ANAHEIM : Arena Builder Hires Ex-City Official

A public information officer laid off by the city last week has been hired as a sales and marketing executive by the company building the Anaheim Arena.

John J. Nicoletti, who worked for the city for two years before losing his job as a result of the municipal budget crisis, will begin working for Ogden Entertainment Services on Monday, said Brad Mayne, Ogden’s project coordinator for the arena.

Mayne said Nicoletti was hired because he has a “good relationship with the press, the City Council and the Orange County Sports Assn.”

“Ogden, as far as facilities management, is brand-new to Anaheim and . . . we have been very impressed with his work and ability,” Mayne said. “I had not intended to hire for this position for another month or two, but with the chronology of the city’s budget problems and the deletion (of Nicoletti’s job), it made sense to hire him now.”

Ogden has been contracted by the city to both construct and operate the $103-million, 19,200-seat arena. The opening is scheduled for the fall of 1993. It is being financed by a 1% tax on hotel and motel bills.

Nicoletti, whose wage and benefits package cost the city $50,980 annually, was one of 13 employees terminated as the city cut $8 million from its budget. Another 18 employees took early retirement.