Majority of Anaheim council asks Mayor Sidhu to step down
A majority of Anaheim City Council members are now calling on Mayor Harry Sidhu to resign, two days after the revelation he is under federal investigation for alleged corruption, partly in connection with the Angel Stadium sale.
The city announced Wednesday that Mayor Pro Tem Trevor O’neil and councilmen Steve Faessel and Jose Diaz have reached out to Sidhu through his attorney to make the request.
Tuesday night, at a council meeting Sidhu didn’t attend, Councilman Avelino Valencia publicly called for the mayor’s resignation.
In a letter to attorney Paul
Meyer, O’neil wrote, “The deeply troubling issues that have come to our attention involving Mayor Sidhu since May 16, 2022, raise serious concerns and questions about his ability to continue as mayor of Anaheim.
“I and my City Council colleagues now must seek to support the continuity of municipal government, uphold the public trust and continue with the business of the city of Anaheim without the distraction and uncertainty created by the federal investigation involving Mayor Sidhu.”
On Monday, the investigation into Sidhu became public with the release of an FBI affidavit supporting search warrants.
The affidavit filed in federal court on May 12 says the FBI is investigating whether Sidhu “shared privileged and confidential information with the Angels during stadium sale negotiations, actively concealed same from a Grand Jury inquiry, and expects to receive campaign contributions as a result.”
Sidhu has not been charged.
His attorney, Meyer, has said it would be premature to comment on the allegations; neither Sidhu nor Meyer could immediately be reached Wednesday.
When Valencia first called for Sidhu to step down at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, many residents in the audience applauded.
“I can’t recall such a dark day as yesterday in Anaheim’s history,” Valencia said Tuesday of the news that Sidhu is under federal investigation in connection with the city’s pending sale of Angel Stadium to Angels owner Arte Moreno’s business partnership.
Faessel also called the evidence offered in the affidavit released this week “pretty damning.”
Council members chose during Tuesday’s council meeting to move up their period for making comments and announcements to the beginning portion of the night so they could speak and then allow the several community members present to react during the usual public comment time.
Councilwoman Gloria Sahagun Ma’ae said she felt a feeling of betrayal. “It hit at the core.”
Diaz echoed those sentiments, saying, “It broke my heart. I’m in disbelief.”
Also announced Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office are charges against former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament of lying about his assets when purchasing a second home.
The affidavit in support of the charges against Ament also allege he acted as a “ring leader,” along with an unnamed political consultant, of “a specific, covert group of individuals that wielded significant influence over the inner workings of Anaheim’s government.”
Councilman Jose Moreno, who has fought against rushing the stadium deal and voted against it, asked for the city attorney to launch an independent investigation, by an outside firm, to look into the extent staff might have been involved in the alleged actions.
Then, choking up and saying, “this hurts,” he continued, “To our Anaheim staff, please know that for me this is not an indictment of you and your integrity. Rather, I find this necessary to assure that your names and reputations are not unnecessarily smeared.”
Moreno also asked city administrators to immediately cut all financial ties to the Chamber of Commerce and its related Anaheim First initiative. No council action was taken on any of Moreno’s requests.
He also said he plans to bring back an ordinance he earlier proposed related to campaign finances “to mitigate the undue influence of money in the governance of our city.”