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Anaheim’s disappointing punt on ethics reform

January 23, 2025

The city of Anaheim passed a number of mostly sensible reforms in the wake of a corruption scandal that saw former Mayor Harry Sidhu plead guilty to federal corruption charges surrounding the attempted sale of the city owned stadium to the Angels baseball team. The fracas exposed the seedy sense of influence peddling within City Hall.

Unfortunately, the city is backing away from a key reform that resulted in better oversight and disclosure. That change required city officials to publicly disclose who they were meeting with (outside of normal internal city meetings) on their official calendars posted on the city’s website. The idea made sense after investigations alleged backdoor deal-making and secret meetings. The calendars were public, but accessing them required a public-information request.

“When we brought this forward the first time, it really stemmed from an obligation to restore the public’s faith in our service and making sure that our intentions were true,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said, according to published reports. But the mayor and City Council recently unanimously approved gutting that requirement in the name of giving officials more flexibility.

What’s the point in implementing this idea – and then removing the rule a year later? We understand the need for perhaps clarifying some of the required meeting notices, especially those involving impromptu ones. Nevertheless, the walk-back gives the sense that some of these reforms were more about restoring public faith in the process rather than earning that faith by adopting new ways of conducting official business.

The new policy requires the reporting of meetings “that are materially and significantly related to official city business.” It exempts reporting of public events and ceremonies. “City officials are encouraged to report unscheduled calls and/or meetings of a material or significant nature relating to official city business,” it added. Encouraged is a far cry from required. We’re not fans of the caveats and the ifs, ands or buts.

We’re glad, as Aitken put it, the disclosure rules are meant as a floor rather than a ceiling, but it’s a bad look. Anaheim should do better

Orange County Register

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Anaheim’s disappointing punt on ethics reform

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