Former Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle challenged on Wednesday, Aug.2, the conclusions of a city-financed investigation, denying that he violated the city’s lobbying law by meeting secretly with Anaheim officials.
Pringle, who also served as speaker of the state Assembly and was known as a power player in Anaheim politics, alleged that witnesses interviewed by investigators were biased and gave “self-serving” statements not made under the penalty of perjury.
“There are many other statements that we believe are not accurate or more properly could be construed as ‘gossip’ in the report that are not factual,” Pringle said in an email to The Orange County Register, alleging, “some of the interviewed individuals have potential economic or political gain from making such statements.”
Pringle stressed that he and his firm, Curt Pringle & Associates, take pride in abiding by all city lobbying requirements. He said he was not asked to participate in the city-commissioned investigation, as stated in its final report released Monday.
He added that he was unable to respond earlier for a story in the Aug. 2 edition of the Register because he wanted to read the full report before commenting.
The independent investigation by the JL Group said Pringle and Jeff Flint, the former CEO of Core Strategic Group, failed to report their lobbying activity to the city clerk, potentially committing perjury.
Flint did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Since 2017, Anaheim has required 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, investigators said.
The JL Group said it confirmed, through interviews, Pringle had not reported at least 12 meetings since 2018, according to the report.
In a letter Wednesday to City Clerk Theresa Bass, Pringle noted that the city’s law…
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