Mark Richard Daniels, a former member of the Cultural & Heritage Commission, with Mayor Ashleigh Aitken in November 2025.
By DUANE J. ROBERTS Editor & Publisher
A recent mailer sent to voters in West Anaheim by Mayor Ashleigh Aitken’s reelection campaign highlights as a key endorser a former city commissioner who was forced to step down after making a sexually demeaning remark about a woman with whom he disagreed.
The endorser, Mark Richard Daniels, served on Anaheim’s Cultural & Heritage Commission as an appointee of former Councilwoman Denise Barnes. He resigned in October 2020 after the comment became the subject of intense public scrutiny and controversy.
Daniels’ name highlighted in yellow.
The story about it first appeared in the Anaheim Independent, a right-wing blog run by Matthew Cunningham, a former consultant with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. The website has since been rebranded as the Anaheim Observer, although new content is rarely posted.
Despite its political perspective, the central facts of this controversy were never in dispute. The matter focused on Daniels’ own comments, which were documented on video and later acknowledged in the resignation letter he sent to city officials, including Barnes herself.
According to the Independent, Daniels was recorded during an Anaheim Police operation near Beach Boulevard and Ball Road while speaking with homeless advocate R. Joshua Collins. During the conversation, he made disparaging comments about Jodie Mosley, a homeowner.
The most controversial remark reported by the blog was Daniels’ statement that Mosley was “probably blowing every one of those cops.” The comment drew fierce criticism from West Anaheim residents and prompted calls that he be removed from the commission.
This ultimately led to action by Barnes, who was infuriated with her appointee. In a letter, the councilwoman wrote, “I am deeply offended by what Mr. Daniels said. I do not condone that sort of language, in any circumstances.” She further added he was asked to resign.
Barnes and Daniels in an undated photo.
Daniels subsequently quit and issued a written apology. “I would like to apologize to Jodie Mosley for the pain I have clearly caused her with my words, which have unfortunately been made public …,” he said. “Mrs. Mosley, I am genuinely sorry, and I humbly ask for your forgiveness.”
Last Friday, the Anaheim Investigator contacted Aitken’s campaign team seeking comment on Daniels’ inclusion as an endorser and whether they considered the circumstances surrounding his 2020 resignation when preparing the mailer. So far, we haven’t received any response back.
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.”
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.
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