contract the city shared with us doesn't give any indication that council approved of the purchase before the fire department went out and bought them.

The contract does not show that the council approved the purchase of ambulances that the city already possessed.

Creating additional work for departments 

Bouffard alleges Moreno relied on “cumbersome” procurement processes while punishing Bouffard for trying to implement changes she said would save the city money.

When Bouffard arrived at the city, she told LAist, if a department needed to purchase goods or services, the purchasing team would ask them exactly how much was needed and then they would move forward with that purchase for the exact amount of what was requested.

This method, she said, is “cumbersome” and leads to higher prices for goods, wasting taxpayer dollars. Instead, she sought to implement bulk pricing and planning for future purchases so the city can negotiate better deals.

A city staff member heads into the Anaheim Council Chamber before an open session meeting at Anaheim City Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025.

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These concerns would come to light with a contract for the police department.

When the police department wanted to purchase military equipment, with plans to buy more in the future, Bouffard developed a five-year purchasing agreement with a total amount not to exceed $3.75 million. This was contrary to the usual process used by the city, where purchases are made annually.

In the memo Bouffard drafted to explain her reasoning, she wrote, “Historically, many purchases throughout the city have been made reactively, often in response to urgent needs that arise during the fiscal year. While this method may provide quick relief, it frequently leads to higher costs, unpredictable budgeting and a greater risk of contract ratifications. These challenges highlight the need for a more proactive and structured approach to procurement — one that emphasizes planning, collaboration and long-term stability.”

The memo, which was sent to City Manager Jim Vanderpool, was ultimately stripped of Bouffard’s concerns.

She alleges Moreno and Deputy Finance Director Jean Ibalio excluded her from the rewrite process and dismissed her concerns because they were worried she would raise these process concerns with Vanderpool over “the broader lack of fiscal oversight.”

The city would eventually go without Bouffard’s recommendation for the contract. Instead, in the memo, Moreno wrote the Anaheim Police Department will have to get approval in the future for purchases already approved by the Council.

Ibalio and Vanderpool did not respond to requests to comment.

Circumventing competitive bidding

While Moreno had concerns about a long-term contract for the police department, it appears she promoted the use of a costly 25-year-old policy to purchase computer hardware for city staff.

In April, IT manager Ed Jin told Bouffard to renew a lease of around $4.5 million with Hewlett Packard for computer hardware, using a policy referred to as “1999.” Bouffard was concerned with the high spend for computer hardware and a conversation with the city’s IT admin analyst confirmed the lease was expensive. The per-staff, per-computer cost would amount to $5,000 with the lease. If the city did not renew the lease, the cost would be $1,800 per person.

Jin did not respond to a request for comment about the lease policy.

Other cities spend less on computers. Santa Ana, for example, told LAist the city purchases desktop computers for $850 and laptops for $1,425.

LAist requested the 1999 policy via a public records request. In 1999, the then-City Council approved a motion giving the purchasing agent — who until recently was Bouffard — the authority to issue purchase orders and execute lease agreements for computer equipment.

Bouffard alleges in the tort claim that this “outdated” policy is being used improperly to avoid soliciting competitive bids, pay in excess for hardware, obtain equipment without council approval and abuse evergreen clauses to avoid processes.

At four different occasions in May and June, according to the tort claim, Jin would “warn” Bouffard to use the policy to renew the lease, saying Moreno and Ibalio were upset.

“During each conversation, I communicated to Mr. Jin I am required to adhere to Council policy and follow the advice of our city attorneys. It was apparent Mr. Jin was under pressure to push me into violating Council policy,” Bouffard wrote.

Jin emailed Bouffard an “evergreen” contract, which Bouffard claims was an attempt to prove that an approved contract existed.

That contract was from 2002 with a company called Compaq, an organization that no longer exists and was acquired by HP.

In her tort claim, Bouffard said the evergreen contract originated prior to her employment with the city and had no expiration date. This “violates competitive bidding and circumvents Council approval protocols,” according to the claim.

Bouffard alleges the Anaheim IT team confirmed to her that the city had been leasing equipment through this process for at least a decade.

“ From my understanding, since 2006, the city of Anaheim has spent over $92 million on hardware and computers through the lease through HP Financial Services without seeking counsel approval,” Bouffard told LAist.

LAist asked the city of Anaheim how much it has spent on computer hardware using the 1999 policy, but we have not received an answer.

No oversight for credit card purchases

A big red flag for Bouffard when she came on board as the city’s purchasing agent was the lack of oversight into the city’s credit card spend: around $800,000 of public money every month.

“ When the departments want to get the purchases they need right away, if there were delays in the purchasing department, they would use those credit cards to get that done. That wasn't being audited,” Bouffard told LAist.

In her tort claim, Bouffard alleges she raised the lack of oversight with Moreno on several occasions but her solutions were “insufficient.”

And when Bouffard raised the concerns with the city’s audit team, which then wanted to audit the credit card program, she alleges Moreno told her: “Do not let them in the door.”

“I found her response unprofessional, dismissive and deeply concerning, particularly given her role as finance director and her responsibility to support accountability and internal controls,” Bouffard wrote.

LAist asked the city spokesperson if the credit card purchases have been audited in the past five years. We have not received an answer.

How to keep tabs on the Anaheim City Council

The Anaheim City Council meets on scheduled Tuesdays. The next meeting is Oct. 28. Meetings start at 5 p.m.

Here’s how you can follow along:

• Attend in person: The board meets at City Hall, Council Chambers, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., First floor, Anaheim
• Watch the live broadcast
• Here’s how to submit a comment or contact the council

Temperatures are on the rise these next few days and breezy Santa Ana winds are back, triggering wind advisories for some L.A. County mountains.

The warming spreads from the coasts to valleys to the low desert where temperatures will reach the mid-70s up to the low 80s. Downtown Los Angeles, for example, will reach up to 82 degrees.

The Antelope Valley, meanwhile, will stay cooler with max temperatures from 64 to 67 degrees.

And there's a wind advisory out for the Santa Susana, West San Gabriel and the Highway 14 corridor, where wind gusts could reach up to 50 mph. Those conditions are expected to last until 2 p.m.

The U.S. Senate has until Friday night to approve a package of funding measures or else risk another government shutdown. That package includes funding for child care subsidies, Head Start, and other services for young kids.

Senate Democrats have said they oppose the spending measure because it also includes funding the Department of Homeland Security. They want new restrictions on immigration enforcement, and to split it off from the other funding bills in the package in the wake of the killing of Alex Pretti by federal officers.

In addition to Head Start and child care, the bills in the six-part package include funding for infant and early childhood mental health, maternal health, and home-heating assistance,

“There is no reason that funding for children, for babies, for meeting their very basic needs should be contingent on whether or not ICE gets funding,” said Melissa Boteach, the chief policy officer at Zero to Three, an advocacy organization for babies and young kids. “[Young kids] are in the most rapid stage of brain development. They have immediate needs that need to be met.”

Head Start disruption: What could happen?

The last government shutdown in the fall lasted 43 days, and several Head Start programs in California nearly closed; at least one temporarily shut its doors. Boteach said there may be a few centers that are immediately affected, and others later on if a shutdown drags on, depending on when the center’s grant cycles starts.

Those most at risk are programs that have a Feb. 1 start date, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, of which she estimated there are around 6-10.

Head Start is a federally-funded program that provides early education and other services to children in low-income families. “ For many of these children, these are also the most nutritious meals that they get every day [at Head Start],” Cottrill said.

“It's not guaranteed that they'll close their doors if there is a government shutdown. It really depends on whether they have other funding sources,” she added.

Federal funding for childcare subsidies for low-income children (which is administered through the state) is also part of the funding package. Earlier this month, President Trump said he would freeze that funding to California, though that action has been tied up in court.

“There's already been a good deal of instability in these programs and for families who rely on them and are just hopeful that the Congress can finish this off and, uh, be able to move forward,” said Donna Sneeringer, president of the Child Care Resource Center, which runs Head Starts and child care subsidy programs in the Los Angeles area.

“[Parents] feel very insecure — these temporary pauses… the family's lives don't pause,” said Mary Ignatius, who heads Parent Voices. “ Real harm happens to the child care providers, the families, and the children who cannot afford any delays."

In August 2024, the city of Los Angeles approved an agreement to pay more than a half-billion dollars to resolve a substantial number of schedule and compensation related disputes with the main contractor it hired to design, build and operate the LAX Automated People Mover.

It was thought at the time that some of that money would be passed down to subcontractors who were working on the 2.25-mile long elevated train, which is still scheduled to begin shuttling travelers around airport terminals and to the greater L.A. Metro system later this year.

A year and a half later, a major subcontractor alleges it still hasn’t received a penny of the tens of millions of dollars it says it’s owed from the settlement, which the city funded using public money it generates from airport-related fees and charges.

Early last year, LINXS, the main contractor, initiated a lawsuit blaming the subcontractor, Rosendin Electric, for deficient work. Rosendin Electric has responded in court filings, calling the lawsuit part of LINXS’ scheme to withhold settlement proceeds. The subcontractor has accused LINXS of engaging in “secretive, deceptive and improper conduct” and blocking testimony on key documents.

“Subcontractors whose work generated those funds are entitled to understand and recover their rightful share,” lawyers for Rosendin Electric wrote in court documents from October 2025. “Transparency here is not merely procedural; it is a matter of public trust and legal obligation.”

The design and construction of the train has been rife with disputes between the city and main contractor, leading to cost overruns that have eroded public confidence in the last piece of a rail-only connection to LAX. The case involving Rosendin Electric is one of at least two lawsuits that detail how LINXS’ relationship has frayed with the people the contractor hired to bring the long-awaited train into service.

LAist’s reporting for this story is based on publicly available documents related to the legal battle.

LINXS and Rosendin Electric declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Jake Adams, deputy executive director overseeing $5.5 billion in LAX upgrades, including the People Mover, said Los Angeles World Airports “provides contract‑level oversight, but does not track how a developer allocates funds internally.“

LINXS sues Rosendin, blaming subcontractor for bad work and delays

Rosendin Electric anticipated completing its role on the project in July 2022, three years after it entered into a nearly $262 million contract with LINXS, according to court documents. LINXS hired the subcontractor to provide the labor, construction and assembly of various electrical components of the project, including the technology that powers the train and fire and life safety systems, according to an excerpt of the subcontract included in court filings.

Rosendin Electric’s lawyers said in court documents that despite “pervasive disruptions,” the subcontractor has continued to work on the project. The subcontractor’s lawyers continued, saying the company “relied on the expectation” that it would receive its “fair share” of any compensation the city provided to LINXS related to project delays.

The company wasn’t alone in expecting the funds to be filtered down.

According to a July 2024 presentation to the Board of Airport Commissioners, city staff said the settlement would be “advantageous” because it would ensure “subcontractors are paid sooner…providing cashflow to facilitate schedule certainty.”

In August 2024, L.A. City Council approved the agreement, known as the global settlement, to cover a wide swath of issues, including timeline, access to the airport’s IT network and compensation.

The settlement was to be paid out in increments as LINXS completed certain project milestones. All of the project milestones have been met except the final one, which is opening the train to the public. So far, that means the city has paid out more than $430 million.

Five months after the settlement was approved, LINXS filed a lawsuit against Rosendin Electric claiming breach of contract.

LINXS, which is a joint venture between four large international engineering and construction companies, alleges in its complaint that Rosendin Electric provided “defective construction services” that “deviated from technical requirements” and caused delays to the project.

Rosendin Electric denies the claims in LINXS’ lawsuit and later filed a cross-complaint.

LINXS’ alleged “secretive, deceptive and improper conduct”

Rosendin Electric claims the legal action LINXS initiated soon after the global settlement agreement was forged amounts to “excuses” that the contractor “began manufacturing” to avoid paying out settlement proceeds.

Among other allegations in its cross-complaint over breach of contract, Rosendin Electric claims LINXS:

• Rejected the idea that the subcontractor is entitled to any amount of the settlement.
• “Embarked on a scheme” to retain all of the settlement proceeds for itself by going after subcontractors who assert a “rightful claim to a share of recovery.”
• Stopped paying Rosendin Electric entirely, including “routine progress payments” unrelated to the settlement. 

In the latest development in the legal battle, Rosendin Electric’s lawyers said LINXS is trying to avoid testifying about two documents that “conclusively demonstrate that (Rosendin Electric) is entitled to prompt payment of tens of millions of dollars” from the settlement.

Another subcontractor sued

Within a month after the 2024 settlement was secured and before its legal action against Rosendin Electric, LINXS had also sued the design and engineering firm it hired in 2018 for breach of contract.

In its September 6, 2024 complaint, LINXS alleges that HDR overcharged for its services and produced work that “deviated from technical requirements.” That subcontractor denied the claims and later issued a cross-complaint, alleging LINXS owes more than $57 million for the work it’s done on the project.

Rosendin Electric’s lawyers called into question the timing of the lawsuit against HDR.

“LINXS could only advance this position after securing the LAWA Settlement because claims of fundamental design defects by its own design team would otherwise have provided LAWA with powerful defenses against LINXS’ claims for delay and compensation,” lawyers for the company have argued.

Both cases are ongoing.

After coming close to closing permanently just a few years ago, the historic Bob Baker Marionette Theater is about to have its biggest year yet.

In April, the 63-year-old puppet theater is set to perform at Coachella, the same week as its 12th annual Bob Baker Day festival. And in May, it will premiere Choo Choo Revue, their first fully original show in over 40 years.

Everything kicked off this past weekend with the premiere of Hooray LA!, marking the beginning of what the nonprofit theater’s leadership is calling a “milestone” year.

After a 'rough year for LA,' Bob Baker says, 'Hooray LA!'

Hooray LA! is a celebration of Los Angeles that was first performed in 1981. It was the last original show produced by the theater’s founder, Bob Baker, who passed away at age of 90 in 2014.

When the show was revived in 2024, it was updated to better reflect the diversity of L.A. history, with additions like a Grizzly Bear named Huunot and a rainbow trout named Wiggles explaining the significance of the L.A. River to the Gabrieleño Tongva people.

Huunot is a puppet featured in "Hooray LA!"

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The Bob Baker Marionette Theater

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This year, the show is back with even more new elements to celebrate L.A.

The theater’s co-executive director and artistic director Alex Evans says, “Last year was a very rough year for Los Angeles and we thought it was a perfect time to mount the show and celebrate everything that's special about the city.”

The new additions include Mexican hat dancers, a marimba player and a mariachi band with costumes modeled on the local LGBTQ+ mariachi band, Mariachi Arcoiris.

The first fully original show in 40 years

The theater is also now in preparation mode for Choo Choo Revue, which has been in the works for the past five years.

The idea is that the audience is on a train ride across America, looking out the window and having their imaginations sparked by things like a giant moose singing about the Pacific Northwest, glow in the dark bats, trees on skis and a sea lion singing a sea shanty.

“This is the first time,” Evans says, “that we have the resources, the support of the community — we had an incredible fundraising campaign at the end of last year — so we have truly just hit this milestone of being able to do it,  and it is tons of work and tons of money to put on a puppet show, and we’re so proud that we’re at that juncture now."

Back from the brink, and thriving

The milestone is all the more significant considering where The Bob Baker Theater was in 2020, along with so many other live performance venues.

Just four months after opening their new Highland Park location (after losing their original theater in Westlake/Echo Park), the pandemic shut them down. They pivoted to socially distant shows, created walk-through experiences for small groups and did performances online, but that wasn’t enough to keep things running.

So they made a public plea for $365,000 to stay open for a year, and Fagot says the community "turned up, and we had the support that we needed [...] in less than a month.”

That led to “a lightbulb moment” for the theater’s leadership, where they realized, “This isn't just about scraping by and trying to keep this alive. This is about building something for the future of the city because the community wants it.”

And all the big things happening for the theater this year, Fagot says, “ that's thanks to the support of the community here in L.A. and reflective of their desire for us to thrive and survive.”