Archive for the category “Laura Cunningham”

17 Oct 2023

Evidence Suggests Mayor Aitken Has Been a Longtime Friend of Angels Baseball Senior Vice President

Ashleigh Aitken (c) and Molly Jolly (r) at an event celebrating the opening of a Girl Scouts facility in Newport Beach in 2017.

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

Evidence uncovered by The Anaheim Investigator strongly suggests Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has been a longtime friend of Molly Jolly, senior vice president of Finance/Administration for Angels Baseball, a relationship which appears to have been formed through their past involvement in the Girl Scouts of Orange County, a well-known non-profit organization that both women have championed.

Not only does The Investigator have photographs of Aitken and Jolly mingling at a gathering of wealthy donors celebrating the opening of a Girl Scouts facility in Newport Beach, but has proof that they served on at least one committee together. Furthermore, Form 990s filed with the Internal Revenue Service show Jolly sat on the board of directors of that non-profit for at least eight years.

Our inquiry into this matter started when we reported the mayor and five other council members attended a luncheon at Angel Stadium on June 6th hosted by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. Of the more than 200 photos taken of this event, at least a dozen show Aitken and Jolly seated together. In one shot, both women can be seen with Laura Cunningham, president and CEO of the Anaheim Chamber.

Jolly, Cunningham, and Aitken at the June 6th luncheon.

Though it is unclear as to when the friendship between Aitken and Jolly first began, newspaper articles, annual reports, photos, and other materials reviewed by The Investigator hint both women started crossing each other’s paths roughly a decade ago when the future mayor began participating in “Celebrate Leadership” fundraisers for the Girl Scouts of Orange County, usually held at the Fashion Island Hotel in Newport Beach.

In 2013, Kelley Bennett, a high society columnist for the Mission Viejo News, reported that Aitken herself was one of six honored at that year’s fundraiser. “We are proud to recognize these exceptional women,” she quoted Nancy Nygren as saying, who was then-CEO of the non-profit. “They are each leaders in their respective fields and truly serve as role models for tomorrow’s female leaders.”

Within a year, Aitken and Jolly took on greater roles within the organization. For example, a Form 990 shows that while the latter was elected to the board of directors in 2014, the former eventually joined a committee tasked with organizing their annual “Celebrate Leadership” fundraisers. By 2016, Aitken was co-chair, and in one instance served alongside Jolly and others to plan the one for 2017.

Names highlighted from a Girl Scouts calendar printed in 2015.

Over the past decade, Aitken and her family have contributed thousands of dollars to the Girl Scouts of Orange County. Photos taken of a 2017 event celebrating the opening of the Argyros Girl Scout Leadership Center on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach not only show her with Jolly, but Bette Aitken, her mother, standing in front of a sign which listed them as giving “$100,000 – $249,999” to help pay for it.

In 2019, Jolly became chair of the board of directors, increasing her visibility. But Aitken, for whatever reason, dropped out of sight. However, she continued to support the organization financially. According to an annual report published that same year, both Ashleigh and Bette donated between “$25,000-$49,999” to the non-profit–just as much as the Disneyland Resort and Angels Baseball Foundation did.

Jolly isn’t the only Angels Baseball executive Aitken has had dealings with before becoming mayor. A Form 990 filed in 2020 by Alzheimer’s Orange County shows she sat on the board of that non-profit the same time Dennis Kuhl, chair of that sports team, was a director. The Investigator also has evidence Kuhl has ties to another member of her family, something that will be disclosed in a future story.

Jolly in 2019.

For matter of record, The Investigator reached out to Aitken via email at least three times posing questions about the extent of her relationship with Jolly and whether ties to the executive would affect her ability to be fair and impartial in any future negotiations the city might have with the Angels Baseball team. But so far, the mayor has failed to respond to our requests for comment.

[Update: An earlier version of this post stated Molly Jolly became chair of the board of directors of the Girl Scouts of Orange County in 2018. That is incorrect. She was elected in 2019.]

Posted in Alzheimer's Orange County, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Angel Stadium, Angels Baseball, Angels Baseball Foundation, Argyros Girl Scout Leadership Center, Ashleigh Aitken, Balboa Peninsula, Bette Aitken, Dennis Kuhl, Disneyland Resort, Fashion Island Hotel, Form 990, Girl Scouts of Orange County, Internal Revenue Service, Kelley Bennett, Laura Cunningham, Mission Viejo News, Molly Jolly, Nancy Nygren, Newport Beach and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2023

Anaheim Chamber Luncheon at Angel Stadium Raises Questions About Mayor, Council Violating Brown Act

Matt Cunningham, James Vanderpool, Molly Jolly, and Laura Cunningham having lunch with Mayor Ashleigh Aitken.

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

The Anaheim Investigator has reviewed more than 200 photographs that were taken of a luncheon held at Angel Stadium on June 6th which not only clearly show Mayor Ashleigh Aitken sharing a table with Laura Cunningham, president and CEO of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, but Molly Jolly, senior vice president of Finance/Administration for Angels Baseball.

In one photo, the mayor can be seen talking to Matthew Hicks, vice president of Public Affairs for ocV!BE, a $4 billion mixed-use development surrounding the Honda Center that is controlled by Henry Samueli, a Newport Beach billionaire. In another, John Carpino, president of Angels Baseball and right-hand man for team owner Arte Moreno, is standing directly behind her.

Mayor Aitken was not alone at this event. Photos show Councilman Stephen Faessel sat at the ocV!BE table between Hicks and George Urch, their lobbyist. Councilwomen Natalie Meeks and Norma Campos-Kurtz were huddled together off to the side, not far from Mike Lyster, chief communications officer for the City of Anaheim. Fire Chief Pat Russell was also present.

Mayor Pro Tem Natalie Rubalcava and Councilman Jose Diaz were seated at the same table as Aitken was. So was City Manager James Vanderpool, who was stuck in the middle of Jolly and Matt Cunningham, Laura’s husband. Also joining them was Alicia Valadez-Gonzalez of Northgate Markets. One photo shows Berenice Ballinas, Aitken’s Chief of Staff, taking selfies with her.

The Anaheim Chamber of Commerce table.

The luncheon, an annual event that is organized by the Anaheim Chamber, typically brings in a little league baseball team from the local community to meet and interact with persons who played for Angels Baseball, both past and present. Some of the featured guests on June 6th included Patrick Sandoval, Chuck Finley, and Clyde Wright, three generations of Angels pitchers.

This year’s main sponsor was Visit Anaheim, the tourism industry promotion bureau, which paid $10,000 for the spot. SA Recycling, Manheim California, Republic Services, and Best Western Stovall’s Hotels each chipped in $2,750. And Anaheim Regional Transportation, Brewery X, Liuna Local 652, ocV!BE, Pacific Western Bank and Radiant Futures put up $1,750 a piece.

Neither Mayor Aitken or any of the five council members who attended this luncheon responded to questions The Investigator emailed them asking about who paid for their tickets and what actions they took to avoid violating the Brown Act, the state law which regulates the conduct of elected officials at meetings. Instead, they directed our questions to Lyster.

“The Brown Act,” he told us via email, “allows a majority of or all Council members to attend public events without discussing city business among themselves. Our Council members are made aware of and follow this practice.” Though Lyster is technically correct, there is one slight problem: tickets to this luncheon cost a whopping $200 per person and were “limited.”

It could be conceivably argued that despite the fact this event was “open” to the public, the steep price of admission created a barrier to access based on wealth and social class: only people with money could afford to attend. The Brown Act makes it illegal for public meetings to be held in facilities which require payment to enter, but that provision doesn’t seem to apply here.

With respect to the tickets that the mayor, city council, and city staff received from the Anaheim Chamber, Lyster said as follows:

Mayor Aitken, Mayor Pro Tem Rubalcava and Council Members Faessel, Diaz, Campos Kurtz and Meeks attended and were provided tickets.

For Aitken, Faessel and Kurtz, their tickets fall under ceremonial job duties as Aitken addressed attendees, Faessel did the invocation and Kurtz led the pledge of allegiance.

For Rubalcava, Meeks, Diaz and City Manager Jim Vanderpool, it will fall to them to list their tickets as part of a form 700 due in spring 2024.

In a follow up email, he confirmed the city didn’t pay for the tickets and that the Anaheim Chamber gave them away for free.

Carpino, Aitken and Meeks.

Because this is a breaking news story, The Investigator is still in the process of gathering information about this luncheon. Last week, we filed multiple public records act requests with the city to see if there are any emails and other documents which might shed more light on this matter. If we find anything else significant to report on, a follow up article will be written.

For matter of record, The Investigator does not possess the legal expertise to determine if the mayor and city council violated the Brown Act. And even if Lyster is fundamentally correct, none of this changes the fact they were having private conversations with representatives from the Anaheim Chamber, Angels Baseball, and other business interests out of public view.

Interestingly enough, there also seems have been a conscious decision by elected officials to keep this luncheon a secret. With the exception of a notation Aitken posted on her June calendar, nobody has talked about it. If it wasn’t for The Investigator’s dogged determination to expose what politicians do behind closed doors, the public would have never known it occurred.

Posted in Alicia Valadez-Gonzalez, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Anaheim City Council, Anaheim Regional Transporation, Angel Stadium, Angels Baseball, Arte Moreno, Ashleigh Aitken, Berenice Ballinas, Best Western Stovall's Hotels, Brewery X, Brown Act, Chuck Finley, City of Anaheim, Clyde Wright, George Urch, Henry Samueli, James Vanderpool, Jose Diaz, Laura Cunningham, Liuna Local 652, Manheim California, Matthew Cunningham, Matthew Hicks, Mike Lyster, Molly Jolly, Natalie Meeks, Natalie Rubalcava, Norma Campos-Kurtz, Northgate Markets, ocV!BE, Pacific Western Bank, Pat Russell, Patrick Sandoval, Radiant Futures, Ralph M. Brown Act, Republic Services, SA Recycling, Visit Anaheim and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
12 May 2022

Santa Ana Police Union Made $10,000 Donation to Blog Run by Political Consultant Tied to Anaheim Chamber

Matt Cunningham (left), Editor & Publisher of the OC Independent, with his wife Laura (right), President & CEO of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

The Anaheim Investigator has acquired a copy of the draft minutes of the September 23, 2021 board meeting of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association which reports they made a $10,000 donation to the OC Independent, a right-wing news blog started last year by Matt Cunningham, a well-known political consultant with deep ties to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and the Orange County Republican Party.

Reliable sources have told The Investigator that Cunningham, along with several associates, attended the September board meeting and delivered a presentation about his new blog, OC Independent, to members of that body. In addition, they claim shortly after he finished speaking, Gerry Serrano, president of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, actively lobbied the board to write out a check to help fund it.

The Investigator first became aware of this matter back in December when it obtained emails exchanged between police officers stating the owner of the Anaheim Independent had gotten $10,000 from Serrano for his new blog and alleged it might be used as a platform to attack certain Santa Ana politicians. The Anaheim Independent is the previous name of the Anaheim Observer, an older blog that Cunningham still operates.

Excerpt from the board meeting minutes.

This newfound alliance between Cunningham and Serrano is yet another unexpected twist in The Investigator’s ongoing coverage of the embattled police union president of whom, at least from our perspective, has made what could be aptly described as a Faustian bargain with a political consultant who is sometimes at odds with–if not been completely opposed to–the goals of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association.

For example, on April 2, 2020, Cunningham made an urgent appeal to all of his Santa Ana friends on Facebook to vote “no” on the recall of Councilwoman Ceci Iglesias, a right-wing Republican the police union spent $341,000 to remove from her seat. Beneath his message was one of her anti-recall videos which not only portrayed Serrano as a greedy “union boss,” but characterized people like him as “bullies.”

Furthermore, Serrano’s alliance with Cunningham becomes even more bizarre over the fact the company the latter hired to set up the OC Independent website, HashtagPinpoint, is run by Pasquale Talarico, a former Deputy Chief of Staff for ex-State Senator John M. W. Moorlach, a politician who literally built his entire career on calling for drastic cuts to public employee pensions, especially for law enforcement personnel.

According to OpenSecrets, an independent, non-partisan organization which tracks the flow of money in U.S. politics, HashtagPinpoint earned about $40,500 from the Orange County Republican Party in 2020, making them their top vendor that year. Another one of their clients is the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, of which Cunningham’s wife, Laura, took over the reigns as President and CEO at the end of March.

Another firm tied to the OC Independent, albeit loosely, is GC Strategies, LLC, owned by Cameron Wessel. Earlier this year, Briana Walker, a Mission Viejo activist, not only discovered one of its employees was writing for this blog, but that Wessel opened an office a few doors down from the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. Walker also noted he has a contract with the City of Anaheim to be Councilman Trevor O’Neil’s senior policy aide.

The Investigator has been aware for quite some time now that O’Neil is a close friend of Cunningham, even occasionally stumbling across email communications between the two during routine public records act requests. However, what is not known publicly is that both men have had a longstanding relationship with Fred Whitaker, a local attorney who has been chairman of the Orange County Republican Party since 2015.

Cunningham and Whitaker.

There is no evidence the OC Independent receives any direct funding from the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. But it is not a coincidence many political consultants with links to the Orange County Republican Party gravitate to this business advocacy group. This entity has always been an important hub of social networks for jobs because it is connected to many key players in industry and government.

For matter of record, The Investigator emailed several questions to Cunningham asking him about the $10,000 donation he received from the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, if he had conversations with Serrano or anybody else about the OC Independent running “negative articles about certain Santa Ana politicians,” and if he plans to approach other public employee unions for money to help fund this blog.

In response to our inquiry, Cunningham wrote the following:

OC Independent, like other independent news organizations, has a broad base of supporters to pursue its mission. We will not sell, share or trade our donors’ names or personal information with any other entity, nor send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations to respect donor privacy. As editor, I ensure our news stories are researched thoroughly, all subjects and stakeholders have an opportunity to comment, and then present the news to the public.

The Investigator also made three attempts to contact Serrano about this matter, emailing him questions quite similar to those we posed to Cunningham. But despite giving him an ample amount of time to issue a response, the police union president so far has not bothered replying to any of our messages. However, if we do eventually hear from him, we will most assuredly let our readers know.

Below is copy of the draft minutes of the September 23, 2021 board meeting of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association.

sapoa-draft-board-meeting-minutes-09232021Download

Posted in Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Anaheim City Council, Anaheim Independent, Anaheim Observer, Briana Walker, Cameron Wessel, Ceci Iglesias, City of Anaheim, City of Santa Ana, Fred Whitaker, GC Strategies LLC, HashtagPinpoint, John M. W. Moorlach, Laura Cunningham, Matthew Cunningham, OC Independent, Orange County Republican Party, Pasquale Talarico, Santa Ana City Council, Santa Ana Police Department, Santa Ana Police Officers Association, Trevor O'Neil and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
12 Dec 2019

Wife of Anaheim Blog Publisher is Involved in Anaheim First, Senior VP of Chamber of Commerce

Matthew and Laura Cunningham are greeted as they arrive at Mayor Harry Sidhu’s “State of the City” address at the City National Grove last March

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

For several months now, Matthew Cunningham, the publisher of the Anaheim Blog, a website that covers city politics from a right-wing perspective, has shamelessly promoted Anaheim First, a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, as being a “grass-roots community organization.”

In one article after another, Cunningham has lauded it as a being a “non-political” group made up of “residents of all ages, from every walk of life and every part of the city” who got together “to develop a resident-driven plan for guiding city investment in their neighborhoods,” blasting critics who call it a “front” for big business.

But in all of the articles he has penned about Anaheim First so far, he has neglected to mention two crucial details. First, his wife, Laura Cunningham, has played a behind-the-scenes role in organizing “town hall forums” for this non-profit. And second, she has been Senior Vice President of the Anaheim Chamber at least since July.

This image remains the exclusive copyright property of the creator. No rights are granted unless written contracts are in place.

Laura Cunningham oversees a breakout group at the Anaheim First Neighborhood Leadership Summit on July 10th.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Laura’s involvement with Anaheim First isn’t exactly a secret. Her work for this group was first exposed by Gabriel San Roman, an investigative journalist for the now-defunct OC Weekly. In an article San Roman wrote back in September, he made the following observations while attending their first “town hall forum” in West Anaheim:

From the back of the room, Laura Cunningham directed [Karen] Gulley to wrap up her presentation so that the town hall could turn to breakout groups. She’s the wife of Anaheim Blog’s Matt Cunningham who, unsurprisingly, wrote uncritically of the event while finding an opportunity to hammer away at Unite Here Local 11 union members for crashing the discussion session. Todd Ament, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce president and Anaheim First board member, confirmed to the Weekly that Laura worked for the Chamber, but not Anaheim First. The distinction didn’t seem to matter much during the town hall–or after. Laura helped clean up the gym to close out the night.

Documents in the possession of the Anaheim Investigator corroborate his findings. One memorandum, typed up by Deputy City Manager Greg Garcia, recorded a meeting that took place at city hall on Friday, August 9th where city staff met with consultants involved in the “Anaheim First Community Assessment.”

“This is a meeting to discuss the next steps of the group and our role,” wrote Garcia. “PlaceWorks [a consulting firm hired by Anaheim First] will be a part of the meeting to talk us through their plan.” Attendees included representatives from the Anaheim Chamber: Todd Ament, President and CEO, and Laura, who was listed as a contact.

Emails show that Laura was quietly monitoring communications between Anaheim First, it’s consultants, and the City of Anaheim about arrangements being made to use public facilities for their “town hall forums.” Her email address “laura@anaheimchamber.org” is clearly visible on correspondence with city staff.

In another email obtained by the Investigator, Mike Lyster, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Anaheim, was contacted by Laura on August 21st about setting up a meeting with him on an unrelated matter. She signed off using the title “Senior Vice President.” Attached to it was the logo of the Anaheim Chamber.

Email-Cunningham Lyster

Despite the fact Laura has been Senior Vice President for several months now, the Anaheim Chamber has failed to update the staff directory on its website and list her as an employee. Her name, however, has begun to pop up elsewhere, such as on page 12 of the October issue of “Business Advocate,” their glossy newsletter.

Shilling for the Anaheim Chamber

But most curiously, Matthew Cunningham has said nary a word about Laura’s work with Anaheim First. Of course, to acknowledge this would tear to shreds the narrative he has woven about it being a “grass-roots community organization.” Since when do ordinary people recruit business executives to set up their neighborhood meetings?

Furthermore, his wife’s relationship with the Anaheim Chamber raises questions as to how the Anaheim Blog reports the news. For example, does the favorable coverage that Cunningham offers Anaheim First reflect his genuine love and affection for that group? Or is he really doing it because he wants to help his wife succeed at her job?

It should be noted that Cunningham is a political consultant. He runs a public relations firm called Pacific Strategies. On his LinkedIn page, a social media website for business professionals, he makes it no secret one of his “present past clients” has been the Anaheim Chamber. Even Ament himself has admitted this.

Cunningham has long since denied his blog is being paid for by the Anaheim Chamber. But does it really matter? Both he and his wife have received thousands of dollars of income from them over the years. Doesn’t that serve as a strong enough disincentive for him to post articles on his blog that they might not like? 

Posted in Anaheim Blog, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Anaheim First, Gabriel San Román, Greg Garcia, Laura Cunningham, LinkedIn, Matthew Cunningham, Mike Lyster, OC Weekly, Pacific Strategies, Todd Ament and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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