After sitting out of the Anaheim City Council election campaign season for months, entertainment juggernaut Disney is once again spending money on local political action committees.
It comes on the heels of two corruption probes, where FBI agents and independent investigators allege Disneyland resort interests hold outsized influence over City Hall.
The name of Disney’s usual campaign spending vehicle – the Support Our Anaheim Resort political action committee – appeared in both an FBI affidavit and a scathing 353-page independent corruption page report.
[Read: How Did Disneyland’s Main Political Spending Vehicle Land in the Middle of an FBI Complaint?]
One SOAR board member even told independent investigators that the political action committee was where resort-favored politicians and candidates were “groomed.”
Investigators also found Disney spending lined up with a number of resort area business interests, supporting candidates backed by hoteliers and the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce – one of the players in the corruption scandal.
But the campaign financing looks different this election year.
Instead of going through SOAR, Disney so far has spent nearly $100,000 split evenly between two political action committees targeting certain districts – one supporting Councilwoman Norma Kurtz in District 4 and the other for City Commissioner Ryan Bailus in District 1.
Other resort interests, like Wincome USA, have donated similar amounts of money to the committees.
Normally by this time in Anaheim’s election season, SOAR would largely be funded by Disney – the 2022 election saw Disney directly give the resort PAC $1.3 million.
SOAR went on to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on things like political mailers and digital advertising to boost resort-friendly candidates.
That spending helped two out of three of SOAR’s preferred candidates get elected, with Councilwomen Natalie Meeks and Natalie Rubalcava winning city council seats in 2022.
Rubalcava also successfully defeated a recall effort earlier this year with help from SOAR.
Even before the corruption probes, activists have long criticized how much money Disney spends in local elections supporting candidates through political action committees like the Support Our Anaheim Resort (SOAR).
In the wake of the scandal, watchdogs and some residents pushed for reforms on how campaigns are financed in local elections – including large independent expenditures, where most of the resort money is spent.
City council members voted unanimously to require candidates to repay their debt within a year from the election as well as limit personal campaign loans to $100,000 per election.
[Read: Anaheim Changes How Political Candidates Fundraise in Wake of Corruption Scandal]
District 1
In West Anaheim’s District 1, Ojaala Ahmad, a former Anaheim Housing and Community Development commissioner, is running against Ryan Balius, chairman of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission after resort-backed Councilman Jose Diaz decided not run for reelection.
Balius has raised over $20,000 in individual donations to his campaign as of Sept. 6 including a $2,500 contribution from the Anaheim Police Association, according to financial disclosures on the city website.
He has also given himself a $10,000 loan.
As of Sept. 6, Ahmad showed no fundraising activity on the city’s financial disclosure webpage.
Disney has donated $49,000 to the Political Action Committee entitled Anaheim Residents, Small Businesses, and Public Safety Leaders for Ryan Balius for City Council 2024.
Wincome USA – a real estate investment, development and hotel management firm based in Anaheim – also donated $49,000 to the same committee, according to city financial disclosures.
The company owns the Anaheim Hotel and the Westin Anaheim Resort.
District 4
In District 4, Councilwoman Norma Campos Kurtz is running against Navy veteran and aircraft mechanic Francisco Rosas.
Kurtz was appointed as the District 4 representative in early 2023 after former Councilman Avelino Valencia was elected to the state assembly.
She also has sat on SOAR’s advisory committee in the past.
As of Sept. 6, she has raised over $40,000 with individual contributions from hoteliers, lobbyists, public safety unions, business interests and residents, according to the city’s financial disclosure website.
Her opponent, Rosas, showed no fundraising activity on the city’s disclosure website.
Disney has also donated $49,000 to the Political Action Committee entitled Anaheim Residents, Small Businesses, and Public Safety Leaders for Norma Campos Kurtz for City Council 2024.
The committee also received $49,000 from Wincome USA.
Earlier this year, Kurtz along with the rest of the city council voted to approve Disney’s planned expansion of their iconic theme park despite concerns from some residents that the approval process was rushed.
District 5
In District 5, Anaheim Cultural Heritage Commissioner Kristen Maahs, Disneyland resort employee Cristal Ruiz and attorney Andrew Sarega are running to replace resort-backed councilman Stephen Faessel who is terming out of office.
As of Sept.6 Sarega, who resigned from the La Mirada City Council in May, has raised over $30,000 and has given his campaign an over $58,000 loan, according to city finance disclosures.
Maahs has raised close to $12,000 as of Monday, according to city disclosures.
Like Balius and Kurtz, there’s also a political action committee formed in August to support Maahs – Anaheim Residents, Small Businesses, and Public Safety Leaders for Kristen
Maahs for City Council 2024.
But as of Monday, the committee had no financial disclosures filed on the city’s website.
Meanwhile, Ruiz showed no fundraising activity on the city’s disclosure website.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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