Archive for the tag “Voice of OC”

02 Jan 2024
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Hidden in Plain Sight: Controversial Disney Executive Sits on Chapman U Board Chaired by Mayor’s Husband

Michael Penn and his wife Mayor Ashleigh Aitken celebrating his appointment as chair of Chapman University’s Board of Governors in February 2023.

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

Last September, Noah Biesada and Spencer Custodio, two reporters for the Voice of OC, came very close, albeit indirectly, to exposing the Aitken family’s curious relationship with Carrie Nocella, the director of External Affairs for the Disneyland Resort. In an article entitled, “Will Mickey Mouse Continue to Cast a Big Shadow Over Anaheim’s Election Campaigns?,” they wrote about the controversial Disney executive at length.

But in their story, they included what on the surface looks like a seemingly mundane fact about Nocella: “She currently teaches a class at Chapman University titled ‘Legislative Advocacy & Lobbying,’ according to her LinkedIn page.” Perhaps they felt Nocella’s latest teaching gig was inconsequential, so they never followed up on it. However, that tidbit of information contained a valuable lead: Chapman University.

Had Biesada and Custodio run with the ball, they would have discovered Nocella serves on that university’s Board of Governors, a body that guides the educational mission of the school. Its current chair is Michael Penn, the husband of Mayor Ashleigh Aitken. And with a little more digging, they would have learned that she was appointed to it in 2018 while Wylie Aitken, the mayor’s father, was chair of the Board of Trustees.

Names highlighted from a PDF file posted on the university’s website.

In our previous article, The Anaheim Investigator revealed that between 1991 and 1993, both Mayor Aitken and Nocella attended Rosary Academy, a small, elite Roman Catholic all-girls college-prep school located in Fullerton. Moreover, we also reported that the mayor, for whatever reason, inexplicably purged all messages which made reference to Nocella’s name from her personal Facebook account early in 2023.

Upon graduating with a diploma in 1995, Nocella went to Chapman University on a vocal talent scholarship where she pursued a bachelor’s degree in legal studies, with a minor in political science. While there, she got elected president of their student government after being encouraged to run by her father, who did the same during his college days. “It was really cool following in Dad’s footsteps,” she told the Orange County Register.

Between 1997 and 1998, Nocella was an intern with the Campaign to Re-Elect Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, where she did “campaign strategy, labor outreach and strategy, fundraising, and event planning.” Besides the fact Sanchez was Chapman University alumna, her biggest benefactor was Wylie Aitken, a wealthy tort lawyer, who nurtured her rise to power with money, legal assistance, and political support.

Wylie Aitken and Sanchez in 2010.

After completing her studies at Chapman University, Nocella packed up her bags and headed to Northern California to attend the McGeorge School of Law, which is located on the Sacramento campus of the University of the Pacific. She earned a juris doctor degree from them in 2002 and, upon passing the state bar exam, became an attorney, working at a wide variety of different positions in both the public and private sector.

In 2007, Nocella returned to Orange County and took up a government relations job with the Disneyland Resort. She later worked alongside Matthew Hicks, the son-in-law of Democratic State Assemblyman Tom Daly and his former district director. Hicks would eventually jump ship and be hired by Henry Samueli, a Newport Beach billionaire who owns the Anaheim Ducks. He is currently vice-president of Public Affairs for ocV!BE.

For a two-year period, Nocella was also an adjunct professor at the Chapman University School of Law, teaching a course in legislative advocacy. “The class was amazing,” said Kyndell Gaglio, a former student of hers who is now an attorney. “We had a slew of guest speakers–heavy hitters from the community such as State Senator Lou Correa, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell.”

Nocella and Sanchez in 2015.

No story about this matter is complete without addressing the influence that Wylie Aitken and his wife, Bette, wielded over Chapman University. For more than two decades, not only was this couple among their biggest donors, showering them with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, but they were a catalyst in bringing about major changes to its law school, helping transform it into a world-class institution.

In a Facebook message that Aitken Aitken & Cohn, his law firm, posted in 2020, they reported he was “a key figure in supporting the founding of Chapman University Fowler School of Law and the Wylie Aitken Trial Courtroom, which is a state-of-the-art national courtroom.” They also added both he and his wife helped establish the Bette and Wylie Aitken Family Protection Clinic and Center for Lawyering and Advocacy Skills.

But Aitken’s involvement with the university wasn’t just limited to philanthropy. In 2004, he became a member of their Board of Trustees; twelve years later, he was made chair. Now at the zenith of his power, the lawyer was now in a position to make critical decisions about things other than management of the school’s finances–such as recommend or approve who gets appointed to other boards and committees.

From the Facebook page of Aitken Aitken & Cohn.

In October 2018, Nocella was installed on the university’s Board of Governors, a body which guides the educational mission of the school. Bylaws then stated only the Board of Trustees can approve this appointment. Because meeting minutes are kept secret, it is not known who supported the Disney executive. However, the politician she had done an internship for had been a trustee since 2001: Sanchez. And Wylie was now chair.

Michael Penn, who married Ashleigh Aitken in 2002 and began working at her father’s law firm soon thereafter, was already executive vice-chair of the Board of Governors when Nocella joined. Penn, who was appointed to it in 2014, graduated from the Chapman University School of Law with a juris doctor degree in 2004. After serving eight years (of which four were with Nocella), Penn finally became chair in February 2023.

Unlike some board members, Nocella has attained rare celebrity status at the university. Not only has her work for the Disneyland Resort been viewed positively, but she has even been featured in videos used to communicate with the student body. Furthermore, Dr. Daniele Struppa, the school’s president, poses in photos with her at their annual event which lauds The Walt Disney Company for being a top employer of alumni.

Struppa and Nocella in 2023.

For matter of record, The Investigator did email questions about Nocella to three key people named in this article: Loretta Sanchez, Wylie Aitken, and Michael Penn. Both Sanchez and Aitken replied within hours of us sending it. But Penn never responded. We got an automatic message which stated he would be out of the office until early January. However, it said he would check messages over the holidays. That was two weeks ago.

When The Investigator asked Sanchez about the internship Nocella did for her campaign in the late 1990s–an experience that the Disney executive boasts about on her page on LinkedIn–and if she had any knowledge of Wylie ever meeting her, the former congresswoman told us that she didn’t remember. “I have no recollection of Carrie as an intern nor do I know how she met Wylie,” she told us.

With respect to Nocella’s appointment to the university’s Board of Governors in 2018, Sanchez stated she wasn’t involved in the nominating process and didn’t know how it worked: “The Governors are a different set of people than the Trustees. I’m not on the Nominating Committee for the Trustees so I really don’t even work on nominating Trustees let alone Governors. I do not know how Governors are selected.”

As to the extent of her relationship with Nocella, Sanchez told us most dealings were through her work as a congresswoman. “I would see Carrie at many community events as she or her staff were pretty active in the community,” she said. “Once in a while I would sit down to a meeting with her. One example was during the Unite HERE strike which I was attempting to help settle. I have not spoken to Carrie for four or five years.”

Nocella’s internship with Sanchez is listed on her LinkedIn page.

The Investigator also posed some of the exact same questions to Aitken, pretty much asking him point blank if he had ever met Nocella while she was performing her duties as an intern for the congresswoman’s political campaign. “I do not recall her working in the Sanchez campaign,” he told us. “We had a lot of good campaign volunteers and I may have met her but have no recollection.”

Not only did Aitken deny that he did anything to help get her installed on the Board of Governors, but he downplayed how much power he exercised as chair of the Board of Trustees: “I did not have any involvement in her appointment to the Board of Governors and until that happened I was not aware she was a Chapman grad. The role of the Trustees is mainly ministerial.”

When queried about the extent of his relationship with Nocella, he said as follows:

My relationship is at best distant since my understanding is as being allegedly involved in the ‘cabal’ she was not supportive of my daughter’s candidacy though I was aware of her title and role with Disney. In light of her relationship with Sidhu and Murray etc and other council members I would assume she was not excited that I was selected to be the chief negotiator with the Angels at the request of Tom Tait. As you know I was removed by Sidhu after his election and he named himself as chief negotiator. How did that go?

But whether or not Nocella backed his daughter’s candidacy apparently wasn’t that important to certain members of Aitken’s clan. For example, Penn, his son-in-law, has been longtime “friends” with Nocella on LinkedIn. Almost four years after Harry Sidhu beat his wife in the mayoral race, he “liked” an article written about the Disney executive she herself shared on that social media website in March 2022.

From Penn’s LinkedIn page.

Given that evidence suggests Penn has closer ties to Nocella than Ashleigh, The Investigator is not surprised he didn’t reply to the question we sent him via email. In our third article about this matter, to be published at a later date, we will explore another angle to this story which reveals, among other things, that his dealings with the Disney executive appear to predate her 2018 appointment to the university’s Board of Governors.

Posted in Aitken Aitken & Cohn, Anaheim, Anaheim Ducks, Ashleigh Aitken, Bette Aitken, Bette and Wylie Aitken Family Protection Clinic, Bill Campbell, Board of Governors, Board of Trustees, Campaign to Re-Elect Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Carrie Leonard, Carrie Nocella, Center for Lawyering and Advocacy Skills, Chapman University, Chapman University Fowler School of Law, Chapman University School of Law, City of Anaheim, Curt Pringle, Daniele Struppa, Disneyland Resort, Facebook, Fullerton, Harry Sidhu, Henry Samueli, Kyndell Gaglio, LinkedIn, Lou Correa, Matthew Hicks, McGeorge School of Law, Michael Penn, Newport Beach, Noah Besiada, ocV!BE, Orange County, Orange County Register, Rosary Academy, Sacramento, Spencer Custodio, The Walt Disney Company, Tom Daly, University of the Pacific, Voice of OC, Wylie Aitken, Wylie Aitken Trial Courtroom and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
19 Jun 2023
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Did Mayor Aitken Mislead Journalists About Ducks Tickets She Gave to UFCW Local 324 Political Director?

Derek Smith, political director for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324. a union whose headquarters are based in Buena Park.

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

An email currently in the possession of The Anaheim Investigator offers compelling evidence suggesting that Mayor Ashleigh Aitken might have deliberately misled journalists from a mainstream media outlet about the intended recipient of two city-owned tickets worth $350 to a Ducks vs. Bruins game which took place at the Honda Center on January 8th.

In a June 13th article entitled, “Anaheim Politicians Shower Staff, Campaign Donors with Free Event Tickets,” Noah Biesiada and Hosam Elatar, two reporters for the Voice of OC, a local news website, wrote about a Form 802 that Aitken filed which disclosed she gave these tickets to Derek Smith, political director for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324.

According to Biesiada and Elatar, records show Smith ran a committee “that spent over $138,000 promoting Aitken’s candidacy.” When asked why he got tickets, the mayor replied she “wanted to support a group that ‘represents Anaheim working families.'” But the reporters said they were “unable to confirm who actually used the tickets after she gave them to Smith.“

Form 802 filed by Aitken.

Though it’s not entirely clear as to what Biesiada and Elatar meant when they stated they were “unable to confirm who actually used the tickets,” The Investigator believes–and we admit this is speculative–that Aitken misled them by insisting she gave those tickets to the political director so that he could then pass them on to someone else at UFCW Local 324.

However, The Investigator—which first broke the story about this quid pro quo between Aitken and Smith on May 9th–not only has an email written by the mayor herself proving he was the intended recipient of her largess, but we know as a fact the Ducks tickets she gave are “non-transferable” as they are only available electronically via smartphone through an app.

In an email dated January 5th with the subject header, “Ducks tickets for Sunday,” Lauren Torres, a city council services coordinator, received the following message from the mayor: “Hi Lauren,” wrote Aitken. “Can you please assign Sundays tickets suite to Derek Smith.” She included his email address and phone number, blacked out by the city clerk due to privacy laws.

Email proves tickets went to Smith.

The Ducks tickets that Aitken asked Torres to “assign” to Smith are not in paper form. They are only available electronically via smartphone through an app. The only way Smith could access them is through the email address he gave the mayor. Because tickets are “non-transferable,” nobody else could have used them unless Smith gave them control of his email account.

Perhaps it also should be mentioned that if Aitken did indeed inform these reporters the tickets she gave to Smith were originally meant for somebody else, that could open her up to criminal prosecution. For example, Penal Code 115 does make it a felony under state law to knowingly file a Form 802 with the city clerk that contains false and inaccurate information.

Last week, The Investigator sought further clarification regarding this matter and reached out to Biesiada and Elatar to ask them about what Aitken specifically told them about the tickets she gave to Smith. So far, neither of them have responded to our inquiry. Aitken was also contacted by us to learn more. Unsurprisingly, the mayor completely ignored our email.

Posted in Anaheim Ducks, Ashleigh Aitken, City of Anaheim, Derek Smith, Form 802, Honda Center, Hosam Elatar, Lauren Torres, Noah Besiada, Penal Code 115, Tickets, UFCW Local 324, United Food & Commercial Workers Local 324, Voice of OC and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
06 Jun 2023

Phone Text Messages Show Mayor Aitken Secretly Met With Angels Baseball President John Carpino

John Carpino, president of Angels Baseball team, at a private event held in Phoenix, Arizona in February 2023.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

In a recent article published in the Voice of OC entitled, “Who’s on the Hook for Angel Stadium Repairs?,” Hosam Elatar posed several questions to Mayor Ashleigh Aitken about issues related to Angel Stadium, including its pending assessment by a private consultant hired by the City of Anaheim. One thing she made perfectly clear: “The Angels have not reached out to me, nor has the city reached out to the Angels.”

However, The Anaheim Investigator has uncovered evidence that Aitken not only secretly met with John Carpino, president of the Angels Baseball team, at a coffee shop in late February, but that the meeting she had with him might have dealt with the Angel Stadium assessment. Why? It was scheduled only thirty minutes before city officials toured the facility with a group of consultants interested in bidding for the job.

Phone text messages The Investigator obtained under the public records act show Carpino initiated contact with Aitken on Thursday, February 16th. “Do you have time for coffee in the next few weeks?” he asked. “Yes, I do. Can you meet me at 8:30 at Bodhi coffee on Monday the 27th?,” the mayor responded. On February 26th, Aitken texted him again to confirm the meeting was still on. “Yes, looking forward to it,” he said.

Aitken confirming meeting with Carpino.

When The Investigator carefully reviewed the February calendar that Mayor Aitken made available to the public which supposedly lists all of the meetings “requested” of her that month, absolutely nothing is mentioned about her having coffee with Carpino on the 27th. During the last week, she stated only two things occurred: a city council meeting and a meeting with “Disneyland representatives.”

No mention of Carpino meeting in the mayor’s calendar.

It isn’t a coincidence the secret meeting that Aitken had with Carpino at the Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders shop in Orange was scheduled at 8:30 a.m. on February 27th. Approximately thirty minutes later, a group of consultants invited by the City of Anaheim gathered under the “Big A” sign to do a tour of Angel Stadium to bid on “a property condition assessment” of that facility. A sign-in sheet recorded that 25 persons attended.

Partial screenshot of website listing Angel Stadium tour.

Furthermore, several letters show that just days before their meeting, both Carpino and ArentFox Schiff LLP, a prestigious law firm retained by the sports team, demanded that the city cancel the tour of Angel Stadium, asserting it was a violation of the lease agreement–a claim vigorously rejected by City Manager James Vanderpool and City Attorney Robert Fabela. Carpino made sure to copy his letter to Aitken.

So far, the mayor hasn’t responded to questions The Investigator sent regarding the secret meeting she had with Carpino in late February. But perhaps it should be noted these types of behind-the-scenes political maneuvers with executives of the Angels Baseball team are part of the reason why former Mayor Harry Sidhu got into trouble with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was forced to resign his seat.

Below are letters exchanged in February between representatives of the Angels Baseball team and the City of Anaheim regarding the tour of Angel Stadium.

city-attorney-officeDownload
Posted in Angel Stadium, Angels Baseball, ArentFox Schiff LLP, Arte Moreno, Ashleigh Aitken, Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders, City of Anaheim, Disneyland, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Harry Sidhu, Hosam Elatar, James Vanderpool, John Carpino, Robert Fabela, Voice of OC and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
20 May 2022

Democratic Mayoral Candidate Says Campaign Ended Ties With Consultant Under FBI Scrutiny for Alleged Bribes

Ashleigh Aitken (left), Democratic candidate for Anaheim mayor, with Melahat Rafiei (right), owner of Progressive Solutions Consulting, in 2019.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

The Anaheim Investigator has discovered that a Form 460 filed by the “Aitken for Mayor 2022” campaign committee reported they made a $10,000 payment to Progressive Solutions Consulting, a firm owned by Melahat Rafiei, a Democratic Party operative who is at the center of a corruption scandal involving cannabis businesses and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce.

The document in question, which was submitted to the City of Anaheim on January 31, 2022, lists on page 77 that Progressive Solutions Consulting received the cash sometime between July and December of last year. The code used to identify the purpose of the payment is “CNS,” meaning Rafiei was consulting Ashleigh Aitken on her bid to become Anaheim’s next mayor.

In response to several questions The Investigator posed to Aitken about her relationship with Rafiei, the mayoral candidate acknowledged her “campaign contracted with Progressive Solutions Consulting at the end of 2021,” but said “we terminated our relationship with the company in February when Melahat Rafiei informed us that she was the subject of an investigation.”

On Thursday, Rafiei admitted to the Voice of OC she was “CW1,” a cooperating witness mentioned in an affidavit the Federal Bureau of Investigation filed in federal court to support criminal charges against Todd Ament, former president and CEO of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. However, she has denied allegations she tried to bribe public officials in the City of Irvine.

Besides being a political consultant, Rafiei also happens to be the co-founder of WeCann, a company based near downtown Santa Ana that boasts itself as a “one-stop shop for cannabis entrepreneurs,” helping them with a wide array of issues ranging from “real estate acquisition and disposition, licensing fulfillment, business and investment consulting, and public advocacy.”

Furthermore, Rafiei, who is a resident of Anaheim Hills, not only is a member of the Cultural and Heritage Commission of the City of Anaheim, but was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2021 to serve on the Board of Directors of the Orange County Fair Board in Costa Mesa, a deliberative body of which Aitken has also been a part of since 2012.

Posted in Aitken for Mayor 2022, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Anaheim Hills, Ashleigh Aitken, Bribery, California Democratic Party, Cannabis Businesses, Cannabis Consultants, Cannabis Legalization, City of Anaheim, City of Costa Mesa, City of Irvine, City of Santa Ana, Cultural and Heritage Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Form 460, Gavin Newsom, Melahat Rafiei, Orange County Democratic Party, Orange County Fair Board, Progressive Solutions Consulting, Todd Ament, Voice of OC, WeCann and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
09 Mar 2022

State Treasurer Might Have to Testify in Court if Lawsuit by Santa Ana Police Union President Isn’t Quashed

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma has been named in court documents filed by attorneys representing Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

In a stunning development, an anti-SLAPP motion recently filed in Orange County Superior Court by attorneys representing David Valentin, chief of the Santa Ana Police Department, names Fiona Ma, the state treasurer, and suggests she might end up being called to testify as a witness in court if they are unable to convince a judge to quash a lawsuit initiated by Gerry Serrano, president of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association.

The motion in question, which was submitted on February 22nd, seeks to have Serrano’s lawsuit dismissed on the grounds it was “brought primarily to chill and punish Chief Valentin for engaging in constitutionally protected activities” and that its claims “are not legally cognizable, lack factual merit, and are barred by relevant defenses and immunities” because they “arise out of protected speech and petitioning activity.”

But if Valentin’s lawyers can’t get the suit tossed, it’s possible Ma could be subpoenaed as a witness if it goes to trial. One key argument they make is that Serrano has not only waged a campaign to “personally and maliciously attack” the police chief and other city officials as part of an effort to “reverse a CalPERS decision” which limits his future pension earnings, but that he has even used “union money” to pursue this goal.

Excerpt from the anti-SLAPP motion.

On page 11, the motion devotes an entire paragraph to evidence The Anaheim Investigator uncovered showing that Ma tried to help Serrano increase his pension by backing two new laws that would exempt him from rules which prohibit the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) from giving him service credit for “special compensation” earned while on a leave of absence from his duties as a police sergeant.

Emails revealed that the state treasurer, her executive staff, and employees of CalPERS not only drafted these laws exclusively for Serrano’s benefit, but even shared the proposed text with him. Furthermore, while all of this was occurring, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association Independent Expenditure Committee funneled $15,900 into Ma’s bid to get re-elected, making them one of her biggest campaign contributors.

It should be noted Ma isn’t the only public official named in this paragraph. Marcie Frost, the CEO of CalPERS, is mentioned. There is also a reference to a “CalPERs official” known to The Investigator as Anthony Suine, Deputy Executive Officer for Customer Services & Support. And Tina Arias Miller, a Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee, is identified as being the “girlfriend of one of Serrano‘s associates.”

Serrano and Valentin in 2019.

The fact that Valentin’s legal team has brought up this issue is significant. It suggests that if they are unable to convince a judge to quash Serrano’s lawsuit, they are more than willing to put Ma up on the witness stand and ask some tough questions about her close relationship with the embattled police union president, including the role her office played in helping draft two new laws exclusively for his benefit.

And unlike the real world, there are criminal penalties if Ma is caught lying in a courtroom. The state treasurer won’t be able to utter the kind of deceptive remarks she made last month when she misled a journalist for the Voice of OC into thinking the legislation she backed for Serrano only dealt with Senate Bill 278. The proposed laws The Investigator reported about had nothing to do with that bill and were never voted on.

The anti-SLAPP motion is currently scheduled to be heard in Dept. C20 of the Central Justice Center on June 15th. However, a source has told us it will be costly for Serrano to fight and that the Santa Ana Police Officers Association doesn’t have enough money. In the meanwhile, there will be one politician in Sacramento who will be nervously watching this matter from afar, crossing her fingers and hoping it never goes to trial.

Below is the anti-SLAPP motion filed in Orange County Superior Court by attorneys representing Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin.

serrano-valentin-motion-to-strike-_anti-slapp_Download
Posted in Anthony Suine, anti-SLAPP, California Public Employees Retirement System, California State Treasurer, CalPERS, Campaign Contributions, City of Santa Ana, David Valentin, Elections, Fiona Ma, Form 460, Gerry Serrano, Marcie Frost, Orange County Superior Court, Rancho Santiago Community College District, Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee, Retirement Benefits, Sacramento, Santa Ana, Santa Ana Police Chief, Santa Ana Police Department, Santa Ana Police Officers Association, Santa Ana Police Officers Association Independent Expenditure Committee, SB 278, State Treasurer's Office, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, Tina Arias Miller, Voice of OC and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
03 Feb 2022
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California State Treasurer Backed Two New Laws to Help Santa Ana Police Union President Increase His Pension

Gerry Serrano, president of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, with Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer, at police union headquarters in 2019.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

Internal emails The Anaheim Investigator obtained from the California State Treasurer’s Office show that Fiona Ma, the state treasurer, tried to help Gerry Serrano, president of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, increase his pension, by backing two new laws that would exempt him from rules which prohibit the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) from giving him service credit for “special compensation” earned while on a leave of absence from his duties as a police sergeant.

Though an attempt to add them to a bill going through the state senate failed, the emails suggest Ma, her executive staff, and employees of CalPERS not only drafted these new laws for Serrano’s benefit, but that they even shared the proposed text with him. Furthermore, while all of this was occurring, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association Independent Expenditure Committee funneled $15,900 into the state treasurer’s bid to get re-elected, making them one of her biggest campaign contributors.

The Voice of OC was the first news outlet to break the story about Serrano’s aggressive efforts to “boost” his pension. In an article published last August, they made public letters, including one written by Sonia R. Carvalho, the Santa Ana City Attorney, who summed up the police union president’s goal: “During conversations between Mr. Serrano and the City’s special legal counsel, we understand that Mr. Serrano has expectations for an increase in his pension by up to $60,000 per year,” she said.

But at that time, journalists were preoccupied about what Serrano was doing at the local level. Nobody knew he had been in direct contact with Ma, who was pulling strings for him in Sacramento. The relationship between the two grew so friendly that the state treasurer actually listed him as a contact for a fundraiser she hosted for Tina Arias Miller, a Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee, who is also the girlfriend of Ernesto Amado Conde, one of Serrano’s most trusted associates.

Ma listed Serrano as a contact for this fundraiser.

Emails reviewed by The Investigator show Serrano first began communicating with Ma on September 17, 2020. “My apologies for reaching out,” he wrote, “but I’m in dire need of some assistance resolving a minor issue with a CalPERS audit in regards to specifically my pensionable compensation.” For the most part, the state treasurer remained courteous but faintly aloof, asking Marcie Frost, Chief Executive Officer of CalPERS, and members of her executive staff, to look into this matter for her.

From September to October, a flurry of messages were exchanged between Serrano, Ma, her executive staff, and CalPERS employees, all focused on resolving his problem. But the issue here, as one auditor wrote, is when Serrano became police union president, his pay was lowered. The City of Santa Ana gave him “special compensation” to make up for it. However, since he was the only one getting this type of pay, and was on a leave of absence from the city, these earnings weren’t “pensionable” per CalPERS rules.

By mid-October, it appears that once Serrano began to realize he was at an impasse with CalPERS and wouldn’t be getting what he wanted, his emails to the State Treasurer’s Office suddenly came to an abrupt halt. All discussions about his pension ceased. There are no public records indicating that Ma nor any members of her executive staff had any further communications with him about this matter in 2020. But five months later, there was a new development. And here is where the real story begins.

Ma with Serrano at an event in Santa Ana in 2021.

On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, Serrano sent an email to Rita Clark, an administrative assistant at the State Treasurer’s Office, telling her that he would be in Sacramento the following Monday and wanted to meet with Ma and Irwin Nowick, her senior advisor. A copy of a calendar notification obtained by the The Investigator shows all three of them gathered in a large conference room at her office at 3 p.m. on Monday, March 15th. The meeting lasted thirty minutes. There are no records about what was said.

But an email sent out three days later may offer a clue. On Thursday, March 18th, Anthony Suine, Deputy Executive Officer for Customer Services & Support at CalPERS, sent a message entitled “POA President Compensation” to Frost, the CEO, which contained a draft for two new laws which would enable a police union president to bypass rules which prevented Serrano from increasing his pension. Suine, it should be noted, was no stranger to Serrano: emails show he had communicated with him in October 2020.

Two email chains show Suine’s message was not only forwarded to Ma and her executive staff for review, but to Ryan Sherman, a lobbyist for the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association, which represents 3,500 law enforcement personnel in Southern California. Nowick would later send it to Serrano on Thursday, June 10th, who became ecstatic after reading it. “Thank you my friend! You are absolutely, and without a doubt, the best!” he typed. Two minutes after Nowick received Serrano’s response, he shared it with Ma.

Nowick sharing Serrano’s response with Ma.

Then on Tuesday, June 15th, Nowick sent yet another email to Serrano. But he wasn’t the only the intended recipient. It was also sent out to Sherman and Cesar Diaz. Public records show Diaz is a consultant that works for State Senator Toni Atkins, who represents the 39th District in San Diego County. Besides the fact Atkins has been a longtime ally of Ma, she is currently President pro Tempore of the California State Senate, one of the most powerful politicians in the state legislature.

The email Nowick sent was blank, but entitled “language,” and had a file attached to it called “Levyaa Cortese.docx.” Not only did this document contain a copy of the text for the two new laws that Suine wrote in his March 18th message, but it was essentially a proposal to add them as an amendment to SB 411, a bill authored by State Senator Dave Cortese, which would make adjustments to CalPERS rules dealing with retired annuitants. “Can you point me to the amends?” Diaz asked Nowick in one message.

Another email chain shows that on Friday, June 18th, Nowick also forwarded this document to Randy Perry, a legislative advocate for Aaron Read & Associates, one of Sacramento’s most powerful lobbying firms. Nobody should be surprised he received it. Perry’s biography shows one his clients is the Peace Officers Research Association of California, which “represents over 76,000 public safety members and over 930 associations, making it the largest law enforcement organization in California.”

Atkins and Ma in 2019.

Roughly two months after Serrano asked Ma for help, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association Independent Expenditure Committee started pumping cash into her re-election bid. According to a Form 460 filed with the City of Santa Ana, they reported making a $7,800 contribution on December 1, 2020. Another form shows they gave $8,100 on June 8, 2021. Of course, these numbers don’t reflect the fact Serrano himself chipped in $500 as well, according to the California Secretary of State website.

During a six month period between December 2020 and June 2021, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association became one of Ma’s biggest donors, funneling $15,900 into her campaign coffers. Contrast that with the San Francisco Police Officers Association, which is based in the state treasurer’s hometown. They represent a police force that is about seven times larger than that of Santa Ana’s. Campaign finance data shows that so far they have given her a combined total of $17,800 since 2004.

To put things in perspective, the Los Angeles Police Protective League gave $16,200 to Ma in 2021. They represent about 9,900 officers. Each of their members contributed about $1.64 to her re-election bid. However, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, which only represents 300 officers, gave her $15,900. Their members each contributed $53. Though campaign finance laws limit how much money anyone can give, it’s clear someone inside the latter union wanted the state treasurer to get a lot of cash.

Campaign finance data from the California Secretary of State.

For reasons which aren’t entirely clear, SB 411 was never amended to include the text of two new laws drafted for Serrano’s benefit. When The Investigator asked Noah Starr, External Affairs Manager for the State Treasurer’s Office, about why it didn’t happen, he told us to direct what questions we had about this matter to State Senator Cortese, the bill’s author. Additionally, several emails that we sent out more than a week ago to State Senator Atkins have gone unanswered.

Though we did not reach out to Serrano for this article, the embattled police union president has repeatedly denied he has done anything improper with respect to his pension. In numerous emails and legal documents reviewed by The Investigator, he claims that when he became leader of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association in 2016, he was completely unaware some of the pay he would be getting couldn’t be applied as service credit toward his future retirement benefits.

Regardless of what the case may be, Serrano’s hope for another quick legislative fix from Ma apparently is no longer an option. In response to a question The Investigator posed to Starr, her spokesman, about whether or not the State Treasurer’s Office is planning to ask any state legislators this year to introduce bills that would include language similar to what they wanted as an amendment to SB 411, his answer was quite simple. “No,” he said.

Posted in 15th State Senate District, 39th State Senate District, Aaron Reed & Associates, Anthony Suine, California Public Employees Retirement System, California Secretary of State, California State Senate, California State Treasurer, CalPERS, Campaign Contributions, Cesar Diaz, City of Santa Ana, Dave Cortese, Elections, Ernesto Amado Conde, Fiona Ma, Form 460, Gerry Serrano, Government Code, Irwin Nowick, Law, Los Angeles Police Protective League, Marcie Frost, Noah Starr, Peace Officers Research Association of California, Rancho Santiago Community College District, Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee, Randy Perry, Retired Annuitant, Retirement Benefits, Rita Clark, Riverside Sheriffs Association, Ryan Sherman, Sacramento, San Francisco Police Officers Association, Santa Ana Police Officers Association, Santa Ana Police Officers Association Independent Expenditure Committee, SB 411, Sonia R. Carvalho, State Treasurer's Office, Tina Arias Miller, Toni Atkins, Voice of OC and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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