Last month, the Voice of OC ran an article on the Anaheim Rapid Connection project that basically made the argument that the whole reason for building ARC is to help Disney but Disney isn’t being asked to pay for it. I thought it was a silly argument, which strikes me as akin to condemning economic activity and the automobile companies ...

Disneyland second annual 24-Hour Party got underway at 6:00 a.m. this morning. People started lining up yesterday evening and a couple of thousand were ready to enter when the park opened its gates this morning, according to the OC Register. Having learned via experience just how popular this event is, Disneyland and the city are better prepared to cope with ...

It was a loooooong Anaheim City Council meeting (I did not attend as it is my youngest daughter’s birthday, but caught as much as I could on the Internet), the Anaheim City Council voted 4-1 to approve the GardenWalk economic assistance agreement. Mayor Pro Tem Gail Eastman and Councilmembers Lucille Kring, Kris Murray and Jordan Brandman voted “yes.” Mayor Tom ...

Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait recorded a robocall that went out yesterday (I don’t know how wide a voter universe it went to): This is Mayor Tom Tait. At tomorrow’s city council meeting, special interests and lobbyists are returning to ask taxpayers to subsidize two luxury hotels. If passed, our city will be forced to pay one developer $158 million dollars over the next 29 years, taking away money meant ...

The GardenWalk Hotels agreement is on the May 14 agenda of the Anaheim City Council.  The cap on the total TOT rebate is still $158 million (which is a tricky number that merits further explanation in another post), but the 80%-20% split has been modified to 70%-30% stretched out over a longer period of time of 20 years (which actually ...

Let us put disagreement aside for a moment and unite around something all can agree on: The annual OC Greek Fest at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim is a great time! OC Greek Fest 2013 is a great Anaheim tradition and coming the weekend after next: May 17:  3-10 p.m. May 18: Noon-10 p.m. May 19: Noon-10 p.m. The address ...

I encourage you to read today’s Voice of OC article on last night’s forum organized by the East Street Community Renewal Initiative (ESCRI), a project of former (and potentially future) Councilwoman Lorri Galloway. It contains many jewels. Let’s start with this one: “The consensus from the forum attendees was clear – the police department is still racist, and city government still can’t ...

The uncertainty over exactly who was managing city government was dispelled on Tuesday when the City Council, which would be Bob Wingenroth’s last as City Manager. The council confirmed Anaheim Public Utilities General Manager Marcie Edwards would henceforth take the reins as Interim City Manager. Edwards, a veteran of Anaheim city government, will not seek the permanent city manager position. ...

Some of my Republican friends argue with me over my support for the GardenWalk project TOT rebate, pointing out that it isn’t free market economics and that government shouldn’t subsidize a business enterprise. My response is that they’re right, but Anaheim isn’t working in a free market. I recognize that state government has gone too far on the regulation and ...

Wondering what kind of anti-business policies single-member council districts would make more likely in Anaheim? Look no further than UNITE-HERE Local 11’s lobbying of the City of Anaheim to adopt a “retention” policy a la that paragon of mismanagement and ill-governance, Los Angeles. To illustrate how “retention” works, I’ll excerpt from Los Angeles International Airport’s retention policy, which imposes these requirements on LAX contractors: ...