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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It’s taken over a decade and $1.3 billion, but Hollywood Burbank’s new terminal is finally ready for action. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the first passengers will be taking off and arriving at the brand-new structure.

Visitors note: The new terminal entrance has moved from Thornton Avenue to the intersection of Winona Avenue and Hollywood Way. There’s also a central security checkpoint and an indoor baggage claim.

The project stemmed from Burbank’s Measure B, passed in 2016.

LAist reporter Cato Hernandez got a sneak peek inside the building last week and reported on the scope and the thinking behind the decor.

William Contreras hit a tying homer in the fifth and singled home the go-ahead run an inning later as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

Four relievers combined to retire the last 15 Dodgers batters in order as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead over the two-time defending World Series champions in this best-of-seven series, which heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Brewers are chasing their second pennant and first in the NL. They made their lone World Series appearance in 1982, when they were in the American League.

Los Angeles is trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series. The Dodgers last rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win a series in 2020, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in a seven-game NLCS before going on to win the World Series.

The Dodgers will need more punch from their lineup to have a chance at getting back to the Fall Classic. They mustered just three hits Monday and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position to drop to 2 for 26 in those situations this postseason.

Los Angeles couldn’t even get a boost from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career playoff appearances. Yamamoto lasted just 2 2/3 innings for his shortest postseason start.

The Dodgers took the lead on three occasions in the first five innings. Milwaukee responded each time, the last coming when Contreras tied the game with a 436-foot homer to center off Kris Bubic in the fifth.

That turned the game into a battle of the bullpens, where the Brewers again had the edge.

Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby combined to shut down the Dodgers after Logan Henderson’s early exit.

The score was tied 4-all when Milwaukee’s David Hamilton was hit by a pitch from Brock Stewart to lead off the sixth. Stewart attempted a pickoff throw that went off the glove of first baseman Freddie Freeman and into foul territory for an error, advancing Hamilton to second.

After Jackson Chourio grounded out, the right-handed Stewart walked the left-handed-hitting Brice Turang to face the right-handed Contreras, who had homered in his previous plate appearance.

Contreras singled to left this time to bring home Hamilton with the go-ahead run.

Turang and Jake Bauers added RBI singles in the eighth to extend Milwaukee’s lead.

Neither starter lasts long

The anticipated pitchers’ duel between Yamamoto and Henderson didn’t work out according to plan.

In three previous playoff starts following Dodgers losses, Yamamoto had gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA. When he faced the Brewers in last year’s NLCS, he threw the first playoff complete game since Justin Verlander did it in 2017.

This time, Yamamoto couldn’t even make it out of the third inning before leaving with the Dodgers behind 3-2.

Henderson entered Monday having not allowed more than three runs in any of his 24 career starts (including the postseason). That streak ended when he allowed four runs over four innings.

Because Henderson committed two errors — matching his previous career total — only two of the runs were earned.

Milwaukee trailed 2-1 in the third when Bauers capped a 12-pitch plate appearance by taking a 3-2 offering in the dirt to load the bases with a walk. Christian Yelich followed by lining a single up the middle that brought home two runs and knocked Yamamoto out of the game.

Los Angeles bailed out Yamamoto by scoring twice in the fifth.

After Kyle Tucker hit a leadoff double, Tommy Edman sacrificed him to third. Henderson fielded the bunt and made a wild throw to first, enabling Tucker to score and moving Edman to second.

Edman advanced to third when Mookie Betts grounded out, and scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Henderson also had made a wild throw to first on a pickoff attempt in the third inning that allowed Edman to score from third.

Up next

Robert Gasser (5-5, 3.87 ERA) is expected to start for Milwaukee in Game 3. Gasser allowed one run over five innings when the Brewers won 3-1 at San Diego to clinch their NL Division Series.

The Dodgers hadn’t announced their Game 3 starting pitcher.

Actor and disability rights advocate RJ Mitte, who brought a lifetime of experience with cerebral palsy to fictional family struggles in an essential role on “Breaking Bad,” died Monday at age 34, authorities and his representatives said.

Cameron County Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa told The Associated Press she declared Mitte dead at about 1:30 p.m. at what she believed was his home in Brownsville, Texas. She said she was unable to provide a cause, but an autopsy will be performed.

Mitte played Walter White Jr., the son of Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher-turned-meth dealer Walter White on nearly every episode of the five seasons of the AMC show, which recently ranked as the best of the 21st century in a New York Times poll.

Diagnosed at age 3, Mitte told the AP in 2014 that his disability and the surrounding struggles with physical therapy, family problems and exorbitant medical bills — all key subjects on the show — made him better at his job.“You develop a different mentality and you develop a different look at how the world sees you and how you see the world,” he said. “You’re able to use that. And I think it’s an asset instead of something that would hinder.”

Mitte was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi.

He landed small guest roles on sitcoms after moving to Los Angeles to act in 2006. Like his character, he was in his mid-teens when he began his work on “Breaking Bad,” starting in 2007. The show ran from 2008 to 2013.

“Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” the actor’s representatives said in a statement announcing his death. The statement said he used “his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation.”

His later credits included the ABC Family series “Switched at Birth” and the superhero satire series “Guardians of Justice.”

He was also a producer of several independent films.

As an advocate, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s. He was also president of his own Mitte Foundation supporting philanthropic and community initiatives around disabilities.