Anaheim leaders want to explore if they can halt funding to Visit Anaheim, following allegations the agency may have diverted $1.5 million in coronavirus pandemic relief funds to an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce nonprofit in 2020.
Anaheim councilmembers agreed in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night to ask city staff to come up with options and to see if the city can also force Visit Anaheim to end its contracts with the Chamber of Commerce.
Tuesday’s council meeting came after the July 31 release of a city-commissioned investigation into City Hall dealings, including questions of corruption, past campaign contributions, contracts, city dealings, council decisions and potential Brown Act violations.
It was the first council meeting after the report on the investigation’s findings and the council was considering a slew of initial reforms in response.
Visit Anaheim markets the city for tourism and books the Anaheim Convention Center. It gets its funding from a 2% assessment on hotel rooms rates in a city tourism district.
“So, what Visit Anaheim does with those funds once they are released to them, it’s really between Visit Anaheim and the chamber,” City Manager James Vanderpool told the council, but added, “It’s certainly something we can explore.”
In 2020, the city earmarked $6.5 million in support to the tourism agency during the early months of the pandemic to promote tourism recovery. Investigators from the JL Group alleged that $1.5 million of that money may have been diverted to an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce nonprofit, but they couldn’t determine how it was used.
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said she potentially wants to request Visit Anaheim give back the $1.5 million.
Tuesday’s council meeting went late into the night and Visit Anaheim and Chamber of Commerce leaders could not be immediately reached for comment.
Councilmember Jose Diaz was the lone vote against exploring cutting off funding to Visit Anaheim, raising concerns that the actions…
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