The City of Anaheim is informing its residents, businesses and visitors of the potential for additional traffic in The Anaheim Resort beginning Thursday evening through Saturday morning, and is encouraging anyone traveling through that area to plan accordingly. Disneyland Resort’s Monstrous Summer! All-Nighter special event begins Friday, May 24 at 6 a.m., for a continuous 24 hours.

As with any major sporting event, concert, convention or combination thereof in Anaheim, the City is committed to providing its residents, businesses and guests information for an enjoyable experience and a minimal interruption for all.

In addition to Anaheim City News, the City will utilize its Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/CityofAnaheim) and Anaheim Alert should urgent and timely information need to be disseminated quickly. Anaheim Alert is the City’s alert notification system used to immediately send useful information via text messages to email accounts or wireless devices. Anaheim Alert is free, though standard text message rates may apply. In addition, traffic flow will be monitored throughout the entire event to assist in getting people to their destinations as efficiently as possible.

Disneyland Resort has created a webpage specific to this event, with details on regular parking, overflow parking, traffic flow instructions, early arrivals, additional shuttle service and more. Those planning to attend the special event are encouraged to plan in advance by reviewing the information (click here).

Disneyland Resort also encourages their guests to stay connected via the following links:

· Follow @Disneyland, @DisneylandToday and @DCAToday on Twitter to stay connected and receive the latest updates during your visit to the Disneyland Resort. Disney will also have live updates throughout the day on the Disney Parks Blog.

· More information on the Monstrous Summer All-Nighter can be found here.

The City of Anaheim today issued notice to cease operations to the 11 operating medical marijuana dispensaries (MMDs) in the City, following the unanimous California Supreme Court ruling of May 6, 2013 affirming the right of cities to enact MMD bans.

According to United States law, a dispensary’s operations involving sales and distribution of marijuana, regardless of whether the marijuana is dispensed for medicinal purposes, are illegal and subject to criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions. Anaheim’s Municipal Code bans all operation of MMDs and has done so since 2007. The Anaheim City Attorney’s office has vigorously defended this position in court since that time, despite legal action against the City. It is the City’s position that medical marijuana dispensaries violate City law and are illegal, and the recent Supreme Court opinion has vindicated the City’s position.

Failure to close operations by May 24 at 1 p.m. will result in enforcement action against the MMD, which may include criminal charges being filed against any person found to be in operation of the MMD, fines in the amount of $1,000 for each day that the MMD continues to operate, the filing of a civil action, or any combination of the above.

On August 7, 2007, the City Council adopted Ordinance 4.20.030 prohibiting MMDs.

On Jan. 18, 2011 the Anaheim City Council enacted a moratorium to prohibit MMDs within City limits. As many as 143 businesses had opened in Anaheim, however thanks to the input of community members, Code Enforcement and the Anaheim Police Department, the City has closed all but 11 MMDs, seven of which opened prior to the moratorium.

The City will continue to monitor this illegal activity. Anyone in observance of MMD business operations or activity related to MMDs can report information to Code Enforcement at 714-765-5158, or online through Anaheim Anytime. Additionally, any criminal activity should immediately be reported to the Anaheim Police Department at 714-765-1900. Callers and those utilizing the Anaheim Anytime online system do have the option to remain anonymous.

The Anaheim City Council approved plans for a review of the City Charter, including the formation of a Charter Review Committee as part of a review process, it was announced at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. The charter serves as the Anaheim’s fundamental governing document and outlines certain authority and restrictions the City has over municipal affairs. The review, as unanimously approved by the City Council, will commence with applications being accepted for the Charter Review Committee.

Applications are currently available online and at the City Clerk’s public counter, and will be received through May 31. The applications will be presented for Council consideration and appointment at the June 11 Council meeting. Criteria for candidate participation include being a registered voter in the City of Anaheim, demonstration of knowledge on how government operates, and a commitment to the time required during the charter review process.

It is anticipated the Charter Review Committee will meet twice a month during this review period. All committee meetings will be subject to the Brown Act and will be held in a public forum.

The Anaheim City Charter was adopted in 1964 and approved in 1965, thereby establishing Anaheim as a Charter City in the State of California. City charters are often referred to as a city’s “constitution” and can function both to expand local city control over municipal affairs, as well as limit a charter city’s power. Since adoption of the charter, the City of Anaheim has conducted four charter reviews, or approximately every 10 years, and during that time 27 amendments have been adopted. The most recent charter review took place in 1999. Each charter review has included a citizen review committee.

For more information on the City Charter, the charter review process, and to access the application, please visit www.anaheim.net/charter.

For more information on the City of Anaheim, please visit www.anaheim.net.

Last night, the Anaheim City Council voted to approve an economic assistance agreement with GardenWalk Hotel, LLC. for the construction of two new luxury hotels. This agreement will provide for City services, and promote economic opportunities and jobs in the community.

The economic assistance agreement is structured in a manner that carries no risk to the City’s General Fund and requires the private sector to put up the funds to build the project. The City is not paying any upfront costs and simply shares an equivalent portion of any new Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) generated by the hotels after they are built. Additionally, the agreement is expected to create an estimated 3,000 construction-related jobs and 1,300 permanent hospitality jobs upon completion.

The project is expected to generate approximately $484.5 million in new TOT to the City over the term of the agreement. Of that total, $255.6 million (more than half) is expected to be retained by the General Fund. These funds along with another approximate $23 million in the form of property and sales taxes from the development of this project will support public safety, parks, libraries and other vital City services.

Once the hotels are completed and the developments begin to generate TOT funds, the agreement provides that an amount equivalent to 70% of the TOT generated from the hotels will be provided to the developer over 20 years, with a cap of $158 million. Of the remaining TOT revenue from the project, an amount equivalent to 20% will be dedicated to accelerating the retirement of the current resort bonds and an amount equivalent to 10% of the revenue will go directly into the City’s General Fund. The term of the proposed Agreement (2016 – 2042) accounts for differing start periods based on the timing of construction and completion.

The City initially adopted the Anaheim Hotel Development Economic Assistance Program in 2008 as a means of providing more jobs, adding more hotel rooms, and enhancing the guest experience in The Anaheim Resort district, including Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Honda Center, City National Grove of Anaheim, and the Anaheim Convention Center. Incentives that are part of this recent agreement come from future Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenues and do not impact current or existing City services.

For more information on this program, residents can access all of the related Council staff reports that pertain to Anaheim’s Hotel Development Economic Assistance Program and recent amendments HERE.

Questions about this issue or any other City issue can be directed to Anaheim Anytime, the City’s 24/7 online portal to City Hall. Visit www.anaheim.net, keyword Anaheim Anytime.

Anaheim Council Agrees to Another Business Subsidy

Anyone who has read the agenda for Tuesday’s Anaheim City Council meeting knows that a vote is expected on a controversial $158-million room tax subsidy for the developer of two planned four-star hotels at the GardenWalk outdoor mall.

But known to only a few is that in recent weeks the City Council quietly approved a legal settlement that in essence grants another large subsidy, this time to the owners of the mall.

The settlement, which the Council voted on in closed session, calls for the mall owners, Anaheim Capital Partners, to receive up to 50 percent of the city’s portion of sales tax revenue generated by the mall for the next 25 years. This fiscal year, the owners get 30 percent, and going forward the subsidy could be worth tens of millions of dollars.

In exchange for the sales tax revenue, Anaheim Capital Partners dropped a claim on the room tax revenue generated by the hotels, effectively clearing the way for that money to be handed over to the developers of the hotel, which include hotelier Bill O’Connell.

The revelation about the sales tax subsidy is likely to further heighten tensions surrounding the room tax subsidy, which has been the subject of intense controversy since it was first brought before the council more than a year ago. In January 2012, the council approved the subsidy in a 3-2 vote over loud objections from community groups that insisted it was a giveaway to big business at the expense of neighborhoods.

A judge, however, nullified the vote because the council did not provide enough notice to the public, a violation of the state’s open meetings law known as the Ralph M. Brown Act.

All along, one of the arguments of proponents of the hotel subsidy has been that while the city would be returning the room tax revenues back to the developer, hotel patrons would boost sales at the GardenWalk mall and provide at least some sales tax revenue to the city’s general fund.

Now it is becoming apparent that the general fund will be splitting that revenue with another group of private owners.

Mayor Tom Tait, the only council member to vote against the settlement, said he is puzzled by the deal. He indicated that the legal accord had been rushed and that he learned of the issue only recently. Tait said the owners of the mall never filed a lawsuit or even articulated their claim to the tax revenue.

“I first heard about this claim Monday night before the [April 30] council meeting,” Tait said. “There’s no reason to settle this. I’m not even sure what their claim is.”

Councilwoman Gail Eastman said she had no comment on the settlement. Council members Kris Murray, Jordan Brandman and Lucille Kring did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The settlement stems from a 2009 mall parking structure lease between the city and the mall’s previous owner, Anaheim GW II. The lease had granted the sales tax and room tax subsidies to Anaheim GW II, but the mall struggled during the recession and ultimately the development’s lender foreclosed on the property.

Katella Anaheim Retail — an entity owned and managed by the mall’s financiers, CitiGroup Global Markets Realty Corp. — also attempted to pursue the sales tax and room tax revenue. But the city’s position had been that, under state law, the parking lease terminated upon foreclosure.

Katella laid out various rebuttals to that argument in correspondence to the city. According to a 2010 letter from the entity’s attorney, the mall’s development agreement specifically refers to the parking lease and a sublease, stating they can only be terminated pursuant to the lease terms, notwithstanding a foreclosure.

The dispute was never resolved, and in late 2012 Katella sold the property to Anaheim Capital Partners. The group’s partners include Arcturus Group, Avenue Capital Group and Elliot Management.

Why the current owners of the mall believe they have claim to city funds is unclear. Representatives of Arcturus Group, which is handling the day-to-day management of the property, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Adding to the intrigue are clear indications that former Mayor Curt Pringle, who remains an influential lobbyist in the city, is close to the issue. It is widely known that Pringle has been the consultant to O’Connell on the hotel development subsidy. According to sources close to City Hall, there are signs that Pringle is a consultant for Arcturus Group.

Curt Pringle and Associates has also been a consultant to CitiBank, according to the consulting firm’s website. CitiGroup Global Markets Realty Corp. is the financier of the GardenWalk mall loan and controlled Katella Anaheim Retail, which took ownership of the mall after the foreclosure.

Pringle, who maintains close relationships with council members, particularly Brandman and Murray, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Regardless of the sales tax settlement, tonight’s showdown over the hotels subsidy is likely to be contentious.

Tait recorded a robocall recently urging city residents to oppose the deal. And other activists who have opposed the subsidy are known to be mobilizing.

Under the terms of the new deal, the hotels partnership is to receive 70 percent of the room-tax revenue for 20 years, or until the revenue collected by the developer hits $158 million, according to a city staff report.

Another 20 percent of the room tax revenue would go toward paying off resort district bonds. The city would net 10 percent for the general fund, which pays for city services like public safety, libraries and parks.

Proponents of the subsidy say that it is necessary to secure financing of the hotels project, which city officials say will generate 3,000 temporary jobs and 1,300 jobs in the long term. They also argue that, while the subsidy won’t yield much room tax revenue at first, it will ensure much more revenue after 20 years.

“Once those agreements sunset or reach their max, 100 percent TOT [room tax] comes into our coffers. To me that’s an investment in our future that I’m willing to make,” Eastman said.

Yet hotel financing experts said that within as soon as a year the subsidy won’t be necessary to kick-start construction of the hotels because the hotel market is rapidly improving. They argued that if the city would wait until then, the hotels could be built without the subsidy, and the city could keep $158 million of the room tax revenue.

“The value of waiting an extra year could be substantial to the city,” said Jack Corgel, professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, in a January interview. “Why would you do this now? What’s the urgency?”
Corgel said in an email last week that he stands behind that assertion.

“The hotel markets continue on a steady path of income growth, although the values are a bit sticky and no headwinds seem to be forming. Waiting still makes sense,” Corgel wrote.

O’Connell said the experts are wrong. According to O’Connell, hotel patrons will only pay the high prices of a four-star hotel in big-name cities like San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

By having the city subsidy, O’Connell’s hotels would be able to lower their prices.

“It’s difficult to even purchase a home today,” O’Connell said. “You’re unable to get financing for this type of project, especially in the city of Anaheim. … You never have been and you’re never going to get that in the future unless there is a public-private partnership.”

Article Source: ADAM ELMAHREK – Voice of OC

-Anaheim Connected

The Anaheim City Council has appointed Marcie Edwards to serve as Anaheim’s interim City Manager effective today, May 1, until a permanent replacement has been selected, it was announced at last night’s City Council meeting.

Bob Wingenroth’s resignation as the current City Manager was accepted by the Anaheim City Council on April 16. Wingenroth’s planned departure date of June 7 will remain the same, but a transition was made in order to afford Wingenroth greater flexibility to address family matters in the interim, as well as to insure a smooth transition should the recruitment for a permanent City Manager replacement extend past June 7. Edwards does not plan to be a candidate for the permanent City Manager position.

The City Council also announced the firm of Ralph Anderson and Associates has been retained to conduct a search for the permanent Anaheim City Manager position. According to the City Charter, the City Manager is one of four positions that reports directly to the City Council.

Edwards has been with the City of Anaheim as their Utility General Manager since January of 2001. Between 2009 and 2011 she was also assigned as Acting Deputy/Assistant City Manager, concurrent with her assignment as Utility General Manager, to assist through a variety of staffing transitions.

In 2004, Anaheim loaned Edwards to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the agency that manages the majority of power plant generation in California, and that also manages electricity transactions equating to roughly $2.5 billion in annual billings. Edwards served as the CAISO interim CEO for a six month stint while they conducted an international search for a permanent replacement. As interim CEO at the CAISO, Edwards was instrumental in helping to prevent wide scale regional blackouts during a fairly volatile time.

Prior to Anaheim, her previous career spanned almost 25 years at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power where she served in a variety of capacities, including both craft as well as executive management positions.

Edwards currently sits on the Southern California Public Power Authority Board, the Board of the Association of Women in Energy and the Environment, Clean Tech OC, and the California Municipal Utilities Association. She is a past Director on the Metropolitan Water District Board, a past president of the Anaheim Community Foundation, and a past regional Board member of the American Public Power Association. Edwards holds a Bachelor’s degree in Organization Management and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne.

She is married with one grown son.