Anaheim’s Leaders Recall Disney’s Legacy of Largess

One day each summer, for more than 30 years, members of the Anaheim Ichthyological, Sour Mash & 5-Card Draw Society would pack up their fishing rods and head for a sumptuous overnighter in San Diego.

The society’s trips--annual holidays of fishing, poker and bourbon--brought together top officials of Disneyland and a who’s who of Anaheim city government. At Disney’s expense, they were treated to a night at the Hotel del Coronado, steak-and-lobster cookouts, fishing, golf, tennis--even a massage.

These annual excursions--discontinued this year--represent only a chunk of the thousands of dollars in gifts and contributions that Disney has bestowed on Anaheim officials. But perhaps nothing shows better the way Disneyland has used its patented magic to woo city officials and solidify its hometown hold.

More recently, the trips have been cause for concern among city officials and Disneyland executives, who called them off in an attempt to separate their interests as the entertainment company prepared to unveil plans for its $3-billion Disneyland expansion in Anaheim.

Some who went have said they saw through the trips as efforts to win special favors at City Hall, but others say they treasured the junkets as opportunities for building good relations with the city’s most valued corporate citizen.

Disneyland executives and more than half a dozen present and former city officials said the annual trips, started in the late 1950s, began with excursions to Santa Catalina Island, where hotel rooms and cottages were reserved for the city guests who were invited to enjoy a variety of fishing, sailing, golf or leisurely bicycle rides along the island’s streets. Those activities were generally followed by deluxe dinners and free-flowing booze.

“In the early days, the sour mash part of the (society’s) name was a great deal more important,” said one city official who was a guest on several trips but asked not to be identified.

The annual destination was later changed to San Diego, perhaps because, as former Police Chief Mark A. Stephenson said, “the fishing was better in San Diego.”

Stephenson, who was the city’s chief in 1946-69, said the trips were “the highlight of the year” for most city department heads.

“Most of the council went,” said the man for whom the city’s new police headquarters is named. “We certainly got well acquainted with officials of Disneyland. We all got along so well.”

In later years, regular guests said the Disneyland-chartered bus would pull right into the City Hall parking lot, or city officials would troop over to the theme park, where each passenger was generally presented with a gift bag containing accessories that they could use on the trip.

For golfers, the bags reportedly included golf balls; sailors received sailing caps, tennis players got tennis balls. Also included were golf shirts and Windbreakers with the society’s official patch: a caricature of a fisherman--sewn onto the right breast. Some said the clothes were issued in the same color and were the uniform of sorts during the trip.

Councilman Irv Pickler, whose annual disclosure statements listed hundreds of dollars in various Disney gifts and events, defended the longstanding tradition, saying he never felt the pressure to return any of Disney’s favors.

“It was just mutual admiration,” he said. “It never came to my mind that I had to reciprocate. People got to know who they were working with, changes in personnel, and I think it was a plus. Everything that was done has never been a detriment to the city of Anaheim.”

He said city business was never discussed on the trips.

However, former Anaheim Stadium and Anaheim Convention Center manager Tom Liegler said he looked forward to the visits as a way of exchanging ideas and, when needed, talking business.

He recalled suggesting to then-Disney President Card Walker a few years ago that Disney should hold its annual meeting at the Anaheim Convention Center. He said the idea was accepted, resulting in new revenue for the city.

On the bus ride down, the city guests said they were provided refreshments and munched doughnuts.

Former Mayor Jack Dutton recalled how the bus was decorated with the society’s name emblazoned on its side.

“I went on a number of them,” said Dutton, who was mayor in 1970-74. “They are a great organization. I used to say that you could eat, drink or smoke all you wanted in 48 hours, and it could never be considered a bribe.”

To this day, Dutton said, he continues to receive an annual pass to Disneyland from the company--something he has been getting since 1962.

“That’s the kind of people they are,” he said. “What the hell can I do for them now?”

On arrival at the Hotel del Coronado, guests said, they were greeted with an open bar and sandwiches set up in a hospitality suite, then went off to play tennis, golf, sail or roam the grounds alone.

Many said they enjoyed privileges that allowed them simply to sign for meals or other amenities offered by the hotel, all paid for by Disneyland.

In later years, Disney presented the city with a breakdown of the costs of the trip by activity, so officials could list the amounts on their state-mandated statements of economic interest filed each year. By the late 1980s, the listed cost typically did not exceed $250--even though the cost of a room at the hotel was $225. And that did not include green fees, boat charters, liquor, the bus and other charges that Disney picked up.

When the value of a gift is less than $250, officials do not come under a state law that requires them to abstain from voting or taking actions that would benefit the gift-giver for one year. Jay Greenwood, a spokesman for the state Fair Political Practices Commission, said the $250 limit applies to city elected officeholders and staff members alike.

To save costs to Disney, some city officials say they doubled up in the rooms. But Pickler, among others, said the $250 limit did not matter much.

Later in the day, guests retired to their reserved rooms, which some shared with Disneyland executives. By evening, an open bar was set up on the hotel lawn, while the dinner, generally consisting of either steak or lobster, was being barbecued nearby.

Those interested in fishing climbed aboard their own specially chartered boat in the evening and returned by morning.

Guests said night activities usually revolved around card games in the hospitality suite.

Former City Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood said that before her arrival on the scene in the mid-1970s, the trips were considered “an all-boys club.”

Kaywood said the first year she attended, sometime in July, 1974, the group went to a hotel in La Jolla.

“It was the first event (where) they had a woman,” the former councilwoman said. “It was strictly a social event for Disney and city department heads. The whole council was always invited--a very nice event.”

Kaywood, who said she paid her own expenses on the final two trips in 1989 and 1990, said the event was “an opportunity to chat and relax with different people.”

“There was no pressure,” she said. “There was a lovely attitude.”

It’s on the Mouse

Irv Pickler, Anaheim city councilman

“It was just mutual admiration. It never came to my mind that I had to reciprocate. People got to know who they were working with. . . . Everything that was done has never been a detriment to the city of Anaheim.” Miriam Kaywood, Former city councilwoman

She paid her own expenses on trips in 1989 and 1990. They were “an opportunity to chat and relax with different people. There was no pressure. There was a lovely attitude.”

Jack Dutton, Anaheim mayor, 1970-74

Disney is “a great organization. I used to say that you could eat, drink or smoke all you wanted in 48 hours, and it could never be considered a bribe.”

Tom Liegler, Former Anaheim Stadium and Anaheim Convention Center manager

He looked forward to the trips as a way of exchanging ideas.