Archive for the category “Lobbyist”

07 Jun 2021

Councilman Brandman Gave City-Owned Angels Baseball Tickets to a Former Business Client

Councilman Jordan Brandman gave city-owned Angels baseball tickets to a businessman who was a former client of his through a previous job.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

A Form 802 that Councilman Jordan Brandman recently filed states he gave Dave Sorem, owner of the Mike Bubalo Construction Company, two tickets valued at $410 for an Angels vs. Astros game on April 6th, ostensibly for the purpose of “attracting or rewarding volunteer public service.”

But The Anaheim Investigator has evidence Sorem was a former business client of his through a previous job. Between 2017 and 2018, the councilman worked for the Engineering Contractors’ Association, an Anaheim-based advocacy group where Sorem has been a longtime executive board member.

Brandman, however, wasn’t directly employed by the ECA, but through a firm they do business with called the Southern California Group, an entity controlled by Richard Lambros and Peter Mitchell, the latter of whom is also a registered lobbyist for the Anaheim Police Association.

According to a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests filed on August 8, 2018, Brandman reported at that time he was “Vice-President” of the Southern California Group, earning “over $100,000” in salary from them. He listed their primary business activity as “strategic public affairs.”

The ECA describes its mission as serving the “infrastructure contractors of Southern California through project-based advocacy, labor-management relations, political action and fair public policy.” Most of its members are heavy construction companies that bid on public works projects.

Brandman‘s involvement with the ECA has been documented in their monthly publication. For example, a photograph of him with Sorem appears on page 19 of their October 2017 issue. He is also shown attending an open house at their Anaheim office on page 13 in the following issue.

Sorem and Brandman (both on the left) at an ECA event in 2017.

Last Wednesday, The Investigator sent out an email message to Brandman and Claudia Perez, his Senior Policy Aide, to request more information about the type of “volunteer public service” that Sorem has been involved in. So far neither of them have responded to our inquiry.

Brandman is a notorious peddler of city-owned tickets to lobbyists, campaign contributors, and friends. He has even been caught giving tickets to one of his former bosses at the Southern California Group–a transaction which earned him the scrutiny of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office last year.

But he isn’t the only one who does this. On June 1st, The Investigator reported that incoming Councilman Avelino Valencia III has already hijacked the city’s ticket system for selfish political purposes. And be rest assured, more articles about how these and other politicians abuse this system are forthcoming.

Posted in Anaheim City Council, Anaheim Police Association, Angels Baseball, Avelino Valencia III, Claudia Perez, Dave Sorem, Engineering Contractors' Association, Form 700, Form 802, Jordan Brandman, Lobbyist, Mike Bubalo Construction Company, Orange County District Attorney's Office, Peter Mitchell, Richard Lambros, Southern California Group, Tickets and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
27 Apr 2021

Stadium Master Site Plan Revealed Name of ‘Study’ for Streetcar Project, but City Website Says Nothing

An image of a streetcar from a vendor presentation that was shown to Mayor Harry Sidhu’s Transit Options Task Force in December 2019.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

The Stadium Master Site Plan, a 13-page document filed last year with the City of Anaheim by SRB Management LLC, an entity controlled by Arte Moreno, the billionaire owner of the Angels baseball team, revealed the name of the “study” for the streetcar project that Mayor Harry Sidhu’s Transit Options Task Force has been working on since 2019.

The document in question, prepared by the IBI Group, a Canadian-based consultant that describes itself as a “global architecture, engineering, planning, and technology firm” involved in “defining the cities of tomorrow,” made a brief reference to it in the last paragraph on page 13, under the topic of “infrastructure improvements.”

It reads as follows:

Anaheim Connects – Street Car

The City of Anaheim is undergoing planning efforts as part of the Anaheim Connects study to transform transportation and transit solutions in the Platinum Triangle Planning Area. The study seeks to provide opportunities to public/private partnerships, improve pedestrian and bicycle connections along the Santa Ana River, and improve the East/West transit connections between ARTIC and the Anaheim Resort Area. As part of this East/West transit connection, the Applicant is aware the City is studying a Street Car alignment that would provide potential stop(s) within the Project Site. While the City has not made any decisions regarding the alignment, design or system to be employed, the Project can accommodate potential stops in the future, if needed.

The Anaheim Investigator has known for quite some time the streetcar project is part of Anaheim Connects. But the Stadium Master Site Plan is the first “official” document that has made this information public. The link to Anaheim Connects on the city’s website says nothing about streetcars and only talks about mass transit in terms of vague generalities.

The logo for Anaheim Connects

Nobody should be surprised SRB Management LLC was aware of this study. Representatives from the Angels have been active participants in Mayor Sidhu’s Transit Options Task Force since its inception. For example, records show that Brian Sanders, Senior Director of Ballpark Operations, attended one of their meetings in February 2020.

Furthermore, a new chain of emails recently obtained by The Investigator suggest city staff were eager to share updates about the streetcar project not only with the Angels, but with Jeff Flint, CEO of FSB Public Affairs. Quarterly reports filed with the Office of the City Clerk make it clear Flint is a registered lobbyist for SRB Management LLC.

For matter of record, a city official told The Investigator late last year nothing has been finalized as of yet. Indeed, we reported in early March that the City of Anaheim is also exploring the possibility of using an aerial gondola system instead of a network of streetcars to shuttle tourists between the Platinum Triangle and Anaheim Resort.

Regardless of what the case may be, there is circumstantial evidence that Anaheim Connects will still include a streetcar. At bare minimum, a line may be built that travels east and west along Katella Avenue, from ARTIC to Harbor Boulevard. However, the size and scope of any such project will ultimately be determined by the level of government funding.

Posted in Aerial Gondola System, Anaheim Connects, Anaheim Resort, Anaheim Resort Mobility Plan, Angel Stadium, Angels Baseball, Arte Moreno, ARTIC, Brian Sanders, City of Anaheim, FSB Public Affairs, Harry Sidhu, IBI Group, Jeff Flint, Lobbyist, Office of the City Clerk, Platinum Triangle, SRB Management LLC, Stadium Master Site Plan, Streetcar, Transit Options Task Force and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
10 Feb 2021
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Internal Documents Show Mayor Quietly Resurrected Controversial Anaheim Streetcar Project

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is streetcar.jpg

A streetcar line currently being built in Tempe, Arizona was used as a “case study” for one that could travel along Katella Avenue.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

In 2019, while hundreds of local residents were fixated with the pending sale of the Anaheim Stadium to Arte Moreno, the billionaire owner of the Angels baseball team, roughly 1,000 pages of internal documents obtained by The Anaheim Investigator during a year-long investigation show Mayor Harry Sidhu quietly resurrected the controversial Anaheim Rapid Connection streetcar project that was shelved by the previous mayor in 2017.

The documents in question, all of which were obtained through multiple California Public Records Act requests, consists of dozens of emails, memos, invoices, meeting agendas, maps, and audiovisual presentations which detail a robust discussion about transit options to connect the Platinum Triangle with the Anaheim Resort, mostly emphasizing the use of streetcars to shuttle tourists and workers from one location to another.

The revival of this project was set into motion shortly after Mayor Sidhu announced at his “State of the City Address” in March 2019 he was setting up a Transit Options Task Force to explore various ways of linking the two areas together. At the time, a public statement was issued denying the mayor was bringing back plans for “a street car linking the Platinum Triangle and the resort.” though documents reviewed by The Investigator suggest otherwise.

Lobbyists called the mayor’s task force by a different name.

But before any work could begin, the city council needed to pass a resolution supporting a new “study of a transit connection between the Anaheim Resort and the Platinum Triangle” and rescind two previous ones that expressed “opposition to a street car system,” which was done at their June 4th meeting. Then in late September, city staff secured $350,000 in funding from the Anaheim Tourism Improvement District to pay for consultants.

Kittelson & Associates, Inc., the same firm that worked on the “previous version of the Anaheim Rapid Connection (ARC) project,” was retained as lead consultant. “The City is current [sic] revisiting the former ARC streetcar project,” wrote Tim Erney, one of their employees, in a December 2, 2019 email. “Based on conversations with City staff … trackless streetcar and battery-powered streetcar were identified as the options for further review.”

A slide from a presentation comparing buses and streetcars.

Between November 2019 and February 2020, Kittelson prepared several memos and audiovisual presentations for the Transit Options Task Force, closely coordinating their efforts with vendors like Alstom, BYD, Van Hool, and TIG/m–companies that are either involved in manufacturing streetcars, “battery-powered rail vehicles,” or offer “rubber-tire vehicles that may be comparable in appearance and functionality to [a] trackless streetcar.”

Despite the fact the COVID-19 pandemic seriously disrupted the ability of the City of Anaheim to operate, Mayor Sidhu’s Task Force set up “street car subcommittees” and met online at least until August. Furthermore, city staff submitted a BUILD Grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation in May for $2.379 million in funds to pay for planning of a streetcar, a request that was ultimately rejected by the Trump administration.

One city official The Investigator spoke with regarding these matters said everything has been put on pause due to the coronavirus and nothing has been settled on as of yet. Indeed, recent documents suggest support has wavered for a streetcar system as elaborate as the ill-fated ARC project was. Nevertheless, there still seems to be backing for a line that would travel along Katella Avenue, from ARTIC to the Anaheim Resort.

Posted in Alstom, Anaheim City Council, Anaheim Connects, Anaheim Rapid Connection, Anaheim Resort, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim Streetcar, Anaheim Streetcar Working Group, Anaheim Tourism Improvement District, Angeles Baseball, Angels Baseball, Arte Moreno, ARTIC, BUILD Grant, BYD, California High-Speed Rail, City of Anaheim, Curt Pringle, Curt Pringle & Associates, Harry Sidhu, Justin Glover, Katella Avenue, Kittelson & Associates, Lobbyist, OC Streetcar, Platinum Triangle, Streetcar, Tempe Streetcar, TIG/m, Tim Erney, Transit Options Task Force, Trevor O'Neil, Trump Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Van Hool and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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