Court records allege Anaheim officials decided to sell Angel Stadium months before the public knew – Orange County Register

Anaheim city leaders decided to sell its stadium to Angels Baseball a few months before the two sides held their first formal talks in November 2019, when the public was still under the impression that the city was plans to renegotiate the Angels’ lease, a city council member and former city manager said in documents filed this week in a lawsuit over the stadium deal.

Former city manager Chris Zapata and Councilman Jose Moreno said in the court’s new statement that Mayor Harry Sidhu told the council behind closed doors on August 23, 2019, that “Angels Baseball has proposed purchase the stadium site, instead of continuing as it is currently leasing or negotiating a lease,” and Zapata’s statement said the council decided that night to pursue a purchase.

The lawsuit, filed in 2020 by the OC People’s Homelessness Task Force, alleges Anaheim officials repeatedly violated the state’s open meeting law in deciding to sell the property and create the deal. went public in early December 2019 and approved by the City Council thereafter. month. The lawsuit is seeking to force the city to go through the process again.

The city has denied any wrongdoing, and spokesman Mike Lyster said in a statement Thursday, “We’re confident in our entire process, including appropriate closed-door briefings.” and direction is given to employees from those meetings.”

The law in question, known as the Brown Act, is intended to ensure that the public is informed and able to have a say in decisions made by local governments and other public agencies on behalf of local governments. The law provides for some permissions for closed-door negotiations, including sale and lease negotiations, but the lawsuit argues that Anaheim went far beyond the law’s immunities in its decision to sell the stadium.

A hearing on the case is scheduled for February 14.

This story is evolving. Please check back for updates.