Investigators hired by the city of Anaheim released their highly anticipated independent investigation into corruption in Anaheim on Monday, revealing several new findings and making several recommendations for “improving the transparency, ethical conduct and interactions” of officials, staff and those doing business with the city.
The report will be closely examined by Anaheim officials, business groups and the public in the coming days.
Here are some of the key recommendations:
• Place a tighter hold on city money contributed to the Chamber of Commerce and the Visit Anaheim tourism office and “claw back” any funding wrongfully received.
• Conduct full forensic audits of the Chamber of Commerce, Visit Anaheim and their controlled nonprofits for the last seven years before giving them any more funding.
• The city should work against a “strong mayor” form of governance that has emerged and rededicate itself to the council/city manager structure.
• Create a city ombudsman/ethics officer to monitor political contributions, independent expenditures and other money spent on city races, as well as lobbying.
• Appoint the ombudsman to oversee the distribution of complimentary tickets obtained by the city for various entertainment and sporting events in town. Under a recommended ticket plan, council members would have less access to tickets than non-elected employees.
• Revisit the city manager’s ability to authorize certain expenditures of up to $250,000 without council approval.
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