DA questions Irvine chamber’s use of special tax revenues for hotel promotions

• January 19, 2024

Orange County prosecutors are looking into how the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce spent millions of dollars in tax money earmarked for promoting hotels and tourism.

Local hoteliers, suspecting that too much of the money went to chamber overhead, persuaded the city early last year to create a special board to take over management of the taxes.

Documents obtained by Southern California News Group show that Deputy District Attorney Avery T. Harrison in November asked the city for about 20 years worth of records regarding the Hotel Improvement District, established in 2002 to generate taxes for a tourism bureau. The chamber was brought in to administer the bureau, called Destination Irvine, which promoted hotels and tourism in Orange County’s third most populous city.

The district attorney’s office also is seeking, among other things, reports generated by the chamber on how it specifically proposed to use the funds, generated by the 2% tax on hotel stays..

Hotel groups had alleged that the chamber wouldn’t share with them how it was administering the money. The chamber responded that it released audited financial statements every year, showing that the overhead was “appropriate.”

News of the apparent probe, first reported by the Voice of OC, came on the heels of the chamber’s announcement Jan. 9 that Chief Executive Officer Bryan Starr left this month after seven years to “pursue a new opportunity.”

“Bryan’s service has had an undeniable impact on Irvine’s economy,” said the announcement on the chamber’s website. “His work helped bring global companies — and their jobs and investment — to Irvine. … We look forward to seeing the impact Bryan will have in his future role and wish him well.”

Starr, who could not be reached for comment, earned $238,923 in total compensation in 2021, according to the chamber’s tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service.

The district attorney’s office would not confirm or deny that it was investigating the chamber’s management of the hotel improvement taxes, which in 2021 generated $2.5 million.

The money is now administered by a seven-member board consisting of city and hotel officials, which found that the chamber was charging 60% to 70% in overhead, said City Manager Oliver Chi.

“When it came to a head, (the hoteliers) decided it was just too much money that was getting deferred away from the marketing and advancement of hotel interests. Too much of that money was going to fund chamber expenditures,” Chi said.

The chamber would consistently charge a bulk of staff salaries to the Hotel Improvement District, he said. For example, at one point, only three Hotel Improvement District staffers were funded by the district, while the entire chamber operation of 15 to 20 employees also was funded, Chi said.

Additionally, 60% of the chamber’s rent costs for its entire building were charged to the Hotel Improvement District, among other things, he said.

“For comparison purposes, the city is charging the (the district) 4% of their overall budget for overhead,” Chi said.

Tony Zand, a member of the board and general counsel for hotel developer Pacific Hospitality Group, said by taking over and cutting costs, the board has found about $1 million more in available funds.

“We had someone who isn’t in our industry acting as the middleman and not really acting on our behalf,” Zand said, adding that local hoteliers never could get any details from the chamber on where the money was going.

“The catalyst is we didn’t have a good grasp on how the administrative side was being handled,” he said. “The lack of clarity was the problem … we didn’t know what was going on.”

Documents provided by the chamber to Southern California News Group show the hotel improvement tax pays for nearly all of the chamber’s Business and Economic Division.

Laura Perdew, vice president of marketing and communications for the chamber, noted that the chamber provided the city each year with audited financial statements on the division. She said the chamber also provided to the city and hoteliers a yearly proposal on how the hotel money would be spent.

Perdew said the audited statements show that “the percentages regarding overhead were appropriate.”

The financial statements indicate that in 2022, total personnel costs for the chamber’s Business and Economic Division were $706,345. Management and general costs amounted to $240,133. Total expenses added up to $1.9 million for that division, with the Hotel Improvement District that year generating $2.5 million.

​ Orange County Register 

Idaho volleyball practice Thursday with Chris Gonzalez described as ‘weird’

• January 19, 2024

Idaho volleyball players completed without incident Thursday afternoon their first practice with head coach Chris Gonzalez since Gonzalez has been under investigation for allegedly bullying and abusing players during his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school.

During the hour-long practice, Gonzalez did not address the investigation by a Texas law firm hired by the university or the 9,000-word December 30 Southern California News Group report that prompted an expansion of the investigation, according to players.

Only eight of the team’s 12 current members attended the practice Thursday. Three players chose not to attend after the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigation granted players the option of not attending practices where Gonzalez is present. Another player was unable to practice after recently undergoing surgery.

To date, 12 current or former Idaho players, six parents and three university employees maintain that Gonzalez has bullied and physically, verbally and emotionally abused Vandals players, pressured them to play or practice while injured and denied athletes food throughout his two seasons at Idaho. Gonzalez also allegedly pushed or shoved two players to the ground during practices in 2022 and improperly touched athletes, according to player interviews and university documents

The practice was also attended by Beth Ropski, the case manager assigned by the dean of students to the volleyball case, and Jackie Gharapour Wernz, the OCRI’s interim director. Ropski told players in an email on Tuesday that she plans “to attend all practices where your coach/assistant coaches will be present.”

Wernz is also a partner at Thompson & Horton, the law firm conducting the investigation of Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was “smiling, upbeat,” said Vandals player Emma Patterson. “He introduced himself to Beth and Jackie, joked with them.”

“It was weird, uncomfortable, I guess,” Patterson said.

The team resumes practice Friday morning.

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​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy excited to start over after a disappointing 2023

• January 19, 2024

CARSON — After one of the worst seasons in club history, the Galaxy kicked off its preseason this week, hoping the only place to go is upward.

The Galaxy finished in 13th place in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for fifth time in the past seven seasons.

“After last year, we all have a little chip on our shoulder,” Galaxy midfielder Mark Delgado said Thursday. “We’re all excited to get back and turn things around. I’m excited and everyone is excited to get going again.”

While the regular-season opener is a little more than a month away – Feb. 25 against Inter Miami CF – the first preseason game is Jan. 27. There are still pieces to be added and players to arrive.

“I feel good about what we’re working toward,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We have some guys still recovering, in the final stages of recovering from some issues from last season, we have players still to arrive, we’re still not quite whole yet as it comes to preparing for the season, but I’m excited about the group we have.

“I think we’re going to be more dynamic, we’re going to be more active, looking forward to it and the sooner we can get everybody in, the more we can start to really get on the same page, which is going to be a key part of this as well.”

The Galaxy is closing in on additions that should bolster the attack. First is Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Pec from Vasco da Gama. Pec, 22, scored 14 goals with five assists across all competitions last season. The Galaxy has also been linked with Ghanian winger Joseph Paintsil. In the past two seasons with Genk in the Belgian Pro League, he’s scored 23 goals with 15 assists.

Galaxy general manager Will Kuntz confirmed there have been no conversations with Carlos Vela, who is a free agent after playing at LAFC. As usual, the Galaxy has been linked with several players from Europe.

“Everybody knows the Galaxy. I think the club’s history speaks for itself, our history of players is its own recruiting job and Southern California. I’m really just the guy who maybe opens up a Powerpoint or a video presentation,” Kuntz said. “Selling them on our vision, obviously, this is a very ambitious club. I think it really resonates with players that they have an opportunity to come here and help us get back to those lofty heights that we once occupied.”

The first challenge facing the Galaxy will be rebuilding a defensive presence. The club allowed 67 goals last season. Defender Martin Caceres is nearing a return after missing the majority of last season with an avulsion fracture in his left knee, free agent John Nelson joins on a two-year contract and the team added Japanese defender Miki Yamane to a three-year contract.

Gaston Brugman (torn meniscus) is also returning, which will help shore up the midfield.

“It wasn’t the season we wanted, huge disappointment,” center back Maya Yoshida said. “We need to come back as quick as possible. We need to prepare well. It’s a big season ahead for me and the team as well.”

Two of the Galaxy’s three Designated Player spots are open with the departures of Douglas Costa and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. Riqui Puig, the third, has yet to arrive, but Vanney expects him in town next week.

After arriving midseason in a trade with Austin FC, Diego Fagundez is looking to play a larger role this season.

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“Last year was not what we wanted,” Fagundez said. “This year, we want to work on things that we weren’t good at last year. Now we can prepare in preseason and by the time season comes I think we will be ready to go.”

“As an attacking player, I think he (Vanney) wants us to create chances and score goals and that’s what I’m going to try to do this year. My goal is to get to seven goals, seven assists or more, that’s been my goal for years and last year I didn’t get that and I was very disappointed about it. So this year is a new year. I’m coming in fresh and I’m going to try to do anything to help out this team.”

​ Orange County Register 

Newport Beach estate, still under construction, aims for a record $89 million

• January 19, 2024

A Newport Beach ultra-luxury mansion taking shape in Crystal Cove behind double gates has hit the market for $89 million.

That makes it the most expensive listing in Orange County.

Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker Realty, one of two agents who represent the Newport Coast trophy estate still under construction, told the Southern California News Group in October 2023 that OC is increasingly producing the kind of high-end luxury builds with the potential for $100 million-plus sales.

“Historically, nobody has built properties to meet that demand, but over the next three to five years, I think you’ll see the best sales in the United States here in Orange County because you’re starting to see people build homes that will fetch those prices,” he said then.

Now, here’s an example of an upward price trend — a mansion marketed as “a masterpiece of engineering and design” with natural light from an atrium to illuminate each level, extending two levels above and below ground.

The nearly 15,000-square-foot, four-story house will have five bedrooms, eight bathrooms and a car museum when it’s completed in 2025, according to the listing, as a collaboration by architect Geoff Sumich, builder Ryan Hill of Hill Construction Co., and designer Errol Dejager .

Sited on a three-quarter-acre bluff lot, the property overlooks Pelican Hill Golf Club and offers unobstructed ocean and coastline views. It’s a quick drive to Crystal Cove State Park, Crystal Cove Shopping Center, John Wayne Airport and Fashion Island.

The house fronts a private street in the Crystal Cove Estate Collection neighborhood. From the streetside, a staircase descends to a bridge over a pond from which Sumich, in a video tour, envisions fog emanating at night.

“When you’re walking across the bridge, you’re literally walking across a cloud as you get the entry,” he said.

Arched glass entry doors open into the foyer flanked by offices, and an interior bridge to the living areas and kitchen passes through the multi-level atrium.

“You stand at the bridge, and you look into the volume of that courtyard,” Dejager said in the video. “It takes your breath away.”

The property is owned through a California limited liability company managed by Scott Mather, a former Pimco portfolio manager who retired at the end of 2022. County records show Mather and his wife, Nicole, have been linked to it since January 2007. Thee couple transferred it into an LLC in February 2018. In October 2023, the unfinished home hit the market at just under $50 million and resurfaced on Jan. 12 at its current ask.

According to the listing, the main floor seamlessly flows into the backyard swimming pool, spa, and loggia.

The atrium carries natural light two levels down to a basement-level shallow pond with an acrylic bottom that illuminates the subterranean level below. It has a swimming pool with a spa and waterfall, a wellness center with a sauna and steam room, a gym and the car museum, accessible by lift from the garage one floor up.

Together they hold a minimum of 13 cars.

Other property highlights include a bar lounge, home theater and wine room with storage.

Smith shares the listing with Georgina Jacobson of Coldwell Banker Realty.

​ Orange County Register 

Mistrial declared in trial against ex-LAPD officer who fatally shot disabled man in Corona Costco

• January 19, 2024

A mistrial was declared Thursday afternoon, Jan. 18, when the jury deadlocked on the charges against a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who fatally shot an intellectually disabled man and wounded his parents after the man slugged the off-duty officer at the Costco on Corona in 2019.

The state Attorney General’s Office must now decide whether to retry Salvador Alejandro Sanchez on charges of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Kenneth French and two counts of assault with a firearm for injuring French’s parents, Paola and Russell, after the unprovoked attack on Sanchez as he held his toddler son.

Superior Court Judge Jason L. Stone scheduled a trial-readiness conference for Feb. 13 at Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Sanchez’s attorney, Michael Schwartz, said after Thursday’s hearing that there had been “some movement” in the attempt Thursday to get the unanimous verdict required by law and that “the majority” of the jurors favored acquittal. Schwartz did not have the exact count.

“I just think it’s the kind of case where it was a tragedy but it wasn’t a crime, and at this point, they put it in front of a (Riverside County) grand jury and there was no indictment, and they put it in front of a jury and there was no conviction, and at this point, all parties should be allowed to move on,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the defense can make a motion to dismiss the case but added that those requests are rarely granted.

Messages were sent to the prosecutor, state Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy, and the Attorney General’s Office seeking comment.

Jurors were given the case in the monthlong trial on Dec. 27 after attorneys debated whether Sanchez acted recklessly and in haste or whether he was justified in firing a volley of 10 shots seconds after the blindside punch to his head that knocked him to the floor as he held his 20-month-old son.

The deliberations were interrupted because of scheduling issues in early January, and jurors did not reconvene until Thursday.

Sanchez, 33, faced up to 33 years in prison if convicted on all counts, Murphy said.

Kenneth French, top, with his parents Paola French and Russell French in a family photo. The parents were wounded and their son was killed when LAPD Officer Salvador Sanchez opened fire after being punched by Kenneth in the Costco in Corona on June 14, 2019. (Photo courtesy of French family)

Testimony during the trial was the basis for nuanced closing arguments about whether Sanchez’s actions met the standard for self-defense: what a reasonable person would do given the same circumstances.

Corona police arrived four minutes after the shooting on June 14, 2019, by Sanchez, who was off duty and not in uniform. Sanchez, in the body-worn camera video, is seen sitting on the deli floor without any visible injuries. He told officers that he believed he saw a flash and that he had been shot. Sanchez said he believed he was knocked unconscious when he hit his head on the floor and that he saw his attacker holding a gun, so he fired his service weapon.

Kenneth French was struck four times and his parents once each.

Sanchez was then helped up and was escorted outside, unassisted. He was examined at a hospital and prescribed painkillers, according to his attorney, Michael Schwartz, a lawyer known for defending police officers against criminal charges.

Murphy took on Sanchez’s account on several fronts.

Murphy said anyone carrying a gun loaded with 13 bullets should have been more responsible. Murphy accused Sanchez of fabricating the belief that he had been shot to avoid prosecution. Murphy pointed out to jurors that despite Sanchez believing that he’d been injured in the head, he was able to clearly recollect the events for police.

And Murphy repeatedly insisted that Sanchez should have taken a moment to assess exactly what happened. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office determined that 3.8 seconds elapsed between the punch and the first shot. Had Sanchez realized he had been slugged and not shot, Murphy said, Kenneth French would be alive and his parents would not have been wounded.

Murphy said the danger had passed after the punch and that Sanchez was defending a threat that no longer existed.

Schwartz countered that there was testimony that after the punch, French stood near Sanchez with his fists clenched and with an “angry” look on his face and was capable of additional attack. Had Sanchez waited and the threat had been real, Schwartz said, Sanchez and his son could have been killed.

Schwartz said Sanchez fired not to kill, but to preserve the lives of himself and his son. Once the threat was ended, he stopped shooting.

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Schwartz also played a body-worn camera video that showed Paola French, despite being shot and suffering wounds that would require several surgeries, was, like Sanchez, also able to clearly recollect events for police.

After Corona police completed their investigation, District Attorney Mike Hestrin asked a court to convene a criminal grand jury to hear testimony. That grand jury declined to indict Sanchez.

Hestrin, even though he said he believed he could not completely clear Sanchez, then decided not to charge him. Hestrin said he believed Sanchez genuinely feared for his life and that the officer did not receive special treatment.

“It was the type of case where the community needs to weigh in and draw the lines and say this is what we think about an off-duty officer using force,” Hestrin said in 2019.

Then in 2020, the Los Angeles Police Commission determined that Sanchez’s actions violated department policy, and he was fired.

Sanchez “made no attempts to communicate with Kenneth in an effort to de-escalate the incident,” a report from LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. “Additionally, Kenneth was being pushed away (from Sanchez) and was not armed. (Sanchez) did not take time to correctly assess the incident and to analyze the threat.”

In 2022, a federal jury awarded $17 million to French’s parents in a civil case. Jurors found Sanchez was acting in his role as a police officer — which made the city of Los Angeles liable for paying for most of the damages — when he was fired upon the Frenches.

Although Corona police investigated the case as an officer-involved shooting, Sanchez’s training — police are supposed to be aware of innocent bystanders who might be in the way of gunfire — was not brought up during closing arguments. Murphy said the standard for determining self-defense does not allow jurors to take into account a defendant’s background, experience or attributes.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Thursday, Jan. 18

• January 19, 2024

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Thursday, Jan. 18

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

THURSDAY’S SCORES

GIRLS SOCCER

ORANGE LEAGUE

Anaheim  2, Century 1

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Estancia 6, Orange 0

GIRLS WATER POLO

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Tustin 6, Valencia 5

Cypress 21, Kennedy 3

ORANGE LEAGUE

Savanna 13, Santa Ana Valley 12

TRINITY LEAGUE

Orange Lutheran 22, Rosary 2

Goals: (OLu) Cohen 4. Umeda 4.

Saves: (OLu) Pranajaya (OLu) 8

Other Trinity scores

JSerra 20, Santa Margarita 4

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

El Toro 13, Dana Hills 7

​ Orange County Register 

Newport Harbor names Matt Burns as football coach

• January 19, 2024

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Newport Harbor has selected alumnus Matt Burns as its football coach, Sailors principal Sean Boulton announced  Thursday.

“Newport Harbor High School proudly announces the appointment of Matt Burns, a distinguished alumnus from the class of ’94, as the school’s 18th head football coach,” a school press release stated.

New football coach at Newport Harbor pic.twitter.com/WwuEA7oJjR

— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) January 18, 2024

Burns served as the Sailors’ defensive coordinator last season, according to the team’s website. He coached under coach Peter Lofthouse, who recently left Newport Harbor to take over the program at El Toro.

Burns teaches science at Newport Harbor.

He played offensive line and linebacker for legendary Sailors football coach Jeff Brinkley.

After his playing career at Newport Harbor, he served as an assistant under Brinkley.

Newport Harbor finished 5-6 last season, falling to Trabuco Hills 24-21 in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs. The Sailors’ season included defeating Corona del Mar 21-20 for their first victory in the Battle of the Bay rivalry since 2012.

For the next two seasons, Newport Harbor will play in the Bravo League as the county shifts to leagues based on Calpreps’ power ratings. The league includes Villa Park, Yorba Linda, Corona del Mar, San Juan Hills and Tesoro.

Please send football news to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on X or Instagram

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​ Orange County Register 

Can trash flushed down San Gabriel River be stopped before it hits the beach?

• January 19, 2024

Take a stroll along the sand in Seal Beach and Long Beach near the San Gabriel River after it rains and you might wonder if you’re in a landfill.

Trash often covers the usually pristine beach after a downpour, a scene that is not just unsightly and detrimental to the ocean’s health, but a visual that puts a spotlight on the challenges trying to control trash washed to the coast.

A group of elected officials from local cities, counties and the state, as well as environmentalists, will gather in Seal Beach on Friday, Jan. 19, to brainstorm ideas on how to stop the flow of inland trash that ends up on the beach any time in rains.

“The San Gabriel River is just a trash heap,” said Assemblymember Diane Dixon, who called for the gathering. “It’s hundreds of thousands of tons of trash. It lands in those boulders on the river wall, and it’s just horrendous trash.”

The meeting is meant to be the first step in getting various agencies in the same room to talk about what needs to be done, what funding may be available, what technologies should be evaluated and conceptual planning, she said.

As a previous member of the Newport Beach City Council, Dixon participated in planning for a water wheel trash interceptor in the Back Bay, which will be able to remove upward of 100,000 pounds of the trash flowing from the San Diego Creek and Santa Ana Delhi Channel before it reaches the estuary habitat, the Newport Harbor and the open ocean.

A week of storms left trash and debris at the Seal Beach jetty in Seal Beach, CA on Friday, January 18, 2019. Free the Ocean, an ocean trivia website, raises money to help non-profit groups collect plastics from oceans and beaches. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Once in the legislature, she helped secure $1.5 million in state funds toward the trash wheel, which broke ground in September, following nearly a decade of planning. Expectations are it will start scooping up trash by December.

Now, Dixon said she wonders not only if Seal Beach can use a similar method to keep its beaches clean, but if it can work in other trash-troubled areas.

“I’d like to put a water wheel in every river that flows into the ocean in the state of California,” she said. “I want to spread the word to other cities. We have to stop this trash.”

The San Gabriel River is an especially tricky puzzle, funneling runoff from 52 inland cities into the ocean, with trash and debris getting swept up in the water flowing down storm drains.

While some cities have installed screens or capture systems – as required by the State Water Resource Control Board by December 2030 – thousands of tons of trash is still making its way down the concrete channel.

Throughout the state, concrete channels were built decades ago to transport the water during heavy rains straight to the ocean, helping to direct and contain the gushing runoff to avoid flooding streets and neighborhoods.

Trash and plant matter is piled up along the bank of the San Gabriel River just a few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean in Seal Beach on Tuesday morning, December 13, 2022. Recent heavy rains have sent trash flowing down the river from many miles inland. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Toward the north, the San Gabriel River receives drainage from 689 square miles of eastern Los Angeles County and releases it into the ocean at the border of Long Beach and Seal Beach.

As populations boomed throughout Southern California, more trash was getting tossed onto freeways and streets and left in parks, building up in gutters and sewers during dry times and getting washed by the rain to the coast through the elaborate system of underground storm drains that funnel into the major channels.

It’s a problem Seal Beach grapples with not just after the winter’s “first flush,” but every storm, said City Councilman Joe Kalmick.

He remembers talking to the city’s trash haulers after a storm a few years back as they took away 229 tons of trash.

“It took forever for our beach crew to get it all together and haul it up to the dumpsters,” he said.

But finding ways to solve the issue is like “fighting feather pillows,” he said, with the biggest challenge being getting all the different jurisdictions together to take action.

He’s been researching a solar-powered, barge interceptor with booms created by the group Ocean Clean Up based out of the Netherlands. Currently, they have about a dozen of them deployed around the world, including one at Ballona Creek in Los Angeles County.

Richard Busch, co-chairman and cleanup coordinator for Surfrider Foundation’s North Orange County chapter, called the San Gabriel River one of the “biggest polluters” in the area, always the place with the most trash during cleanups.

A gull picks up a fast food drink cup that washed up along the bank of the San Gabriel River just a few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean in Seal Beach on Tuesday morning, December 13, 2022. Recent heavy rains have sent trash flowing down the river from many miles inland. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In the past eight years, the group has held 43 cleanups, scooping up 24,626 pounds of trash. That doesn’t take into account the thousands more pounds picked up by volunteers with the nonprofit Save Our Beaches, which holds monthly cleanups, or what is removed by city workers – or what ends up in the ocean.

There’s always the single-use plastics: the straws, utensils, to-go bags and boxes. Styrofoam is always present. Then, there’s the bigger items such as tires, soccer balls, shopping carts and bed mattresses.

Just last Saturday, Surfrider teamed up with a company that brought out 95 employees for a cleanup. In 90 minutes, they scooped up 700 pounds of trash.

“It seems to be never ending, unfortunately,” Busch said.

​ Orange County Register