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The Anaheim City Council is taking what one civic watchdog called “baby steps” toward increasing transparency after an independent investigation identified widespread influence-peddling and pay-to-play politics in Orange County’s largest city.
Late Tuesday the city council voted to:
- Support the state auditor’s investigation, announced Saturday, of $6.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds given to the city’s visitors bureau.
- Make contracts more accessible to the public on the city’s website.
- Direct city staff to study the possibility of cutting off funding to the visitors bureau, which is charged with booking the Anaheim Convention Center.Â
- Direct city staff to present options for tightening lobbying rules.Â
These measures and several others were watered down from Mayor Ashleigh Aitken’s original proposals. Aitken campaigned on a platform of reform and restoring faith in Anaheim city government after an FBI corruption investigation last year led former Mayor Harry Sidhu to resign.
A few months after Sidhu’s resignation, former…
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