The Brief

A massive report released this week on corruption and influence-peddling in Anaheim city government details a wide range of wrongdoing, including possible theft of taxpayer money.

The 353-page independent report is the result of a nearly year-long investigation carried out by an outside legal firm, JL Group, run by a former police investigator. It was commissioned last summer by city officials in an effort to demonstrate transparency and restore public confidence after the FBI revealed it was investigating former Mayor Harry Sidhu and other key Anaheim figures for corruption.

Investigators said their findings "tended to reinforce" observations laid out by the FBI that a small group of powerful individuals wield heavy influence over city government.

Key findings

The report’s key findings include:

• The city awarded large contracts to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce "with little or no oversight or meaningful deliverables."
• A "potential criminal conspiracy” to divert $1.5 million in federal COVID recovery funds to a nonprofit affiliated with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. The report describes it as a possible “theft” of public money.
• Former Mayor Harry Sidhu engaged in "influence-peddling" with former Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament. "The evidence pointed to the fact that individuals who wanted to meet with the Mayor first had to meet with Ament and then pay some form of tribute in order to reach Mayor Siddhu," investigators wrote. 
• The Anaheim Chamber of Commerce took over or supported various community groups and city initiatives, and then used them to gather personal data in order to target residents with campaign materials for candidates supported by the chamber.
• The chamber "acted virtually as a money-laundering operation" for cannabis businesses and lobbyists who sought to influence city policy for the industry.
• Two former elected city officials, former Mayor Curt Pringle and former Councilmember Kris Murray, may have violated the city policy by lobbying on behalf of clients soon after leaving office. 
• Jeff Flint, whose clients included the Angels and reportedly Disney, and several other high-profile lobbyists, including Pringle, routinely failed to report lobbying activities as required by city law. Investigators also found that city officials failed to enforce its lobbying rules.  

Also of note:

• Less than 40 pages of the report contain redactions. Some watchdogs had worried that the public version of the report would be heavily redacted and shield people involved in wrongdoing. The full report is being shared with the Orange County District Attorney, the California Attorney General and the FBI. 
• The Walt Disney Company and Angels baseball "flatly refused to cooperate at all" with the investigation, according to the report. In a statement to LAist, Disney disputed that part of the report, saying it wasn’t asked to participate beyond a request for an interview to the company's chief lobbyist, Carrie Nocella, who declined to talk to the investigators.
• The report includes a matrix created early in the investigation that outlined 58 potential crimes, including money laundering, obstruction of justice, theft or bribery, and misuse of campaign funds.
• The report also mentions “rumors” that Nocella bragged about having inside information from city council closed sessions, which would be illegal to leak to her. Investigators wrote they couldn’t confirm this because Nocella refused to talk, though they did not outline any other attempts to verify the claims. 
• The city-hired investigators met with O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer and his staff in early February to provide information about possible crimes — specifically around the diverted $1.5 million. But Spitzer’s office didn’t follow up with the independent investigators and it’s unknown whether the DA launched an investigation, according to the report. In a statement, Spitzer’s office told LAist the information is being reviewed.

LAist also requested comment from Sidhu, Nocella, Pringle, Ament, Flint, Murray and current Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Laura Cunningham. None returned calls and messages Tuesday.

Current mayor: ‘Rampant’ wrongdoing in city

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken told LAist Tuesday the report "confirms the wrongdoing that was rampant in the city."

Aitken ran for mayor in 2022, and won, on a platform of reform following the FBI revelations.

"Am I shocked about the information contained in the report? No," she said. "But am I livid? Absolutely."

Aitken said she planned to form an advisory committee of city leaders from different sectors to review the report and make recommendations for changes to campaign finance and other city laws.

"I don't want this to just get put on a shelf and a year from now people can say nothing has changed. I'm not going to let that happen," she said.

Last week, Ely Flores, executive director of the nonprofit Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development, told LAist despite campaign promises from Aitken, he hasn't seen any related action from the mayor or current city council so far.

"No one is championing any campaign finance reform ideas or proposals at all," he said, referring to Anaheim’s operations as "business as usual."

Aitken told LAist it would've been "premature" to take action before the report was completed.

"But now that the report has been concluded and we have an outside source that has looked at us and has documented all of these wrongdoings, I think it is time to look at our election system because the biggest losers in all of this are the people," she said. "We're diluting our own residents' vote and our own residents' voices by allowing these actions and lobbyists and these PACs and [independent expenditures] to just go unfettered."

Former City Councilmember Jose Moreno was a vocal critic of the Anaheim stadium deal during his time in office and regularly called out the influence of the Chamber of Commerce and Disney in city governance. He told LAist Tuesday the report reflects his experiences in office.

"Sometimes you wish you were wrong but on this one, unfortunately, we were not," he said.

Moreno said he hoped the results of the independent investigation would help people understand that the corruption and influence peddling at Anaheim city hall extends well beyond Sidhu, the former mayor.

"How were they able to get five councilmembers regularly to vote consistently with little discussion on major public projects, land sales, ordinances?" he asked.

Moreno said the fact that Disney and the Angels declined to participate in the investigation was telling.

"The Disney Corporation … they're the purse string to all of this," Moreno said.

In a statement to LAist, a Disney representative said the report "erroneously states that there were repeated requests for Disney to participate. While Carrie Nocella was asked to be interviewed and her attorney declined, no other Disney staff were ever asked to participate.”

Moreno said the core problem is the lack of strong campaign finance and lobbying rules in the city. As a councilmember, Moreno proposed enhanced campaign finance rules several times in recent years, including limiting the amount of time that candidates can fundraise. But he failed to get them passed.

"It's very difficult to ask a working class city of its residents to keep monitoring their elected officials," he said. "You gotta mitigate as much as possible the influence of money in the elections."

In the report, investigators renewed calls for the city council to approve campaign finance reforms put forward last year by Moreno.

‘Like mob behavior’

Jodi Balma, a Fullerton College political science professor who closely follows Anaheim politics, says the report shows a “blatant disregard for the law” and feels “like mob behavior.”

“It felt like the worst of Tammany Hall, which resulted in those Boss Tweed political machines,” Balma said, referring to infamous corruption in New York City in the mid-1800s.

That corruption, she noted, “resulted in the progressive movement that really reformed government.”

That means Anaheim has an opportunity, Balma said, to develop reforms “that will not just stop the next scandal from happening, but give themselves a city that is transparent, that is responsive, and that truly serves the people of Anaheim.”

“That's what my hope is.”

Read the full (redacted) report

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This story first appeared on The LA Local.

For nearly a century, MacArthur Park has been split in half by Wilshire Boulevard, but thanks to an ongoing project, that could change.

On Thursday morning, on a soccer field in MacArthur Park, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez celebrated the end of phase one of the reconnecting MacArthur Park project, which asked over 2,500 residents how they would improve the park.

A glimpse of a possible future for the park will be visible on July 11 and 12 when the city closes the section of Wilshire Boulevard that runs through the park for Park to Park, a block party that will connect MacArthur Park to Lafayette Park.

Hernandez said the event is a pilot project with a “people centered” approach for Westlake’s future.

“For two days, Wilshire Boulevard will become something different,” Hernandez said during a press conference at the park on Thursday. “Instead of traffic, you’ll find families; instead of cars, you’ll find community; instead of just rushing through the space, you’ll have opportunity to enjoy it.”

The event will bring live music and a space for vendors to sell their goods to the green space. Other resources will include support from multiple city departments, like the Community Investment for Families Department and several nonprofits.

“When was the last time Wilshire Boulevard was closed for the community?” Hernandez told The LA Local. “This is going to be a good moment, especially for a lot of the residents in this area, where the park is their front yard and back yard.”

The event is an experiment in what it might look like to close the street and make it a space for pedestrians rather than cars, Hernandez said.

In recent months, the park has seen large-scale drug raids carried out by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the park and the surrounding area have seen a growing unhoused population, along with open-air drug use.

The Los Angeles Police Department said that there are more sanitation sweeps being conducted in and around the park in recent months.

The first phase of reconnecting MacArthur Park asked residents what they would like to see done to improve the park, with one option proposing to remove the stretch of Wilshire running through the park entirely and expand the green space. This option received the majority of the votes and was ultimately recommended by the report released this week.

Preliminary findings of the report were released in April and noted that the most popular option was among the most expensive and would take at least four years for construction.

Laura Rubio-Cornejo, the general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, said that if the project comes to fruition, it would be the largest pedestrianization project in Los Angeles history.

The second phase of the project will involve environmental reviews and cost estimates for each of the ideas proposed in the report. The second phase will be led by the city’s Bureau of Engineering.

“We will work together to develop design concepts and collect input from all of you throughout that process,” Crystal Lee, a city engineer with the department, said. “The city will use a final concept design to pursue additional funds and detailed architecture and engineering designs to go into construction.”

The projected timeline estimates that phase two will end in 2030. Hernandez said that community members will continue to receive updates throughout that time.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez on Thur. July 2 in MacArthur Park where she announced the beginning of a project to review possibly closing off Wilshire Boulevard to make the green space car-free.

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David Rendon

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The LA Local

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In the meantime, the report encouraged taking action to improve existing areas of the park, such as reopening and improving the pedestrian tunnels. It also recommended hosting events such as Park to Park to demonstrate interest in the space.

“We’re looking to secure more dollars to continue these different events; Park to Park is being funded by a Metro grant, and so we’re going to keep looking for those opportunities to bring those experiences to our neighborhood,” Hernandez said.

The report cautioned against making any significant investments to the stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, given the ultimate goal of its removal. It suggested that if anything were to be done, it should use temporary or “quick-build” materials.

The city is also planning to install fencing around MacArthur Park. The plan would add a wrought-iron fence around both halves of the park and would close the park at night, giving city employees time to clean the space overnight.

The report said that whatever happens next in MacArthur Park, the fence will need to be seriously considered. Hernandez said the fence’s future is not set in stone.

“Right now, we’re in a phase where there is a fence being talked about, being put around the park, but nothing is permanent,” she said. “If changes need to be made to make the space open for everybody, I’m sure we’re going to move in that direction.”

Hernandez said the reconnecting parks project is important because people shouldn’t have to wait for special occasions to see the park.

“MacArthur Park is a very special neighborhood, and people on the outside that are not from this area often talk about it as like the sky is falling,” she said. “We are here every day, all the time, and we’re going to continue to be here every day, all the time, for this neighborhood. Because our people deserve it.”

Most of Southern California is under heat advisories or extreme heat warnings as temperatures reach the 90s, and even over 100 degrees in some places.

For L.A. and Orange County beaches, temperatures are going to reach from the low-70s to low-80s and rise to the mid-80s to low-90s for the inland coast.

Valley communities will see highs from 89 to 97 degrees, and between 94 and 105 degrees more inland including the Inland Empire.

In the mountains (below 6,000 feet), temperatures will also reach the mid-80s and low-90s.

In Coachella Valley, temperatures are expected to reach 111 to 116 degrees, while in the Antelope Valley expect the warmest areas to reach 107 degrees.

Need a place to get out of the heat?

You can find cooling centers via the following links:

• L.A. County
• Orange County
• San Bernardino County
• Riverside County

“The Pitt” is the leading nominee at the upcoming Emmy Awards, with numerous actors who play doctors on the drama series snagging nominations.

“Hacks,” another HBO series, got the second most nominations when the Emmy nominations were announced Wednesday in Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, NBC announced that “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay will host the Sept. 14 ceremony.

Drama series

“The Diplomat”; “The Gilded Age”; “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”; “Paradise”; “The Pitt”; “Pluribus”; “Slow Horses”; “Your Friends & Neighbors”

Comedy series

“Abbott Elementary”; “The Bear”; “Hacks”; “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”; “Nobody Wants This”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “Shrinking”; “Widow’s Bay”

Limited series, anthology series or movie

“All Her Fault”; “The Beast in Me”; “Beef”; “DTF St. Louis”; “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette”

Drama actor

Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”; Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”; Mark Ruffalo, “Task”; Rufus Sewell, “The Diplomat”; Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”

Drama actress

Carrie Coon, “The Gilded Age”; Chase Infiniti, “The Testaments”; Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”; Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus”; Zendaya, “Euphoria”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believes the current ceasefire with Iran is over after an exchange of attacks between the U.S. and Iran, the latest escalation straining the agreement to end the war – and he said he may hit Iran with more strikes tonight.

"I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum," Trump told reporters in Ankara, Turkey, where he is attending the NATO summit.

The stunning turnaround comes after Trump recently celebrated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran to help end the war he and Israel started. Trump insisted the deal would bring "peace and security" to the region. But within just weeks, he's amped up aggression.

"We hit them very hard last night. Probably hit them hard again tonight," he said.

Trump said the U.S. hasn't attacked Iran at the "highest level" yet, saying he could hit electric plants and desalination plants.

"I don't want to do that but if we have to, we'll take them out," Trump said. Attacks on civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime.

He also floated the idea of reinstituting the naval blockade on Iran.

Trump is expected to take more questions during a Wednesday press conference.

Trump's declaration in Ankara that the understanding is moot has already impacted markets, with oil prices starting to climb again. And it leaves his party, and his own approval ratings, in a precarious position once again with four months until the midterm election and little time to remedy the conflict that Americans have disapproved of from the start.

The president, however, did not rule out talks continuing to permanently end the war with Iran.

He said the top U.S. negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, want to continue to negotiate.

But, Trump added, "as far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them. They're liars," he said.

There was no immediate response from the Iranian government.

Trump's comments came after the U.S. and Iran traded attacks again overnight Wednesday, the second such escalation since the two sides signed an interim deal in mid-June.

The strikes followed Tuesday's attacks from Iran on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. said it carried out strikes on Iranian targets in what it said was retaliation for the previous Iranian aggression. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said it responded to those strikes by launching missiles and drones against Kuwait and Bahrain, two Arab Gulf countries that host U.S. military bases.

Trump is in Ankara, to attend the NATO summit, where he has continued to air grievances, lamenting that European countries don't contribute enough to their own defense spending, as Russia's war against Ukraine has dragged on.

He has also expressed frustration since the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran began that Europe hasn't been supportive enough of his agenda.

Earlier in the day, the president said he was "testing" allies on how they'd help with the war.

"Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it's OK, but you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they're not there for us? We've always been there for them," Trump said.

The tension between Trump and NATO nations has also grown as the president continued on Tuesday to insist that the U.S. should have control of Greenland, a territory currently under Denmark.

Despite friction in the alliance, Trump and the allies have found common ground on Ukraine.

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the gathering, and said that the U.S. will allow Ukraine a license to produce Patriot Missiles, which he called "pretty cool."

"We're going to give a license to you to make ‌Patriots … This way, you can't complain that we're not giving 'em enough," Trump said in the meeting with Zelenskyy.

Negotiating an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been an elusive goal for Trump, who has teased recently that the end of the war is "getting closer," without providing much further detail. He also said he would soon speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Tuesday, Trump met with the leader of the host nation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he considers a friend. The two discussed the U.S. potentially selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey — despite there being a congressional ban in place that prevents this.

"We have a very good relationship. … Why wouldn't we do that?" Trump said in his meeting with Erdogan.

Tina Kraja in Washington, D.C., contributed reporting to this story.
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