Independent investigators hired by Anaheim said they found numerous potential violations of the city’s lobbying laws in the last decade, in what they described as a “pattern of behavior” by lobbyists in the city.
The details come from a highly anticipated report released Monday, July 31, on alleged corruption in Anaheim. It highlighted former Mayor Curt Pringle and Jeff Flint, the former CEO of Core Strategic Group, in detail, saying they failed to report their lobbying activity to the city clerk, which investigators said was potentially a crime of perjury.
Both Pringle and Flint did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Tuesday.
The city-commissioned probe followed the revelation in 2022 of FBI investigations into former Mayor Harry Sidhu and former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament, which included allegations that a self-described “cabal” of business and political leaders exerted significant influence at Anaheim City Hall. The report by the JL Group investigators drew from more than 150 interviews, more than 50,000 documents and nearly a million emails.
To combat the lobbying disclosure issues described in their report, investigators from the JL Group, a Laguna Niguel-based workplace consulting firm, recommended Anaheim create a city ombudsman/ethics officer, whose duties would include monitoring the lobbying reports submitted. The JL Group further endorsed that Anaheim amend its lobbying laws to require employees to self-report when they are lobbied, to help the ombudsman/ethics officer verify meetings in the lobbyist reports.
Anaheim requires its lobbyist to register with the city and submit quarterly reports of their meetings with city officials to the city clerk.
Pringle and Flint had several meetings in the past few years that should have been reported but were not, JL Group investigators said.
Anaheim has “no meaningful mechanism to enforce reporting,” according to investigators, who added that “there seems to have…
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