Police Union Sent Out Survey Asking Voters If They Supported ‘New Taxes’ on Disney Theme Park Admissions

Campaign photo of Natalie Rubalcava with Jose Duran (second left), president of the Anaheim Police Association, and three of their board members (right).

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

The Anaheim Police Association—the union representing 400 sworn personnel employed by the city’s police department—commissioned a survey in mid-August asking residents if they supported “new taxes” on Disney theme park admissions providing the revenue would “help with long-term budget issues without cutting services.”

The survey in question, of which a link was texted directly to the smartphones of individuals that The Anaheim Investigator characterizes as being “high propensity voters,” was conducted through Qualtrics, a platform frequently used by political strategists to gauge public opinion on candidates, issues, or ballot measures in real-time.

Although the Anaheim Police Association has not yet publicly endorsed a “gate tax,” evidence indicates they, along with the Anaheim Municipal Employees Association, are part of an “emerging coalition” supportive of it–something proponent Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava acknowledged in a brief conversation earlier this month.

Screenshot of completed survey questions on new taxes.

Like most surveys, this one was designed to reflect the needs, wants, and priorities of those who funded it, and a number of questions used wording that favored positions aligned with the police union, such as repeated items about expanding Anaheim Police Department staffing levels and boosting the pay and benefits of officers.

Moreover, some questions exposed matters hidden from public view, such as an ongoing dispute with The Walt Disney Company over how cops assigned to patrol their theme parks do their job: “If there is a disagreement over how these officers should enforce the law and public safety at Disney, who should make the decision?”

Respondents were also asked to weigh in on other important issues, including whether or not they believed Disneyland wields “too much influence at city hall,” how millions in surplus funds freed up by paying off infrastructure bonds needs to be spent, and if our police force should “cooperate with federal immigration officials.”

Screenshot of completed survey questions on police staffing.

Because the survey was most likely completed before Councilwoman Rubalcava officially requested the item of a “gate tax” be placed on the agenda of the September 23rd city council meeting, The Investigator approached her to inquire if the police union shared the results with her. She denied being privy to any details.

However, when Rubalcava was asked separately about a message about the “gate tax” she posted to her Instagram account on September 19th and shared with both the Anaheim Police Association and Anaheim Municipal Employees Association, she admitted they were part of an “emerging coalition” that was supportive of it.

Indeed, the Anaheim Police Department would be a major beneficiary of any “gate tax” since revenues collected would bankroll a massive, decade-long expansion of that law enforcement agency. Besides adding more cops, city planners are already proposing to allocate those funds to build a new $350 million police headquarters.

Screenshot of Rubalcava’s shared post.

Rubalcava’s close relationship with the Anaheim Police Association isn’t exactly a secret. Campaign finance records of one independent expenditure committee they control reveal they spent $53,024 to get her elected to her seat in 2022. And in order to fend off a recall attempt by UNITE HERE Local 11 in 2024, they coughed up $74,500.

Perhaps in return for their generosity, the councilwoman has so far given Jose Duran, the president of the police union, free city-owned sports tickets worth $978. According to OpenGovPay.com, he received $515,147 in compensation in 2024, making him one of the highest paid police officers in the City of Anaheim at the time.

The Anaheim Municipal Employees Association has also heavily backed Rubalcava and represents non-sworn personnel at the Anaheim Police Department. Jonnae Barreras, its president, is a senior police analyst who earned $135,953 in pay and benefits last year. Two other members of their board work for the department as well.

It should be noted that Barreras and other top leaders of the Anaheim Police Association are in multiple photos obtained by The Investigator that were used in the campaign to defeat Rubalcava’s recall. Several of them, including her, can be seen holding up signs emblazoned with the words “Anaheim’s First Responders Say Vote No Recall.”

Jonnae Barreras, President, Anaheim Municipal Employees Association.

Tony Lee, Vice-President, Anaheim Police Association.

Steven Dahl, Secretary, Anaheim Police Association.

Michael Fleet, Treasurer, Anaheim Police Association.

For the record, The Investigator made at least three attempts via email to contact Duran and Barreras to ask them about matters that were touched upon in this article. But neither has bothered to respond to our inquiries. Rubalcava–who actually invited us to send her follow-up questions–has not replied to any of our messages either.