Anaheim now has an ethics officer to oversee campaign finance laws, conflict of interest rules and a host of other good governance policies in the wake of one of Orange County’s largest corruption scandals that saw the Angel Stadium sale collapse.
City officials publicly introduced former Fair Political Practices Committee Senior Counsel Artin Berjikly during a brief rollout at the start of a short city council meeting Tuesday night.
“I’ve had the distinct pleasure of meeting with you, one and one, and now it’s my great pleasure to introduce myself to all of you and the Community of Anaheim here tonight,” Berjikly told council members.
“My role will be to provide legal counsel and guidance on best ethical practices and to advise on any potential conflicts of interest.”
Before going to the FPPC, which is responsible for enforcing campaign finance and conflict of interest laws, Berjikly was an attorney and senior investigator for the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.
“Anaheim has come a long way and I applaud you on the reforms you have taken in the areas of transparency and disclosure. They are among some of the most advanced in California from my experience,” Berjikly told council members on Tuesday.
Last year, city officials adopted a host of reforms – posting city council calendars online, detailing who the elected officials are meeting with; strengthening lobbyist registration laws; limiting the amount council candidates can loan themselves; and requiring Anaheim employees to use city-issued phones.
[Read: Anaheim Begins Implementing Changes From Fall of Reform Debates]
Officials also created the ethics officer position to oversee the series of reforms they made.
Berjikly’s introduction wasn’t scheduled on Tuesday’s agenda, leaving residents no way of knowing when the ethics officer – a newly created position – was officially coming to town.
And since it wasn’t listed on the agenda, council members couldn’t ask him questions under the state’s open meeting laws.
“I was just going to remind the council that it’s not technically an agendized item, so if you want to have a more detailed discussion you can have that offline or call him back for another time,” City Attorney Rob Fabela told council members shortly after Berjikly introduced himself.
City spokesman Mike Lyster said executive rollouts like the ethics officer are customary.
“An introduction like this is commonly done as part of the city manager’s update. In the days leading up to the Council meeting, Artin met with members one on one, allowing a chance for them to talk in detail, share thoughts and ask questions. His remarks did a great job outlining for the Council and community what he sees as his role and how he is looking to build on the reforms of the past year,” Lyster said in a Tuesday evening email.
Anaheim’s Recent Secrecy Controversies
It all comes after dealing with years of transparency concerns from residents, like accusations that council members often made predetermined decisions out of public view – something backed up by federal corruption filings and independent investigators.
Berjikly will serve directly underneath Fabela and will also have the title of assistant city attorney.
Fabela was also the city attorney during the tainted Angel Stadium negotiations spearheaded by disgraced Mayor Harry Sidhu.
Sidhu would eventually plead guilty to obstruction of justice for destroying records about trying to ram through the Angel Stadium sale by giving a team consultant critical information “so that the Angels could buy Angel Stadium on terms beneficial to the Angels.”
Investigators also detailed an interview with Sidhu, who they say provided false statements.
“During that interview, defendant falsely stated that he was expecting ‘nothing’ from the Angels after the Angel Stadium sale, when in truth, he was expecting to receive a $1 million campaign contribution for his election after the sale,” U.S. Attorneys wrote in Sidhu’s guilty plea agreement.
[Read: Ex-Anaheim Mayor Sidhu Agrees to Plead Guilty to Corruption Charges]
Berjikly is stepping into a City Hall where some executives detailed in corruption probes are still employed – including a couple elected officials.
In Sidhu’s guilty plea agreement, federal prosecutors wrote city officials secretly rehearsed city council meetings to minimize opposition like former Councilman Jose Moreo, a critic of the rushed sale.
Current City Councilman Steve Faessel was one the two city council members in the shadowy rehearsal meeting email chain detailed by federal prosecutors. He terms out at the end of this year.
Lyster was also on that email chain, according to Sidhu’s guilty plea agreement.
In a separate corruption probe conducted by city-hired independent investigators, current City Manager Jim Vanderpool was onboard a plan spearheaded by Disneyland resort interests to keep as much as $100 million out of the city’s general fund when the resort bonds are paid.
When those bonds were initially issued in the 1997 Disneyland expansion, the move was touted as a way to bring in millions in new tax revenue for the city.
[Read: How Disneyland Resort Interests Planned to Withhold Tax Money from Anaheim’s Working Class]
The plan was hatched at a secret retreat held by the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, which was also detailed in corruption probes.
All of this in a town where nearly half of the residents are on a public health plan.
[Read: The Happiest Place on Earth is Surrounded by Some of Orange County’s Poorest]
Now What?
Berjikly – who is being paid up to $234,000, according to an online job posting – said he’s ready to police city hall if necessary.
“If the city were in a different place as it was several years ago, my role could be different. And should that policing role again be necessary, I stand ready to address it,” he told council members on Tuesday.
“But given where we are, my role presently will be as advisor as the city implements possible additional reforms and as it looks at additional measures to place ethics at the forefront,” Berjikly said.
“Anaheim will be a leader in ethical government because it is a city that plays a vital role in not only the history of california but as a leading destination for tourism, business and quality of life,” he added.
Tuesday also marked a rare occasion when an elected official publicly brought up the independent probe from the JL Group – the city hired investigators.
“Given a lot of the allegations in the JL report about council people meeting with staff directly, being heavy handed with staff, giving staff direct direction – I would like to explore what the proper relationship with our ethics officer should be,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said from the dais.
In the independent probe, investigators raised questions that Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava violated the charter by allegedly giving staff directions to work with the OC Business Council – her old employer – to create “small business loan opportunities.”
Under the city charter, council members are supposed to go through the city manager’s office and not give staff direct instructions.
“Council Member Rubaclava’s direction to (staff) directly violates the City’s Charter where she attempted to influence and direct the City staff member to engage in operational coordination with the Orange County Business Council,” investigators wrote.
Rubalcava publicly denied those allegations shortly after the investigation report was released last year and later successfully defended herself in a recall campaign that publicly referred to the controversy.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Aitken did not name Rubalcava or any other city council member when she asked for future directions on how elected officials are supposed to interact with Berjikly, the new ethics officer.
“Hopefully issues will not arise, but in the case that they do, we have a proper protocol with how we should be interacting with our ethics officer going forward.”
Editor’s note: Ashleigh Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s board of directors.
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.
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