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• 2099 S. State College Blvd., Suite 600,
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT AND CEO Visit Anaheim stands strong with our local partners, the tourism and hospitality industry in promoting a united front for racial equality. We support the black community and all people of color in the fight against racism with the goal of equality and justice for all. While the road to end racism is far from over, we know we must start with ourselves. Like many of us, our team has taken the time to actively listen and learn in an effort to better understand the work we have to do as an organization, and as an industry, to create lasting and meaningful change. While these recent discussions have undoubtedly provoked uncomfortable conversations, we know we must do our part to support equality and actively stand against discrimination. Our initial steps toward change we are actively exploring include: - New diversity and inclusion programs within the organization - Our continued efforts to promote workforce development programs in Anaheim and Orange County. - Widening our volunteer efforts in our community to include organizations that are improving the lives of Black residents and people of color in the county. Now more than ever, we intend to rely on Visit Anaheim’s core values of trust, teamwork and integrity to affect change and unite our community and our industry. Sincerely, Jay Burress President and CEO Visit Anaheim

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Visit Anaheim CEO Resigns After Allegations of Rerouting Tax Dollars

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Jay Burress, CEO and President of Visit Anaheim, has resigned amid allegations he helped divert $1.5 million in tax dollars to an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce-controlled nonprofit in the midst of one of the biggest corruption scandals to hit Orange County. 

Christina Dawson, senior vice president of operations for Visit Anaheim – the local tourism bureau – confirmed Thursday that Burress resigned last week and a search to replace him as president and CEO is ongoing.

She declined to comment further.

Mike Lyster, a city spokesperson, said in a Wednesday email the city has not been updated about Visit Anaheim when asked about Burress’ resignation.

“We have not received any notification or update regarding Visit Anaheim,” he wrote.

After publication Thursday, Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said in a text message she couldn’t comment on the resignation since she hadn’t been contacted by Visit Anaheim about the issue.

Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s board of directors.

The rest of the city council did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Alleged Criminal Conspiracy 

In a 353-page corruption report released at the end of July, independent investigators – with decades of law enforcement experience – alleged Visit Anaheim took $1.5 million of the $6.5 million COVID bailout they were given by the city council and sent the money to a Chamber of Commerce controlled nonprofit. 

The money Anaheim gave the tourism bureau in March 2020 was from the city’s general fund and was later backfilled by federal COVID bailout money.

Investigators say Burress was part of a conspiracy to divert the money allegedly concocted by former Mayor Harry Sidhu and former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament , both of whom have pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes.

“The facts showed that then-Mayor Sidhu directed Burress to divert $1.5 million to the Anaheim Chamber’s controlled nonprofit and that Ament instructed Burress to report, if asked about the $1.5 million, that it came from other reserve funds,” investigators wrote. 

“This cover story was created in order to provide some sort of plausible deniability for the unlawful diversion of this $1.5 million,” reads their report.

In September, Sidhu pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about attempting to ram the Angel Stadium sale through for $1 million in campaign support from the team. 

In July 2022 , Ament pleaded guilty to a series of federal fraud charges.  

Burress’ name is mentioned nearly 120 times in the corruption report, and investigators say he admitted he completely fabricated the $6.5 million figure the organization said it needed to survive the pandemic. 

Sidhu spearheaded the bailout in March 2020 so Visit Anaheim could book conventions and advertise the Disneyland resort area at a time when the local tourism industry was shut down indefinitely. 

Disneyland would be closed for more than a year.

[ Read : Anaheim Council Funds $6.5 Million Bailout To Advertise Disneyland Resort Area ]

At the time, former City Manager Chris Zapata objected to Sidhu’s plan saying they should loan them the money instead.

Zapata was fired by Sidhu’s council majority shortly afterwards.

State Auditor Eyes Visit Anaheim

Weeks after the corruption report was released on July 31, State Auditor Grant Parks launched an investigation into Visit Anaheim’s finances at the request of Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, a former city councilman.

[ Read: State Auditors to Probe Anaheim’s Rerouting of Federal Funds to Chamber of Commerce ]

That audit is expected to be released this winter, according to the auditor’s website.

Anaheim City Council members refused to launch their own investigation into Visit Anaheim in August despite a request by Mayor Ashleigh Aitken to do so.

Meanwhile, City Attorney Rob Fabela said he sent a letter demanding the return of the $1.5 million.

[ Read: Anaheim Officials Refuse To Audit Tourism Bureau’s Alleged Illegal Diversion of COVID Funds ]

Burress started working as Visit Anaheim’s President and CEO in February 2013, according to his LinkedIn page .

As of 11:51 a.m. Thursday, Burress was still listed as secretary of Visit Anaheim’s Board of Directors .

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.

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Team & Leadership

Committed to serving california tourism, audit committee team & leadership team & leadership, benjamin webster.

Office Managing Shareholder

Littler Mendelson PC

Michael Dunne

Area Vice President of Operations, West

Hilton Worldwide

Noreen Martin

Advisory Board Member

KSL Resorts

Vice President, Government Affairs & Counsel

Avis/Budget Group, Inc.

Caroline Beteta

President & Chief Executive Officer/Director of Tourism

Visit California

Matthew Sabbatini

Chief Operating Officer

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Ilsa butler.

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Evans Hotels

Cathy Cartier

Visit SLO CAL

Dana Allen-Greil

Monterey Bay Aquarium

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Marriott International

Lynn Bruni-Perkins

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San Francisco Travel

Julie Buffo

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Visit Oxnard

Andy Chapman

Travel North Tahoe

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South Coast Plaza

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Disneyland Resort

Chuck Davison

Sheldon duncan.

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NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Linsey Gallagher

Visit Napa Valley

Omark Holmes

Visit Huntington Beach

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Sunland RV Resorts

David Miller

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Jeff Morris

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Visit West Hollywood

Todd O'Leary

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Sonoma County Tourism

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Visit Anaheim

Colleen Pace

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Julie Pastor

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LEGOLAND California Resort

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Diane Stracuzzi

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Pebble Beach Company

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Lynn Carpenter

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Anand Patel

Visit Fairfield

Todd Aaronson

Chief Executive Officer

Visit Modesto

Kathie Ammar

Desert Regional Tourism Agency

Joaquin Baena

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Global Marketing & Sales, Inc.

Laurie Baker

Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association

Emily Bryant

Marketing Manager

Susan Childers

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Visit Gilroy

Paul Crouch

Welcome Center Manager

Outlets at San Clemente

Kari Crutcher

Ridgecrest Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

Kristin Galloway

Business Development Manager

Leslee Gaul

Visit Oceanside

Scott Gentner

Andrey gorbachenko.

Destination Services / California Welcome Center Manager

Greater Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau/Ontario Convention Center

Robert Haswell

Placer County Visitors Bureau

Debbie Hays

Sales & Community Relations

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Susan Jennrich

General Manager

Outlets At San Clemente

Frank Johnson

Paige jones.

CWC Manager

South County Chamber of Commerce

Craig Kaufman

Salinas Valley Tourism & Visitors Bureau

Katrina Kessen

Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance

Debbie Manning

El Dorado Hills Chamber of Commerce

Director of Tourism Development

Tiffany McKenzie

Director of Marketing

Janelle Myers

Vice President of Marketing & Communications

Santa Rosa Metro Chamber of Commerce

Manny Pereida

Manager of Administration & Customer Service

Lydia Petroff

Visitor Services Manager

Nicole Ritthaler

Agent Sales Manager

Big Bus Tours

Jennifer Rodriguez

The Outlets At Barstow

Barbara Scott-Blakely

Rongiet urquidez.

Property Manager & Marketing Director

Cabazon Outlets

Sarah Winters

Tori cruz-fuchs.

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Julie Coker

San Diego Tourism Authority

Peter Gamez

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Katherine Janega-Dykes

Visit Santa Barbara

Misti Kerns

Santa Monica Travel & Tourism

John LaFortune

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Kelly Miller

Gary sherwin.

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Claudia Vecchio

Julie wagner.

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Scott White

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Universal Studios Hollywood & UPR North America Theme Parks

Paul Garcia

Director of Communications

Scott Gediman

Chief, Media & External Relations Public Affairs Officer

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Chris Heywood

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Karna Hughes

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Joyce Kiehl

Ryan becker.

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Carla Murray

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Shuaib Bulhan

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Peter Clarke

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Robert Gleason

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Ken Potrock

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Annie Allen

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Benjamin Eastman

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Michelle Israel

Vice President of Sales and Membership

Ashley Johnson

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Newport Beach & Company

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Millie Matz

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Santa Barbara Hotel Collection

Gary Orfield

Michael parr.

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Bart Peterson

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Kathryn Smits

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Lindsey Stevens

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Percy Stevens

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Michael Vanderhurst

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Daniel Halpern

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Katie Hunter

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Reed Kandalaft

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Terry MacRae

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Ripton Melhado

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Rob O'Keefe

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Vanessa Puopolo

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Stephen Revetria

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Ted Selogie

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John Sheperdson

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Avis Budget Group, Inc.

Bobbie Singh-Allen

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California Lodging Industry Association

Kurt Stocks

President/General Manager

Scott Strobl

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Universal Studios Hollywood

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Martin Resorts, Inc.

Public Relations Committee Team & Leadership Team & Leadership

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Stephen Andrews

Passport Resorts

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Yosemite National Park

Christina Glynn

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Visit Santa Cruz County

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Lori lincoln.

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Norma Marlowe

Director of Public Relations

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Tracy Spahr

SeaWorld San Diego

Lindsay Swanson

Communications Director

Birgitt Vaughan

Frances wong.

Director of Marketing, Communications & Global Media Relations

Natalie Wymer

Wine Institute of California

Angie Pappas

Associate Vice President of External Affairs and Media Relations

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Brett allor.

Senior Director, Market Strategy & Research

Jennifer Avery

Vice President, Research & Insights

Universal Parks & Resorts

Conrad Braganza

Senior Manager, Research

Shannel Dooley

Business Intelligence Administrator

Jerusha Greenwood, Ph.D.

Professor & Vice Chair, Academic Senate College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences, Experience Industry Management

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Rebecca Kirkpatrick

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Gina Triglia

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Julie benbow.

Humboldt County Visitors Bureau

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Lorraine Chapman

Director of Tourism, Advocacy & Industry Relations

Colleen Dalton

Visit Truckee-Tahoe

Jonathan Farrington

Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau

Visit Carmel

Nathan Hultgren

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Visit Stockton

Rhonda Salisbury

Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau

Travis Scott

Visit Mendocino County

Yolo County Tourism

Jennifer Talt Lundin

Ventura Port District

Kathy Vreeland

Discover Buellton

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Dodge Ridge Mountain Resort + Bear Valley

Tom Fortune

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Heavenly/Tahoe (Vail Resorts)

Kristin Guinn

North Tahoe Community Alliance

Bridget Legnavsky

Sugar Bowl Resort/Royal Gorge Cross Country

Stuart Maas

Senior Director Marketing & Biz Development

Visit Lake Tahoe

John McColly

Mountain High Resort

Tucker Norred

Boreal Mountain, Woodward Tahoe & Soda Springs

Matt Peterson

Senior Marketing Director

Palisades Tahoe

Michael Reitzell

California Ski Industry

Local News | Visit Anaheim’s role marketing the city…

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Local News | Visit Anaheim’s role marketing the city isn’t unique. The lack of public oversight is

Anaheim modeled its tourism marketing efforts after other cities in California, but following through with public oversight over the millions of dollars from hotel stays that would be raised was left out of the mix.

The city, working with hoteliers in 2010, created a tourism district that would charge vacationers an extra 2% on their nightly hotel rate. Most of that money, now more than $20 million a year, was then to be used by Visit Anaheim for marketing the city around the world and booking its convention center.

It’s a setup that’s common throughout Southern California: a city partnering with a tourism-focused nonprofit to market the city with money supplied by hotel stays. Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and San Diego are among the cities that have had similar arrangements, but unlike Anaheim, public boards have helped to monitor those millions of dollars.

When the tourism district was formed nearly 15 years ago, included was the option for the City Council to create an advisory board to assist with oversight of those tourism dollars, but it was never invoked. Now, Anaheim officials are looking to enhance oversight of those dollars after state auditors in a recently released report chided the city for not having a meaningful monitoring process in place “given the significant funding that Visit Anaheim receives.” Some of that tourism money ended up being used for political advocacy and influence, the auditors said.

“The safeguards in the contract were not being followed,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said. “I look at the oversight board as a way for city staff to make sure that we are following the procedures that are going to be in place. There are certain things in that contract that I look forward to renegotiating to make sure that we are true partners and not just a pass-through organization.”

Aitken added that the city has a duty to visitors and taxpayers to ensure policies surrounding the public funds are being followed.

Assistant City Manager Greg Garcia told the City Council at a Tuesday meeting that when the tourism district was established, city officials never saw it as public money.

“While we work very closely with Visit Anaheim on a lot of their marketing activities, having real specific oversight over these dollars, which we considered were their dollars, wasn’t something that we really thought twice about,” Garcia said.

Garcia said it wasn’t until having discussions with state auditors that the city came around to agree that it was public money.

Lorri Galloway, who was on the council in 2010 and voted to create the tourism improvement district, said the expectation then was the oversight board was going to be created. The idea was to make Visit Anaheim more competitive with competing markets in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, she said.

Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and San Diego each have tourism marketing nonprofits that are funded by similar assessments on hotel room stays (resorts participating in Newport Beach’s tourism district have asked to dissolve the program). All three have held regular public meetings to discuss the use of those tourism funds, with agendas for people to review and time for public comment.

In Anaheim, the main venue for public oversight and tracking the meeting of contract obligations has been a yearly report from Visit Anaheim and two city staffers acting as board members, which drew criticism from the state auditors for relying on just a pair of spots on the nonprofit’s board to monitor millions in tourism spending for over a decade and whether expectations were being met.

City Manager James Vanderpool in his official response to the state auditors’ findings said Anaheim will explore creating an advisory board to assist the city in oversight. City officials expect the council to consider an advisory board as early as this month and Garcia said the councilmembers will have the ability to determine who can be on it.

That 2% extra vacationers pay at 94 hotels in Anaheim brings in about $30 million a year; 75% of that goes to Visit Anaheim, and the rest goes toward transportation improvements.

Visit Anaheim has been around for decades and is governed by a 22-member board largely made up of hoteliers. Visit Anaheim has said it looks forward to greater transparency as the city renegotiates its agreement with it.

Orange County’s Surf City imposes a 4% assessment on hotel room stays to help fund Visit Huntington Beach – raising about $6 million per year. Visit Huntington Beach held 15 meetings last year under California open meeting laws with publicly posted agendas and time for public comment.

The San Diego Tourism Marketing District, a $27 million-a-year organization, held nine public meetings in 2023. The Newport Beach Tourism Improvement District has been holding about two meetings a year. Both have minutes and agendas available to review online.

For the transportation side of Anaheim’s tourism improvement district, there is a committee that meets publicly a few times a year.

State auditors said, “The city should not have relied only on two city employees acting as Visit Anaheim board members to monitor the contract.” Tom Morton, Anaheim’s tourism director, told auditors that he relied on Visit Anaheim’s externally audited financial statements as a check on spending.

The advisory board Anaheim creates, state auditors said, should have representatives from the assessed hotels, legal counsel and a person knowledgeable in government finance.

There seems to be little desire from city officials to get rid of Visit Anaheim’s role, with some declaring that it has the experts on staff for booking the convention center. Morton has told the City Council on multiple occasions that there are many reasons why you’d want a separate conventions bureau, and it’d be expensive for the city to do it itself.

“It’s a very unique operation,” Morton said Tuesday.

Before the tourism district was created in 2010, Visit Anaheim got about $6 million a year from the city’s general fund.

Visit Anaheim’s growth has been supercharged over the last decade, with it now receiving more than $20 million a year from the city’s tourism improvement district as the resort area has become more popular. In its lifetime, the 2% assessment has raised $111.2 million for Visit Anaheim.

Aitken said she doesn’t see the city going back to funding Visit Anaheim with the general fund. Visit Anaheim in a statement released on Feb. 1 said it looked forward to developing a plan with the city to ensure transparency and effective oversight.

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Visit Anaheim Joins Big Brothers Big Sisters Workplace Mentoring Program

• January 18, 2024

Visit Anaheim Staff to Provide One-on-One Mentoring to Local High School Students

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Jan. 17, 2024) –  Visit Anaheim, the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Anaheim, announced its two-year commitment to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire (BBBS)  Workplace Mentoring program . Fourteen Katella High School students will begin going to the Visit Anaheim office once a month to receive one-on-one career mentoring from Visit Anaheim staff.

Focusing on college and career readiness, the BBBS Workplace Mentoring program offers high school students a jumpstart in their professional development with exposure to major corporations and one-on-one time with accomplished mentors.

By partnering with Visit Anaheim, students will have an opportunity to explore career possibilities, discover academic pathways and build relationships with mentors who are skilled professionals in the tourism and hospitality field.

“With over 63,000 tourism jobs in Anaheim across the convention center, theme parks, restaurants, shops, and hotels, Visit Anaheim is enthusiastic about getting young professionals interested in career opportunities within our industry,” said Christina Dawson, Senior Vice President of Operations, Visit Anaheim.

Students will have the opportunity to kickstart their careers, get a sneak peek into a professional workplace, build a relationship with an experienced mentor, explore career possibilities in a field that interests them and make valuable professional connections for the future.

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides after-school transportation for students and facilitates each session, which includes one-on-one time and collaborative group activities.

To learn more about Visit Anaheim’s efforts to develop the future tourism and hospitality workforce, go to  visitanaheim.org/wfd . 

About Visit Anaheim:  
Founded in 1961, Visit Anaheim is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit destination marketing organization. Visit Anaheim’s mission is to develop, market and sell Anaheim to benefit the economic vitality of its neighborhoods. To learn more about Visit Anaheim, visit: www.visitanaheim.org and follow us on  Facebook ,  Instagram  and  LinkedIn . 


About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire : Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Our mentoring model was created on the premise of youth equity and empowerment, designed to meet kids where they are and empower them with the skills to transform their lives and their communities. Since 1958, we have provided local youth facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported mentoring connections that provide a direct and measurable impact on their lives. With a mentor, youth are able to build emotional intelligence and social capital necessary to achieve educational milestones, set postsecondary plans and achieve a living wage job. Through mentoring, our aim is to reduce the number of disconnected youth in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and build a self-sufficient workforce with the potential to change the world.

To learn more about the organization, visit their  Orange County office’s website  or their  Inland Empire office’s website .

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STATE AUDIT on Anaheim Chamber of Commerce & Visit Anaheim “DROPS.”

Hot off the presses… much more comment to come……

City of Anaheim:

It has not properly managed tourism-related contracts and millions of dollars in related funds.

January 30, 2024

Dear Governor and Legislative Leaders:

As directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, my office conducted an urgent audit of the public funds that the city of Anaheim disbursed to two private nonprofit entities—the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) and the Anaheim and Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau (Visit Anaheim). The city entered into contracts with and disbursed more than $100 million to Visit Anaheim, and the Chamber received from both the city and Visit Anaheim more than $6 million in public funds from fiscal years 2012–13 through 2021–22. In general, we determined that the city lacked a meaningful contract monitoring process and did not properly manage the contracts it entered into with these entities, resulting in unallowable spending and unmet deliverables.

In one case, Visit Anaheim subcontracted with the Chamber to provide work related to promoting Anaheim’s tourism and convention industries. Visit Anaheim did this without the required written permission from the city and absent appropriate oversight from the city. The Chamber then used some of these funds for unallowable services, including advocating for or against proposed federal, state, and local legislation and supporting resort-friendly candidates through its political action committee. Furthermore, the Chamber could not demonstrate that it provided Visit Anaheim with three of the 10 agreed-upon services we reviewed from 2018 through 2022, such as holding meetings with local businesses.

In another circumstance, Anaheim awarded a $6.5 million contract to Visit Anaheim to perform economic recovery activities during the pandemic when Visit Anaheim already had millions in estimated unspent public funds intended to fund similar services. Among the recommendations we have made for the city to improve its contract monitoring policies and procedures is for it to seek to renegotiate its largest contract with Visit Anaheim to allow for more effective oversight.

Respectfully submitted,

GRANT PARKS California State Auditor

The City Contracted with Two Nonprofits to Promote Tourism and Related Business Development Opportunities

Public Funds Paid for Some Unallowable and Undelivered Services

The City of Anaheim Performed No Meaningful Oversight of its Contracts with the Two Nonprofits

Vern here… I gotta run, but let’s all see what’s here…….

UPDATE: The City’s Response

Anaheim shares state audit, supports recommendations with adoption underway.

ANAHEIM, Calif . (Jan. 30, 2024) — Anaheim has shared a state audit critical of contract and funding oversight involving Visit Anaheim and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and welcomes the report’s recommendations with adoption already underway.

The report, released today by California State Auditor, criticizes how funding and contracts were overseen and recommends additional oversight, contract review and adoption of the state contracting manual, a policy and procedure guide used by the state of California.

“We welcome this audit as we continue to move Anaheim forward,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said. “Oversight and accountability are vital to public trust, and we should always be expanding and improving. Along with our recent tightening of lobbying rules, commissioning of a city ethics officer and enhanced rules for city communications, public records and City Council calendars, the audit’s recommendations will be part of a comprehensive set of reforms to guide Anaheim.” 

“Oversight of public money is a top priority for me and our entire City Council,” Mayor Pro Tem Norma Campos Kurtz said. “Anaheim is already a better city today. But our work to improve is never done. These recommendations are a welcome addition to the changes we’ve put in place, and I look forward to joining with my Council colleagues in making them best practices for Anaheim.”

The audit looks at oversight of contracts and funding for Visit Anaheim, the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and the Anaheim Tourism Improvement District, known as ATID.

You can see a fact sheet with history and background  here .

Here’s a summary of state auditor recommendations and Anaheim’s implementation: 

• Designate a city advisory board for ATID spending by July 2024:  in process with initial City Council consideration expected as early as February.
• Adopt California’s state contracting manual by June 2025:  adoption has been directed by Anaheim’s city manager, is in process by the city’s purchasing division and expected no later than mid-2024.
• Amend Anaheim’s agreement with Visit Anaheim by June 2025 with more performance indicators, all expenditures, barring of transfers and oversight of any subcontractors:  Anaheim has notified Visit Anaheim that the contract will be amended with City Council consideration expected by mid-2024.
• Assess 2019 and 2020 Anaheim Chamber of Commerce contracts to see if any money needs to be returned:  The city manager has directed Anaheim’s audit division to review chamber contracts with expected completion by mid-2024.

Other Anaheim actions taken independently prior to the audit: 

• Anaheim Chamber contracts:  Anaheim stopped major involvement with the chamber in 2022, has no active chamber contracts and has not since 2021.
• Visit Anaheim ATID transfers to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce:  Anaheim’s city attorney in August demanded a halt to Visit Anaheim ATID transfers to the chamber with transfers stopped in September.
• Visit Anaheim pandemic funding:  Anaheim has called for the return of $1.5 million in city pandemic relief funding brought into question and continues to evaluate its options.

The state audit follows a 2023 city-commissioned investigation of issues that came to light in 2022.

In August, former Anaheim City Council member and state Assemblymember Avelino Valencia requested a state audit of funding involving Visit Anaheim and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce.

In the second half of 2023, Anaheim staff from the city manager’s office, audit division, city attorney’s office and the convention, sports and entertainment and finance departments took part in interviews with state auditors.

Draft findings and recommendations were shared with the city in late 2023 as part of preparing a city response to the audit.

You can read the audit  here .

Anaheim Tourism Improvement District

The audit covers oversight of funding for the Anaheim Tourism Improvement District, or ATID.

The district is made up of 94 hotels and motels in The Anaheim Resort near the theme parks and convention center and in the Platinum Triangle near the stadium and Honda Center.

ATID hotels and motels assess themselves 2 percent of visitor stays, in addition to Anaheim’s 15 percent city hotel-stay tax.

The district was created in 2010 by a vote of the Anaheim City Council with approval of a management plan, district maps and related items.

ATID’s self-assessment relieved the city of Anaheim of paying $6 million in yearly funding for the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau, known today as Visit Anaheim.

A 2010 agreement made Visit Anaheim ATID operations manager.

ATID assessments are considered public money for a specific, restricted use. They are collected on behalf of ATID by Anaheim along with the city’s hotel-stay tax.

Assessments  are   not  available to the city with spending directed by independent boards.

For the 12 months through this June, ATID is projected to collect $30.6 million from assessments.

Three-quarters of ATID funding goes to Visit Anaheim to book conventions, hotel rooms and to market visits to Anaheim.

Visit Anaheim is projected to see $22.8 million in ATID funding for the 12 months through this June.

A quarter of ATID funding goes toward transportation projects in The Anaheim Resort or Platinum Triangle, projected at $7.8 million for the 12 months through June.

No more than 1 percent of ATID funding goes to Anaheim for collection costs.

ATID: oversight

ATID spending by Visit Anaheim is overseen by a 22-member board made up of hoteliers and including Anaheim’s city manager and executive director of convention, sports and entertainment.

ATID transportation funding is overseen by a three-person transportation committee that meets monthly and made up of a hotelier chairman nominated by Visit Anaheim’s board, a Disneyland Resort representative as the largest ATID contributor and Anaheim’s assistant city manager.

Audit findings: ATID

From 2012 to 2022, the state audit found Visit Anaheim paid $4.4 million to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce under a 2010 subcontract.

The audit believes some funding to the chamber was used for “unallowable political activities or advocacy” with a list of examples provided without detailing activities.

The city of Anaheim shares concerns about how ATID funding may have been used and welcomes any additional detail.

The city has addressed the issue through its demand to end ATID funding of the chamber, which stopped in September. 

Anaheim is in the early stages of adopting the audit’s recommendation of creating a city advisory board for ATID spending, which will provide added oversight.

Audit findings: Visit Anaheim pandemic funding

In 2020, the Anaheim City Council voted to provide $6.5 million in pandemic recovery funding to Visit Anaheim from the city’s convention, sports and entertainment department fund.

The funding was allocated to keep Visit Anaheim staff in place to rebook postponed conventions and to market Anaheim upon reopening after a 60 percent Visit Anaheim staff furlough in 2020.

The city-commissioned 2023 investigation indicated that $1.5 million of the $6.5 million was transferred to the Anaheim Economic Development Corp., part of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce.

The transfer was unknown to the city before 2023 and went beyond the direction of the City Council’s funding vote.

In August, Anaheim demanded return of the $1.5 million.

Visit Anaheim responded in November that the chamber funding was from its operating cash and not city funding.

The audit raises questions about Visit Anaheim’s accounting of the chamber payment and its use of operating cash other than for tourism promotion for its members.

The city supports the audit recommendation of increased accountability and oversight of Visit Anaheim through a city advisory board and more detailed reporting of performance, expenditures and any subcontractor oversight.

Anaheim also continues to question the $1.5 million transferred to the chamber and evaluate its options.

Audit findings: chamber contracts

Three Anaheim agreements with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce are also covered by the audit: 

• 2020:  a $500,000, one-year shop, dine, buy local contract awarded by the Anaheim City Council to promote shopping, dining and business services during the pandemic.
• 2019:  a $425,000, one-year contract awarded by the Anaheim City Council for economic development and business promotion services.
• 2012:  a $2.9 million, five-year contract awarded by the City Council to administer enterprise zones in the city under a state program. 

The audit criticizes the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce for being unable to document some services under the contracts and ATID money received from Visit Anaheim.

In 2022, Anaheim halted major involvement with the chamber with no current agreements in place.

Anaheim supports the audit’s recommendation of reviewing the 2019 and 2020 chamber contracts, with early work underway by the city’s audit division.

Audit findings: conflicts of interest

The audit found no conflicts of interest or personal financial interest among the city, City Council members and the chamber and Visit Anaheim, according to the audit.

About Admin

23 comments.

So when do the arrests begin ?

they have already begun …. Todd Ament, Harry Sidhu, and Jay Burress … all arrested … Happy Day …

Jay’s not arrested. I’ll have more to say about Jay, who I’m starting to think was “let go” from Visit Anaheim for telling the truth to the JL Group.

Just unfortunate white collar crimes. Nothing to see here, “We welcome, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Get caught swiping a candy bar from a 7-Eleven and watch Spitzer come after you.

“The homeless and the challenged and the struggling fill the jails While in City Halls and corporate walls, impunity prevails. Where piles of wealth accumulate, and not where they belong, The Ghost of Kelly Thomas marches on…”

“Visit Anaheim responded in November that the chamber funding was from its operating cash and not city funding.”

What a wonderful non-answer. Buress’ position is that it was okay because the money was laundered through the Chamber’s petty cash drawer.

Jay was gone in November. Not that that might not have been his answer.

Yeah I’m pretty busy with other stuff and gonna have to digest all this, but I see writing a piece called “Let This All Sink In.”

We were always outraged by the $6.5 million “Covid Heist of 2020” since we were warned about it at the last minute by Jose Moreno (it was sprung on us as some kind of “emergency.”) We learned from JL that Burress was told to name whatever amount he wanted, he pulled $5 million “off the top of his head,” Sidhu and Ament told him to tack on another $1.5 million which we know (from Burress talking to JL) that was intended to be snuck over (and lied about) to Ament’s non-profit “Economic Development Corporation.”

And from this audit we learn that VA was in no way in need of this infusion, and ALSO that the $1.5 million given to the Chamber went to lobbying and campaigns – electing the NEXT batch of Councilpeople who’d give the kleptocracy whatever they wanted. Federal COVID money. To help elect Faessel, Diaz & Avelino in Nov. 2020 (ironic as this is Avelino’s audit.)

Don’t forget the COVID Heist was passed lockstep, no questions asked, by the Sidhu majority – Sidhu, O’Neil (who always took special delight in fighting Moreno), Brandman, Kring and Faessel. (And led to the firing of Chris Zapata.)

And we should never forget about the OTHER chamber giveaways of 2019-20, misused in the same way. And we learn from the audit that this sort of behavior went on thru 2022, long after Ament was gone – i.e. under Laura Cunningham.

And we see Cunningham justify her Chamber’s use of public funds on political activities because they “demonstrably benefited the tourism and convention industries in Anaheim.” In her opinion. That’s federal COVID money, and money from the City’s Treasury, to keep electing Chamber/Disney-loyal members to Council.

And observing how Jay Burress was “let go” or forced to resign (?) after telling JL all about the $1.5 million, and the fact that Visit Anaheim is denying all that and resisting returning that money, I’ve been thinking that Jay was only let go for being so indiscreet as to tell the truth to JL, while all his friends were stonewalling them.

Lobbying. It occurs to me what the Chamber was lobbying so hard about, in Sacramento, in 2020 – they were trying their best to ease state Covid restrictions so the Resort could be re-opened before it was safe.

Use of our Federal Covid money to try to weaken Covid restrictions. On top of the fact that that $6.5 MILLION if used as intended could’ve saved lives. I think AG Garland WILL take an interest in that.

FPPC. Political Reform Act.

Did Anaheim violate its own charter? That might take away some immunity.

Spitzer, then PAGA or Bonta.

When did Burress leave? Probably too long ago for a (seemingly legitimate) suit against the city, if he wasn’t paid off already, but he should also talk to an employment lawyer. (Not me, but I know a good one.) I wonder whether this audit might reset a deadline or two.

Cunningham should offer to serve time in place of his wife, as I’m betting that he got her into this mess.

Now Lou Correa is asking AG Garland to look into all this, because of the results of this audit. Is this what it took, this audit, for Lou to finally believe us about these decades of corruption? And, would they care in Washington about what we do in Anaheim, CA? We’ll see.

https://voiceofoc.org/2024/01/will-the-u-s-attorney-general-be-next-in-line-to-probe-anaheim/

We remember how Lou always endorsed Kris Murray, Gayle Eastman, Jordan Brandman, Steve Faessel… all the guilty parties – making some Democrats angry. But I guess people can change. Maybe.

I’m getting more and more irritated at all the spinning that “Anaheim didn’t have enough oversight” etc. As though the voting mayors and councilmembers had no idea what was going on. People like Moreno and Barnes were calling all this out while it was happening and they were treated like tiresome lunatics.

More heads must roll…

Bad boy, Lou, bad boy. Biting the hand that fed you all those years.

Another Correa profile in courage. The train was already pulling out of the station.

Like when he became Anaheim’s district elections champion. In December of 2015.

https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2016/06/most-outrageous-correa-mailer-yet-anaheims-voting-rights-champion/

https://voiceofoc.org/2016/06/briceno-correcting-correa/

Yeah, I expect that Lou will convey to the powers that B (for Burbank) that he’s just doing this for show. Otherwise, I wonder how he’ll survive being in the Peter Finch role when Disney calls him into a conference room for a little “Ned Beatty in Network” pep talk. A lot harder than running into a not exactly smoldering apartment to “save” some people, I’d bet.

Take a peek at the Loretta Sanchez Senate announcement pics at the Santa Ana train station.

Among the upward mobile professionals was a gaggle of other folks, including Vern and the sheet metal guy. But a closer look reveals Anahiemchamber folks, BOTH mr. And Mrs. Cunningham as well as the lobbyists for Disney that everyone harps about being in bed with Jordan and Mayor Aitken (figuratively). Of course Vince Samiento,Claudio Gallegos and the Disgraced SA councilman as well.

Get out the magnifying glass and look.

This shit has been being baked in the cake. How many members of Congress get FREE disneyland tickets (and Angels) for their contributors through Lou (and Loretta)? Do some Duanne Robert’s level shit and you’ll realize how the surface was only scratched.

LOL I took that video. (Was that 2015? 16?) And I got to ask Loretta a question about the TPP.

Apart from that… sounds like quite a conspiracy! Worthy of a David Lynch movie.

We tend to leave the conspiracy theories to the Greg Diamond’s of the world.

But it is worth noting that David’s comment left some of the progressive wing of the DPOC’S most vocal members licking their chops at the chance at a piece of the action.

https://newsantaana.com/sanchez-announces-her-campaign-for-the-u-s-senate/

OK OK, meds time for OJ trolls.

Let us not forget that Chris Zappata was canned doing the right thing over the 6.5 million. Everyone knew the graft was going on. Just for sport Laura Cunningham should be removed. AITD money is public money and deserves to be treated as such.

And thanks for the excellent reminder at the Anaheim Dems meeting last night!

I disagree that Laura Cunningham should be removed just for sport. She should be removed for good cause — which I’ll bet exists.

IT’S TIME, ANAHEIM!

My Congressman Lou Correa was kind enough to personally send me a copy of the letter he sent to AG Garland and Treasury Secretary Yellin in the wake of this audit. It’s a really good letter (even if it would have been better a few years ago.) We’ve uploaded it here:

http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Correa-Letter-to-Garland.pdf

(Ignore the first page of that linked PDF – that’s in response to a question from Donna about the currently-endangered American Connectivity Program, something she’s been working in – helping lower-income people get phones, tablets, internet.) Here’s Lou’s letter:

Jan. 31, 2024 Dear AG Garland and Secretary Yellin:

I write to express concern regarding allegations of improperly spent public funds from the City of Anaheim (City) by two 501(c)(6) nonprofit entities. On January 30, 2024, the California State Auditor released its audit of the public funds that the City disbursed to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) and Visit Anaheim. In light of these findings, I ask that your agencies investigate this matter in order to determine whether any laws were broken, or any federal funds misappropriated.

The audit determined that the City had failed to maintain proper oversight policies that led to questionable, and possibly illegal, use of funds. Specifically, the audit found that “Visit Anaheim subcontracted with the Chamber to provide work related to promoting Anaheim’s tourism and convention industries. Visit Anaheim did this without the required written permission from the City and absent appropriate oversight from the City.”

The City unnecessarily paid Visit Anaheim $6.5 million during the COVID pandemic for an economic recovery contract despite the fact that Visit Anaheim already had millions of dollars in tourism district assessment reserves, according to the state audit. The audit found that the City’s lack of oversight misled Visit Anaheim to award $4.4 million in taxpayer dollars for unallowable services, including lobbying on proposed federal, state and local legislation; meeting with elected officials; and supporting resort-friendly candidates through the Chamber’s political action committee.

The source of these funds remains unclear, given that the City reported through its Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds filing that “we allocated $6.5 million in federal coronavirus assistance dollars to Visit Anaheim, which books events at the Anaheim Convention Center and promotes Anaheim as a place to visit.” This fact raises the possibility that federal funds were used for improper political activities.

The findings of the state audit raise serious concerns for my constituents, and the initiation of a federal investigation into this matter is in the best interest of taxpayers. I urgently request that you investigate whether any federal laws were broken by the City, the Chamber, or Visit Anaheim.

I thank you for your immediate attention to this issue. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out…

One cheer plus a grave nod for Lou.

Who do you think wrote it?

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“The importance of becoming a Certified Autism Center lies in creating an inclusive and accessible environment for individuals with autism and their families,” says Sue O’Shea, senior director of marketing for Visit Anaheim. “People with autism may have unique sensory sensitivities, communication styles, and social needs. By earning the certification, we are demonstrating a commitment to understanding and meeting these needs, ensuring that individuals with autism can fully participate in and enjoy their experiences.”

Key factors to becoming a CAC include staff training and providing additional resources for visitors with autism. “Our marketing team is currently working on an accessibility webpage and a downloadable guidebook to help visitors navigate our destination,” O’Shea adds. “This initiative not only helps to make travel tourism more accessible, but also contributes to a broader movement toward inclusivity and awareness in our destination.”

When it comes to the CAC designation’s role with corporate and nonprofit events in Anaheim, it plays a major role with clients who value inclusivity and accessibility. Alongside the certification demonstrating the DMO’s commitment to those two considerations, it also helps Visit Anaheim better align itself with Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, something many businesses and planners prioritize when arranging event itineraries. This in turn also broadens the DMO’s potential client base and thus creates new business opportunities.

“Our long-term goal is to encourage our local travel and tourism partners to also participate in the program so that Anaheim can achieve the Certified Autism Destination designation,” says O’Shea, meaning that the entire city is certified. “Overall, the certification helps promote a more inclusive and accommodating environment for individuals with autism.”

visitanaheim.org

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State Audit Finds Anaheim Tourism Bureau And Chamber Misused Public Funds

Responses from the chamber and tourism bureau

Audit recommendations.

A state audit released Tuesday found that millions of Anaheim public dollars were routed with little oversight to tourism promotion groups. Some of those funds were improperly used for political lobbying and to support candidates friendly to Disneyland resort-area businesses.

The audit of city contracts with Visit Anaheim and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce is the latest in a series of damning investigations and reports on potentially illegal and unethical activities among some former Anaheim leaders, and the extent of the tourism industry's grip on city affairs and funds.

Former Mayor Harry Sidhu and former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce President Todd Ament were both charged in 2022 with corruption-related federal crimes and later pleaded guilty. Both are awaiting sentencing.

Last year, a city-commissioned investigation found a "potential criminal conspiracy” to divert $1.5 million in federal COVID recovery funds through Visit Anaheim to a nonprofit controlled by the chamber.

The 51-page audit found that over $111 million collected from a 2% city assessment on hotel stays in the city's resort district have been provided to Visit Anaheim since 2010, of which $4.4 million was passed to the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce with little regard for how the public money would be spent and whether it was needed.

"Neither the city’s tourism director nor current Visit Anaheim staff believed that the tourism district assessment subcontract with the Chamber was necessary," auditors reported.

Specifically, auditors found:

• The local tourism bureau, Visit Anaheim, failed to get approval from the city, as required in their contract, to subcontract with the chamber. The bureau passed along $4.4 million in hotel assessment funds to the chamber over a period of 10 years. 
• Through that subcontract, the chamber used the funds for “supporting resort-friendly candidates through its political action committee” and lobbying for legislation that helped hotels near Disney. Auditors said these activities violated city rules. (Visit Anaheim canceled the chamber's subcontract after Ament's 2022 guilty plea.) 
• The chamber was unable to show auditors documentation that it delivered many of the services specified in contracts with the city of Anaheim and the tourism bureau, including a $500,000 contract with the city in 2020 intended to promote local spending and hiring.
• Visit Anaheim "engaged in a questionable transfer of funds" when it gave $1.5 million in pandemic relief funds from the city to a nonprofit affiliated with the chamber. The transfer had been flagged in an earlier, city-commissioned investigation as a possible “theft” of public money. State auditors found that the fund transfer resulted from a "verbal agreement between its former president and the former president of the Chamber" and that there was no formal written contract.  

The chamber and tourism bureau dispute some of the audit's findings.

In her official response letter to the audit, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce President Laura Cunningham said the chamber had engaged in legislative advocacy since 2015 and that "such activities align with standard operating procedures for tourism improvement districts across the state."

Cunningham wrote that the chamber's engagement in local politics was an appropriate use of public funds from the resort district, and that chamber activities carried out with the money "have demonstrably benefited the tourism and convention industries in Anaheim."

Lawyers for Visit Anaheim, in their response to the audit, said the city was well aware of its subcontract with the chamber and never objected. They noted that two city employees designated by the city manager sit on the tourism bureau's board of directors.

They also said auditors had taken too simplistic a view of the tourism bureau's finances when calculating its spending budget beyond the city contracts.

Last year, Visit Anaheim refused a city request to return the $1.5 million in pandemic recovery funds transferred by the tourism bureau to the chamber, saying the COVID-19 relief funds were "properly used" and that the transfer came from a separate part of Visit Anaheim's budget. State auditors noted the "re-accounting" of these funds, saying it brought up additional questions about the tourism bureau's use of city funds.

Auditors recommended the city include performance measurements in its future contracts for tourism and business promotion.

They also recommended the city renegotiate its largest contract with Visit Anaheim to ensure better monitoring of public funds.

And they suggest the city create an advisory board to make recommendations for spending assessments collected from hotels in the resort district.

Anaheim City Manager Jim Vanderpool said in the city's official response to auditors that the city was developing a plan to implement their recommendations, including improving oversight of contracts with Visit Anaheim and exploring whether there are sufficient grounds for the city to ask for its money back from several contracts with the chamber.

LAist’s Nick Gerda contributed to this story.