Anaheim officials punted a decision Tuesday on stiff new campaign finance reform proposals, after one councilman’s absence left only five members on the dais.

Councilman Jose Diaz stayed home after testing positive for COVID-19, and the city wasn’t able to meet the legal notice requirement to allow him to participate remotely, city spokesman Mike Lyster said.

Council members heard from a number of residents who urged them to approve the new rules, but during debate they couldn’t find a consensus and voted unanimously to postpone the issue until June 21.

Three proposals from Councilman Jose Moreno – to tighten restrictions on when candidates could solicit campaign donations and vote on business involving their donors – were on the agenda. He had tried to get the council to discuss changes to city campaign finance rules in 2019, but was shut down by the council majority, then led by Mayor Harry Sidhu.

Sidhu resigned under pressure last month, after it came to light that he is under federal investigation for alleged corruption, partly in connection with the now-canceled deal to sell Angel Stadium.

Sidhu has not been charged with a crime, and his attorney, Paul S. Meyer has said that fair and impartial investigations would reveal he has not broken the law.

“We urge the city and everyone to avoid political spin in a matter which is still under investigation with no charges filed. The city should follow the course which the community of Anaheim deserves: act professionally based on fact, not rumor; and apply the law unto others as you would have it applied unto you,” Meyer said in a statement Monday.

A report to the council Tuesday listed contributions Sidhu received, which totaled more than $500,000 over the 2018 and 2022 election cycles. Among about 700 donors, 105 of them have or had a contract or business with the city at some time, the report said.

Amid public outcry over an alleged culture of “pay-to-play” at City Hall, Moreno revived his campaign finance reform suggestions.

“Trust in the council is at an all-time low,” one resident told city leaders Tuesday, adding that one way to restore it would be reforming campaign finance rules.

Moreno’s suggested changes would: require council members and the mayor to sit out votes on matters involving campaign donors within a one-year window of when the contribution was made; limit the amount of time before and after an election that candidates could raise money; and set an end date on how long after an election candidates could do fundraising to pay off campaign debt.

The city already caps the amount candidates can accept from individual donors at $2,200 in an election cycle, but political action committees (which legally aren’t supposed to coordinate with candidates) don’t have limits on spending in favor of or against a candidate.

Some council members questioned whether it would be unconstitutional to create limits related to independent expenditures, and Councilman Avelino Valencia made a new proposal to require candidates to report contributions of more than $250 within 24 hours during periods between when regular finance reports are due.

Mayor Pro Tem Trevor O’Neil argued that what investigators alleged Sidhu may have done – trying to provide confidential information to Angels Baseball officials in the hope of soliciting a $1 million campaign contribution – is already illegal, and he said Moreno’s proposals wouldn’t have prevented it.

“We’re trying to control things that are out of our control,” O’Neil said, referring to suggested limits on independent expenditures. “It’s becoming a case of the cure being worse than the disease.”

But Moreno disagreed, saying that since Sidhu had already received contributions within the existing limits from Angels officials, he would have had to sit out the stadium vote under the proposed new rules.

To limit council members’ ability to vote on issues that could benefit their campaign donors would be a basic way “to assure the public that money is not influencing our decisions,” Moreno said.

Also on Tuesday’s agenda are discussions of whether the council wants to request an outside investigation of Sidhu’s campaign receipts and votes he cast on city business with those donors, and what to what to do about the vacant mayor’s seat.

Check back for updates.

Related Articles