Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu resigns amid federal investigation

Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, who is under federal investigation for alleged corruption in the sale of Angel Stadium, resigned effective Tuesday, May 24, according to a statement from his attorney Monday.

“Mayor Sidhu has always, as his foremost priority, acted in the best interests of the City of Anaheim,” attorney

Paul S. Meyer said in a statement. “In order to continue to act in the best interests of Anaheim and to allow this great City to move forward without distraction, Harry Sidhu has resigned from his post as Mayor effective May 24, 2022.

“Meeting the needs of the community has been and will always be Harry Sidhu’s top priority.”

All members of the Anaheim City Council last week called for Sidhu’s resignation after federal investigators revealed allegations against him in an affidavit in support of a search warrant.

Sidhu has not been charged.

The city’s charter requires a vacated seat be filled by appointment; if the council members can’t reach a decision within 60 days, it goes to a special election.

But city spokesman

Mike Lyster said “we are in a unique situation where we sit now,” because the 60 days would land within just a few months of the November election, after the window opens for candidates to file.

“We’ve not fully done due diligence on this yet,” Lyster said. “We believe our charter will allow council to just put this before our voters in November.”

City staffers will be researching the options available to the council, he said.

Unless a council member requests an emergency addition to the council’s Tuesday meeting, they will not be allowed to discuss the opening until a meeting can be noticed to the public for the required amount of time, Lyster said.

“I think it’s the appropriate thing to do,” said state Sen. Tom Umberg, D-santa Ana, of Sidhu’s resignation between votes on the Senate floor.

“As a former federal prosecutor, I’m aware that the names of all those who are identified generically in the affidavits will eventually be known. I also think it’s appropriate that, rather than waiting, those people in Irvine and Anaheim should step forward and identify themselves so we can start to get this behind us.”

Before Sidhu’s announcement, Orange County Supervisor

Katrina Foley added her voice Monday to the chorus asking Sidhu to resign, with the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning gearing up to vote on a resolution also requesting his resignation.

Anaheim councilman Jose Moreno shared his thoughts on Twitter and suggested an all-purpose cleaner be used in the city.

“The resignation of Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu is a necessary but not sufficient step. The corrosive effects of money in elections pervades our City. Bring out the ‘Fabuloso’ and let’s clean this up Anaheim,” he tweeted.

Sidhu so far hasn’t responded to the investigation. He skipped last week’s Anaheim

City Council meeting and his seat would have been declared vacant if he missed the council’s Tuesday, May 24 meeting.

Sidhu’s attorney insisted in his statement that

Sidhu will be cleared.

“A fair and thorough investigation will prove that Mayor Harry Sidhu did not leak secret information in the hopes of a later political campaign contribution,” Meyer said.

He later addressed a specific allegation that Sidhu gave a political consultant information to give to the Angels in the negotiations.

“No closed session material, no secret information, was disclosed by Mayor Sidhu,” Meyer said.

Sidhu’s resignation comes a few days after the Angels and

SRB Management (formed by Angels owner Arte Moreno for the transaction) sent Anaheim a letter late Friday demanding that the city approve the Angel Stadium sale by June 14. Sidhu, however, was among the strongest supporters of the sale terms, which have been derided by many critics as too favorable to the Angels and not beneficial enough to Anaheim.

His resignation will also remove Sidhu from agencies, such as the Orange County Transporation Authority and Orange County Water District, that he represented for the city. A new city representative will need to be selected.