Councilperson Dr. Jose Moreno proposes $1 gate tax for the DLR and other venues - Failed a second time, but still very much alive.

D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
DLR92 said:
It might be best if Gate Tax is not implimited with most people are out of jobs. And when the economy slowly goes back to normal, they should think about consumers being more cautious how they spend their money at a bad economic timing.
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Do people out of jobs really buy theme park tickets?
 
DLR92

DLR92

Well-Known Member
drizgirl said:
Do people out of jobs really buy theme park tickets?
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I’m saying after recovery with people out of work find new employment. Their spending habit will be more cautious. This politician that been implementing gate tax for more than a year or so. And his ballot idea isn’t even being favored right now. It sound like before when the economy was rugged here in Anaheim. Most city council sound like they were in favor of it. Now most knew it not the time to implement new tax revenue upon tourist that come and spend money here.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OK, the Mayor was served a recall notice on July 6th, requiring him to submit a statement against the recall. Once the entire recall petition is prepared, and submitted by the organizers to the city, and the city reviews it to determine if it is valid, they have 180 days to get about 15,000 signatures that are valid, so in reality, over 20,000. If successful, it would be a special election, more than likely in April, 2021.

An "Entertainment" Tax, which has to be broad to be "legal", is expected to be prepared and circulated at the same time as the recall.

Expect the paperwork to be filed by the end of the month.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
TP2000 said:
Remind me again, what has Mayor Sidhu been accused of that warrants a recall and special election to replace him 18 months before his next election?
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Haven't seen the petition, so I have no idea what they claim he has done/not done.

As soon as it released, I will share it here.

But for your reading pleasure.

www.facebook.com

Recall Sidhu 2020

Recall Sidhu 2020, Anaheim, California. 302 likes · 12 talking about this. This isn't PERSONAL - we are rejecting a philosophy of government that makes Anaheim's big wealthy campaign donors even...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

>>
The Sidhu Recall of 2020-21

RECALL SIDHU 2020·SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2020·
Here are some of the reasons we are recalling Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu. Mayor Sidhu has put the interests of his campaign contributors over the interests of the Anaheim residents in the following ways:
· Sold the taxpayer-owned Angels Stadium property to his billionaire contributor Arte Moreno for a fraction of its value, while failing to include any “community benefits,” any Project Labor Agreement, or even the inclusion of “Anaheim” in the team’s name.
· Drove our City into debt by granting exorbitant raises to police and fire, whose unions help fund his campaigns (and have promised to help fight this recall.)
· Drove us even closer to bankruptcy in the middle of the pandemic by siphoning $6.5 million out of our reserves to advertise Disney and the resorts, which couldn’t even open for months, and could have afforded it themselves.
· Wasted another half million firing a decent, competent City Manager - Chris Zapata - in the middle of a pandemic, for being slightly critical of the above waste.
· Refuses to let Anaheim’s people vote on a Disney/Angels/Honda Center gate tax, to save the city from the bankruptcy he has caused.
· Has been absent and uninterested during the coronavirus pandemic, ignoring and silencing councilmembers who try to draw attention to its severity in Anaheim’s working-class neighborhoods.
· Refused to protect senior mobile home owners, or long-term apartment renters, from predatory practices of rent-gouging and no-cause evictions - by his contributors.
· Voted to legalize marijuana dispensaries in Anaheim, which would benefit his son Rohan who is a marijuana entrepeneur. (When he lost on this, he tried illegally to change his vote to a “no.”)
· Voted to allow hundreds of nuisance Short-Term Vacation Rentals - many run by his wealthy out-of-state contributors - to stay in our residential neighborhoods indefinitely, reversing years of hard-fought legal negotiations.
· Refused to stand with Congressman Lou Correa against President Trump’s deportations and criminalization of our immigrant community (the “public charge rule change”.)
· Blocked discussion of Dr. Moreno’s proposed Campaign Finance Reform and Sunshine Laws.
· Granted public funds to cronies for no-bid, unaccountable “make-work” contracts and the temporary “Anaheim Way” homeless shelter.
· Restricted public speaking, and refused to meet with Latino Council Colleagues – even once! – while preventing them from agendizing numerous important items.
· Imposed high-density development onto a working-class neighborhood (“Downtown Anaheim 39” in Pauline Street neighborhood) while restricting the rights of the affected residents to speak at Council.
Anaheim cannot afford another two years of this wasteful and corrupt Mayor.<<
 
el_super

el_super

Well-Known Member
Darkbeer1 said:
Drove us even closer to bankruptcy in the middle of the pandemic by siphoning $6.5 million out of our reserves to advertise Disney and the resorts, which couldn’t even open for months, and could have afforded it themselves.
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Have they announced any formal plan to make up for the lost tax revenue?
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
el_super said:
Have they announced any formal plan to make up for the lost tax revenue?
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Cut costs, apply for Federal. State and regional grants and borrow funds. The 1990's bonds are almost paid off, so there is about $140 million a year expected to be available very soon, it was in 5 years pre COVID-19, but even if we have 2 or 3 bad years, we will recover nicely. Plus the Angel Stadium Sale is worth about $300 Million.
 
BuzzedPotatoHead89

BuzzedPotatoHead89

Well-Known Member
Assuming Moreno’s UniteHere 11 has a foot in this effort, interesting they claim to be concerned about the city budget deficit while simultaneously arguing to keep the resort district shut down in perpetuity. Also goes against the ticket tax argument which in reality makes some sense since Disney willingly took it off the table.

Can’t really scapegoat Mayor Sidhu for Anaheim’s budget woes regardless. Ridiculous to blame a city mayor for COVID budget impacts. And reckless and dishonest to do so during this time anyway.
 
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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
BuzzedPotatoHead89 said:
Funny how that works. I guess it’s “refreshing“ to see someone has been able to leverage this health crisis to their advantage and personal gain. Some would argue ingenious, really.
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It's fascinating to watch, it honestly is. But it makes no sense.

Disneyland is evil and a horrible employer and "It's as if somehow we should feel fortunate that Walt Disney chose Anaheim" (Dr. Jose Moreno, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, September 2018), and yet the hotels and businesses built around the assumption that Disneyland would operate daily provide 55% of Anaheim's general tax fund each year. But when Disneyland closes for four months and stays closed indefinitely due to a pandemic, we should try and keep Disneyland closed for many more months because it provides 55% of the city's tax funds and yet also demand that Disneyland customers pay more tax for the privilege of going to a theme park that is closed and that we want to keep closed indefinitely.

I can't even begin to understand how that makes any sense to anyone who has had less than three strong drinks.
 
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Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Here is the big issue Tuesday night, wonder how Dr. Moreno will vote?

Note, I posted this to show WHAT the council is doing currently, NOT to discuss which choice is better, as that discussion should NOT happen here. Thanks in Advance.

Do you want to see Anaheim Ban or Regulate Needle Exchange programs?

The Agenda for the city council meeting on July 14th is out.

The main discussion item is to decide if the city wants to prohibit Syringe/Needle Exchange programs, or instead, regulate them, aka allow at least one with specific rules.

And the council could decide to continue the item to another date.

I am not sure of Councilmember Barnes opinion of the item, but I do know that Councilmember Brandman supports needle exchanges, and does not want to ban them.

Banning them is pretty clear.

Here is the proposed regulations summary from the staff report.
https://local.anaheim.net/docs_agend/questys_pub/26297/26327/26329/26436/26437/Staff Report26437.pdf

>>The ordinance to permit and regulate SEPs includes permitting, operational and location requirements intended to minimize potential impacts to the health, safety and welfare of the public, including the following main components:

 Require a City-issued Regulatory Permit;
 Authorization by State or County, as required by State law;
 Annual renewal of Regulatory Permit;
 Permit SEPs to operate only as an accessory use to a Hospital or Medical Office;
 When operated as an accessory use to a Medical Office, prohibit any SEPs from operating within one thousand (1,000) feet of any elementary and/or secondary school;
 Required reporting of the following statistics to Community Preservation & Licensing Manager on a periodic basis:
 Number of syringes distributed;
 Number of syringes returned/collected;
 Number of referrals made for other services
 Number of law enforcement incidents related to the SEPs
 Require organized weekly cleanups of used syringes;
 Require ID cards for all employees and volunteers, including name, organization name, and Regulatory Permit number;
 Require disposal of syringes in conformance with OSHA standards, and contract with a licensed bio-waste hauling company for disposal;  Implement and maintain syringes collection and disposal procedures approved by Community Preservation & Licensing Manager, which must include:
 Program participants to return used syringes and/or dispose of properly;
 Collect syringe waste in such a manner to minimize direct handling by employees, volunteers and clients;
 Limit distribution to only single use, retractable, smart syringes that utilize barcodes or coloring to easily identify the SEPs;
 Prohibit anyone under the age of 18 to obtain a syringe without a parent/guardian present;
Allow a maximum one-for-one syringe exchange with a maximum of 30 per day, per person;
 Require staff training in the administration and provision of Narcan to reduce potential overdoses;
 Require an Operations Plan including: hours of operation; outreach plan; intake processes that identifies clients information such as birthdate; information about drug of choice, years of injecting, testing history, syringe exchange history, readiness to quit, homelessness and overdose kit history; and
 Provisions to modify suspend or revoke the Regulatory Permit for any violations through an administrative hearing process.<<
Of course, there are 7 members of the city council, plus you can write a public comment to the entire council.

Anyways, that is enough of an example of what type of things I am currently dealing with, along with many other things.

I had some discussions about this a couple of years ago with Dr. Moreno, and it was civil and we agreed on a lot of problem issues when OCNEP tried to set up a program at an Anaheim Park.

I have to give credit that Dr. Moreno is a smart person, but he knows how to play word games, push buttons and rally his followers.

But many of his ideas are just not based in reality, but make good sound bites, and creates wedge issues.

There are times that I appreciate his debates, but many times, he just talks forever to hear his own voice.
 

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