Mayor Ashleigh Aitken is calling for a more publicly visible ethics officer after questioning the city manager behind closed doors about not disclosing a resort interest paid trip on the verge of selling one of the city’s biggest assets in a deal backed by those same interests.
It comes after City Manager Jim Vanderpool faced questions from council members in closed session – spearheaded by Aitken – for not disclosing a 2020 trip with special interests leading up to the failed Angel Stadium sale.
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City officials reported no action taken by the city council in the closed door meeting and no information was disclosed.
But that could change after Aitken said she wants to work with the city’s Ethics Officer Artin Berjilky to examine the allegations against Vanderpool and create a disclosable report to the public.
“The fact that we have an ethics officer in Anaheim is extremely important, but we need to make sure that that ethics officer is public facing – is open to concerns from the public in the spirit of transparency and that work product by the ethics officer in response to concerns by the public is then shared with the public,” she said.
“He is their ethics officer as much as he is ours.”
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken at the Anaheim City Council meeting on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
It’s the same ethics officer that, according to Vanderpool, said he did not have to disclose the Chamber of Commerce-paid trip on his disclosure form because he offset it by bringing food and drinks.
Berjilky did not respond to email questions on the issue ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
Aitken called public service a privilege and said her request was about accountability.
“With public service comes a great responsibility to act with integrity whenever called to transparency at all times and I try to hold myself to a standard that is even higher than those of state law requirements,” she said.
Meanwhile, some Disneyland resort-backed council members publicly praised Vanderpool.
Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava applauded Vanderpool, listing off accomplishments made by the city under his tenure including things like the Disneyland theme park expansion, the OC Vibe development and launching an affordable housing trust.
“For these reasons, I continue to support our City Manager Jim Vanderpool. Anaheim is moving forward, and I believe it is essential that we remain focused on progress, stability and public good,” she said.
Councilman Ryan Balius echoed her comments.
“I’m just going to say, in the short time that I’ve been here, Jim, I believe you bring a little bit of stability to Anaheim and I will say thank you for that,” he said at the meeting.
Council Member Ryan Balius at the Anaheim City Council meeting on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
Vanderpool in Charge
City hall will continue under Vanderpool’s leadership as a new Angel Stadium deal seems to be taking shape – four years after the previous sale imploded when an FBI investigation into the deal went public.
It comes after some residents renewed calls to fire Vanderpool in light of recent TimesOC articles highlighting two events, including a rehearsal meeting and a Lake Havasu retreat leading up to the Angel Stadium sale in 2020 that sparked questions again on his role in the deal.
Tuesday marks the first time Vanderpool faced official questioning from elected leaders related to the 2022 FBI corruption scandal that ultimately led city council members to cancel the sale and former Mayor Harry Sidhu to resign and plead guilty to federal charges.
[Read: Ex-Anaheim Mayor Sidhu Agrees to Plead Guilty to Corruption Charges]
Vanderpool didn’t comment about the closed door questioning when the meeting reopened to the public or when he gave his report on Tuesday.
It comes as city officials begin mulling over the future of Angel Stadium.
Vanderpool was helping put together the last stadium sale that fell apart in 2022 after FBI affidavits surfaced in court, detailing a questionable process behind the negotiations.
A Shadowy Stadium Deal
Recent news reports based on records released by new leadership at the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce are shedding light on a timeline of events that took place right ahead of city council members finalizing the Angel Stadium sale in September 2020.
[Read: Is Anaheim’s Controversial City Manager Going to Get Fired?]
A planned mock city council meeting to rehearse selling Angel Stadium – first described in Sidhu’s federal plea deal – was scheduled on Sept. 21 2020, a little more than a week ahead of the council meeting that kicked off the sale.
TimesOC reported this month attendance at the meeting potentially included Vanderpool, City Spokesman Mike Lyster, Angels executives, lobbyists and former chamber leaders.
Both Lyster and Vanderpool have denied attending the mock meeting.
The mock meeting was followed by a chamber-paid trip to Lake Havasu from Sept. 24 to Sept. 29, 2020 that included chamber leaders, consultants and other proponents of the stadium sale.
Vanderpool didn’t disclose the trip on his statement of economic interest forms.
In a Jan. 11 email to council members, Vanderpool said he didn’t know that the chamber paid for the rental unit he stayed in, adding he only stayed two nights and that the food and beverages he brought would have offset the need to report the stay.
He also noted the city’s ethics officer confirmed that he didn’t have to disclose the trip, but that he could amend his gift disclosure form from 2020 to include it.
The Havasu trip ended the same day the city council was scheduled to vote on the stadium sale – which was ultimately approved in the early hours of Sept. 30.
Vanderpool’s Leadership of Anaheim
Vanderpool took over the reins at city hall in September 2020 – the same month as the scheduled mock meeting, the Havasu trip and elected officials finalized the stadium sale.
He was selected by Sidhu’s council majority to take over the role after former City Manager Chris Zapata was fired after publicly questioning plans to offer the city’s tourism bureau, Visit Anaheim, a $6.5 million bailout weeks after the pandemic began.
Two years later, officials would cancel the stadium sale after federal agents alleged former Sidhu tried to ram through the deal with the expectation of getting $1 million in campaign contributions from the Angels – something he later denied through his attorney.
Sidhu ultimately ended up going to prison last year for lying to federal investigators about the failed stadium sale.
In 2023, independent investigators released a report alleging Vanderpool was on board with a plan by Disneyland Resort interests to keep as much as $100 million a year out of the city’s general fund once the 1997 resort bonds are paid off.
City Manager Jim Vanderpool at an Anaheim City Council meeting in 2023. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Almost three years later and Vanderpool is on track to receive a pay raise after he recommended the city council hire a candidate for police chief that would make more than him – something he said in December staff would address early this year.
Jose Moreno, a former city councilman and critic of the nixed stadium deal, said it was a move city officials should have questioned further.
“The city manager who ultimately recommends the contract to the police chief, recommends a salary way above what any other police chief has ever made in our city – well above his own salary with the expectation that’ll be corrected so that he will then get a higher salary bump next year,” he said in a phone interview last week.
“If that’s not a direct unethical conflict of interest I don’t know what is.”
Editor’s note: Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s board of directors.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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