It also comes years after JL Group investigators in the wake of the scandal alleged Vanderpool was on board with a plan by Disneyland Resort interests to keep as much as $100 million a year out of the city\u2019s general fund <\/a>once the 1997 resort bonds are paid off.<\/p>\n Those investigators cited Vanderpool almost 100 times in their 2023 corruption probe report, but Tuesday\u2019s meeting will mark the first time he faces any real official questioning from elected leaders related to the scandal that continues to rock the city hall he helms.<\/p>\n Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, who requested the closed session meeting this month, said the city manager did not disclose attending the Havasu retreat until he anticipated news articles to be published about it after new chamber of commerce leaders released emails to the press.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City Managers Havasu lobbyist retreat was not disclosed to the JL Report investigators, and only disclosed to me on December 23 in anticipation of a news report. Our Chamber is more interested in transparency than select city staff, which feels like I\u2019m living in the upside-down,\u201d she wrote in a text message earlier this month.<\/p>\n Last week, Aitken said transparency and maintaining the public trust need to be a priority in their decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a process that needs to fairly play out. We are meeting in closed session under the Brown Act with our city attorney and ethics officer to ask questions and address any concerns,\u201d she said in a Thursday text message.<\/p>\n The rest of the city council did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n Vanderpool did not respond to requests for comment. His statement of economic interest provided by the city earlier this month shows he did not disclose the trip.<\/p>\n Mock Meeting, the Havasu Retreat Followed by a Stadium Sale<\/p>\n An email provided to the Voice of OC and other news outlets by the new leadership at the Chamber of Commerce shows the \u201cHavasu retreat,\u201d as dubbed in the email subject line, was scheduled for Sept. 24 to Sept. 29, 2020.<\/p>\n Vanderpool was joined on the guest list by chamber leaders, consultants and other proponents of the land sale at the resort.<\/p>\n The trip ended the same day the city council was scheduled to vote on the stadium sale \u2013 which was ultimately approved in the early hours of Sept. 30<\/a> but would eventually implode because of an FBI corruption probe.<\/p>\n The Havasu trip isn\u2019t the only thing reigniting calls for Vanderpool\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n A planned mock city council meeting to rehearse selling Angel Stadium was scheduled on Sept. 21 \u2013 three days before proponents of the sale gathered at Lake Havasu.\u00a0<\/p>\n This month, TimesOC<\/a> reported that the mock council meeting \u2013 first described in former Mayor Harry Sidhu\u2019s federal plea deal<\/a> \u2014 potentially included Vanderpool, City Spokesman Mike Lyster, Angels executives and former chamber leaders who later went to Havasu.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vanderpool and Lyster denied attending or being part of the preparation of the meeting through another city spokesperson earlier this month.<\/p>\n The Chamber\u2019s release of emails comes after new leadership last year announced they would be rebranding<\/a> and staying out of politics.<\/p>\n Dara Maleki, the CEO of the revamped chamber, said transparency matters and there are still a lot of unanswered questions from the corruption scandal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs an organization that represents a large piece of our community \u2013 the business community, we have a responsibility to the public to be transparent and honest, and I think we expect the same from our council members and from our city,\u201d he said in a Thursday phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t move forward until we\u2019re able to clear up any open items from our past.\u201d<\/p>\n In a Dec. 23 email to Aitken and the rest of the city council, Vanderpool said Todd Ament \u2013 a key figure in the corruption scandal \u2013 invited him to Lake Havasu and rejected the characterization of the trip as a retreat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a social gathering, not a \u2018retreat,\u2019 as may be incorrectly characterized. I did not engage with any subsequent social or business travel with Todd Ament,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maleki said the timeline of the mock meeting, the Havasu gathering and the stadium sale speak for itself and that either the trip was an inappropriate business expense used for a vacation or business was discussed.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, I don\u2019t know which one looks better,\u201d he said, noting that the previous chamber leadership could have lied to the people invited. \u201cThe timing was incredibly convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n Maleki added it\u2019s important to bring the trip to light.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important to let the people know and then at the end of the day, let\u2019s find the move forward here,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t believe that Jim is a bad person. We just want what\u2019s best for our city, and people need to take responsibility for actions and disclose and be transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeanine Robbins, a longtime resident and advocate for the homeless, said the timing of the trip is indicative that business was discussed.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, there was business discussed. Why would he have been there with the most powerful lobbyists in the city?\u201d she said. \u201cI feel that Jim Vanderpool was hired to be a yes man.\u201d<\/p>\n In another email to city council members on Jan. 11, Vanderpool said he didn\u2019t know that the chamber paid for the rental unit he stayed in, he only stayed two nights and that the food and beverages he brought would have offset the need to report the stay.<\/p>\n He also noted the city\u2019s ethics officer confirmed that he didn\u2019t have to disclose the trip, but that he could amend his gift disclosure form from 2020 to include it.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not running from any of this. I stand firm that the narrative in the article is baseless,\u201d he wrote about the TimesOC article, after noting he sent an email responding to the TimesOC article to other Anaheim business interests including the Angels.<\/p>\n Sounding Off on a \u2018Dirty Duck\u2019<\/p>\n Jose Moreno, a former city councilman and critic of the canned stadium deal, described Vanderpool as unethical, manipulative, and a \u201cgood soldier\u201d for special interests who would talk officials out of scheduling initiatives to be debated publicly.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of things that are good for transparency and ethics and for the city as a whole have never seen the light of day, in part because the City Manager Jim Vanderpool talks council members out of it with the backing of the special interests that often fund the campaigns of these council members,\u201d he said in a Wednesday phone interview.<\/p>\n Kari Bouffard, a former city purchasing agent for Anaheim and founder of the Coalition for Local Ethics Accountability and Reform, said the mayor\u2019s inquiry is heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City of Anaheim has some institutional issues, and I don\u2019t believe that these omissions are isolated mistakes,\u201d she said at a Thursday phone interview.<\/p>\n Last year, Bouffard filed a tort claim<\/a> alleging she was wrongfully fired from the city for exposing fraud, refusing to take part in unlawful contracting practices, engaging in protected whistleblower activity and reporting sexual assault and harassment.<\/p>\n \u201cI raised issues related to procurement integrity and governance, which was my professional responsibility to do so,\u201d she said when asked about Vanderpool.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel that those issues were paid attention to. I don\u2019t think that they were given the importance that was required to operate appropriately as a municipality.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike Robbins \u2013 a resident, advocate for homeless people and Jeanine\u2019s husband \u2013 said the city manager has allowed corruption to thrive in Anaheim.<\/p>\n \u201cJim Vanderpool has facilitated a consortium of corruption at City Hall, and as a person in charge, he has to take some credit,\u201d he said in a Thursday interview.<\/p>\n Jeanine Robbins said the questioning of Vanderpool should happen in the public eye and the mayor\u2019s request is just a show for the public.<\/p>\n She also said it\u2019s time for the city to part ways with Vanderpool and compared city hall to a haunted house.<\/p>\n \u201cHe should have gone years ago,\u201d Jeanine said. \u201cYou\u2019re in a haunted house. You never know what lies behind each door and each door you open, there is just more corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n Marc Herbert, a local government watchdog who runs a blog<\/a> , wonders why the council is questioning Vanderpool now after not doing so in the wake of the JL Group report and a host of news articles that came out on the city manager in the years following the scandal.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was never a follow up by the city to the JL report. We never had a public hearing. We never had a workshop. That was it. They spent a million dollars, and it was swept under the rug,\u201d Herbert said in a Thursday phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what happens when the public\u2019s not invited in.\u201d<\/p>\n Moreno said he was happy with the mayor\u2019s request, but the council should have asked these questions after the release of the 2023 JL group report, which also alleged City Spokesman Mike Lyster failed to turn over public records on his private phone<\/a> for them to review.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that the city manager is still there and the (Public Information Officer) is still there, suggests to me that perhaps the only way that the mayor and the city council will actually act on the ethical and legal infractions by the city\u2019s administrative leadership is if the media is going to write a story,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lyster, who is also facing calls to resign, refused to answer questions on the mock council meeting and why he didn\u2019t hand over the records on his phone to investigators.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has already been covered at length, and it\u2019s questionable why it\u2019s coming up again now. I won\u2019t dignify this with anything further,\u201d he said in a Thursday email.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CityCouncil_Anaheim_Jan13_2026_Taylor-7.jpg\")
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken at the Anaheim City Council meeting on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769464089_616_CityCouncil_Anaheim_Jan13_2026_Taylor-22.jpg\")
City Attorney Robert Fabela, left, speaks to City Manager Jim Vanderpool, right, at the Anaheim City Council meeting on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CityCouncil_Anaheim_Jan13_2026_Taylor-6.jpg\")
City Manager Jim Vanderpool at the Anaheim City Council meeting on Jan. 13, 2026. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769464089_340_AP_1644-copy.jpg\")
Anaheim City Spokesman Mike Lyster on Dec. 6, 2022. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_3370.jpg\")
Angel Stadium in Anaheim on March 5, 2022. Credit: FINN CUNNINGHAM, Voice of OC<\/p>\n