There are so many appalling elements surrounding the city of Anaheim’s effort to sell its prime public property — Angel Stadium and surrounding acreage — to a development company controlled by the Los Angeles baseball team’s owner, Arte Moreno.
Even before the federal government’s high-profile corruption investigation and Mayor Harry Sidhu’s subsequent resignation, the deal emitted a stench. The sale terms heavily favored the Angels.
The council rammed it through without sufficient public scrutiny. The state claimed that it violated a law regulating the sale of publicly owned land.
Adding to the mess, Angels’ attorney Allan Abshez last week sent a hardball letter to Anaheim City Manager James Vanderpool demanding that the City Council close the stadium sale no later than June 14. The management group has “performed all of its obligations” and “expects the parties will complete the transaction,” it explained.
Apparently, Moreno and his team aren’t keeping up with the news. The FBI is investigating whether Sidhu “shared privileged and confidential information with the Angels during stadium sale negotiations … and expects to receive campaign contributions as a result.”
No one has accused the Angels’ side of any wrongdoing, but Anaheim City Attorney Rob Fabela said at the latest council meeting that “it does not stretch credulity” to believe that “there wouldn’t be some knowledge on the other side of that.”
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Sidhu denies the allegations, but for now everyone needs to wait for the investigation to play out.
Furthermore, California Attorney General Rob Bonta asked Orange County Superior Court to put a hold on a deal between the state and city that settles that “surplus land” dispute by funding affordable-housing projects. How could Anaheim close a sale when the court has held up one crucial element of it?
Ironically, stadium-sale supporters have argued the Angels’ presence in Anaheim boosts civic pride, yet it’s clear from the letter that the team isn’t reciprocating any civic-mindedness. The Angels need to respect the City Council’s vote on Tuesday to cancel a deal that’s the center of a maelstrom. The city really had no other choice.